UFC 214 featured a four-fight televised preliminary card before its pay-per-view main card on Saturday night at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. Topping things off, Ricardo Lamas got past Jason Knight inside the distance. Also, Aljamain Sterling picked up the biggest win of his career against former bantamweight champ Renan Barao.
Check out the full results below.
Ricardo Lamas def. Jason Knight via TKO (punches) at 4:34 of round 1
Ricardo Lamas proved in the feature preliminary bout that he’s still one of the best featherweights on the planet.
Some counted him out against rising star Jason Knight, and he even closed as a very small underdog in the sportsbooks, but he put the wood to “The Kid.” Lamas started out with a takedown early in the opening round, but Knight did incredibly well off his back, nearly locking up numerous submission attempts.
Knight got back to his feet in the latter half of the round, but “The Bully” landed a hard shot that hurt his opponent. Lamas followed up with a number of combinations and was teeing off on Knight, and the up-and-comer was visibly stunned and barely hanging in there. Knight pulled guard, and Lamas jumped on top of him and pounded him out with ground-and-pound. Knight almost survived the former title challenger’s onslaught, but the veteran got him out of there late in the first round.
Aljamain Sterling def. Renan Barao via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 30-26)
Renan Barao started out well. But once Aljamain Sterling started winning, he started dominating.
In the first round, Barao and Sterling traded kicks early on, and “Funk Master” attempted to get the former bantamweight champion to the ground. He failed, and Barao ended up on top, where he spent most of the round. Sterling looked for submission off his back, but the latter half of round one was all Barao.
Things started turning in the New Yorker’s favor once round two started. Sterling was all over the Brazilian for the majority of the round. He was on his back, looking for a rear-naked choke. Then he made his way to top position where he mauled Barao with huge elbows late in the round.
Sterling, who put on one of the best performances of his career on Saturday, certainly looked smooth throughout the bout. His striking looked better, and he secured takedowns against an ex-champ known for his takedown defense. In the third round, Sterling, a slight favorite, controlled Barao in the clinch for most of the round. It wasn’t nearly as dominant as the second round, but still definitely a Sterling round.
Brian Ortega def. Renato Moicano via submission (guillotine) at 2:59 of round 3
Brian Ortega might have been down on the scorecards against Renato Moicano, but none of that mattered after what happened in the third round.
The pair of top 10 featherweights put on a fight to remember on the UFC 214 undercard. Right from the beginning, Ortega pressured Moicano, who countered well in an action-packed scrap. Somewhat surprisingly, the two jiu-jitsu artists spent most of the fight trading shots on the feet.
But Moicano taking Ortega down in the third round was the beginning of the end, which came very quickly after the takedown. “T-City” immediately locked in a guillotine choke, and the Brazilian was forced to tap out.
This was Ortega’s fourth straight win by third-round stoppage.
Calvin Kattar def. Andre Fili via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Everyone counted Calvin Kattar out of his fight with Andre Fili, but no one’s counting him out now.
Kattar, a three-to-one underdog and UFC newcomer, put on a great showing against the veteran. Both featherweights traded shots from the start to finish, but Kattar got the better of the exchanges and he displayed a great striking arsenal. Perhaps the most impressive part of the CES MMA veteran’s debut was his composure — there were no signs of Octagon jitters whatsoever.
Fili certainly had his moments, showed off solid movement, and kicked Kattar well early, but Kattar always countered Fili’s offense and simply did more. The Team Alpha Male fighter’s defense seemingly lacked in this fight, as Kattar hurt him on numerous occasions. Kattar also convinced the judges with fantastic finishes to each round; he ended each round either on top of Fili or neither finishing “Touchy” with strikes.
Kattar vs. Fili, one of the better fights of the night, was a striking affair for the majority of the time. Kattar was superior on the feet, and therefore got the upset victory.