UFC Vegas 63 started with a bang, but ended on a whimper. The featherweight headliner came to an abrupt end after an unfortunate injury, and the welterweight co-headliner was OK.
The preliminary portion of the card saw Christian Rodriguez get his first UFC win with a first-round submission of Joshua Weems. ‘CeeRod’ took advantage of a takedown attempt from Weems, using it to set up the slick anaconda choke that forced his opponent to tap. Cody Durden used a wrestling-heavy approach to control Carlos Mota for a unanimous decision. Though the promotional newcomer threatened with several armbar attempts on the ground, Durden kept himself out of danger. Steve Garcia Jr. lived up to his moniker of ‘Mean Machine’ after he walloped Chase Hooper in 92 seconds. The Jackson-Wink MMA product scored three (!) knockdowns, with the final one (and some follow-up punches) putting the ‘Dream’ down for good. Excellent win for Garcia Jr.! Jun Yong Park submitted Joseph Holmes in the second round of their fight. Once they went to the ground, the ‘Iron Turtle’ softened ‘Ugly Man’ up and sunk in the rear-naked choke. Marcos Rogério de Lima clubbed and subbed his way to a quick win over Andrei Arlovski, his American Top Team (ATT) teammate. It took a few attempts, but Pezão secured the rear-naked choke on the ‘Pitbull,’ and it was over. For his next outing, the Brazilian asked to return at UFC 283, the upcoming pay-per-view event set for Rio de Janeiro. Roman Dolidze caught Phil Hawes in a leg lock, popped his knee and knocked him out inside of one round. It was clear Hawes’ knee was severely injured after the submission attempt, but he returned to his feet and continued against Dolidze. Unfortunately, ‘No Hype’ was on borrowed time and got melted by a brutal combination.
The main portion of the card had Khalil Rountree extend his win streak to three after he defeated Dustin Jacoby by split decision in an early contender for ‘Fight of the Night’. There was some discourse over the decision, but the ‘War Horse’ did enough for the win on two of three judges’ scorecards. Tresean Gore slept Josh Fremd with a nasty guillotine choke. ‘Mr. Vicious’ snatched up his neck and squeezed, forcing the ‘Big Yinz’ to try and wall-walk (!) his way out of it, but Gore refused to let go. Shortly after, Fremd was asleep. Waldo Cortes-Acosta defeated Jared Vanderaa by unanimous decision. Max Griffin brought the ‘Pain’ against Tim Means in the co-main event of the evening. The 36-year-old bested the ‘Dirty Bird’ on the feet and the ground for a split decision.
Reigning UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski wrote he was ‘looking for a statement’ from Calvin Kattar vs. Arnold Allen. And though ‘Almighty’ stopped the ‘Boston Finisher’ by TKO, it was not the statement he wanted to deliver. Kattar hurt himself in the first round and Allen capitalized, but a win by injury may not be the best way to announce yourself as the new No. 1 contender in the division. In his post-fight interview with Michael Bisping, Allen suggested he fight for the interim featherweight championship while Volkanovski pursues champ-champ status in his next appearance.
Performance of the Night: Tresean Gore, Roman Dolidze, Steve Garcia Jr. and Christian Rodriguez
Christian Rodriguez def. Joshua Weems by submission (anaconda choke) at 4:07 of Round 1
Steve Garcia def. Chase Hooper by TKO (punches) at 1:32 of Round 1
Jun Yong Park def. Joseph Holmes by submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:04 of Round 2
Marcos Rogerio de Lima def. Andrei Arlovski by submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:50 of Round 1
Roman Dolidze def. Phil Hawes by KO (punches) at 4:09 of Round 1
Tresean Gore def. Josh Fremd by submission (guillotine choke) at 0:49 of Round 2
Arnold Allen def. Calvin Kattar by TKO (knee injury) at 0:08 of Round 2
Fight of the Night: No FOTN
Cody Durden def. Carlos Mota by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Khalil Rountree def. Dustin Jacoby by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Waldo Cortes-Acosta def. Jared Vanderaa by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Max Griffin def. Tim Means by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
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