The UFC on Fox 20 televised prelims were decidedly lacking in entertainment for the first two fights. The third one stepped it up a bit, but wasn’t much better. It finally took a former WEC champ to get the crowd fired up with a stoppage. Here’s how it went down.
Eddie Wineland defeated Frankie Saenz by TKO (strikes), 1:54 of round 3
This was the best Wineland has looked in ages. He dropped Saenz in every round and, although he was getting tagged as well, was really the one in control the whole way. Finally in the third, he rocked Saenz with a shot that sent him to the floor again. He jumped him and pounded away, but Saenz got back up. Eddie continued the barrage though, beating him up against the cage until the referee was forced to step in.
Check out the finish:
IT’S ALL OVER! Eddie Wineland uses those bricks he calls fists to TKO Frankie Saenz! #UFCChicago https://t.co/dYRG8ZHgnw
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) July 23, 2016
Darren Elkins defeated Godofredo Pepey by unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 30-26)
Pepey was a victim of his own strategy here. After a strong first round where there was actually some action, Pepey lost a point for an illegal knee, then kept pulling guard. That’s not the best idea against a wrestler, and he got beaten up for the whole second half of the fight because of it. He tried to land elbows from the bottom, but Elkins had him well contained and took home a win in his pseudo-hometown.
Kamaru Usman defeated Alexander Yakovlev by unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-25)
This was all Usman. Yakovlev just couldn’t get out from underneath his opponent, and even lost a point for grabbing the cage when he tried to scoot out. Usman was never close to finishing, but maintained dominant positions and gave Yakovlev nothing to work with. The scores reflect that.
Michel Prazeres defeated J.C. Cottrell by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
As expected, Prazeres was dominant for most of the fight. In the first he threatened with an omoplata and controlled Cottrell on the ground. The second was more of the same, though Prazeres opened up on the feet a bit as well. The third was weird because the referee never noticed Cottrell’s mouthpiece was out, and he spent most of the round fighting without it. Nonetheless, he didn’t get a thing done and Prazeres cruised to the win.
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