In Orlando, Florida, UFC on FOX will be bringing an explosive night of fights headlined by a lightweight title fight between Donald Cerrone and Rafael dos Anjos. The two will meet live on FOX later tonight in what should be barnburner of a match up. The main results of UFC on FOX 17 will be updated live, so stay right here for the live updates.
Karolina Kowalkiewicz wins UFC debut with decision over Markos
Representing Lodz, Poland, UFC debutee Karolina Koawalkiewicz stole a unanimous decision away from Randa Markos. Both Markos and Karolina engaged in some back-and-forth striking exchanges throughout the opening frame. Markos got off a little better in the second round when she was able to score a takedown, and establish back control. However, Koawalkiewicz took the momentum back in the third frame with her high-volume striking. Markos continued to look for her big right hand, but punches in bunches reigned supreme for the Pole as she took the unanimous decision win in her UFC debut. Given the insurmountable pressure many UFC debuts bring, it was a good performance for Karolina Koawalkiewicz .
Diaz returns with 3-round beatdown of Michael Johnson
In Nate Diaz’s best performance to date, he bested lightweight contender Michael Johnson 2 of the 3 rounds. Things looked troublesome for Diaz in the early going as Johnson consistently used his footwork to freeze Diaz up and consistently land to the outside leg with heavy kicks. However, Diaz patiently fired away one-twos and eventually caught up with the timing of Johnson. In the second round, Diaz turned it on and began streaming out one-twos regularly – stunning Johnson several times. Johnson quit throwing the leg kick and instead opted to trade hands with Diaz, but ate the jab-cross at nearly every exchange. Outside of a brief flurry from Johnson in the third round, he couldn’t hault the onslaught of “Stockton Slaps” and dropped the last two rounds on the judge’s scorecards. Fantastic return by Diaz who looked in the best physical condition of his life.
Overeem drops and finishes dos Santos in round two
When heavyweights enter the cage, there’s always the threat of a one-punch knockout, and this can lead to very cautious and tentative fights. The first round between Alistair Overeem and Junior dos Santos featured lots stalking and movement, but very little volume. However, one punch was Overeem needed to starch dos Santos. Overeem, mostly fighting out of the southpaw stance, switched to orthodox to throw the left hook. Dos Santos ate it flush while on the back foot and went down; a couple hammerfists on the dazed Brazilian was all he needed to get the stoppage. The underdog, Alistair Overeem, moves to a three-fight winning streak by knocking out top-ranked JDS. Look for Overeem to take on the winner of UFC 196: Werdum vs. Velasquez II.
RDA holds onto lightweight belt, smashes Cerrone in round one
It wasn’t the back-and-forth, competitive bout that many were expecting or hoping for, but RDA batted down lightweight challenger Donald Cerrone with relative ease. In one of the first exchanges, Rafael dos Anjos caught Cerrone with a straight left to snap the head back of “Cowboy”. From there, RDA displayed his relentless aggression as he further hurt Cerrone with a knee to the body, and then his go-to left body kick to put Cerrone in extreme danger. Cerrone tried to back pedal, but Rafael poured it on with vicious punches. Cerrone had no choice but to turtle up; dos Anjos continued his onslaught on the defensive Donald Cerrone to get the stoppage from Herb Dean just 1:06 into the fight. Wow. Absolutely dominant performance from the lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos. It will be interesting to see if a ‘notorious’ challenge awaits or not.
