UFC 216 prelim results & highlights: Green, Vannata battle to draw in FOTY candidate

On the UFC 216 preliminary bouts, we saw Cody Stamann rally back from early adversity to pick up a split decision over Tom Duquesnoy. Lando Vannata and Bobby Green put on a candidate for Fight of the Year, as the lightweights drew even in an instant classic. Poliana Botelho came through in her UFC debut as she earned a unanimous decision victory over Pearl Gonzalez. The televised prelims were kicked off with Matt Schnell picking up a unanimous decision victory over Marco Beltran in a spirited affair.

Preliminary Card (8 PM ET, FX)

Cody Stamann def. Tom Duquesnoy by split decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29): Bantamweight

Duquesnoy came out throwing his patented combinations, landing clean and then moving to not get hit back. Stamann blasted a takedown, but Duquesnoy immediately bounced back up to his feet. Duquesnoy started to pour it on as Stamann’s back was to the cage, landing flush and varied shots. Stamann blasted another takedown, and was able to control for just a bit, before Duquesnoy returned to his feet. Duquesnoy continued to pick apart his opponent, as Stamann struggled with the polish.

Duquesnoy continued to outclass Stamann into the second round, landing all sorts of different striking techniques. At the midpoint of the round, Stamann blasted another takedown, and was able get off some ground strikes before Duquesnoy scrambled back to his feet. Stamann blasted another double leg, and kept Duquesnoy on his back for the remainder of the round.

Stamann moved forward to start the final frame, land combos of his own as Duquesnoy backpedaled. The pace of Duquesnoy dwindled considerably, as Stamann kept on with the pressure, firing away without fear of the counter. Duquesnoy definitely was ahead early, but Stamann hung tough and used his takedowns to get himself back in the fight.

Check out these highlights from Cody Stamann vs. Tom Duquesnoy:

Lando Vannata drew even with Bobby Green (29-27, 27-29, 28-28): Lightweight

Vannata cracked early with some leg kicks, but Green found success leaping in with crisp straights. Vannata started pushing the pace, and dropped Green with a punch, and assaulted him with ample ground and pound. The referee gave Green a chance to recover, but Vannata shot himself in the foot by launching a knee to the head of a downed Green, which resulting in a point deduction. Once the action resumed, Vannata locked up a tight Guillotine, but Green was able to escape harms way.

Vannata came out with some crafty strikes to start the second stanza, but Green was right there returning fire with straight counter punches. Vannata’s nose was busted by a Green cross, which appeared to slow down the output a bit. Green was doing work against the cage, but a left hand from Vannata wobbled Green, which shifted back the momentum in Vannata’s favor. War!

The jab of Green was routinely landing, bloodying the face of his opponent, but Vannata was right there answering with clever combos of his own. These lightweights waged absolute war, as each man was dishing it out just as well as they were taking it in. Vannata started turning it up in the final 60 seconds, but it was Green that unleashed an insane punching combo that left Vannata wobbly just as the final bell sounded. Ladies and gentlemen, this fight was declared a draw. What a fight!

Draw!!!

Watch the left hand of Vannata make Green go wobble wobble:

Look at Lando land a lot of leather, and then make a booboo:

Poliana Botelho def. Pearl Gonzalez by Unanimous Decision (30-27 x3): Strawweight

Gonzalez found early success with stuffing her foe up against the fence, but did eat several vicious ‘Travis Browne’ elbows. About 90% of the first round was spent in that position, with Gonzalez controlling, and Botelho occasionally landing with the elbows.

Gonzalez bull-rushed her way into the clinch within the first minute of the second round, but this time, Botelho landed her elbows with a lot more frequency as her back was to the cage. Once in open space, Botelho let off some stinging leg kicks, which prompted Gonzalez to find the clinch against the cage as the round expired.

Botelho returned to the leg kicks to jump start the final round, and even clipped her opponent with a heavy right hand as Gonzalez entered the clinch. Gonzalez succeeded in stuffing her opponent against the fence, but failed to realize any takedown, and absorbed a descent amount of strikes in the process. Sure, Gonzalez racked up an eternity in cage control, but ate a ton of strikes without landing hardly any of her own.

These elbows of Botelho were constant:

We have a new UFC strawweight in the mix, and her name is Poliano Botelho:

Matt Schnell def. Marco Beltran by Unanimous Decision (30-27 x2, 29-28): Flyweights

Both flyweights went toe to toe right off the bat, throwing respective flurries with Beltran landing the better strike. The speed advantage was apparent with the hands of Schnell, but Beltran was scoring with an assortment of kicks. Beltran came out launching his kicks to start the second frame, but Schnell was showcasing some beautiful boxing techniques, even if he struggled a bit to find the target. Beltran played the outside, throwing mostly kicks, as the hands of Schnell seemed to have the respect of Beltran headed into the 3rd round. Beltran was a bit more willing to throw his hands early in the final round, and even started moving forward looking to push the pace. Beltran returned to his kick first routine, but was a lot more effective with the output of Schnell dwindling. It was a spirited outing from both flyweights, but Matt Schnell walked away with the unanimous decision victory.

Although the hands of Matt Schnell were the story of the evening, he was also able to land a few solid kicks as well: