The UFC’s return to the UK for UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Manuwa got off to a fast start with something that has become increasingly rare in the promotion, a first round finish. Top 15 flyweight Louis Gaudinot was able to take advantage of a mistake by Phil Harris and lock up a guillotine choke that forced the tap. It was the first opening in the fight and Gaudinot made it count.
In the second fight of the card, Igor Araujo and Danny Mitchell put on an interesting ground battle. For the first round Mitchell worked off the bottom, looking for a heel hook among other attacks, but Araujo survived and worked some decent ground and pound from top position.
The second and third round saw Mitchell getting further and further away from success in his attacks while Araujo maintained mostly top position except for in the third round when he had a deep triangle locked in. Mitchell survived the triangle choke attempt, but ate several elbows to the side of his head.
In the end the judges scored it unanimous 30-27 for Araujo.
Next up was a largely forgettable affair between Bradley Scott and Claudio Henrique da Silva. There was a lot of activity but it was often sloppy and the fight seemed to drag due to multiple rule violations. Still, despite tiring later in the fight, Silva was able to do enough to hold out for a decision win.
Luke Barnatt impressed with a TKO of Mats Nilsson. The bout saw both men exchange some power punching, both landing and affecting the other with the heavy shots. Eventually Barnatt buzzed Nilsson with a head kick and followed up with some heavy punches that drove him back into the cage. The flurry continued with punches and knees before Nilsson slumped to the mat and the fight had to be stopped.
In the final prelim of the card, Ilir Latifi was able to get a quick takedown against Cyrille Diabate and immediately worked for a d’arce choke. When the choke didn’t come on the first few attempts, Latifi continued to pursue it, eventually managing to get enough position and pressure to also turn it into a sort of neck crank that left Diabate no choice but to tap out.