Kelvin Gastelum knocked out one of the greatest fighters the UFC has ever seen with an excellent display of boxing and combination strikes to put Vitor Belfort away in the first round in a front of a hostile crowd at UFC Fight Night 106 in Fortaleza, Brazil.
Whether or not Gastelum stays at 185 pounds or convinces Dana White to allow him to fight at welterweight again, he will be a force to be reckoned with in either weight class as one of the organization’s best prospects.
Belfort looked sharp in the opening two minutes of the fight and was even able to land some punches and show off the creativity that made him one of the most exciting fighters in MMA. But once Gastelum tagged Belfort with a jab and a left hook, there was no turning back.
Gastelum called out Anderson Silva after the fight, which could be an interesting matchup, but it’s up to the UFC to decide his fate. The talent is there for Gastelum; all he has to do is become a more disciplined fighter regarding his weight and training.
UFC Fight Night 106 Results:
Kelvin Gastelum def. Vitor Belfort via first-round TKO (3:52)
Shogun Rua def. Gian Villante via third-round TKO (0:59)
Edson Barboza def. Beneil Dariush via second-round KO (3:35)
Ray Borg def. Jussier Formiga via unanimous decision
Bethe Correia vs. Marion Reneau ruled a majority draw
Alex Oliveira def. Tim Means via submission (RNC) (R2, 2:38)
Cowboy gets his revenge
Alex Oliveira came out on a mission against Tim Means in the opening fight on the night’s main card, and he didn’t disappoint. Means was helpless at the beginning of the fight, as he was being tossed around like a rag doll by Oliveira, who was able to take Means down to the canvas at will.
Poor technique on his last takedown attempt allowed Means to pull off a reversal and end up on top for some ground-and-pound, but the first round went to Cowboy. In the second round, the game plan didn’t change for either fighter.
Means continued to try to fight from his back but was growing tired of carrying Oliveira’s weight while he was backed up against the cage. Means eventually gave up his back, and Oliveira got two hooks in and sealed up the body lock as he hunted for Means’ neck. It didn’t take long for Oliveira to flatten out the American and force Means to tap from a beautifully executed rear-naked choke.
With the win, Oliveira puts Means in the rear-view mirror after their fist meeting ended with a no-contest, and he can now move forward to taking on ranked competition in the welterweight division.
Correia and Reneau battle out for majority draw
A majority draw isn’t the most satisfying result in MMA, but this was the rare occasion that a draw was necessary.
Bethe Correia had some really good moments in this fight and showed clear dominance in wrestling over Marion Reneau. Correia arguably had Rounds 1 and 2 in her favor, but Round 3 was a whole other story.
An early kick landed flush on Correia’s jaw and stunned her, allowing Reneau to take advantage of a stumbling Correia, who shot for a takedown to buy her time. From there, Reneau began landing some vicious punches and elbows from side control and eventually made Correia give up her back to avoid taking any more punishment from Reneau’s strikes, but that’s exactly what Reneau was looking for.
After securing the body triangle, Reneau did her best to get her forearm under the Bulldog’s chin, but Correia was able to survive the third round and force the decision.
A draw between two top-15 fighters could mean a rematch is coming, and since it was an entertaining fight from start to finish, it might be a good idea for the UFC to book this match again immediately.
Borg makes case for title shot
Fighters who are just 23 years old should not be in title contention, especially in the UFC. But after Ray Borg defeated third-ranked Jussier Formiga in front of a hostile crowd, he has at least entered his name into the conversation for a shot against Demetrious Johnson or against the next No. 1 contender.
It was a very close fight, and Formiga looked like he was going to cruise to a decision early on in the third round. That is, until Borg reversed a body triangle into top position, which gave him the opportunity to smash Formiga’s face in.
This fight didn’t carry much upside for Formiga, other than to solidify his place as a top-three fighter in the flyweight division, but falling to Borg, the eighth-ranked fighter at 125 pounds in the organization, will hurt his chances of seeing a title shot anytime soon.
As for Borg, he’ll be sitting by the phone waiting for Dana White’s call to take on either Johnson or Wilson Reis.
Barboza adds another fighter to the highlight reel
Edson Barboza is a terrifying human being.
The No. 5 fighter in the lightweight division added another win to his resume after knocking out Beneil Dariush with a stunning flying knee.
Seeing Barboza win in spectacular fashion is nothing out of the ordinary at this point, but it is still a sight to see. Dariush seemed to have won the first round by keeping Barboza out of rhythm with some well-timed leg kicks. But unfortunately for Dariush, his lights went out before he knew what hit him.
As soon as Barboza’s knee made contact with Dariush, the fight was over. Moving forward, only a title fight or No. 1 contender bout will be in the cards for Barboza.
Maybe if Khabib Nurmagomedov isn’t able to return before Ramadan, Tony Ferguson can take on Barboza in a rematch for the interim lightweight title.
Vintage Shogun
Mauricio Rua showed the world he is not finished wreaking havoc in the light heavyweight division.
The former 205-pound UFC champion finished Gian Villante with a barrage of strikes as Villante stumbled and fell back against the cage.
Shogun showed flashes of his former PRIDE days as he took care of Villante. While Villante had some good moments and even looked like he was going to take out Shogun early on in the fight, Rua was able to survive a few early scares en route to his third straight win.
Can Shogun take on a top-five light heavyweight and march back to the top of the division? Probably not. But Shogun can still extend his career by taking out other top-15 contenders for the next couple of years.
As for Villante, there’s no shame in losing to one of the living legends of MMA. However, many will question if Villante is capable of taking on the elites of the division down the road.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com