Is this the first example of a dabbing knockout in the UFC? That was a brutal finish, but nobody expected to see those moves in the octagon tonight…
The UFC returned to Fresno, California tonight with an exciting line up of fights on offer. Featured in the main event of the evening was a featherweight clash between Brian Ortega and Cub Swanson.
Also on tap were featherweights Gabriel Benitez and Jason Knight in the co-main event, and plenty more throughout the card. Starting with the main event of the evening, Ortega looked to remain unbeaten against Swanson.
Fighting in front of his home crowd, ‘Beautiful Destruction’ seemed to lack steam. He managed to land a few nice shots on Ortega, but Swanson was always the second place in this fight.
Leading with his jab, Ortega came close to finishing on the ground early on, before eventually getting a guillotine choke halfway through round two:
Swanson vs. Ortega Finish
Over to the bantamweight division for our next recap and video, and this was a savage finish. Former World Series of Fighting champion Marlon Moraes faced Aljamain Sterling on the main card.
Fresno fans saw a ‘KO of the year’ candidate here, and it was Moraes who left his opponent stiff as a board on the canvas. Even crazier was the position ‘Funkmaster’ made while KO’d on the ground.
Watch as Moraes makes Sterling start dabbing with a monster knee:
https://twitter.com/Jonnyboy_6969/status/939720226526113793?s=17
Although the card was packed with so-so fights that went the distance, a few other scraps saw tidy finishes. Andre Soukhamthath finished Luke Sanders by TKO, and Carls John de Tomas vs. Alex Perez ended with an anaconda choke.
Points of interest-the Fresno crowd seemed to be made up of the ‘just bleed’ generation of fans, constantly booing and just acting like tools in general. Swanson vs. Ortega showed that Cub is potentially over the hill.
Aljamain Sterling, once a red-hot undefeated prospect, is looking pretty bad of late. Here’s the official UFC 220 headliner, followed by the list of UFC Fresno results:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcghDEJl1oB/?taken-by=ufc
Cub Swanson vs. Brian Ortega — Ortega def. Swanson by submission (guillotine choke) at 3:22 of Round Two
Gabriel Benitez vs. Jason Knight — Benitez def. Knight by unanimous decision (30-26 x2, 29-27)
Marlon Moraes vs. Aljamain Sterling — Moraes def. Sterling by KO (knee) at 1:07 of Round One
Scott Holtzman vs. Darrell Horcher — Holtzman def. Horcher by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
Eryk Anders vs. Markus Perez — Anders def. Perez by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-25, 29-28)
Benito Lopez vs. Albert Morales — Lopez def. Morales by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 x2)
Liz Carmouche vs. Alexis Davis — Davis def. Carmouche by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Luke Sanders vs. Andre Soukhamthath — Soukhamthath def. Sanders by TKO (punches) at 1:06 of Round Two
Carls John de Tomas vs. Alex Perez — Perez def. de Tomas by submission (anaconda choke) at 1:54 of Round Two
Merab Dvalishvili vs. Frankie Saenz — Saenz def. Dvalishvili by split decision (28-29, 29-28 x2)
Iuri Alcantara vs. Alejandro Perez — Perez def. Alcantara by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 x2)
Chris Gruetzemacher vs. Davi Ramos — Ramos def. Gruetzemacher by submission (rear naked choke) at 0:50 of Round One
Trevin Giles vs. Antonio Braga Neto — Giles def. Braga Neto by TKO (punches) at 2:27 of Round Three
