UFC Vegas 5 results: Maia armbars Calderwood, Luque KO’s Brown

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On the UFC Vegas 5 main card, Jennifer Maia submitted Joanne Calderwood in the first act, and Vicente Luque knocked out Randy Brown just before the end of the second round.

The UFC Vegas 5 main card is almost over and the co-main event just saw the promotion’s #6 ranked women’s flyweight, Jennifer Maia, submit the #3 ranked, Joanne Calderwood, in the first round. Calderwood was the one that hit the takedown, but Maia smoothly worked her way into an armbar submission. Calderwood was slated to face the champion, Valentina Shevchenko, for the belt but took this bout while the champ is getting healthy. That means that Maia is now the one who moves right to the front of the line to get a shot at gold.

Before that, the promotion’s #11 ranked welterweight, Vicente Luque, knocked out Randy Brown just before the bell in the second round. In the clinch position, Brown was fingertips away from being classified as a ‘grounded fighter’ when a knee blasted him right in the face, dazing him. The blow was totally legal and Luque followed up with fight-ending ground and pound. The ranked 170-pounder has won eight of his last nine fights, and finished seven of those wins. In his post-fight interview, he called for an unlikely matchup in one Nate Diaz.

Officially opening up the UFC Vegas 5 main card, Bobby Green and Lando Vannata ran it back after a draw back in 2017. This too was an exciting bout, with the fighters going right at one another out of the gate. It was Green who landed the better strikes throughout and walked away winning all rounds on all-three scorecards. Green has now won back to back fights for the first time since 2014. Middleweight matchup Kevin Holland vs. Trevin Giles was supposed to open up the main card, but Giles fainted right before making the walk to the Octagon, prompting the athletic commission pulled him from the bout.

**See complete results below

Main card:

Jennifer Maia def. Joanne Calderwood by submission (Armbar) at 4:29 of round 1: (W) Flyweight

The fighters met in the center and began trading leather back and forth to start things off. Maia was getting the better of the boxing exchanges, landing more cleanly than Calderwood. Maia then got taken down after Calderwood caught her kick, but she didn’t panic. She broke down the posture of Calderwood and methodically positioned herself to apply an armbar. Calderwood fought off the sub for a bit, but Maia made all the right adjustments and forced the tap.

Vicente Luque def. Randy Brown by KO at 4:56 of round 2: Welterweight

Luque was looking for leg kicks right away while Brown was popping his jab. Luque was commanding the center, keeping Brown on the outside. When Brown did rush in, he was dropped with a brilliant counter right hand. The fight didn’t stay on the ground for very long and Brown seemed to recover rather quickly. A big left hook from Luque staggered Brown, who stayed on his feet with help from a fence grab.

An unfortunate cup kick from Luque opened up the second round. The bout resumed and Luque dropped his foe with a calf kick. He allowed Brown to stand up and the fluid combos kept flowing. Luque kept attacking the leg and Brown was launching flashing attacks like spinning elbows and flying knees. Brown hit a body lock takedown, but it didn’t last for very long. They clinched up against the cage and Luque landed a knee right to the face. Brown dropped down and Luque bombarded him with heavy ground strikes. The referee had to stop it.

Bobby Green def. Lando Vannata by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27 x2): Lightweight

The lightweights needed no time getting to work. Back and forth they went, exchanging combo for combo. Green clipped Vannata with a hard punch, causing the fight to take a brief trip to the floor. Vannata recovered and scrambled up to his feet where he landed a hook on the break. Each man started tagging the other, with both men wearing the strikes well.

Green attacked the lead calk of Vannata in the second round, as well as began working off of his jab. Vannata responded with a heavy head kick that was blocked, and then found himself on the bottom after botching a guillotine attempt. Back on the feet, Green stuck with his jab, but gave up a short-lived takedown in the process.

Green got off with some brutal knees to the body from the clinch early int he final round. He followed up with a hellacious elbow that dropped Vannata. An onslaught of ground strikes came pouring in, but somehow Vannata survived and made it back to his feet. Green got himself a takedown and went for a few choke attempts before the fight returned to its feet. The straights of Green continued to score as the clock ticked away.