UFC Greenville results: Brown stops Barberena, Lee beats De La Rosa

Randy Brown and Andrea Lee were among the big winners on the UFC Greenville main card.

The UFC Greenville main card is nearly complete, with just the main event to go. Middleweight Kevin Holland battled through a shoulder injury to take a controversial decision over Alessio di Chirico, Andrea Lee prevailed in a grueling scrap with Montana De La Rosa in a key women’s flyweight tilt, bantamweight Andre Ewell survived a late rally to win a really entertaining contest with Anderson dos Santos, and welterweight prospect Randy Brown notched by far the biggest win of his career with a surprise TKO over veteran Bryan Barberena.

Here’s how the fights played out.

Randy Brown def. Bryan Barberena by TKO (strikes) at 2:54 of round 3 – Welterweights

Kicks were traded frequently between these two, with Brown landing some particularly powerful ones to the body and head. Barberena certainly punished Brown with hard leg kicks. One body kick by Barberena was caught and Randy forced Bryan back to the fence, but nothing really escalated from that specific moment. Brown closed round one clinching Barberena up and he had the more damaging shots.

“Rude Boy” largely dictated the terms of the bout up until the midway point of the fight, when Barberena went for Brown’s neck and tried to choke him out. Brown escaped but still found himself on the bottom and having to defend Barberena’s ground strikes. Ultimately, he got back to his feet without much trouble encountered. Brown looked sharp with his hands as he picked off Barberena with solid boxing. A knee bothered Barberena momentarily, but he answered with a couple of clinch elbows. It was a closer round than the previous, and a bit of an ugly grind with few real telling blows landed.

Barberena was chasing and searching for heavy, fight-changing shots to start round three. However, it was Brown who evaded well and cracked Barberena with a double jab and a right cross, followed by a head-body combo. Brown was getting the better of Barberena and had him hurt with a body kick. Randy went to work and looked for the finish. The onslaught continued and Barberena, doubled over in pain, collapsed to the canvas from the beating.

Andre Ewell def. Anderson dos Santos by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27) – Bantamweights

Ewell’s hands looked sharp and fast from the get-go, as dos Santos’ defense was repeatedly exploited. A big right briefly had dos Santos stopped in his tracks. Dos Santos was getting outstruck and opted to shoot for a double leg takedown, which Ewell defended. They returned to the center of the cage and it became a slugfest. A counter left rocked dos Santos, who decided to egg him on to throw more. The Brazilian was getting boxed up and Ewell was landing at will, but he couldn’t knock him down. Dos Santos blitzed forward with his own punches and connected on some of them, but round one was largely dictated by the precision of the American.

The pace did slow significantly in round two, but the left cross by Ewell was still just befuddling dos Santos. Ewell was taken down with less than two minutes in the middle frame. Dos Santos nearly had him in full mount but Ewell escaped this troublesome spot and got back to his feet. In the final seconds, Ewell swung wildly at Anderson and missed both times, while dos Santos just waved at him as he walked away.

Despite dos Santos’ corner insisting he not strike with Ewell, that’s what he did for the first minute or so of the final round. He did pus Ewell on his back. Dos Santos needed a finish in order to rescue the cause. Unlike round two, he did get full mount and delivered some ground-and-pound. Ewell used the fence to sweep his way back to his feet. With one minute to go, dos Santos had Ewell pinned to the fence in search of getting the bout back to the ground. It didn’t materialize, and that was essentially Anderson’s last chance gone begging.

Andrea Lee def. Montana De La Rosa by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) – Women’s Flyweights

Lee had the first big moment of round one with a hard jab that stunned De La Rosa. Unsurprisingly, the grappling-based De La Rosa opted for a takedown and got it. Lee returned to her feet and they were locked in a clinch battle against the fence. Another takedown by DLR resulted in Lee again escaping back up and this time separating back to striking range. When lee closed the distance, De La Rosa sought the takedown, but was denied. Lee was getting the better of De La Rosa in the stand-up, particularly with those knees in the clinch. For good measure, Lee took De La Rosa down into side control just before the horn sounded.

The striking offense of Lee combined with impressive takedown defense gave De La Rosa fits entering round two. Lee was sprawling successfully and De La Rosa increasingly looking out of ideas as the fight progressed. Lee’s jab was on point and De La Rosa’s face was busted up. De La Rosa secured a takedown but had minimal top control time. Lee searched for her own takedown but bailed out when De La Rosa jumped on a guillotine.

Knowing she needed a finish in all likelihood to win the fight, De La Rosa continued to pursue takedowns and have the fight set on her terms. However, after taking Lee down and going for the back, Lee scrambled and was out of danger. When Lee threw a high kick, De La Rosa caught it and turned it into a front headlock. De La Rosa furiously searched for submissions the rest of the way, including a choke and an armbar, but Lee fended them all off and poured on big ground-and-pound. It was an entertaining finish to what was otherwise a good triumph on the evening for “KGB” Lee, who shut down De La Rosa’s grappling and wrestling very well.

Kevin Holland def. Alessio Di Chirico by unanimous decision (29-28 x3) – Middleweights

Round one was fairly close and mostly a kickboxing battle interspersed with clinching against the fence. Di Chirico had the most damaging strike of the round, hurting Holland with an elbow. Holland tried a jump knee shortly thereafter, to no effect. While Holland may have thrown more, but that shot may have swayed the judges to give that round to the Italian.

Holland threw knees and stomps in the clinch early in round two, while Di Chirico again sought an elbow. Otherwise it wasn’t exactly barnburner stuff. A takedown by Holland saw Di Chirico get back to his feet and clip Holland again. It looked as if something hurt Holland’s right shoulder, and while he landed several straight punches to end the round, it looked as if he separated that shoulder. Of course, the ref was none the wiser. He asked Holland if his shoulder was alright and he said it was, so they fought into round three.

Unsurprisingly, Holland attacked mostly with his left arm and left hand. Di Chirico was content to be patient and wait for his opportunities. Not to sugarcoat it, but round three was dismal. The crowd was booing heavily, offense was scant, although it was pretty funny when Holland clapped Di Chirico’s ears repeatedly to end the fight. Maybe that’s what won him the bout, as Holland has won three straight. Di Chirico was none too happy with the call.