Tag: Recap

Bellator 122 Results: Koreshkov Batters McDonough, Halsey Submits Cooper, Parisyan Obliterates Baroni

Bellator’s first event under Scott Coker’s reign is over. Andrey Koreshkov blasted Adam McDonough en  route to a unanimous decision victory and Brandon Halsey dominated Brett Cooper with a first round submission win.

The event was one of Bellator’s better ones. We’ve recapped the entire card for you (and threw in some GIFs–which are all courtesy of Zombie Prophet/Fansided):

The Bellator 122 prelims were packed with action. Saad Awad pulled off one of the best TKOs from the bottom in recent memory against Joe Duarte. After getting blasted with a right hand, Awad crumbled to the mat. However, Duarte got over aggressive and Awad snagged him in a triangle. The ref called the fight about a billion elbows to Duarte’s temple later. Check out the GIF.

Other significant prelim happenings: The unheralded Fernando Gonzalez upset Bellator mainstay Karl Amoussou via unanimous decision. Gonzalez was simply quicker and better conditioned. One has to wonder about Amoussou’s future in Bellator.

Bellator put a light heavyweight tournament semifinal on the prelims. Kelly Anundson took on Luiz Philipe Lins, but the fight didn’t last long. Lins collapsed to the canvas a few minutes into the first round with a knee injury. Anundson was therefore awarded with a TKO victory.

More prelim action: Wrestling standout Bubba Jenkins steamrolled over Poppies Martinez, taking him down and scoring a TKO via ground and pound (GIF) in the first frame.

Get the rundown of the main card–plus the precious GIFs–after the jump.

Bellator’s first event under Scott Coker’s reign is over. Andrey Koreshkov blasted Adam McDonough en  route to a unanimous decision victory and Brandon Halsey dominated Brett Cooper with a first round submission win.

The event was one of Bellator’s better ones. We’ve recapped the entire card for you (and threw in some GIFs–which are all courtesy of Zombie Prophet/Fansided):

The Bellator 122 prelims were packed with action. Saad Awad pulled off one of the best TKOs from the bottom in recent memory against Joe Duarte. After getting blasted with a right hand, Awad crumbled to the mat. However, Duarte got over aggressive and Awad snagged him in a triangle. The ref called the fight about a billion elbows to Duarte’s temple later. Check out the GIF.

Other significant prelim happenings: The unheralded Fernando Gonzalez upset Bellator mainstay Karl Amoussou via unanimous decision. Gonzalez was simply quicker and better conditioned. One has to wonder about Amoussou’s future in Bellator.

Bellator put a light heavyweight tournament semifinal on the prelims. Kelly Anundson took on Luiz Philipe Lins, but the fight didn’t last long. Lins collapsed to the canvas a few minutes into the first round with a knee injury. Anundson was therefore awarded with a TKO victory.

More prelim action: Wrestling standout Bubba Jenkins steamrolled over Poppies Martinez, taking him down and scoring a TKO via ground and pound (GIF) in the first frame.

The main card started with what was the true main event of the night (for us at least): PHIL BARONI VS. KARO PARISYAN. Unfortunately, it didn’t really live up to our expectations. Baroni came out completely flat. As soon as Parisyan turned up the “heat” [Editor’s note: We’re so sorry. The intern who came up with that line has been let go], Baroni became a deer in the headlights…then a dead deer on the hood of a car. The end was particularly brutal as he was finished while sitting in Indian style (GIF), just absorbing punches to the head in a total stupor. We really, REALLY hope he retires at this point.

Next up came highly touted British Prospect Liam McGeary vs. Egidijus Valavicius in the next light heavyweight tournament semifinal. McGeary kicked Valavicius to the curb. After taking a handful of punches, McGeary clinched Valavicius. A minute or two later, a flurry of lethal knees and uppercuts (GIF) from McGeary ended the fight; Valavicius was out on his feet. McGeary will face Kelly Anundson in the finals of the light heavyweight tournament.

In the co-main event, Brett Cooper met Brandon Halsey in the middleweight tournament final. Halsey controlled the bout during the minute or two that it lasted. Halsey clinched Cooper, took him down, and then arm barred him (GIF). It almost resembled a Ronda Rousey fight in that aspect.

The co-main event saw Andrey Koreshkov face Adam McDonough in the welterweight tournament semifinal. It was domination from bell to bell. Koreshkov landed an array of strikes (included a wicked spinning back kick) that kept McDonough puzzled throughout the fight. Koreshkov was too fast, too accurate, and his sprawls were too powerful for McDonough, a wrestler with anemic striking, to mount anything resembling an offense. It was a strong performance for Koreshkov, who earned a title shot with the win. It was a strong performance for Bellator, too. The fight card was energetic, fun, and left us with that “let’s shadow box with our shirts off” feeling.

Here are the complete results:

Main Card:

Andrey Koreshkov def. Adam McDonough via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Brandon Halsey def. Brett Cooper via submission (armbar), Round 1, 2:09
Liam McGeary def. Egidijus Valavicius via TKO (strikes), Round 1, 2:10
Karo Parisyan def. Phil Baroni via knockout (punches), Round 1, 2:06

Preliminary Card:

Augusto Sakai def. Matt Frembling via TKO (strikes), Round 3, 3:32
Bubba Jenkins def. Poppies Martinez via TKO (punches), Round 1, 4:10
Kelly Anundson def. Philipe Lins via TKO (injury), Round 1, 1:40
Fernando Gonzalez def. Karl Amoussou via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Saad Awad def. Joe Duarte via TKO (elbows) – Round 1, 1:18
Sergio Rios def. Stephen Martinez via TKO (head kick, punches), Round 2, 0:20
Linton Vassell def. Virgil Zwicker via submission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 1:07

UFC Fight Night 46 Results: Conor McGregor Tears Through Diego Brandao


(Conor McGregor in a state of cat-like readiness. / Photo via Getty)

Conor McGregor wowed Irish audiences with his destruction of Diego Brandao at UFC Fight Night 46. The Irish crowd was in love not only with McGregor, but with the sport itself. Their enthusiasm was infectious, bringing the festivities up from an 8/10 to a 10/10.

The action started off with a bang–especially on the prelims which saw four out of fix fights finished in dramatic fashion. Of note, The Wiki-less legend Ilir Latifi brutalized Chris Dempsey via TKO in the first round. He blasted Dempsey’s leg with kicks, and then just bum rushed him with punches. We’d describe it in more technical terms but that’s pretty much exactly how the fight looked.

The main card started off just as strong as the prelims. Norman Parke steamrolled through Naoyuki Kotani. Parke used him as a punching bag throughout the entire first round, landing punches, kicks, knees, and elbows and nearly finishing him as well. In the second, Parke picked up where he left off and finished Kotani with a barrage of elbows.

Brad Pickett and Ian McCall met next. McCall was too quick for Pickett, who planted his feet and endlessly missed right hands. McCall’s footwork was too fluid, his rhythm was too atypical, his pace was too fast and his striking was too fast and precise for Pickett to mount any meaningful offense. McCall pulled away with this one easily, winning a unanimous decision.


(Conor McGregor in a state of cat-like readiness. / Photo via Getty)

Conor McGregor wowed Irish audiences with his destruction of Diego Brandao at UFC Fight Night 46. The Irish crowd was in love not only with McGregor, but with the sport itself. Their enthusiasm was infectious, bringing the festivities up from an 8/10 to a 10/10.

The action started off with a bang–especially on the prelims which saw four out of six fights finished in dramatic fashion. Of note, The Wiki-less legend Ilir Latifi brutalized Chris Dempsey via TKO in the first round. He blasted Dempsey’s leg with kicks, and then just bum rushed him with punches. We’d describe it in more technical terms but that’s pretty much exactly how the fight looked.

The main card started off just as strong as the prelims. Norman Parke steamrolled through Naoyuki Kotani. Parke used him as a punching bag throughout the entire first round, landing punches, kicks, knees, and elbows and nearly finishing him as well. In the second, Parke picked up where he left off and finished Kotani with a barrage of elbows.

Brad Pickett and Ian McCall met next. McCall was too quick for Pickett, who planted his feet and endlessly missed right hands. McCall’s footwork was too fluid, his rhythm was too atypical, his pace was too fast and his striking was too fast and precise for Pickett to mount any meaningful offense. McCall pulled away with this one easily, winning a unanimous decision.

After the fight, McCall called out Demetrious Johnson with a speech so creepy it hearkened back to Tank Abbott’s promo where he said looking at Paul Varelans getting beat up made him sexually aroused. But what else would you expect from a fighter nicknamed “Uncle Creepy?”

The co-main event of the night featured Gunnar Nelson vs. Zak Cummings. This fight was another in a long line of great, entertaining fights this card. The first round was evenly contested. Nelson landed the better strikes in the first half, but Cummings scored with pressure in the clinch and some dirty boxing in the latter half. In the second, Nelson ultimately took charge. He dragged Cummings to the mat and sunk in a rear naked choke, tapping out the exhausted Cummings right as the round was about to end.

The crowd was MENTAL for the night’s main event: Conor McGregor vs. Diego Brandao. McGregor made short work of his Brazilian foe in what was a pretty short bout. Brandao managed to land a head kick early on, but McGregor was unfazed. McGregor even managed to beat Brandao in the grappling too, reversing a takedown and landing on top. Once on top, McGregor warded off Brandao’s submission attempts with relative ease. Eventually, the fight returned to the feet. McGregor landed a body shot that took the life out of Brandao. As Brandao hobbled away, McGregor landed a brutal straight left that collapsed Brandao to the mat. The referee stopped the fight after a few follow-up punches.

McGregor riled up the crowd with his post-fight speech, proving that he has charisma enough to be a star.

Who’s next for him? Tough to tell. If the UFC is smart, they’ll book him against Cole Miller, who he was supposed to fight tonight anyway. Some people on Twitter speculated that Frankie Edgar would face McGregor next, but that could be disastrous. The UFC can afford to take their time with McGregor due to his age (26). Throwing him into the lion’s den this early could have dire consequences.

Here are the card’s complete results:

Main Card

Conor McGregor def. Diego Brandao via TKO (punches), round 1, 4:05
Gunnar Nelson def. Zak Cummings via submission (rear naked choke), round 2, 4:48
Ian McCall def. Brad Pickett via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Norman Parke def. Naoyuki Kotani via TKO (punches and elbows), round 2, 3:41

Preliminary Card

Ilir Latifi def. Chris Dempsey via TKO (punches), round 1, 2:07
Neil Seery def. Phil Harris decision (unanimous) (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Cathal Pendred def. Mike King technical via Submission (rear-naked choke), round 2, 3:33
Trevor Smith def. Tor Troeng via decision (unanimous) (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Nikita Krylov def. Cody Donovan via TKO (punches) round 1, 4:57
Patrick Holohan def. Josh Sampo vis submission (rear-naked choke), round 1, 3:06.

Jessamyn Duke’s Fight Night 45 Loss Was Due to a Broken Hand, Not Getting KTFO, According to Shayna Baszler


(“Uh, Jessamyn, we’re gonna need you to stop with the hand gestures while we take this x-ray.”)

Fight Night 45 was one of the most violent non-Fight for the Troops cards in UFC History, featuring an astounding nine finishes, 8 TKOs, and a six fight main card that not once required a judge’s input. My decision to spend most of the night ranting about Microsoft tech support notwithstanding, I thoroughly enjoyed what the card had to offer, from the prelim fights all the way up to the main event, which saw Donald Cerrone finish the damn-near unfinishable Jim Miller *twice* in their two round banger.

In one of those aforementioned prelim fights, Leslie Smith destroyed Ronda Rousey training partner (as she was introduced by Jon Anik) Jessamyn Duke in the first round, finishing her with a flurry of body shots, kicks, and knees that was Liddell vs. Ortiz-esque in terms of its volume. But it was only matter of time before the excuses started flying, and luckily, Duke’s training partner, Shayna Baszler, is here to jump on that grenade.

“For everyone asking, @jessamynduke broke her hand. Didn’t know what to do once Leslie turned it on when she couldn’t grab and circle off,” Baszler posted on Twitter shortly after the fight.

While I would disagree that Duke’s inability to circle off was less the cause of her demise than her inability to use her massive reach advantage to her…uh…advantage, the above photo posted to Duke’s instagram seems to indicate that her hand was indeed broken to shit. You can check out a few other photos of Duke’s hand over at the UG, but really, this comment by UG’er rrefs sums up Duke/Baszler’s excuse perfectly…


(“Uh, Jessamyn, we’re gonna need you to stop with the hand gestures while we take this x-ray.”)

Fight Night 45 was one of the most violent non-Fight for the Troops cards in UFC History, featuring an astounding nine finishes, 8 TKOs, and a six fight main card that not once required a judge’s input. My decision to spend most of the night ranting about Microsoft tech support notwithstanding, I thoroughly enjoyed what the card had to offer, from the prelim fights all the way up to the main event, which saw Donald Cerrone finish the damn-near unfinishable Jim Miller *twice* in their two round banger.

In one of those aforementioned prelim fights, Leslie Smith destroyed Ronda Rousey training partner (as she was introduced by Jon Anik) Jessamyn Duke in the first round, finishing her with a flurry of body shots, kicks, and knees that was Liddell vs. Ortiz-esque in terms of its volume. But it was only matter of time before the excuses started flying, and luckily, Duke’s training partner, Shayna Baszler, is here to jump on that grenade.

“For everyone asking, @jessamynduke broke her hand. Didn’t know what to do once Leslie turned it on when she couldn’t grab and circle off,” Baszler posted on Twitter shortly after the fight.

While I would disagree that Duke’s inability to circle off was less the cause of her demise than her inability to use her massive reach advantage to her…uh…advantage, the above photo posted to Duke’s instagram seems to indicate that her hand was indeed broken to shit. You can check out a few other photos of Duke’s hand over at the UG, but really, this comment by UG’er rrefs sums up Duke/Baszler’s excuse perfectly…

Classic reference, rrefs. Bravo.

In other Fight Night 45 medical news, Jim Miller caught an indefinite suspension pending an x-ray on his right forearm and stomach following his loss to Cowboy Cerrone. Joe Proctor, on the other hand, got off easy with a 30 day suspension despite the fact that he apparently had a golf ball lodged into the side of his cranium midway through his eventual TKO win over Justin Salas.

The rest of the Fight Night 45 medical suspension are below, via MMAWeekly.

-Evan Dunham was suspended for 30 days with no contact for a TKO loss.

-Justin Salas was suspended for 30 days with no contact for TKO loss and for facial laceration healing.

-Alptekin Ozkilic was suspended for 30 days with no contact for TKO loss. He was also suspended indefinitely pending the results of a CT head scan.

-Alex White was suspended for 45 days for right eye laceration healing, as well as 30 days with no contact for a knockout loss. He was also suspended indefinitely pending the results of a CT head scan and neurological examination.

-Hugo Viana was suspended for 30 days with no contact for a TKO loss.

-Tina Lahdemaki was suspended for 60 days with no contact for recovery. She was also suspended indefinitely pending opthalmological clearance of her right eye.

One final note: Chris Lytle joined the FS1 team earlier this week, and his first night of fight-calling featured more body shots and all out wars than any card in recent memory. Coincidence? No, no it is not.

–J. Jones

Six MMA Trilogies as Pointless as Penn vs. Edgar


(Okay, but can he beat a motivated, featherweight Penn? Photo Courtesy of Getty Images.)

By Seth Falvo

We here at CagePotato.com aren’t the types to say “We told you so,” which is convenient, because we couldn’t even gather enough interest in BJ Penn vs. Frankie Edgar III to mock it beforehand. The fight ended predictably; Penn continued to be no match for Edgar, and “The Prodigy” hinted at yet another retirement from MMA after it was over. Given the trilogy’s one-sided nature and predictable ending, we’re tempted to call it the most pointless trilogy in our sport’s history. But doing so would do the following trilogies a grave injustice:

Bryan Robinson vs. Andrew Reinard

Third Fight: Tuesday Night Fights, 01/24/2002.
Scoreboard: Robinson, 3-0.

A quick glance at the record of every ironman in MMA will reveal multiple victories over fighters who can best be described as “victims” and “warm bodies.” Reinard is Exhibit A: You can watch his entire three-fight career in only forty-eight seconds.

[Author Note: Robinson vs. Reinard is a stand-in for every pointless trilogy that other MMA ironmen have been involved in. Coincidentally, Robinson himself accounts for seven (?!?) of Travis Fulton’s career victories.]


(Okay, but can he beat a motivated, featherweight Penn? Photo Courtesy of Getty Images.)

By Seth Falvo

We here at CagePotato.com aren’t the types to say “We told you so,” which is convenient, because we couldn’t even gather enough interest in BJ Penn vs. Frankie Edgar III to mock it beforehand. The fight ended predictably; Penn continued to be no match for Edgar, and “The Prodigy” hinted at yet another retirement from MMA after it was over. Given the trilogy’s one-sided nature and predictable ending, we’re tempted to call it the most pointless trilogy in our sport’s history. But doing so would do the following trilogies a grave injustice:

Bryan Robinson vs. Andrew Reinard

Third Fight: Tuesday Night Fights, 01/24/2002.
Scoreboard: Robinson, 3-0.

A quick glance at the record of every ironman in MMA will reveal multiple victories over fighters who can best be described as “victims” and “warm bodies.” Reinard is Exhibit A: You can watch his entire three-fight career in only forty-eight seconds.

[Author Note: Robinson vs. Reinard is a stand-in for every pointless trilogy that other MMA ironmen have been involved in. Coincidentally, Robinson himself accounts for seven (?!?) of Travis Fulton’s career victories.]

Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Wanderlei Silva

Third Fight: Pride: Total Elimination 2003, 08/10/2003.
Scoreboard: Silva, 3-0.

Move along. We don’t need to re-open this wound.

Jeremy Horn vs. Chael Sonnen

Third Fight: UFC 60: Hughes vs. Gracie, 05/27/2006.
Scoreboard: Horn, 3-0.

Three fights. Two submissions. Zero interest. It’s hard to believe that the UFC once had such humble plans for Chael Sonnen.

Ken Shamrock vs. Tito Ortiz

Third Fight: UFC: The Final Chapter, 10/10/2006.
Scoreboard: Ortiz, 3-0.

A trilogy that saw a slightly disinterested relic from a bygone era get mercilessly picked apart by a hungrier fighter in his prime. In other words, it was the Penn vs. Edgar of its era.

Olaf Alfonso vs. John Polakowski

Third Fight: WEC 24, 10/12/2006.
Scoreboard: Polakowski, 2-1.

These two guys easily engaged in the most competitive, entertaining trilogy that made this list. If Polakowski didn’t waste the first three years of his career fighting Alfonso, he may be known to MMA fans for more than this.

Nate Diaz vs. Gray Maynard

“Third” Fight: The Ultimate Fighter 18 Finale, 11/30/2013.
Scoreboard: Diaz, 2-1, technically.

Depending on how you view TUF exhibitions, Diaz vs. Maynard may simply be a “pointlessly marketed as a trilogy” rematch. That the UFC wanted us to view their fight at The TUF 18 Finale as a trilogy made it eligible for this list. The “TUF exhibition + Unwatchable ‘second’ fight” formula sealed its fate as an inclusion.

Did we omit an especially pointless grudge match? Are you dying to make the case for Sylvia vs. Arlovski, even though it was technically a quadrilogy? Leave your thoughts in the comments section, or hit us up at our official Twitter account.

TUF 19 Finale Results: Frankie Edgar Destroys BJ Penn, Penn (Kind of?) Retires for the Umpteenth Time


(Photo via Getty)

The TUF 19 Finale headlined by BJ Penn vs. Frankie Edgar is now officially a candidate for saddest card of all time–not because of the entertainment value of the card, but because of what happened in the main event.

BJ Penn looked…old. He looked old, slow, and generally terrible. He came out with this bizarre, vertical stance reminiscent of a pose a non-fight fan would do if they were parodying a boxer. It looked really strange. Nor did it suit Penn’s style. His footwork couldn’t keep up with Edgar, nor could his hands. Edgar tagged Penn at will, and even managed to take the Hawaiian down at will. This was doubly depressing because Penn’s takedown defense used to be legendary. Eventually, Edgar landed a prolonged flurry of ground and pound in the third frame, prompting a stoppage.

BJ Penn didn’t fight like BJ Penn, and he admitted to it after the fight. He (rightly) stated he didn’t belong in the cage, and hinted he was going to retire.

But there were other important fights on the card–namely the TUF 19 finals.


(Photo via Getty)

The TUF 19 Finale headlined by BJ Penn vs. Frankie Edgar is now officially a candidate for saddest card of all time–not because of the entertainment value of the card, but because of what happened in the main event.

BJ Penn looked…old. He looked old, slow, and generally terrible. He came out with this bizarre, vertical stance reminiscent of a pose a non-fight fan would do if they were parodying a boxer. It looked really strange. Nor did it suit Penn’s style. His footwork couldn’t keep up with Edgar, nor could his hands. Edgar tagged Penn at will, and even managed to take the Hawaiian down at will. This was doubly depressing because Penn’s takedown defense used to be legendary. Eventually, Edgar landed a prolonged flurry of ground and pound in the third frame, prompting a stoppage.

BJ Penn didn’t fight like BJ Penn, and he admitted to it after the fight. He (rightly) stated he didn’t belong in the cage, and hinted he was going to retire.

But there were other important fights on the card–namely the TUF 19 finals.

In the middleweight final, Eddie Gordon ran through Dhiego Lima. To say he blitzed him would be an understatement. Gordon ran across the cage and started just bashing the shit out of Lima, who folded against the constant pressure. That’s honestly as technical as we can get. The fight was a pure beatdown, plain and simple.

We didn’t think a mugging like that could get more ferocious and violent…but then we watched Corey Anderson vs. Matt Van Buren. Anderson lived up to his ridiculous “Beastin’ 25/8″ nickname and beasted through Van Buren more dramatically than Gordon destroyed Lima!

Overall, it was a pretty entertaining night–a shame it had to end in such a disappointing yet entirely predictable way.

Here are the night’s complete results:

Main Card:

Frankie Edgar def. B.J. Penn via TKO (R3: 4:16)
Corey Anderson def. Matt Van Buren via TKO (R1: 1:01)
Eddie Gordon def. Dhiego Lima via TKO (R1: 1:11)
Derrick Lewis def. Guto Inocente via TKO (R1: 3:30)
Dustin Ortiz def. Justin Scoggins via split decision (29-28 28-29, 29-28)

Preliminary Card:

Kevin Lee def. Jesse Ronson via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
Leandro Issa def. Jumabieke Tuerxun via submission (armbar) (R3, 3:49)
Adriano Martins def. Juan Manuel Puig via first-round KO (2:20)
Patrick Walsh def. Daniel Spohn via unanimous decision 29-28 X3
Sarah Moras def. Alexis Dufresne via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Robert Drysdale def. Keith Berish via submission (rear-naked choke) (R1, 2:03)

WSOF 11 Results: Gaethje Knocks Out Newell, Fitch Blankets Hallman

WSOF 11 completed the first leg of this weekend’s MMA triple crown–WSOF 11, UFC 175, and then the TUF 19 Finale. By all accounts (including our own), WSOF 11 was a solid MMA event. The pacing was perfect, and (almost) the fights all delivered.

We were lucky enough to watch the card at a postponed 4th of July BBQ (it rained at Castle CagePotato yesterday). Here’s a brief recap of the night’s events:

In the first fight of the night, Cody Bollinger steamrolled over Pablo Alfonso. He submitted him with a rear-naked choke in under three minutes. Not much else to tell.

In the next bout, Melvin Guillard made his triumphant return to MMA. This was Guillard’s first fight since the UFC cut him after his loss to Michael Johnson. He squared off against Gesias Cavalcante and picked him apart. Guillard looked crisp, fast, and accurate. He seemingly had his shit together, which allowed him to put Cavalcante away in the second round via TKO.

The recap for Jon Fitch vs. Dennis Hallman and Nick Newell vs. Justin Gaethje are after the jump.

WSOF 11 completed the first leg of this weekend’s MMA triple crown–WSOF 11, UFC 175, and then the TUF 19 Finale. By all accounts (including our own), WSOF 11 was a solid MMA event. The pacing was perfect, and (almost) the fights all delivered.

We were lucky enough to watch the card at a postponed 4th of July BBQ (it rained at Castle CagePotato yesterday). Here’s a brief recap of the night’s events:

In the first fight of the night, Cody Bollinger steamrolled over Pablo Alfonso. He submitted him with a rear-naked choke in under three minutes. Not much else to tell.

In the next bout, Melvin Guillard made his triumphant return to MMA. This was Guillard’s first fight since the UFC cut him after his loss to Michael Johnson. He squared off against Gesias Cavalcante and picked him apart. Guillard looked crisp, fast, and accurate. He seemingly had his shit together, which allowed him to put Cavalcante away in the second round via TKO.

The co-main event featured Jon Fitch vs. Dennis Hallman. Originally, Rousimar Palhares Jake Shields, Josh Burkman was supposed to take on Fitch but they all pulled out for varying reasons. This fight was a vintage Jon Fitch performance, which meant it put the crowd to sleep. If “Broke Jon Fitch” was super-exciting and aggressive, then this was a return to “Real Estate Boom” Jon Fitch–the kind of fighter who grinds without ever coming close to even attempting to finish the fight. Fitch won a unanimous decision win without much surprise or fanfare.

Nick Newell and Justin Gaethje met in the WSOF 11 main event. We hate to break out the “it was a WAR, BRO” cliche, but the first round was a war. Newell did a tremendous job of taking it to Gaethje, and Gaethje reciprocated. In the second frame, Gaethje started to pull away. Newell was unable to block Gaethje’s right hands properly, and got tagged numerous times as a result. Gaethje eventually nailed him one time too many, and Newell crashed to the mat. The referee called it at 3:09 of the second round. Here’s a GIF.

Overall, the event was a breeze to watch. The four-fight main card was incredibly refreshing in the age of 6-hour UFC shows full of jobbers and the incessant broadcasting of the same four commercials. We also gave WSOF a huge thumbs up for their pristine white canvas. The white canvas helps make things a bit brighter and less drab. It also highlights any blood that spills from the fighters better than the UFC’s grey canvas, upping the violence factor.

If you DVR’d this, watch it when you get time. It’s worth it.

Here are the complete results:

Main Card

Justin Gaethje def. Nick Newell via TKO (strikes) at 3:09 of R2
Jon Fitch def. Dennis Hallman via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Melvin Guillard def. Gesias Cavalcante via TKO (strikes) at 2:36 of R2
Cody Bollinger def. Pablo Alfonso via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:37 of R1

Preliminary Card

Jake Heun def. Kendrick Miree via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Neiman Gracie def. Dustin Holyko via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:21 of R2
Jose Caceres def. Walber Brito de Barros via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Muhamed Dereese def. Rashaun Spencer via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)