UFC Albany results and highlights: Brown finishes Camozzi, Meerschaert wins in debut

UFC Fight Night 102 is live from Times Union Center in Albany, New York as we speak. In the evening’s main event, UFC heavyweight contender Derrick Lewis headlines for the first time against fellow top 15 fighter Shamil Abdurakhimov.

The UFC Fight Night 102 preliminary card is in the books and featured a handful of back-and-forth scraps and a couple of finishes. Check out results of the entire preliminary card below.

Justine Kish def. Ashley Yoder via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Justine Kish and Ashley Yoder capped off the UFC Fight Night 102 preliminary card in style. The women’s strawweight clash was a very fun, back-and-forth bout that was mostly contested on the mat. Kish and Yoder both scored several submission attempts and the bout was full of scrambles, reversals and transitions, but neither fighter had an attempt tight enough to get the tap. Kish was slightly the aggressor on the feet, but Yoder did quite a bit on the mat. It was a very close matchup to score and it could have gone either way, but it was indeed Kish who got the judges’ nod.

Randy Brown def. Brian Camozzi via TKO (Strikes) at 1:25 of Round 2

Randy Brown continued his winning ways in a welterweight matchup against newcomer Brian Camozzi. The “Dana White: Lookin’ For A Fight” veteran had to overcome a tight submission attempt from the younger brother of longtime middleweight Chris Camozzi in the first round. Camozzi attempted an armbar and tried to transition to a triangle choke, but “Rudeboy” got out. Brown still likely won the first round, however, as he momentarily stunned Camozzi in the opening minute of the fight and landed a few solid ground-and-pound shots at the very end of the first five minutes.

Just over a minute into the second round, Brown landed a devastating knee to the temple of Camozzi, who subsequently dropped down to his knees. Camozzi was badly hurt, and Brown quickly realized that — he landed a few follow-up shots and that was enough for the referee to step in.

Gerald Meerschaert def. Joe Gigliotti via Submission (Anaconda Choke) at 4:12 of Round 1

Gerald Meerschaert ended the decision drought in Albany in the third last preliminary bout. The UFC newcomer stepped inside the Octagon for the first time against Joe Gigliotti, and the 33-fight veteran got the job done late in the first round.

Meerschaert’s wrestling and grappling is definitely funky but effective. After getting taken down, Meerschaert quickly escaped. Gigliotti momentarily took his back, but Meerschaert escaped yet again. Meerschaert got his opponent down to the ground himself and attempted a guillotine. Shortly thereafter, he transitioned to an anaconda choke and got the tap.

Andrew Sanchez def. Trevor Smith via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Andrew Sanchez changed things up at UFC Fight Night 102. The TUF 23 winner returned to the middleweight division against Trevor Smith and resorted entirely to his standup game to get the job done. Sanchez is known for his wrestling and grappling, so it was interesting to see him trade shots with Smith for three rounds.

Sanchez got the better of the exchanges throughout the entire bout and rocked Smith a handful of times. Smith, however, is as tough as they come and survived all of Sanchez’s offense on the feet. That said, Smith had very little offense to offer himself, other than one or two takedowns. Sanchez clearly out-struck him on the feet en route to decision victory.

Shane Burgos def. Tiago Trator via Unanimous Decision (30-26, 29-28, 29-27)

Shane Burgos and Tiago Trator had an early attempt at Fight of the Night honors in their featherweight matchup in Albany. The pair of up-and-comers threw down for three rounds, putting on a very exciting, back-and-forth affair. Burgos was clearly the larger fighter in the Octagon and that resulted in him having heavier shots than Trator. The volume was certainly there for both fighters, but the UFC newcomer ultimately landed more. Plus, he rocked Trator, who was in survival mode for much of the bout yet did not quit at all, a few times throughout the bout, so that helped on the scorecards, as well. Trator was game for all 15 minutes, however, as he got in his own fair share of shots. But the very accurate Burgos simply did more, and that was enough to get the judges’ nod.

Marc Diakiese def. Frankie Perez via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Marc Diakiese showed off a new aspect of his mixed martial arts game in his sophomore UFC appearance — wrestling. Instead of standing for the most part like he usually does, the top lightweight prospect took Perez down repeatedly and grinded him down in the opening round.

The tides turned in the second round. Diakiese started to slow, and Perez capitalized on that, taking over. Perez was on top for most of round two, making it a very, very interesting and close fight going into the third round.

Diakiese saved his undefeated record by clearly winning the third round. Similar to the first five minutes, he resorted to his wrestling abilities to grind out Perez in the final round. Cardio didn’t appear to be too big of an issue for Diakiese in the last five minutes; he seemed to have found a second win.

Diakiese was given the unanimous decision win after the bout was over, and he still has an “0” in his professional record.

Ryan Janes def. Keith Berish via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

After being booked for UFC on FOX 21 and UFC Fight Night Manila prior to the Albany card, Ryan Janes finally made his debut in the organization on Friday night. He stepped inside the Octagon against Keith Berish and picked up a closely-contested unanimous decision victory.

It was a tough fight for both men and very back-and-forth. Janes and Berish both had their moments, but it was Janes who got the better of the exchanges throughout the three-round affair. For the most part, Janes landed more volume while Berish landed the harder shots. Both guys walked forward and displayed limited defense on the feet, but, perhaps surprisingly, neither fighter suffered a knockout loss in the bout.

Janes did enough on the feet and the mat to get the judges’ nod, winning two of three rounds.

Juliana Lima def. J.J. Aldrich via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Juliana Lima grinded out TUF 23 alum J.J. Aldrich in her opponent’s UFC debut, which served as the opening fight of Friday’s UFC Fight Night 102 preliminary card on UFC Fight Pass. Lima found lots of success of the course of 15 minutes in the clinch and on the mat and used takedowns to get the job done. Aldrich tried to generate some offense on the feet but the Brazilian had too easy of a time getting her to the mat for Aldrich to be able to do much in this bout. Lima was given all three rounds by the judges after the fight.