UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs Gastelum Results

The second began much like the first, with Gastelum coming forward, bouncing on the balls of his feet, adding in a quick level change to draw out a response from Cannonier. Once again, the former heavyweight remained patient, being selective with his offerings, allowing Gastelum to get out to an early lead in the second of five possible rounds.

Just after the midway point of the round, Gastelum stung Cannonier with a few different shots, landing clean and twisting his head around, earning a smile from his opponent; a sure sign that he connected well. Cannonier wore it well, but never really responded, resulting in a clear round for the former interim title challenger.

Gastelum claimed the center to start the middle stanza in this five-round fight, looking fresh 10 minutes in. Just as Gastelum got settled, Cannonier buzzed home a clean right hook that dropped him in his place, and he narrowly avoided a head kick as he stood back up. Gastelum wisely pressed forward for a takedown, but couldn’t finish, and the two worked back into the center of the cage.

Back into space with two minutes to decide it, Gastelum was the more active of the two, but Cannonier did a good job of defending, blocking many of the strikes coming his way, throwing very little in return. Late in the fight, Gastelum pressed in for another takedown and Cannonier hit him with a “Hapa elbow” to the side of the head, with the bout ending with both men sure they’d done enough to earn the victory.

Left to the views of the three judges scoring the fight, the totals fell in favor of Cannonier, with all three officials seeing the fight the same way, three rounds to two for “Tha Killa Gorilla.” With the return to the win column, the third-ranked Cannonier moves to 4-1 in the middleweight division and 14-5 overall, while Gastelum suffers a second consecutive loss, falling to 1-5 over his last six outings.

Official Result: Jared Cannonier def. Kelvin Gastelum by unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47) | Official Scorecards

Surprisingly, there were no takedown attempts in the first round, with Madsen gaining Guida’s respect on the feet after the fan favorite’s quick start, and each man having their moments.

The lightweights mirrored each other in the early moments of the second, trading short punches and leg kicks before Guida started to settle in and have more success, popping Madsen’s head back a couple different times. The Danish fighter closed the distance and landed a knee to the midsection, but couldn’t keep Guida hemmed in. He couldn’t head him off in space either, with Guida constantly exiting into open space and sniping home heavy low kicks and the occasional hook.

To his credit, Madsen stayed in front of Guida the whole time, sticking him with jabs that busted up his nose, but failing to follow up, falling behind the hyperactive stalwart in terms of output heading into the final round.

Heavy leather was let loose to begin the second, with Sherman starting quickly, but Porter quickly responded, having more success than he did in the first as Sherman’s pace and hand speed began to waned. For whatever reason, every time Porter had a little success and closed the distance, he would back off into space, giving Sherman a chance to recover and come forward again. As the final minute of the round arrived, the combatans were just slinging big shots at one another like they were getting after it out back of the bowling alley on a humid Friday night, neither man backing down.

Porter came out the fresher of the two to start the third, backing Sherman up with heavy shots, changing levels in hopes of taking it to the canvas, but backing off when he was unsuccessful. Where Sherman was beating Porter to the punch in the first, the roles were reversed in the third, with Porter getting off inside of Sherman’s labored offerings, touching up the exhausted Mississippi native.

The bantamweights were right back on the fence seconds into the second round, Jones initiating the clinch. Kakhramonov worked free into the center of the cage and hit Jones with a clean right hand, prompting “5 Star” to look for a single leg and get into close quarters again. Kakhramonov fired off “Hapa elbows” along the fence, then circled into space, unloading on Jones as he did, stinging the native of Guam.

Each time Jones tired to clinch, Kakhramonov had an easier time breaking free, punishing him with unanswered strikes as soon as they were in space. With 90 seconds left in the round, Jones finally fired back with punches of his own, getting in on a double leg and dumping Kakhramonov to the canvas, working from half guard and transitioning to mount in the final 20 seconds of the round, setting up an interesting final stanza.

Kakhramonov came out confidently to start the third, pressing forward and attacking with varied strikes, including a hard shot to the body. Jones ducked under a long left hand to secure a waist lock, trying desperately to get the fight to the canvas before switching to a body lock along the cage, landing sporadic knees to the midsection prompting referee Herb Dean to urge them to “work.”

Jones did just enough to maintain the position, but Kakhramonov eventually worked out, throwing big shots, and latching onto a guillotine choke as Jones looked to change levels. After adjusting his grip, Kakhramonov put Jones to sleep, wrapping up an excellent short-notice debut with a submission win.

Official Result: Saidyokub Kakhramonov def. Trevin Jones by technical submission (guillotine choke) at 4:39 of Round 3 | Official Scorecards

Pichel couldn’t follow up and Hubbard recovered, resuming his forward pressure, though the output from each waned. As Hubbard closed the distance, Pichel landed a knee up the middle, only for the Elevation Fight Team member to use it to secure a takedown, with “From Hell” creating a scramble and getting back to his feet relatively quickly, the duo again trading shots in space through to the end of the round.

It was more of the same to start the third, with the lightweights slinging leather in the center of the Octagon, Pichel putting Hubbard on his heels with a series of heavy punches, chasing him into the cage after they landed. Just when it seemed like Pichel was going to grab control of the contest, Hubbard changed levels effectively and put him on the canvas, only to have the 38-year-old create a scramble and work his way into top position just before the midway point of the round.

It took 12 seconds for Pantoja to get his hands on Royval and drag him to the ground, sticking to him like Super Glue on the canvas, working to sink in his hooks and find a way to attack the neck. Royval kept rolling and moving, shifting to the offensive and attacking a leg lock that forced the Brazilian to switch gears and be more defensive. Pantoja got his leg free and went back on the offensive, once again pasting himself to Royval’s waist and dragging him to the canvas, only for Royval to create a scramble and get back to his feet.

As they stood in the center of the cage, the striking exchanges were just as frenetic as the grappling, with each man throwing without hesitation, Pantoja stinging Royval with heavy rights, only to have the Factory X representative continue to press forward and counter.

The second started the way the first ended, with the flyweight title hopefuls slinging in the center of the Octagon, Royval again complaining of an eye poke after getting punched in the face. A minute in, Pantoja secured a waist lock again, dragging Royval into his lap, locking in the body triangle as he looked for the rear naked choke.

As Royval rolled to take the pressure off the body triangle, the Brazilian fished his forearm under the chin and tightened his squeeze, leaving Royval no choice but to tap.

Outstanding performance for “The Cannibal,” who may have just punched his ticket to a title shot later this year.

Official Result: Alexandre Pantoja def. Brandon Royval by submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:46 of Round 2 | Official Scorecards

While his output dropped, Saldaña continued to land the more telling blows, attacking the body and legs with heavy kicks, while Lingo had the significantly higher output, turning the second into an interesting round to score for the judges.

The final round began as the second concluded, with Lingo coming forward, throwing volume, prompting Saldaña to change levels, hunting for single legs without success multiple times. Lingo extracted his leg each time and stayed on the hunt, walking forward, letting go with his hands, just missing on multiple occasions, but tiring Saldaña with his constant pressure. Saldaña continued to land individual shots — quality shots — but his body language screamed that he was exhausted, and Lingo simply kept after him.

Kelleher was back on a double leg takedown 30 seconds into the middle stanza, depositing Pilarte in the center of the cage, returning to work from inside his closed guard. With two minutes remaining in the round, Kelleher passed to side control, giving Pilarte a chance to scramble to his feet, only for Kelleher to chase a guillotine on two different occasions, continuing to attack despite having lost the dominant position. Pilarte stayed after it though, cracking Kelleher with a sharp elbow in the final minute of the frame before “Boom” swept into top position to finish the round.

Late in the round, Nunes continued her assault, crowding Malecki and forcing her to cover up, and when the towering Swedish fighter attempted to casually circle into the center, Nunes detonated a left hand on her jaw that felled her in a flash.

What a way to make a first impression for the emotional newcomer Nunes, who broke down into tears following the finish and fought off more tears during her post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier. There may not have been many people that knew her name ahead of this one, but folks will certainly be aware of who she is now.

What an incredible debut showing for Nunes to welcome her to the UFC women's bantamweight division.

Official Result: Josiane Nunes def. Bea Malecki by KO (left hand) at 4:54 of Round 1 | Official Scorecards

After nearly four minutes of playing cat-and-mouse with Fabio Cherant, where each man took turns in each role, “The Knightmare” caught Cherant coming in, putting a short, straight-armed left hand on his chin that sent him crashing to the canvas in a heap. Knight quickly pounced, referee Chris Tognoni stepped in to stop the fight, and the hulking Contender Series graduate celebrated with a picture-perfect cartwheel into a back handspring in the center of the Octagon.

Just an explosive, impressive performance from Knight, who moves to 10-2 while collecting his second UFC victory.

Official Result: William Knight def. Fabio Cherant by KO (left hook) 3:58 of Round 1 | Official Scorecards

It was more of the same to start the second, with Bahamondes coming forward behind a quality mix of punches and kicks, attacking from different stances and to different levels. While Roberts fired back steadily and opened Bahamondes up with his jab, the 23-year-old UFC sophomore was undeterred, staying in Roberts’ face, continuing to fire off a high volume of attacks. Though he finished the round wearing a crimson mask courtesy of cuts at both ends of his brow line, Bahamondes was in control heading into the final round.

Early in the third, Bahamondes hurt Roberts with a straight right hand to the body, prompting a panicked takedown attempt. After defending and calling Roberts back to his feet, Bahamondes hurt him again, the sequence repeating itself. After continuing to pepper Roberts throughout the round, Bahamondes heard the “10-second clappers” and let fly with a spinning wheel kick, catching Roberts clean on the jaw, knocking him out cold.

Just an incredible way to close out an impressive performance by the recent Dana White’s Contender Series graduate and a memorable way for Bahamondes to earn his first UFC victory.

Official Result: Ignacio Bahamondes def. Roosevelt Roberts by KO (spinning wheel kick) at 4:55 of Round 3 | Official Scorecards

Brahimaj didn’t waste any time making it clear he was looking to grapple in this one, changing levels and putting Palatnikov on the deck within the opening 30 seconds, navigating a scramble to land in top position and attack an arm-triangle choke. When Palatnikov looked to defend, the Fortis MMA representative climbed into mount, forcing Palatnikov to give up his back, creating the opportunity for Brahimaj to attack a rear-naked choke.

Palatnikov tried valiantly to defend, but Brahimaj stayed patient and stuck with the choke, squeezing out a technical submission win.

Brahimaj moves to 9-3 with the victory, maintaining his perfect finishing percentage, while Palatnikov falls to 6-4 overall with his second consecutive submission loss.

Official Result: Ramiz Brahimaj def. Sasha Palatnikov by submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:33 of Round 1 | Official Scorecards