The UFC Apex Center in Las Vegas, Nevada was home to a great night of fights at UFC Vegas 13: Santos vs. Teixeira. The card saw six (T)KOs, two submissions and three decisions.
The prelims opened with a fun but brief scrap between Anthony Birchak and Gustavo Lopez that saw Lopez take the first-round victory via rear-naked choke. That was followed up by one of the gnarliest ear injuries the community has ever seen when Max Griffin literally elbowed Ramiz Brahimaj’s ear almost clean off in the third-round resulting in an injury TKO. Alexander Romanov only needed a round to defeat Marcos Rogerio de Lima, and he did it with a forearm choke! Finally, Trevin Giles stopped Bevon Lewis via TKO in the third round.
The main card opened with Xioanan Yan battling Claudia Gadelha to a unanimous decision victory. That was followed up by Giga Chikadze not wasting any time getting a first-round TKO over Jamey Simmons via head kick and punch combo. Raoni Barcelos and Khalid Taha put on an entertaining scrap, but it would be Barcelos taking the lopsided unanimous decision. Andrei Arlovski and Tanner Boser traded punches and kicks all three rounds. It wasn’t fun or entertaining, but it resulted in an Andrei Arlovski win and that’s always a good thing.
Glover Teixeira and Thiago Santos was a great fight with Teixeira getting hurt early, recovering, getting Santos to the ground and basically destroying him on the ground for the rest of the fight. There was a moment at the top of the third where Santos dropped Glover again with a crushing left, but Teixeira once again recovered, then got “Marreta” down again, took his back and choked him out. What a fantastic career arc Glover is having. He looks marvelous at 41.
Performance of the Night: Giga Chikadze, Alexander Romanov
Gustavo Lopez (rear naked choke, 2:43 of round 1), Max Griffin (TKO (doctor stoppage), 2:03 of round 3), Darren Elkins (rear naked choke, 2:22 of round 3), Alexander Romanov (forearm choke, 4:48 of round 1), Trevin Giles (TKO (punches), 1:26 of round 3), Giga Chikadze (TKO (head kick and punches), 3:51 of round 1) and Glover Texeira (rear naked choke, 1:49 of round 3) all won their respective fights with a finish, but it would be Giga Chikadze and Alexander Romanov that would take the POTN bonuses.
Fight of the Night: Raoni Barcelos vs. Khalid Taha
Xiaonan Yan defeated Claudia Gadelha (29-28, 29-28, 29-28), Raoni Barcelos (30-27, 30-27, 30-27), and Andrei Arlovski (29-28 x3) all went the distance in their respective fights, but it would be Raoni Barcelos battle with Khalid Taha that would take FOTN honors.
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