UFC Vegas 22 results and highlights: Griffin, Yanez impress with KO wins

Check out the results and highlights of the UFC Vegas 22 main card bouts.

The UFC Vegas 22 main card is rolling on with just the main event between Kevin Holland and Derek Brunson to go. Heavyweight Tai Tuivasa kicked off the main portion of the show with a quick dispatching of Harry Hunsucker, bantamweight prospect Adrian Yanez followed that up with a brilliant display against Gustavo Lopez, Montserrat Conejo bested Chayanne Buys in the battle of the UFC newbies, and then Max Griffin melted Song Kenan in the co-main event.

Here’s how the fights played out.

Max Griffin def. Song Kenan by KO (punches) at 2:20 of round 1 – Welterweights

As expected it was a high-pace, high-octane contest in the first few minutes. Both men had their moments but the ending was abrupt and violent. Song had success going to the body but it was Griffin’s head shots that were the difference. A right hand backed up Song and then a lethal 1-2 by Griffin sealed the deal. Griffin finally gets his first ever UFC winning streak, whereas Song Kenan’s two-fight winning run comes to a crashing halt.

Montserrat Conejo def. Chayanne Buys by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27) – Strawweights

Both women came charging out throwing strikes before Conejo got Buys down with a head-and-arm throw. Conejo rained down punches with her left hand on Buys’ unprotected face. Buys tried to scramble into a better position but Conejo was wise to it and kept that scarfhold lock intact. Conejo’s strength and grappling prowess was very apparent and Buys was pretty much stuck for almost the whole round.

In round two, Buys tagged the Mexican with a flurry of strikes to back her up and finally get her own offense going. Conejo again went for the scarfhold throw and after a failure on the first try she got it on the second occasion. Much of round one repeated itself in round two, only this time Buys got up… and in an instant was taken back down. Buys scrambled and swept here way on top with about 10 seconds left and got full mount, but didn’t have enough time to mount anything offensive to win the round back.

Buys stung Conejo with punches to start the final round, but it was obvious that she needed a finish or a Conejo disqualification in order to get the win. While she clearly got the better of Conejo on the feet, yet another scarfhold takedown occurred with just over two minutes left and effectively shut down the comeback. Buys scrambled and took the back but lost that position and wound up on bottom.

Not a great night office for the Buys couple. Husband JP Buys was knocked out on the opening prelim and Chayenne ends up losing her debut to a fellow debutante.

Adrian Yanez def. Gustavo Lopez by KO (punch) at :28 of round 3 – Bantamweights

It was nothing but kickboxing (and mostly boxing) in the first round. Lopez started well with his jab but as the minutes progressed it was Yanez who was connecting on devastating power shots. Yanez’s left hooks and power right hands were catching Lopez flush on the chin and while he took them well, there was no doubt who was the winner of the opening frame.

The success of Yanez at range was apparent, and his rocket of a right hand floored Lopez less than two minutes into round two. Lopez shot for a desperation takedown, which Yanez easily stuffed. The pace slowed down for the remainder of the round as Lopez was more way of charging in and even letting his strikes go without getting countered cleanly by Yanez.

Lopez was decked just seconds into round three with a counter right hand and it was a walkoff finish. Yanez knew Lopez was done and Gustavo falling forward the way he did told you all you needed to know. Six straight wins for Yanez as he sends Lopez to defeat for the second time in three UFC appearances.

Tai Tuivasa def. Harry Hunsucker by TKO (punches) at :49 of round 1 – Heavyweights

Well that wasn’t the slightest bit competitive. Tuivasa had Hunsucker in hell with low kicks and then drilled the short notice replacement with two right hands for the knockdown. Follow-up shots on the ground wrapped this up inside of 50 seconds. Two straight knockout wins for Tuivasa in the opening round, while Hunsucker’s UFC debut predictably went poorly.