The UFC held its annual November pay-per-view card in New York City's Madison Square Garden on Saturday night. It was an entertaining main card as all five events ended in finishes. Alex Pereira defeated Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya in an impressive come-from-behind victory via a fifth round TKO. The following is a recap of all of the main card fights.
Dan Hooker Sharp in TKO Victory Over Claudio Puelles
Dan "the Hangman" Hooker returned to the lightweight division after a brief one fight featherweight detour, with a dominant performance against up-and-coming prospect Claudio Puelles. It was a series of teep kicks late in the second round that finished the fight.
Puelles was unable to get much going offensively as Hooker showed that his striking was several levels above Puelles. Puelles didn't land a single strike in Round 1 and was able to land only five total strikes in the bout. Puelles, a leg lock specialist, also struggled to get the fight to the ground going 0 of 8 in takedown attempts.
Most of Hooker's striking success in Round 1 came via kicks as he scored with a barrage of leg kicks in the early stages of Round 1. Hooker also showed a stabbing front kick to the body. Midway through Round 1, Puelles used an Imanari Roll to attack lower body submissions. Puelles briefly had Hooker in trouble as he looked for a heel hook before switching to a kneebar attempt. But Hooker did well to defend and eventually worked his way to top half guard before deciding to stand up and take the fight back to the feet. Late in the round Hooker scored with a sharp right hand.
In Round 2, Hooker looked extremely sharp with his striking. Early in the round, Hooker scored with a straight right hand and head kick combination. Hooker then twice split Puelles' guard with solid right hands. Hooker also displayed some savvy grappling as he threatened a standing guillotine to cause Puelles to give up on a single leg takedown attempt. Hooker did nice work throughout the round attacking the body with punches and teep kicks. A front late in the round had Puelles badly hurt and sent Peruvian to the mat. A second teep kick sent Puelles back to the ground seconds later. One more hammering front kick with 0:59 left in the round sent Puelles back to the mat and referee Keith Peterson had seen enough calling the TKO victory for Hooker.
Chris Gutierrez Sends Frankie Edgar Into Retirement with Brutal Knee Knockout
Retirement bouts don't often end well for aging legends and that was sadly the case for 41-year old Frankie Edgar, as Chris Gutierrez sent the former UFC Lightweight champion into retirement with a brutal knee strike that knocked Edgar out cold.
Gutierrez looked sharp from the beginning with slick movement and feints. The first significant strikes that landed happened in a flash as Gutierrez landed two quick left hooks in succession, immediately followed by a nifty spinning back elbow, all landing clean. Gutierrez then landed a powerful leg kick that caused Edgard to twist and briefly stumble sideways. Gutierrez landed a solid jab immediately after the leg kick.
Gutierrez perfectly timed a jumping left knee as Edgar was moving forward, the impact made all the worse with Edgar ducking into the strike. Edgar was immediately unconscious as he fell back to the canvas.
Gutierrez is now 7-0-1 in his last eight fights, with back-to-back finishes. Edgar, who made his UFC debut at UFC 67 in February 2007, retires as a legend of the sport and a sure fire future Hall of Fame inductee. Edgar won the lightweight championship when he defeated MMA legend BJ Penn in 2010. Edgar defended the belt once against Penn before two legendary bouts with Gray Maynard where Edgar first retained the belt with a split draw and then defended his title by knockout. Edgar lost the lightweight belt to Benson Henderson, but twice challenged for the featherweight championship (along with an interim featherweight championship bout) before the final four fights of his career as a bantamweight.
Dustin Poirier Submits Michael Chandler Via Rear Naked Choke in Wild Fight
A high profile lightweight bout between Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler proved highly entertaining in a fight awarded Fight of the Night honors. In Round 1, Chandler started strong with his style of darting in and throwing heavy shots. Chandler had success in the opening frame with body kicks. Midway through the round, Chandler landed several big right hands. With a couple minutes left in the round, Chandler charged forward and landed two hard right hands that put Poirier up against the fence and in trouble. Throwing heavy hooks, a couple of which connected, Chandler then connected with a big right hand before securing a double leg takedown.
Poirier, however, avoided damage on the ground and appeared to recover before working his way back to the feet. In the last minute of the round, Poirier turned the tide and likely won the round as he cracked Chandler with a right uppercut followed by two hard straight left hands. A big right hook from Poirier with 25 seconds left in the round sent Chandler down to one knee, nearly scoring the knockdown. Poirier then went on the attack, scoring with three hard and clean straight left hands that had Chandler looking a bloody mess. With Chandler up against the fence late in the round Poirier was teeing off with heavy hooks. A huge right elbow from Poirier clipped Poirier as the horn sounded to end the round.
The second round was almost all Chandler as he scored a double leg takedown thirty seconds into the round after charging forward and landed a punch to the body followed by a front kick to the body. Chandler was able to control Poirier on the ground for the remainder of the round. Chandler had success with right hands throughout the remainder of the round as he worked ground and pound. It was a dominant second round for Chandler that may have been a 10-8 round had this fight went to the scorecards.
The beginning of the end of the fight happened one minute into Round 3 when Chandler went for a single leg takedown and was able to lift Poirier over his shoulder before slamming him to the ground. However, as Chandler tried to take Poirier's back after the fighters hit the mat, Poirier immediately scrambled to take top position. Poirier immediately scored with several right hands, followed by a hard elbow. It did not take long from there for Poirier to finish the fight as he took Chandler's back and applied a body triangle. Poirier then quickly worked his arm under Chandler's chin to produce the quick tap.
Zhang Weili Dominates Carla Esparza to Recapture Strawweight Belt with Rear Naked Choke Finish
It took a couple minutes into the first round for this fight to really get going, but once the action got started it was an entertaining first round. Zhang Weili had success early in the round with leg kicks. Midway through the round, Zhang scored with a hard straight right hand and a right head kick midway through the round as she turned up the pressure. But Carla Esparza caught Zhang's next strike, a body kick, and converted the takedown. Zhang proved difficult to deal with on the ground as she attacked with several hard elbows and a scramble ensued. Esparza briefly had Zhang in a headlock and landed a couple of short punches but Zhang exploded to reverse position as she ended up taking Esparza's back briefly. Zhang then landed a couple of punches but this time it was Esparza who won a scramble and ended up in Zhang's guard. Esparza, showing heavy top pressure, attacked with elbows, landing at least one hard shot.
With about one minute left in the round Zhang was able to work back to standing after using her feet to push off on Esparza's hips. As soon as she was upright Zhang went on the attack landing a hard right hand to the body followed by a left hook upstairs. Zhang then landed a solid straight right hand.
Esparza nearly got a second takedown off of a Zhang body kick late in the round, but it was Zhang who reversed the attempt. From side control, Zhang landed several hard elbows.
Early in Round 2, Zhang landed a hard counter right hand that had Esparza backing up. A nice front kick by Zhang then drew a takedown attempt from Esparza. But Zhang defended well and in the ensuing scramble she was able to trap Esparza's right arm between her legs. It took only seconds for Zhang then to secure the rear-naked choke.
Alex Pereira Takes Middleweight Belt from Israel Adesanya with Fifth Round TKO
In just his fourth fight in the UFC, Alex Pereira is the UFC Middleweight Champion. Pereira showed incredible will, and power, in taking the belt from Israel Adesanya. It was an impressive feat considering that Adesanya had essentially cleared out the middleweight division with five title defenses and was considered a dominant champion. But, of course, these two had a history. Pereira earned the quick title shot, in part, based on his two kickboxing victories over Adesanya in 2016 and 2017.
The fight was a high level display of striking technique from two of the best strikers in the UFC. Early in the first round both men attacked with leg kicks. Adesanya scored with first significant punch of the fight with a hard right hand counter to a Pereira leg kick. Midway through the round after landing a hard outside leg kick, Pereira then landed a nice body kick.
With thirty seconds left in the opening frame, Adesanya secured a body lock after the fighters clinched. Pereira did well, however, landing several hard body punches as well as a solid knee to the body. But Adesanya nearly ended the fight at the end of the round as he hammered Pereira with a right hand that had the Brazilian doubled over. As Pereira popped back up Adesanya cracked him with a hard left hook at the horn. Pereira stumbled and was on wobbly legs as he was clearly hurt.
In a competitive second round, it was Pereira who rated a close edge. In the third round, Adesanya surprisingly used his wrestling to takedown Pereira and win the round with his grappling. Going into the fifth round, all three judges had Adesanya ahead on the scorecards 39-37.
Prior to the start of Round 5, Pereira's corner told him he needed a knockout to win the fight. Pereira took his marching orders and came out aggressively. Adesanya landed a hard left body kick before Pereira pressured forward and had Adesanya up against the cage where he landed some hard body shots. Thirty seconds into the round, Pereira landed a hard straight right hand that snapped the champion's head back.
One minute into the round Pereira checked a hard leg kick from Adesanya that caused Adesanya to fall backward and roll over. After the fight, Adesanya said that the checked caused his leg to give away momentarily. While Adesanya quickly was back to his feet, Pereira continued pressing forward and landed two more hard body punches against the cage.
The finishing sequence came shortly thereafter. Pereira first landed two big right hands before charging forward and landing a short left hook that absolutely hammered Adesanya. Adesanya was immediately on wobbly legs. A hard right hook had Adesanya in a bad way before two more hooks then sent Adesanya down to one knee. Adesanya quickly got back to his feet but Pereira kept up the assault and after landing several more hooks as Adesanya was reeling on the feet the referee called the TKO ending Adesanya's title reign.
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