UFC Vegas 41 prelims results & video: Herbert blasts out Worthy in a round

Check out the results and highlights from the UFC Vegas 41 prelims, where Gregory Rodrigues stopped Jun Yong Park in a crazy war, and Jai Herbert TKO’d Khama Worthy in the first-round.

The UFC Vegas 41 prelims were a little heavy on decisions, but they were competitive to say the least. Closing out this part of the event was a gutsy finish when Gregory Rodrigues punched his way out of being overwhelmed to score a standing TKO on Jun Yong Park. This fight was pretty exciting, with an even more entertaining finish. This makes two up and two down thus far in the UFC career of Rodrigues.

Before that, Mason Jones and David Onama waged war in a grueling 15-minute affair that resulted in Jones walking away with the decision win. Both men clearly wanted this one as the effort put forth on both sides was endless. The difference here was the grappling of Jones. He was the one getting takedowns and racking up tons of control time. This is Mason’s first UFC victory, moving his promotional record to 1-1-1.

Earlier on the UFC Vegas 41 prelims, Tabatha Ricci dominated Maria Oliveira for three-rounds, and Jamie Pickett took a competitive decision over Laureano Staropoli.

After a rough 0-2 start with the UFC, Jai Herbert got himself a dub and did so in spectacular fashion when he stormed the castle of Khama Worthy int he opening round. As soon as Herbert realized one of his strikes stung Worthy, he stepped on the gas determined to get a finish. Several fists of fury in a flurry landed flush, sending Worthy falling to the floor. Not a bad way to get yourself back into the win column.

The card’s first finish came in the flyweight division when Jeff Molina TKO’d Daniel da Silva early in the second round. It was clean right hand that landed as Da Silva was throwing a kick that caused the knockdown, and then a violent barrage of ground and pound sealed the deal. The 24-year-old Molina has now won both of his UFC matches, which extends his winning streak to nine.

Before that, Randa Markos took a unanimous decision over Livinha Souza, and then the show opened up with Jonathan Martinez winning on points against Zviad Lazishvili.

**See complete results below

Prelims:

Gregory Rodrigues def. Jun Yong Park by TKO at 3:13 of round 2: Middleweight

Rodrigues looked to walk down Park in the opening round, and Park seemed prepared to counter. Rodrigues was doing a solid job of checking the leg kicks of his opponent. Just as Rodrigues seemed to be in control on the feet, he tripped Park, took his back, and controlled him there, too. He even scored with some descent ground strikes before the round expired.

Park had some pep in his step to begin the second round. He clipped Rodrigues with a left hand that stung him, and then unloaded a flurry to try and get the finish. Rodrigues shot in and Park jumped a guillotine, but Rodrigues just took his back again. Park stood back to his feet and went back to unloading punches in bunches. Just when it looked as if Rodrigues was getting overwhelmed, he landed some punches that backed off Park. It was a set of right hands that put Park on skates, and then a followup uppercut to right hand forced the referee to step in for the standing TKO.

Mason Jones def. David Onama by unanimous decision (29-28 x3): Lightweight

The fighters went right at it! They were both landing big punches in the opening moments of the match. Jones staggered Onama, but he was able to recover in the clinch. Then, Jones hit a takedown and made Onama carry his weight. When Onama did work to his feet, Jones scooped him up and took him right back down. Mason took full mount, and then went to the back, but Onama exploded up and returned to open space. The fighters went toe to toe in an exciting back and forth until the bell.

The second round saw the fighters go right back to work trading leather. Jones switched gears and took Onama down to the mat. Despite having his back taken, Onama still stood back to his feet. He then started bombing on Jones, prompting another clinch. Jones landed an illegal knee to the head while the hands of Onama were clearly on the mat. The referee ruled the infraction as accidental and the fight went on without a penalty to Jones. Upon the restart, Onama started to bomb away again. Jones went back to the takedown and controlled Onama for the rest of the round.

The final frame saw more trading in the pocket, and just as Onama was landing flush over and over again, Jones blasted a takedown to put David on his back. He threatened with an arm triangle, but Onama wasn’t having it. Onama kept doing just enough to improve his position, and ultimately worked back to his feet. Mason remained attached, grinding on a scrappy Onama for the rest of the fight.

Tabatha Ricci def. Maria Oliveira by unanimous decision (30-27 x3): Strawweight

Ricci botched an Imanari roll to open this contest. From there, the fighters traded punches back and forth on the feet. Ricci was being the aggressor, trying to find different ways to a takedown entry. Oliveira was mainly countering, which was just allowing Ricci to dictate the pace. Ricci finally got her takedown off of catching a kick, but ran out of time before she could do anything with it.

Ricci got herself a takedown much earlier in the second round. She quickly transitioned to the full mount and started dropping some filthy elbows. Oliveira somehow managed to scramble up and out of the bad position and into open space. Just as Oliveira was fully committed to throwing her punches, Ricci changed levels and hit a takedown. Oliveira did not get back up until the bell this time.

Ricci hit another level change early in the final act. She controlled Oliveira for a bit before the fight returned to its feet, but didn’t do much damage while down there. Oliveira tried to pressure behind her punches, but gave up another takedown to finish up the round on her back yet again.

Jamie Pickett def. Laureano Staropoli by unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 29-28): Middleweight

Staropoli closed the distance on Pickett in the first round. He held him against the fence as he searched for a takedown. He tried several different ways to get the fight to the floor, but Pickett was being stubborn. Even after a referee seperation, Staropoli went right back to the same position. Pickett revered the situation, though, and put Staropoli’s back on the cage.

Staropoli returned to his fence attack in the second stanza, but he ended up giving up a takedown to Pickett. Staropoli stood up and they jockeyed for position, with Pickett doing most of the controlling. In open space, Staropoli was being more aggressive with his strikes. Just before the bell, Staropoli shot in and scored a lifting takedown. Like, where was that all round?

Staropoli came out in the third round and landed that same lifting takedown, but Pickett sprung right back to his feet. Pickett then scored a takedown of his own, making Staropoli work to get back up. Staropoli went back to pressing his opponent against the fence, but an accidental knee to the cup from Pickett brought a brief pause to the bout. Upon the restart, Pickett took the center and tried to back off Staropoli with strikes. Staropoli got through, though, and went back to wrestling against the cage. After another groin strike, the fighters brawled it out until the final bell.

Jai Herbert def. Khama Worthy by TKO at 2:47 of round 1: Lightweight

This one started out a bit slow, but then abruptly took off! Worthy took the center of the Octagon as Herbert hung out on the outside. They were exchanging kicks back and forth, before a big right hand from Herbert registered. That’s when Jai turned it up. He landed a head kick and began unloading punches in bunches. Several of Herbert’s fists of fury landed flush, sending Worthy falling to the floor. Some academic ground strikes got through before the referee decided that he had seen enough.

Jeff Molina def. Daniel da Silva by TKO at :46 of round 2: Flyweight

Da Silva pressed forward right away behind an array of kicks. From there he took the back standing, Molina had to defeat an RNC attempt followed by an armbar before he was able to take top position. Once he did, though, he was able to drop some elbows to get on the board. Molina started to go a little crazy with his strikes, but that allowed Da Silva to throw up another armbar attempt. Jeff escaped again and went back to punching away.

Molina came out in the second act and blasted Da Silva with a mean right hand that floored him. He followed his injured opponent to the ground, and began dropping a barrage of fight ending strikes. What a performance!

Randa Markos def. Livinha Souza by unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 29-28): Strawweight

Markos punched her way into the clinch and pressed Souza against the cage to get things going. There she landed a mean set of elbows before controlling her foe for a bit. In open space, Souza grabbed ahold of Markos’ head and tossed her to the ground. Souza then locked up an arm with her legs and began punching away. Credit to Markos for using her underhook to scramble out of the bad position and back to her feet. On the way up she landed a knee to the face and an another one of them clinch elbows to boot. Souza was getting tuned up so she opted to pull guard.

Souza earned a quick takedown in the second round, but was unable to do anything with it before Markos scrambled her way into top position. Randa racked up points with ground strikes as Souza struggled to do much from her back. Souza did attempt a leg lock as the round was ending, but that was defeated before the bell.

Markos closed the distance behind her punches in the final frame. She backed up Livinha and kept landing flush with her punches. Souza went back to her head lock takedown, but this time Markos was able to take the back. From there, Randa surfed on top of Souza, landing strikes while remaining in control at the same time.

Jonathan Martinez def. Zviad Lazishvili by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 x2): Bantamweight

Lazishvili looked to close the distance right away. He pressed Martinez up against the cage, but was unable to score any of his takedown attempts. In open space, Martinez was trying to pump his jab to disrupt Lazishvili, who was pressuring. Martinez seemed to be ahead on the strike count heading into the second.

Lazishvili wasn’t as aggressive with his takedown attempts in the second stanza. The fighters were content to stand in front of one another, going strike for strike. There weren’t a bunch of wow moments in the round, but Martinez was the guy landing the more meaningful strikes. It almost looked as if Lazishvili was starting to slow down just a bit.

Martinez came out flowing to begin the final round. He was probing with his jab and building off of it, while Lazishvili wasn’t being as fluid with his stand up. When Lazishvili did shoot in for a takedown, Martinez stuffed it with relative ease to keep the fight on its feet. From there, Martinez continued to lead the dance, peppering his foe until the final second ticked away.