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Israel Adesanya shines against Alex Pereira
Newly crowned UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya was one of four post-fight bonus winners following UFC 287 this past Saturday.
The preliminary portion of the card started with Sam Hughes surviving a few rear-naked choke attempts from Jaqueline Amorim and turning the tide for a unanimous decision win. Once she got through the first round, ’Sampage’ moved forward and avoided most of the takedowns from ‘Jacque,’ who fatigued in the second and third rounds.
Steve Garcia followed with a brutal body shot KO of Shayilan Nuerdanbieke. The ‘Mean Machine’ ate a near-fight ending right hand from the ‘Wolverine’ early, but he recovered and punished Nuerdanbieke with a two-piece to the body. That was beautiful body work from Garcia.
Ignacio Bahamondes returned after a 14-month hiatus to defeat Trey Ogden via unanimous decision. ‘La Jaula’ was calculated, peppering Ogden with leg kicks throughout the fight.
Lupita Godinez earned a split decision against Cynthia Calvillo. These two went toe-to-toe, with ‘Loopy’ finding success with her pressure and Calvillo getting through with her jab. In the end, the judges’ scorecards were in favor of Godinez, who returns to the win column after a loss to Angela Hill.
Joe Pyfer added Gerald Meerschaert to his résumé with a first-round TKO. ‘Bodybagz’ clipped ‘GM3’ with a left hand that sent him to the canvas, where he ate some more punishment in the form of ground-and-pound before referee Marc Goddard stepped in and stopped the fight.
Luana Pinheiro extended her win streak to eight with a split decision against Michelle Waterson-Gomez. This one was close! It appeared as though the fight was swayed in the first round, which was going well for the ‘Karate Hottie’ until she got stung with a flurry of punches from Pinheiro.
Kelvin Gastelum and Chris Curtis gave us a ‘Fight of the Night’ contender before we were sent to the pay-per-view. The exchanges were excellent! The chins on Gastelum and Curtis held up throughout all of it, and in the end, the former Ultimate Fighter won a unanimous decision.
Main card recap
The main portion of the card saw Christian Rodriguez handed Raul Rosas Jr. his first loss as a professional. After a fast start from ‘El Niño Problema, he slowed and ‘CeeRod’ took over, stuffing takedowns and controlling Rosas Jr. on the ground for the rest of the fight.
Kevin Holland face-planted Santiago Ponzinibbio with a left hand from hell. The ’Trailblazer’ was up 2-0 on the judges’ scorecards before he rendered them useless with a third-round KO of ‘Ponzi’. As for his next fight, Holland said he would love to get a shot at the ‘Baddest Motherf—ker,’ also known as Jorge Masvidal.
Rob Font captured a first-round TKO of Adrian Yanez. The New England Cartel product found a home for a picture-perfect right hand that crushed Yanez. A few more follow-up punches came, and that was it.
Gilbert Burns dominated Jorge Masvidal for a unanimous decision. ‘Durinho’ mixed in his striking and wrestling well, leaving ‘Gamebred’ little to no room to work. For Burns, the next fights that interest him are against whoever has the UFC welterweight championship after Leon Edwards and Colby Covington (supposedly) fight.
Israel Adesanya avenged his loss to Alex Pereira with a stunning second-round KO in our headliner. After a close round, the ‘Stylebender’ unleashed a pair of right hands (and a follow-up hammer fist!) that slept ‘Po Atan’. And with that, Adesanya reclaimed the UFC middleweight championship.
Who won POTN and FOTN?
Performance of the Night: Israel Adesanya and Rob Font
Steve Garcia def. Shayilan Nuerdanbieke by KO (body shot and ground-and-pound) at 0:36 of Round 2
Joe Pyfer def. Gerald Meerschaert by TKO (punches) at 3:15 of Round 1
Kevin Holland def. Santiago Ponzinibbio by KO (punches) at 3:16 of Round 3
Rob Font def. Adrian Yanez by TKO (punches) at 2:57 of Round 1
Israel Adesanya def. Alex Pereira by KO (punch) at 4:21 of Round 2
Fight of the Night: Chris Curtis vs. Kelvin Gastelum
Sam Hughes def. Jaqueline Amorim by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
Ignacio Bahamondes def. Trey Ogden by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Lupita Godinez def. Cynthia Calvillo by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
Luana Pinheiro def. Michelle Waterson-Gomez by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Kelvin Gastelum def. Chris Curtis by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-37)
Christian Rodriguez def. Raul Rosas Jr. by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
Gilbert Burns def. Jorge Masvidal by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
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