Holloway is the new interim featherweight champion. (Photo: Getty Images)
The featherweight champion José Aldo already has his next opponent defined: it will be the Hawaiian Max Holloway, who knocked out Anthony Pettis in the third round of the main fight of UFC 206, held this Saturday (10), in Toronto, Canada, and won the interim belt in the category. Shortly after the triumph, still in the octagon, Holloway challenged the Brazilian, suggesting a confrontation in Brooklin, in the first quarter of 2017.
This was the tenth consecutive victory for Holloway, who has not lost since August 2013, when he was beaten by Conor McGregor. Pettis is going through the worst phase of his career, and lost his fourth in five fights.
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“We couldn’t find the José Aldo. I want the fight against him in Brooklyn. I want the linear belt. Make some noise for Pettis, he deserves a lot of respect. This belt is my passport to the José Aldo. Dana White, I will never be stopped,” said Holloway.
Quite dejected, Pettis announced that he will return to lightweight. “I hit it with the top of my hand and broke it. He's a great guy and deserves the belt. I'm tired of this weight cut, my body can't resist it and I'll have to go back to lightweight.”
The fight
The duel began with Holloway offering his gloves to greet Pettis, who did not accept. Both fighters threw empty punches, but Pettis connected with a good round kick to the opponent's body, who responded with a combination of jab and straight shot. In the final minute, Holloway still had time to land a good left hook.
At the beginning of the second round, Max landed a good blow on Pettis, who fell, but allowed the former champion to get up. With a cut near his right eye, “Showtime” became easy prey for Holloway, who controlled the pace of the fight until the end of the round! At halftime, Pettis told his coach that he had a broken hand.
The third round started with Holloway hitting Pettis, who returned it in kind. In the center of the octagon, they exchanged blows at the waist, but Holloway blocked a kick from Pettis and scored a beautiful takedown. The fight was on the feet again and the Hawaiian connected with a good round kick, which made Pettis double. Holloway took advantage of the moment and threw a barrage of blows at him, which forced the referee to intervene and end the fight.
Cerrone delivers brutal knockout to Matt Brown
Cerrone (right) delivered a brutal knockout to M. Brown. (Photo: Getty Images)
In the second most important fight of the night, Donald Cerrone confirmed the excellent phase and delivered a brutal knockout to Matt Brown, at the beginning of the third round. With the victory, Cerrone secured his fourth win in a row in the middleweight category, further qualifying himself for a possible title fight. Brown, in turn, lost his third in a row – the fifth in six fights – and is at serious risk of being fired.
Cerrone started by landing a good shot on Brown's waistline, who retaliated in kind. With superior game volume, Cerrone connected good blows on his opponent, including two high kicks that shook Matt. The “Imortal” tried to respond with a kick to the head, but lost his balance. However, the Cowboy entered his opponent's guard, who quickly created a triangle. With caution, Cerrone managed to defend himself and got back to his feet.
Brown came back better in the second round, putting pressure on his rival. In the center of the cage, Brown lands a beautiful right cross, knocking Cerrone down, but the Cowboy recovers quickly and stays on his feet. In the next minute, it was Donald's turn to land a beautiful high kick on Matt, who also fell, but reacted well and got up. With a precise combination, Cerrone continued striking and scoring until the horn sounded.
At the beginning of the decisive round, the crowd gave the fighters a standing ovation, as they hugged each other in the center of the octagon. Back to the fight, there wasn't even time to sound again. Cerrone landed a beautiful kick to Brown's head, who fell unconscious.
Swanson overcomes Choi in electrifying battle
Choi (left) and Swanson (right) had one of the best fights of 2017. (Photo: Getty Images)
Amazing. This is how the battle between Cub swanson and Doo Ho Choi, who is already a strong candidate for one of the best fights of 2017. After 15 electrifying minutes and a show of striking from both sides, Swanson defeated Choi by unanimous decision from the judges (30×27, 30×27, 29×28) and recorded his third consecutive victory, while the young South Korean lost his first in Ultimate.
Choi started by entering the octagon and landing a strong right on Swanson, who felt it and tried to take him down, but the South Korean defended well and threw good knees at the North American. Doo Ho continued chasing Cub, who started to respond with good counterattacks. The public present began to demonstrate in favor of the Asian, who took the fight to the grid, but for a short time. Back in the center of the octagon, Choi once again showed great precision with his strikes, hitting his opponent in the body and head.
Swanson returned more aggressive for the second stage, forcing his opponent to clinch. However, the North American went up again and delivered a good sequence of blows to the Asian, who felt and became drugged. Surprisingly, Choi landed a powerful counterattack and shook Cub, who defended himself and managed to survive, to the delight of the fans present in the gym. In the final minute, Swanson rocked Doo Ho again, who responded with a strong knee to the waist.
The third round returned in an electrifying way, just like the previous two. The two fighters went for a frank exchange, but Swanson took advantage of an opening from his opponent and took the duel to the ground. Both were back on their feet, and the exchange once again dictated the rhythm of the fight. Showing a lot of heart, Choi bravely resisted the punishment imposed by Cub, who even knocked down his opponent, but didn't have time to end the fight. At the end of the fight, the public gave a standing ovation to the war that took place in the octagon.
Gastelum knocks out Tim Kennedy in his return to middleweight
In the fight that marked his return to middleweight, after having problems with the scales in the lower category, the young man Kelvin Gastelum He didn't give the experienced Tim Kennedy a chance and won by technical knockout in the third round of the fight. This is the second consecutive victory for Gastelum, who had defeated the former welterweight champion John hendricks. Kennedy, who hadn't fought since September 2014, suffered his second straight defeat.
Gastelum started surrounding Kennedy, who responded with two good kicks to the waist. Tim got a good takedown and got to Kelvin's back, who defended himself well and got back on his feet. Pressing Gastelum against the big man, Kennedy applied strong knees to the legs, but the opponent managed to free himself and landed a good blow on Tim, who felt it. In the final minute, Kelvin connected a great counterattack on Kennedy, who shook and was saved by the bell.
The second round began with Gastelum dominating Kennedy's back, who showed clear signs of fatigue. With a disadvantage on the feet, Tim looked for a takedown, but Kelvin defended himself well and landed a good knee on the counterattack. The round ended in the same way as the first, with Gastelum putting pressure on and landing strong blows on his opponent, who barely survived.
With Kennedy visibly exhausted, Gastelum came back trying to end the fight in the first minute, and narrowly missed out by landing a beautiful high kick. Slowly, Tim threw blows into the void, while Kelvin responded with counterattacks. And one of these blows defined the duel. Gastelum landed a strong straight left on Kennedy, who practically fell over. It only took one more blow for the referee to end the duel.
Emil Meek debuts with victory over Jordan Mein
Meek (right) defeated Mein in the first fight on the main card. (Photo: Getty Images)
In the first fight on the main card, newcomer Emil Meek surprised by dominating Jordan Mein for two rounds and won by unanimous decision from the judges (29×28, 29×28, 29×28). Meek, 28 years old, arrives in the welterweight category with good morale, while Mein, who had retired at the beginning of 2015, suffers his second consecutive defeat in the organization.
Both fighters started aggressively, with Meek landing low kicks to Mein's leg, which quickly put the fight down. Meek quickly got up and struck again, but was knocked down again. In the north-south position, the Canadian tried to work, but the fight returned to striking, with Emil taking the advantage, landing good kicks to the waist. The Norwegian showed signs of fatigue in the first three minutes, but continued to press until the horn sounded.
Meek returned in the same way for the second round, chasing Jordan around the octagon, who was just defending himself. The Norwegian surprised and scored a beautiful takedown. On top on the ground, Emil tried to work on the katagatame, but Jordan defended himself well. At a disadvantage, Mein was only concerned with keeping his opponent in his guard until the end of the round.
In the decisive round, the pace started less intensely, with both fighters visibly tired. Meek applied another takedown to Mein, who showed very little power to react from below. Emil continued to strike from below, while the public booed the fight. In the final seconds, the Canadian tried an armbar, but didn't have time to work.
UFC 206 results
MAIN CARD
Feather weight: Max Holloway derrotou Anthony Pettis by technical knockout at 4m50s of R3
Welterweight Weight: Donald Cerrone defeated Matt Brown by knockout 34 seconds into R3
Bantamweight: Cub swanson defeated Doo Ho Choi by unanimous decision of the judges (30×27, 30×27, 29×28)
Average weight: Kelvin Gastelum defeated Tim Kennedy via technical knockout at 2:45 of R3
Welterweight: Emil Meek defeated Jordan Mein via unanimous decision (29×28, 29×28, 29×28)
PRELIMINARY CARD
Light Heavyweight: Misha Cirkunov derrotou Nikita Krylov via submission (guillotine) at 4m38s of R1
Lightweight: Olivier Aubin-Mercier defeated Drew dober via submission (rear naked choke) at 2m57s of R2
Strawweight: Viviane Sucuri defeated Valerie Letourneau via split decision (29×28, 29×29, 29×28)
Bantamweight: Matthew Lopez defeated Mitch Gagnon via unanimous decision (29×28, 29×28, 29×27)
Lightweight: Lando vannata derrotou John makdessi by knockout at 1m40s of R1
Lightweight: Rustam Khabilov defeated Jason Saggo via unanimous decision (30x27, 30x27, 30x27)
Flyweight: Dustin Ortiz defeated Zach Makovsky via split decision (29×28, 28×29, 29×28)
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