UFC Vegas 6 results: Stewart chokes Pitolo, Dariush stops Holtzman with spinning backfist

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

On the UFC Vegas 6 main card, Darren Stewart submitted Maki Pitolo, and Beneil Dariush knocked out Scott Holtzman with a spinning backfist… both in the first round.

The UFC Vegas 6 main card continues on and Darren Stewart just submitted Maki Pitolo with a guillotine in the first round. Both men came to strike, but it was when Pitolo shot in for a takedown that Stewart attacked the neck and found the finish. This gets Stewart back into the win column, and shows a whole new wrinkle in his game. After a tough 0-1-3 beginning with the UFC, Stewart has gone 5-2 since.

Before that, the UFC’s #8 ranked (W) bantamweight, Yana Kunitskaya, took a dominant unanimous decision over the returning Julija Stoliarenko. Kunitskaya put on a clinching clinic out there, fencing her opponent throughout and landing a ton of volume with knees to the body. Stoliarenko did threaten with her patented armbar attempt at one point, but Yana was able to remain safe. It was a strong showing for Kunitskaya who has now won three of her last four.

Opening up the main card, the UFC’s #14 ranked lightweight, Beneil Dariush, stopped Scott Holtzman with a well-timed spinning backfist in the first round. The bout started a bit testy with a series of accidental fouls, but both of these men came to bang. Dariush found a lot of success with his boxing, and also did his big damage with his knees and that spinning attack. This makes five-straight wins for Dariush, with four of them coming by way of finish. I think the lightweight division might want to keep an eye on this guy.

Main card:

Darren Stewart def. Maki Pitolo by submission (Guillotine) at 3:41 of round 1: Middleweight

The middleweight came out looking to fling strikes at one another. Stewart took the center and was throwing in three-punch combinations, while Pitolo circled on the outside. Pitolo rocked his opponent with a hard right hand, but Stewart recovered quickly. Then they clinched up and Pitolo went for the takedown. Stewart grabbed ahold of the neck and squeezed on the guillotine. Pitolo was dead to rights and was forced to tap.

Yana Kunitskaya def. Julija Stoliarenko by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27 x2): (W) Bantamweight

Yana clinched up right away and pressed Julija against the cage. Jlia tried to jump guard and wrap up a guillotine choke, but the posture of Yana was too strong. Yana blasted her foe with a smooth elbow from the clinch, and then continued to grind away with knees to the body. Julija tried to jump guard again with another guillotine attempt, but just couldn’t get what she wanted. Yana finished the round with a savage barrage of knees to the body.

It didn’t take long at all for Yana to clinch back up against the fence and return to her grinding ways. She was racking up a ton of volume with punches and knees to the body and was really mugging her opponent. Julija had no answers for the clinch and was taking some licks out there. Julia tried jumping guard again, and actually got the fight to the ground. She attacked an armbar with about 30-seconds left int he round, but just couldn’t pull it off before the bell sounded.

Right back to the clinch they went to kick off the final round. Julija successfully pulled guard with a lot of time on the clock. The fight stalled out though so the referee stood up the fighters. guess where the fight went? That’s right, to the clinch. Julija tried to jump guard again but failed this time. Yana dished out some light strikes and worked hard to keep the fight in close, while making sure it didn’t hit the deck.

Beneil Dariush def. Scott Holtzman by TKO at 4:38 of round 1: Lightweight

Dariush opened the bout with a cracking body kick, but took a finger to the eye that paused the bout. The fight resumed, and Holtzman shook off a cup check. Then, Dariush suffered another poke to the eye that paused the bout again. The fight resumed and they exchanged heavy punches before Dariush shot in. He pressed Holtzman against the fence for some time, but couldn’t find a way to get the fight to the floor. Dariush then rocked Holtzman with a knee to the face, and started to unload a barrage. Holtzman survived but gave up his back a bit before finally returning to open space. Dariush started to let his hands go, and then connected with a spinning backfist that dropped Holtzman. The referee was right on top of the action to wave off the bout. Yikes!

**It should be noted that Dariush missed weight by two-pounds