Dillashaw (photo) beat R. Barão and is the new bantamweight champion. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC
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The zebra showed up in the octagon set up at the MGM Gran Arena for UFC 173. The Brazilian Renan Barao was the overwhelming favorite to face TJ Dillashaw and defend the rooster belt. But in a spectacular performance from the North American, who worked with great speed, he undermined the Tupiniquim athlete to win by knockout in the fifth round and break the fighter's almost 10-year unbeaten streak.
The fight
The fight between Renan and TJ started off studied. The fighters exchanged hard blows in the first round, but without great combinations. However, in the final minute Dillashaw connected with a right punch on Barão, which was a knockdown. The North American took advantage of the moment, landed more strikes on the ground and almost ended the fight with a rear naked choke, which was defended with his chin by the Brazilian.
Despite appearing to improve in the second round, Barão seemed lost with Dillashaw's speed. The North American moved around the octagon, moving in and out of the Rio athlete's range of action.
History repeated itself in the third and fourth rounds. Barão, without much movement, trying to land a defining blow, while TJ worked by rotating around the octagon, entering and leaving the range of action, to score points.
With the fight lost on the judges' scorecards, Renan tried to open the game in the last round, but ended up being knocked out. With a sequence of standing blows, the Brazilian went to the ground. Without wasting time, TJ continued the punishment on the ground until the referee ended the fight and declared a technical knockout.
Daniel Cormier erases Hendo and challenges Jones
The winner of the Strikeforce heavyweight GP, Daniel Cormier, showed that he will make a lot of noise in the light heavyweight division. Facing veteran Dan Hendeson, DC took no notice of his rival's titles and submitted Hendo in the third round.
With an impressive takedown game, Cormier preferred not to take risks with Hendo's striking and dangerous right hand. With plastic takedowns, Daniel kept Henderson on the bottom and punished him with hard blows.
After managing to tire Hendo in the first few rounds, the end came in the third round. After reaching Henderson's back, he soon went for the rear naked choke. As Dan preferred not to knock, he ended up deleting it.
With the victory and another great performance, Daniel Cormier did not miss the opportunity to challenge the champion. “Jon Jones, you can’t run away from me!”, he says Daniel Cormier on the microphone still in the octagon. “I’m going to put Jones down and I’m going to win.” she added.
Lawler beats Ellenberger and asks for a belt rematch
the american Robbie Lawler showed that he deserves a new chance to challenge for the UFC welterweight belt. After fighting a great battle against John hendricks, where he lost by a close decision from the judges, Lawler faced the tough Jake ellenberger and took no notice of his rival.
In the first round, he worked well in the middle range, avoiding Ellenberger's takedown game and unleashed good boxing combinations to open up the front.
In the second round came the end of the fight. Although Ellenberger finally managed to get a takedown, he couldn't get on top and was swept. From then on came the punishment.
Lawler landed a good jab, which broke through Ellenberger's guard. He then threw a knee and knocked his rival down to achieve a technical knockout.
At the end of the fight, Robbie Lawler wasted no time and challenged John hendricks, owner of the welterweight belt, for the title rematch.
Varner breaks his ankle, continues the fight, but is defeated
The first fight on the main card started with drama. James Krause and Jamie Varner were fighting between two good athletes in the lightweight category. But an accident marked the clash between them. James Krause delivered a shot to Jamie Varner's calf, which he saved well. However, when he put his foot on the ground he twisted his ankle and seriously injured himself.
Despite the injury, Varner showed a lot of courage and did not give up the fight. Fighting to remain standing, he continued the fight and even managed a takedown, but didn't keep Krause underneath. Without caring about his rival's injury, James Krause scored points and even worked with kicks on the injured leg until the end of the first round.
As soon as the bell sounded, the event doctor found Varner's ankle fractured and stopped the contest. With that, James Krause took the fight by technical knockout.
Check out the complete UFC 173 results below:
TJ Dillashaw derrotou Renan Barao by technical knockout in R5;
Daniel Cormier finished Dan Henderson with a rear naked choke in R3;
Robbie Lawler derrotou Jake ellenberger by technical assessment on R2;
Takeya Mizugaki defeated Francisco Rivera via unanimous decision;
James Krause defeated Jamie Varner via TKO in R1;
Preliminary Card
Michael chiesa derrotou Francisco Massaranduba in the unanimous decision of the judges;
Tony Ferguson defeated Katsunori Kikuno via TKO in R1;
Chris Holdsworth defeated Chico Camus via unanimous decision;
Mitch Clarke finished To the fifth with a hand triangle on R2;
Vinc Pichel defeated Anthony Njokuani via unanimous decision;
Sam Sicilia defeated Aaron Phillips via unanimous decision;
Li Jiangliang defeated David Michaud via split decision;
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