SAN JOSE, November 19 – Bantamweight phenom Michael “Mayday” McDonald, who has showed the look of a future world champion, lived up to his vow to not let his UFC 139 fight go the distance – blasting unbeaten Alex Soto with a laser of a right and swarming him with punches thereafter for a stoppage just 56 seconds into their bout at the HP Pavilion Saturday night. Watch post-fight interview
McDonald, out of Modesto, Calif., pushed his pro record to 14-1. Soto fell to 6-1-1.
New York middleweight Chris Weidman remained unbeaten in UFC </a>139 prelim action, winning his seventh straight with a D’arce choke submission over Tom Lawlor at 2:07 of round one. Weidman scored a takedown early that precipitated the fight-ending sequence. Watch post-fight interview
“Thanks to John Danaher and Matt Serra,” Weidman said. “God gave me the ability with long arms and they make it work for me.”
The highlight for Lawlor (7-4) was his walkout, as the “Filthy” showman walked out to Olivia Newton-John’s classic, “Let’s Get Physical.”
Ultimate Fighter season eight winner Ryan Bader, desperate for a win after back-to-back losses, rediscovered his rhythm behind a booming right hand that flattened Jason Brilz just 77 seconds into their light heavyweight contest. The speedy knockout, set up by his left jab, put the Arizonan in position to begin another streak after notching 13 straight wins to start his career. Watch post-fight interview
“Losing sucks so I’m glad to get this win here,” said Bader, a former Division I All-American wrestler who was facing another former collegiate wrestler in Brilz (18-5-1).
RAFAEL DOS ANJOS VS. GLEISON TIBAU
Gleison Tibau is perhaps the most gigantic fighter at 155 pounds in the world. Fact is, Tibau – who has been as heavy as 194 pounds on fight night – often steps into the cage heavier than welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre, who of course is a WELTERWEIGHT. So in this battle of Brazilian southpaws, predominantly a kickboxing match, it was Tibau who got stronger as the fight wore on against his noticeably smaller foe. Watch post-fight interview
While the swifter dos Anjos (15-6) outhustled Tibau in the first frame, Tibau took control late in the second round, rocking dos Anjos with a pinpoint 1-2 combo. Tibau teed off and connected with big punches, yet dos Anjos, under heavy fire and badly wobbled, somehow stayed on his feet and displayed the heart of a lion and survived the round.
The third round was competitive, but the fresher Tibau (34-7) seemed to land the better shots and dictate the action. Though dos Anjos largely succeeded at denying Tibau his “A game,” which typically features takedowns and top game suffocation, he came up short on the judges’ scorecards. Tibau was given the nod by tallies of 28-29, 29-28 and 30-27.
MIGUEL TORRES VS. NICK PACE
Variety is not only the spice of life, it is also what propelled Miguel Torres to victory over New Yorker Nick Pace, who failed to make weight the day before by five pounds, but nevertheless gave a spirited effort against the former World Extreme Cagefighting champion. Watch post-fight interview
Armed with a significant reach advantage, Torres danced and controlled the bout from the center of the Octagon with kicks, jabs and a steady diet of crisp right hands. Showing much-improved takedown defense (he limited Pace to just one takedown), Torres also owned the clinch with knees to the body and dirty boxing.
“A guy like Nick Pace is real dangerous; he has nothing to lose so he’s going to try to knock me out, so I had to be real careful,” said Torres, who improved to 39-4.
Pace (6-3) threw some heavy leather but none of his big shots could find their mark. He survived to the final horn but found himself on the short end of the judges’ 30-27 scores across the board.
SETH BACYNSKI VS. MATT BROWN
Welterweight Seth Baczynski won his fourth straight, tapping out Matt Brown with a guillotine choke just 42 seconds into the second round. Watch post-fight interview
“He’s a super gnarly dude,” Baczynski said afterward to UFC commentator Joe Rogan. “I was expecting it to be real bloody.”
But it was far from the knock-down, drag-out wars that have become a hallmark of Brown’s fights. Baczynski, fighting out of Arizona, was the aggressor early, roughing up Brown a little from the clinch and then securing the takedown midway in round one. Brown managed a reversal, but the competitive round seemed to go to Baczynski (15-6) on the strength of his takedown attempts and effective dirty boxing.
In the second, Brown shot a double leg takedown – and finished it – only to learn that he had he walked right into a tight, closed-guard guillotine. After a struggle, Brown tapped out, falling to 14-11 in his pro career.
DANNY CASTILLO VS. SHAMAR BAILEY
You can see a confidence, a transformation, surging in Danny Castillo every time he steps in the Octagon. And the Sacramento lightweight impressed once again on Saturday, steamrolling Shamar Bailey with some vicious ground and pound that forced The Ultimate Fighter </a>13 alum to turtle over under a storm of punches, causing referee intervention at 4:52 of round one. Watch post-fight interview
The victory marked Castillo’s fifth in his past six bouts and he got heated up by taking Bailey down three times early in the round – twice with double leg slams. Bailey, whose wrestling base is a strongpoint, popped to his feet twice by using the fence. But Castillo (13-4) wisely moved the action to the center of the Octagon and Bailey (12-5) then had no answer as to how to return to his feet or defend effectively from the bottom.
“I felt really disrespected at the weigh in,” Castillo said, alluding to Bailey, who failed to make weight by two pounds. “You’re supposed to be a professional — don’t come in two pounds overweight and then tell me you can’t lose any more weight.”