UFC 248 results & video: O’Malley, Meerschaert, Vieira get stoppages

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Check out the results and highlights from the UFC 248 prelims, including Sean O’Malley quickly stopping Jose Alberto Quinonez in the first round.

UFC 248 is underway, and the preliminary portion of the event just concluded with Sean O’Malley picking up a quick TKO of Jose Alberto Quinonez in the opening round. O’Malley landed some slick counter strikes to hurt his foe, and didn’t let him off the hook to score the victory in just over two-minutes. “Sugar” returns after two-years away from the Octagon to stay undefeated and climb to 11-0.

Before that, Danish Olympic silver medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling, Mark Madsen, survived a tough final round to take home a unanimous decision over Austin Hubbard. Madsen owned the first-two frames with his wrestling, and did enough to survive the third and remain undefeated. He is now sitting at 10-0 and is a prospect to watch in the lightweight division.

Making his UFC debut, Rodolfo Vieira overcame being rocked in the opening moments of his match with Saparbek Safarov to secure a first round submission. As soon as Vieira started to grapple, it seemed as if it was only a matter of time, and it was. The Jiu-Jitsu stud remains undefeated and moves to 7-0 in his professional MMA career. We’ve got some new blood at middleweight!

Also on the undercard, Gerald Meerschaert put on a masterclass in how use your reach advantage against Deron Winn. Meerschaert picked apart his shorter opponent across the bulk of 12-minutes, before scoring a knockdown and sinking in a rear-naked choke in the third round. The Roufusport product has now won two of his last three outings. Opening up the event, Danaa Batgerel made quick work of Guido Cannetti, producing a first round knockout by way of a crushing left hook. This is Batgerel’s first UFC win, and he now moves to 8-2 overall.

**See complete results below

ESPN Prelims:

Sean O’Malley def. Jose Alberto Quinonez by TKO at 2:02 of round 1: Bantamweight

Quinones brought the pressure right away, bu O’Malley was quite elusive with his movement. O’Malley caught his foe running in with a right hand, and then knocked him down with a head kick, and then again with an uppercut. A ferocious onslaught of ground strikes came pouring in prompting the referee to wave off the match.

Mark Madsen def. Austin Hubbard by unanimous decision (29-28 x3): Lightweight

Hubbard came out kicking the leg, but Madsen quickly locked up and hit a gorgeous suplex. After spending some time in the grind, Hubbard finally made it back to his feet. The fight didn’t spend much time in open space before Madsen hit another takedown. Madsen locked up a Japanese Necktie, but Hubbard gritted through it and escaped.

It didn’t take much time for Madsen to score a takedown in the second round. Hubbard would scramble up to his feet, just to get taken down in a rinse and repeat fashion. Hubbard did find open space in the final minute of the round, and was able to land a couple of leg kicks.

Hubbard came out aggressive in the final act, looking to let his strikes go. Madsen hit a takedown, but Hubbard quickly got back up. Hubbard rocked Madsen and started to turn it up. He landed several hard knees and uppercuts, but gave up the takedown before he could build off of it. Hubbard scrambled back up and landed some quality standing elbows before the bell.

Rodolfo Vieira def. Saparbek Safarov by submission (Arm Triangle) at 2:58 of round 1: Middleweight

Safarov rocked his foe with an upkick to start the match. Vieira recovered and started to wrestle. It wasn’t long before he was on the back. Vieira surfed on top of Safarov, until he recognized his moment for an arm triangle attempt. The hold was cinched up and Safarov was forced to tap.

Gerald Meerschaert def. Deron Winn by submission at 2:13 of round 3: Middleweight

An accidental cup kick to Winn halted the action before it even really got started. The bout resumed and Meerschaert took advantage of his reach by using his straight strikes. Winn hit a takedown, but allowed his foe to return to his feet. Winn found success on the inside, but as soon as the bout went into open space Meerschaert regained control.

Meerschaert stayed with his ling strikes in the second act. He kept his opponent at the end of his punches, throwing at a consistent speed. The power advantage was clearly on the side of Winn, but he wasn’t landing more than one strike at a time. Meerschaert started ripping to the body with a hot over and over, causing Winn to retreat.

Winn landed some bombs early in the final frame, but Meerschaert recovered and started to push the action. Meerschaert rocked his opponent, causing Winn to run around the Octagon. Winn was dropped, and Meerschaert took the back and sunk an RNC for the win.

ESPN+ Prelims:

Giga Chikadze def. Jamall Emmers by split decision (29-28 x2,28-29): Featherweight

Chikadze wobbled his foe with a counter overhand early in the first round, but Emmers recovered quickly. Emmers stayed way on the outside, as Chikadze gave different looks from both stances. Chikadze got ahead with the strike count in the opening act.

Emmers came out more aggressive in the second round. He was throwing more volume and connected with some descent shots. Just as Chikadze started to return fire, Emmers hit a big takedown. Chikadze was able to hit a reversal, and landed a big punch before getting back to his feet. An accidental eye poke to Emmers caused a brief pause in the action. Upon the restart, Chikadze wobbled Emmers again with a stinging punch. Emmers went back to the takedown, but Chikadze fought it off and remained vertical.

Emmers started out active again in the final frame. He was initiating the striking exchanges as Chikadze began to slow down. Chikadze been finding success with his left hand, until Emmers began pumping his jab. Emmers appeared to be the fresher fighter, and was able to secure a takedown in the final minute of the fight.

Danaa Batgerel def. Guido Cannetti by KO at 3:01 of round 1: Bantamweight

Batgerel pressed forward right away behind his strikes, pushing back Cannetti. He was getting met with leg kicks, but that didn’t deter him from landing punches. Cannetti landed a couple of stiff right hands on top of his hard leg kicks, but it couldn’t back off the pressure. Batgerel blasted his foe with a counter left hook that dropped Cannetti, and then pounced. A couple of ground strikes landed before the referee stepped in to stop the fight.

• Emily Whitmire vs. Polyana Viana was CANCELLED.