UFC London results & highlights: Reyes edges out Oezdemir, Wood impressively stops Quinonez

The UFC London main card is in progress, and the promotion’s #8 ranked light heavyweight Dominick Reyes just edged out a close decision over the #6 ranked Volkan Oezdemir. Reyes remains undefeated with a record of 11-0, with five of them taking place within the UFC. Naturally, Reyes informed UFC light heavyweight king Jon Jones that he is coming for him.

Also on the card, former Cage Warriors champion Nathaniel Wood extended his winning streak to eight with a second-round submission of Jose Alberto Quinones. Wood has now finished all-three of his UFC opponents by submission. This loss breaks up a four-fight winning streak for Quinones.

Before that, Claudio Silva had his hands full with Danny Roberts. Silva had to overcome being hurt multiple times before he realized a third round armbar. Roberts never tapped, but the referee heard him verbally tap. Silva now sits at 4-0 inside of the UFC. Kicking off the main card, Jack Marshman overcame being dropped in the opening round to come back and win a split decision over the heavy handed John Phillips. Marshman now finds himself back in the win column.

Main card:

Dominick Reyes def. Volkan Oezdemir by split decision (29-28 x2, 28-29): Light Heavyweight

The light heavys went right to work, exchanging leg kicks. Each man knocked the other off balance with kicks, but both men were able to stand back up without having to spend any real time on the floor. The rest of the round was pretty back and forth on the feet, with neither man really taking over.

Reyes landed quite a few leg kicks n the second round, causing some serious redness around the knee of Oezdemir. The forward pressure of Oezdemir was relentless, as he started looking for the takedown. Reyes did a sound job of shucking them off and remaining vertical.

The final round saw Oezdemir start to land a bit more with his hands. His initial strike would miss but his follow up blow routinely hit its mark. Oezdemir also started to chop away with inside leg kicks the same way Reyes has been doing. Then, Reyes began to up his output, throwing his punches in combinations. It was a rather close bout all the through.

Nathaniel Wood def. Jose Alberto Quinones by submission (RNC) at 2:46 of round 2: Bantamweight

Quinones found an early takedown in this matchup, but Wood was able to reverse the position. Back on the feet, Wood landed a stiff jab that dropped his opponent. He followed up by attacking with a D’arce, but Quinones hung tough and made it back to his feet. Wood scored a last second takedown as the round ended.

The hands of Wood were finding their mark in the second round, frequently snapping back the head of Quinones. With double unders, Quinones tried to get the fight to the floor, but settled for shoving his foe up against the cage. It was Wood who came up with the takedown and went right to the back. Quinones was caught in an RNC and was forced to tap

Claudio Silva def. Danny Roberts by verbal submission at 3:37 of round 3: Welterweight

Silva came out launching kicks as if he were daring Roberts to take him down. Roberts ended up giving up a takedown and spent a lot of time holding on preventing the pass. Silva took full mount and went for an arm triangle which resulted in Roberts taking top position before time ran out.

Roberts rocked his foe early in the second act. Silva responded with a takedown before moving into full mount. Silva again worked for an arm triangle, but again Roberts escaped into the top position. Back on the feet, Roberts again blasted Silva with heavy punches that had him stumbling. Silva scored another takedown and took the back, but gave up top position again when he rolled for a triangle.

Roberts again hurt his foe in the opening moments of the final round. From top position, Roberts landed several ground strikes. Then, as Roberts began to stack his foe, Silva rolled for an armbar. Roberts fought it off for a bit, but the referee stepped in to stop the fight due to a verbal tap.

Jack Marshman def. John Phillips by split decision (29-28 x2, 28-29): Middleweight

Phillips went right after his opponent, backing Marshman up to the fence. A massive bolo from Phillips sent Marshman flying across the cage, but he wasn’t out. Phillips opted to not follow his foe to the ground and Marshman stood back to his feet. Marshman began to throw back, but was unable to get back the round.

Marshman had a lot better second round. He was able to address the forward pressure of his opponent with his counter striking. Phillips was knocked over with a slick body kick to hook combo, but quickly hopped back to his feet. Phillips tried to lure Marshman into a brawl but was unsuccessful.

Phillips kept up with his forward pressure into the final round, backing up his opponent. Marshman began to pump his jab to try to keep Phillips off of him. A couple of big shots landed for Phillips, but they weren’t happening very often. It was a bit of a sticky final round, but the fighters did stand in front of one another and bang it out for the closing moments of the fight.