UFC Stockholm prelims results and video: Munhoz beats Stasiak, Hadzovic gets comeback KO vs. Held

The preliminary card for UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Teixeira is in the books. Fans were treated to a couple of dramatic third-round knockout wins from Damir Hadzovic and Bojan Velickovic. Darren Till impressed in his first Octagon appearance in over a year. Reza Madadi and Joaquim Silva are the early frontrunners for Fight of the Night. Trevor Smith’s wrestling completely shut down Chris Camozzi, while Pedro Munhoz got a hard-earned decision over Damian Stasiak. Here’s how the fights played out.

Pedro Munhoz def. Damian Stasiak by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) – Bantamweights

Stasiak’s first takedown attempt of the fight led to an immediate guillotine by Munhoz, which Stasiak escaped. Munhoz is one of the more dangerous guillotine chokers on the UFC roster. Munhoz tagged Stasiak with several right hands but was also caught by a Stasiak uppercut. It was a surprisingly competitive battle on the feet in round 1, wit both men showing impressive chins.

Munhoz was definitely getting the better of Stasiak in the striking department in the early part of round 2, especially with that sharp left hand of his. The Brazilian used a front headlock to spin to the back, but wasn’t in a position to get a rear-naked choke. Stasiak did well to land those uppercuts on the inside and finished the stronger of the two fighters.

Stasiak stuffed two takedowns early in the final round but was hurt by a combination of punches from Munhoz, who then against attacked with a choke but Stasiak stopped it. Stasiak’s takedown effort led to him winding up on his back. The referee curiously stood them up after just a few seconds. Hard knees in the clinch scored for Munhoz, as Stasiak looked to be slowing down. Munhoz battered Stasiak with hard leg kicks. With 90 seconds left in the fight, Munhoz took Stasiak’s back, then slammed the Polish fighter down in emphatic fashion, and less powerfully a few seconds later, then once more before they separated and exchanged big strikes in the center of the Octagon. An entertaining fight and a third straight win for Munhoz, while Stasiak’s UFC record is now 2-2.

Trevor Smith def. Chris Camozzi by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26) – Middleweights

Camozzi’s porous takedown defense reared its ugly head again on Saturday. Smith beat up Camozzi on the ground in the first two rounds, slamming home big strikes that bloodied up Chris’ face. The only real offense Camozzi managed off of his back was a non-threatening omoplata in round 1. It was pure domination from start to finish, although it took Smith a little longer in the final round to get a takedown. Smith wins on short notice against Camozzi, whose UFC run is surely over.

Joaquim Silva def. Reza Madadi by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) – Lightweights

After a dominant round 1 for Madadi, it became a grueling, entertaining battle for the final two rounds. Madadi landed plenty of big singular strikes, while Silva was able to work the body and slow down his opponent, who accepted the fight on 11 days’ notice. Round 3 was seemingly going in Madadi’s favor with pivotal takedowns, but Silva was able to outgrapple Madadi in crucial spots and scramble to his feet. A right hand dropped Madadi and Silva took the Swede’s back, but was too high up and Madadi slipped out. Madadi’s last couple of takedown attempts ended up with him getting put on the bottom and absorbing heavy punches. A close fight goes the way of Netto BJJ, as the crowd booed the decision. Madadi has lost three of his last four, but fared well on short notice.

Bojan Velickovic def. Nico Musoke by TKO (punches) at 4:37 of round 3 – Welterweights

In a tight, back-and-forth contest, Velickovic perhaps saved himself from a loss on the scorecards with a late stoppage win over Sweden’s Musoke. Both men found success on the feet and were able to take each other down, but in round 3 it looked as if Musoke was the decidedly fresher, faster fighter. Velickovic had an early guillotine attempt in the last round just as Musoke was pressuring him, but Musoke escaped it. In the final minute of the fight, “Serbian Steel” caught Musoke with a right hand to the temple, and it shortcircuited Musoke to the point where his legs were all over the place. Velickovic pounced on a downed Musoke, landed one extra punch, and that was it. A big win for Bojan, who is 2-1-1 in the UFC, while Musoke’s first bout in two years ends in heartbreaking defeat.

Darren Till def. Jessin Ayari by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-27) – Welterweights

Liverpool’s Till put on a striking clinic on the German, hurting him early in round 1 before dropping him twice in round 2 with beautiful left hands from southpaw position. Ayari was tough as nails and threatened with submissions off of his back, but Till just blasted him with ground-and-pound repeatedly. Action slowed in round 3, with Ayari getting a few good shots in, but Till was landing hard strikes of his own. The only asterisk on Till’s performance was his five-pound weight miss, but it was otherwise a dominant showing by him. Ayari drops to 1-1 in the UFC.

Damir Hadzovic def. Marcin Held by KO (knee and punch) at :07 of round 3 – Lightweights

The Bosnian pulled off a sensational comeback against the leglock specialist from Poland. Held controlled proceedings on the mat, getting timely takedowns and advancing to dominant positions consistently. Hadzovic did extremely well to avoid getting submitted by a d’arce choke in the second-round, but he absolutely needed a finish in the final round or else he’d lose.

Just seconds into round 3, Held attempted an Imanari roll and it backfired in a big way, as Hadzovic timed it with a devastating knee that put him down. One punch for good measure put Held away. An incredible win for Hadzovic, and a heartbreaking loss for Held, who drops to 0-3 in the UFC and we may have seen the last of him inside the Octagon.