Max Holloway picked up a huge win. It just wasn’t the way anyone wanted it to happen.
Holloway won by TKO when Oliveira injured his shoulder or neck at just 1:39 of the first round the UFC Fight Night 74 main event Sunday night in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
“Send your prayers to Charles,” Holloway said afterward. “It’s part of the game. It’s sad to see that happening. This is how we make a living.”
Holloway (13-3) looked good for the first 90 seconds of the fight and was a major favorite. But winning like that was anticlimactic. The Hawaiian has now won seven in a row and has put himself in position for a big fight in the featherweight division. Holloway even pitched the UFC on a bout between him and Frankie Edgar in Hawaii.
Oliveira (20-5) had won four in a row before Sunday night. The Brazilian was coming off a third-round submission over Nik Lentz in May.
After getting schooled just three weeks ago by Demian Maia, Neil Magny could have used a big, bounce-back win. And he got it.
Magny defeated Erick Silva via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27) in the co-main event Sunday in a fight that he controlled throughout. One judge had Silva winning the fight, but it was hard to imagine how anyone could come to that conclusion.
Magny (15-4) started slowly, but by the end of the first round he was throwing Silva around the Octagon. Magny landed his jab at will throughout and followed it up with straight rights and uppercuts. He even won most grappling exchanges after the first few minutes.
It was a signature win for Magny, 28, who won seven straight before losing to Maia at UFC 190 on Aug. 1. Maia absolutely exposed Magny on the ground, but this was a big victory to get the Team Elevation fighter back on track. Silva (18-5), who was supposed to face Rick Story in this bout, had won two straight after beating Josh Koscheck in March. Silva, 31, has not beaten a single fighter currently in the UFC.
Josh Burkman had never been finished by strikes in his long MMA career. Until Sunday night. Patrick Cote stopped the durable Burkman at 1:26 of the third round in one of the best fights of the night in Saskatchewan. Cote wobbled Burkman in the first round and then finished the job in the third, both with big right hands.
Afterward, Cote (22-9) called out Hector Lombard. The 35-year-old Canadian has now won two in a row and five of his last six fights. Burkman (27-11) is 0-2 with a no contest (formerly a loss to Lombard) during this second UFC run.
Stunning the Canadian crowd, Francisco Trinaldo finished Chad Laprise by TKO in just 2:43 of the first round. Trinaldo landed a big left hand to drop Laprise, took Laprise’s back and then pounded away from dominant position. Referee Herb Dean had to step in.
Trinaldo (18-4) has now won four straight fights, but this was the first one of that stretch not in Brazil. Laprise (10-1), the former The Ultimate Fighter Nations winner and Ontario native, had been impressive in his two UFC wins previously.
Olivier Aubin-Mercier won his third straight fight in the UFC in a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) over Tony Sims. Aubin-Mercier (7-1) dominated every round with his wrestling and grappling. Sims (12-3) had his four-fight winning streak snapped.
Maryna Moroz’s prospect bubble burst in the main card opener. Valerie Letourneau played spoiler in the women’s strawweight division with a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27) victory. Letourneau dropped Moroz with a right hand in the first round and outstruck her the entire fight in one of the best performances of her career.
Moroz (6-1) came in highly touted and undefeated after a first-round submission win over Joanne Calderwood in April. Letourneau (8-3) has now won four straight and the former bantamweight has only ever lost to Claudia Gadelha, Alexis Davis and Sarah Kaufman in her career.
On the prelims, Frankie Perez knocked out Sam Stout in just 54 seconds and then abruptly retired after the fight. Perez (10-2) is just 26 years old and that was his first UFC win.
Felipe Arantes finished Yves Jabouin via armbar submission in the first round and Nikita Krylov choked out Marcos Rogerio de Lima in the first. Misha Cirkunov finished Daniel Jolly via first-round TKO, Shane Campbell beat Elias Silverio by unanimous decision and Chris Kelades defeated Chris Beal via split decision.