There aren’t many words to describe Saturday night’s UFC Fight Night 120, except for “wow.”
One of the year’s best all-around cards exceeded expectations in Nofolk, Virginia, and the cherry on top was the main event between Dustin Poirier and Anthony Pettis, which Poirier won via TKO in the third round.
Fox Sports: UFC had the finish:
In the opening pair of frames, both fighters were cut up and bleeding badly. Pettis was so banged-up that the referee had to stop the bout just to allow his cut man to clean his face so he could see.
Pettis showcased his elite striking and went for several submission attempts, only to see Poirier slip out due to the sheer amount of sweat and blood that made any grappling exchange either man’s game.
In the third, Poirier took down Pettis and unleashed some ground-and-pound, opening up Pettis’ face. At one point in the round, however, Pettis attempted to roll over and appeared to injure his torso—most likely a rib—which forced him to tap out.
Poirier likely would have gotten the finish regardless, and he will now look to fight the winner of the Dec. 2 bout between Eddie Alvarez and Justin Gaethje, per Shaheen Al-Shatti of MMA Fighting:
It’s a matchup he has more than earned, given the unfortunate no-contest in his previous fight with Alvarez—a result that occurred because of his opponent’s illegal kneeing.
Prelims
- Marlon Moraes def. John Dodson via split decision (30-27, 27-30, 30-27)
- Tatiana Suarez def. Viviane Pereira via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
- Sage Northcutt def. Michel Quinones via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Nina Ansaroff def. Angela Hill via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Main card results
- Clay Guida def. Joe Lauzon via TKO (punches) at 1:07 of Round 1
- Raphael Assuncao def. Matthew Lopez via KO (punch) at 1:50 of Round 3
- Cezar Ferreira def. Nate Marquardt via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
- Andrei Arlovski def. Junior Albini via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
- Matt Brown def. Diego Sanchez via KO (elbow) at 3:44 of Round 1
- Dustin Poirier def. Anthony Pettis via TKO (injury) at 2:08 of Round 3
Guida carves up Lauzon
Two of the UFC’s most entertaining fighters met Saturday night, and “The Carpenter” came out the victor.
The fight, to no one’s surprise, didn’t last long. Guida caught Lauzon with an overhand right that stunned him before Guida unleashed a vicious uppercut to Lauzon’s chin, which sent him crashing to the canvas.
The UFC tweeted some highlights:
The bout could’ve been stopped at any moment, but Lauzon continued to fight back even though he could’ve saved himself unnecessary damage. After another 20 seconds of elbows and ground-and-pound, the referee pulled Guida off Lauzon and declared him the winner by TKO.
Guida, a well-respected warrior among fans and other fighters, immediately embraced Lauzon and helped him to his feet. It seems as though Guida will never stop fighting, and why should he if he still has the fire to enter the cage and put on performances like that?
He’s earned another contract.
Assuncao shuts down Lopez
Raphael Assuncao is one bad, bad man.
A dark horse in the bantamweight division, Assuncao made the most out of his opportunity against Matthew Lopez when he hit him with a vicious overhand right that put Lopez to sleep in the third round.
Assuncao showed restraint by stopping himself at the last second from delivering a crushing right hand to Lopez’s face as he realized his opponent was out cold.
Fox Sports: UFC relayed the action:
Before dropping Lopez, Assuncao showed great patience through the first two rounds, chopping down the inside of Lopez’s lead leg.
With the victory, Assuncao is 10-1 in his last 11 fights. His lone loss? That was to current champion TJ Dillashaw, a man he has already beaten inside of the Octagon. Assuncao should command a Top Five fight to get back into title contention.
Arlovski puts Baby Junior in timeout
For anyone who watched this fight and was able to focus strictly on the action itself, I salute you.
Former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski looked great against Junior “Baby” Albini, as he turned back the clock a few years with timely and effective striking. MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani relayed the result and comments from Arlovski:
However, Albini overshadowed Arlovski’s performance for all the wrong reasons.
Albini’s Reebok uniform was, well, interesting to say the least. It looked like Baby Junior was wearing a diaper, which was fitting of his nickname. It distracted the best analysts and journalists in the MMA community, including Helwani:
It’s probably a good thing Arlovski took the decision, as the diaper jokes would have never ended. The fight itself wasn’t memorable, but it’s safe to say fans will never forget Albini’s diaper shorts.
Sanchez crumbles after Brown’s elbow
If that was Matt Brown’s last appearance inside the Octagon, what a way to go.
Brown was in trouble early against Diego Sanchez, who landed a a perfect leg kick to Brown’s liver, forcing him to hunch over. Sanchez tried to take down Brown a few times but was unsuccessful.
After seeing Brown cover up the right side of his body following that liver shot, Sanchez laid on the body kicks. But Brown timed Sanchez and grabbed his leg, pushing him back into the cage before landing a devastating elbow to the side of Sanchez’s head.
Once the elbow landed flush, Sanchez’s legs gave out, and he went out cold. Fox Sports: UFC provided a look:
Brown landed, arguably, the highlight of his career with the finish. Will he continue fighting? Only he knows.
But what better way to leave the sport?
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