Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC
UFC returned to the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday night for a Fight Night card headlined by a heavyweight battle between Curtis Blaydes and Chris Daukaus.
Blaydes and Daukaus have been hovering in the mid tier of the heavyweight division for some time. Both men lost to Derrick Lewis last year, but Blaydes got back on track with a victory over Jairzinho Rozenstruik in September.
Lewis knocked out Daukaus in the first round of their matchup on Dec. 18.
Blaydes’ power overwhelmed Daukaus in the second round when he scored a TKO win with a flurry of punches shortly after the bell rang to start the round.
The semi-main event on the card was a women’s flyweight clash between Joanne Wood and Alexa Grasso.
Grasso provided the first finish on the main card. She submitted Wood in the first round with a rear-naked choke to get her third consecutive victory.
Here are the results and a recap of the action from UFC Fight Night 205.
Main Card
Men’s Heavyweight: Curtis Blaydes def. Chris Daukaus by TKO (punches in second round)
Women’s Flyweight: Alexa Grasso def. Joanne Wood by submission (rear-naked choke in first round)
Men’s Lightweight: Marc Diakiese def. Viacheslav Borshchev by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27
Men’s Welterweight: Bryan Barberena def. Matt Brown by split decision (29–28, 28–29, 29–28)
Men’s Flyweight: Kai Kara-France def. Askar Askarov by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Men’s Welterweight: Neil Magny def. Max Griffin by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Preliminary Card
Men’s Featherweight: Luis Saldana def. Bruno Souza by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Men’s Flyweight: Matheus Nicolau def. David Dvorak by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Women’s Flyweight: Manon Fiorot def. Jennifer Maia by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Men’s Middleweight: Aliaskhab Khizriev def. Denis Tiuliulin by technical submission (rear-naked choke in second round)
Men’s Bantamweight: Chris Gutierrez def. Danaa Batgerel by TKO (spinning back fist and elbows in second round
Women’s Bantamweight: Sara McMann def. Karol Rosa by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Recap
This was a decision-heavy show, but the finishes that did happen were spectacular.
Blaydes and Daukaus came out of the gate looking to end things quickly. Daukaus landed a couple of hard shots with his right fist early in the first round. He took a big swing with his left hand later in the round, but Blaydes was able to avoid what might have been a knockout blow.
Razor finished the round strong, landing a series of leg kicks and right hands before both men traded shots before the bell.
Blaydes wasted no time coming out in the second round with a huge right that dropped Daukaus, who was trying to land a combination of his own. He immediately jumped on top with a series of punches and forearms before referee Herb Dean called for the stoppage.
Saturday marks Blaydes’ first win by TKO since January 2020 against Junior dos Santos. He’s now won back-to-back fights and 10 of his past 12 bouts overall dating back to 2017.
Given how well Blaydes has performed of late, the next logical step for him would be a match with former interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane.
Gane defeated Lewis to win the interim title at UFC 265 in August, but he lost to Francis Ngannou in January in a title unification bout.
In the semi-main event, Grasso put her wrestling on display to earn her first career submission victory. The Mexico native scored a takedown early after landing a combination of strikes.
Wood was able to get the fight back to standing after grabbing the fence. She landed a front kick and spinning elbow, but Grasso responded with another takedown. Grasso got Wood’s back and locked in a choke to get the tapout.
Grasso has now won three straight fights and is 6-3 overall in UFC. The 28-year-old is steadily climbing up the women’s flyweight rankings, but there’s a long line of potential challengers for Valentina Shevchenko’s title.
Taila Santos looks to be next in line for Shevchenko at UFC 275. Grasso still needs at least two more wins before she should be in title contention.
Bryan Barberena and Matt Brown may have had the best fight on the entire card. They racked up a combined 192 strikes over three rounds (111-81 for Barberena). Brown scored five takedowns, but it wasn’t enough to put him over the top.
The third round was a wild brawl between the two men that culminated with a flurry of strikes, including Barberena landing an uppercut that seemed to stun Brown. Brown came back with a right of his own that left Barberena momentarily dazed.
After trading a series of punches and high kicks, Barberena was able to land a few big shots at the bell. Two of the three judges gave Bam Bam a slight edge on the scorecards to secure the win.
Before the Barberena-Brown battle, the best finishing sequence on the card was between Chris Gutierrez and Danaa Batgerel.
Coming out for the second round, Gutierrez landed a series of calf kicks and a combination before dropping Batgerel with a spinning back fist. He moved in to hit a few elbow strikes before the referee called for the stoppage.
Gutierrez has been a journeyman fighter for most of his career. He’s now unbeaten in his past seven fights dating back to March 2019. The 30-year-old got his first finish since beating Vince Morales at UFC on ESPN in May 2020.
Batgerel had won each of his last three fights after losing his UFC debut to Heili Alateng in August 2019. This was his first loss by knockout or TKO in 15 career bouts.
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