UFC 224 results: Dern drops and chokes out Cooper, Lineker KO’s Kelleher

The UFC 224 PPV main card saw Mackenzie Dern club and sub Amanda Cooper in the opening round. Dern came out throwing heavy leather, and connected with a right hand that had Cooper in all sorts of trouble. The BJJ standout quickly took advantage of her superior ground game and ended the fight before Cooper had a chance to recover. Who will be next for Dern, and will she make weight next time?

Also on the main card, the promotion’s #6 bantamweight John Lineker picked up a walk-off knockout on Brian Kelleher in the third round. For basically the entire fight, Lineker continued to attack the body as well as the head with heavy hooks. It seemed as if Lineker had the fight in the bag, but it was nice to see that not be enough for him. He didn’t have to push the pace there in the third, but he did, and that’s boss!

UFC 224 main card:

Mackenzie Dern def. Amanda Cooper by submission (RNC)at 2:227 of round 1: Strawweight

Dern opened up the bout with a wild overhand right that missed by a mile, but tried again and connected, hurting Cooper. Dern quickly took the full mount, followed by a back take that led to the RNC finish. Well then.

**It should be noted that Mackenzie Dern missed weight by seven pounds

John Lineker def. Brian Kelleher by KO at 3:43 of round 3: Bantamweight

It was no surprise to see Lineker take the center to start the bout, with Kelleher skirting along the outside. Kelleher began to land, but Lineker halted all of that by letting his own hands go, dropping Kelleher to the ground. Kelleher returned to his feet to partially land a spinning backfist, appearing to have recovered from getting knocked down. A couple more heavy hooks landed for Lineker to ice the first round.

The head and body attack of Lineker continued on into the second stanza, as Kelleher moved backwards looking to counter. Hooks to the body followed by hooks to the head was the recipe for disaster for Lineker, but Kelleher wore the bulk of them rather well. The punch count appeared to be substantially on the side of Lineker, especially the power punches.

Lineker locked up a guillotine choke early in the final round, but Kelleher used the moment to find top position. The fight returned to the feet, where Lineker began to slow down a bit, but continued to launch his hooks at Kelleher. A big flurry was unleashed by Lineker, which led to a beautiful body hook to head hook knockout!

Look at Lineker laying down the law:

The hands of Lineker are so serious: