Gegard Mousasi was scheduled to face Alexander Gustafsson in the main event of UFC on FUEL TV 9, but ended up facing Gustafsson’s teammate Ilir Latifi and won the fight by unanimous decision.
In all three rounds, Mousasi was the aggressor and set the pace the entire fight. He used his jab to create distance between himself and Latifi, who has a wrestling background.
Latifi was never able to mount much offense until the end of the fight. At the end of the third round, Latifi would get the fight to the ground and landed strikes from top position.
Mousasi (34-3-2) admitted in his post fight interview that he came into the fight with an injury, but did not say what the exact injury was. Along with coming into the fight injured, he also admitted that he was battling a cold all week.
Pearson stops Couture by knockout in second round
The co-main event of UFC on FUEL TV 9 was a lightweight bout as Ross Pearson defeated Ryan Couture in the second round by TKO.
Couture was able to use his footwork to elude Pearson’s right hand in the opening round, which caused Pearson to be patient with his striking. In the second round, Pearson was able to begin to land his combinations against the fence which led to the end of the fight. After he dropped Couture, he landed several unanswered shots on the ground before the referee came in to call the fight.
Pearson (15-6) has now won back to back fights in his return to the lightweight division with both wins coming by TKO.
Mitrione snaps losing streak with 19 second knockout win
Matt Mitrione and Phil De Fries were initially schooled to face each other last year, but the fight was delayed until Saturday in Sweden and Mitrione only needed 19 seconds to get the victory.
As the fight opened, De Fries was looking to take the fight to the ground but Mitrione caught him with a punch and ended the fight on the ground. This is the fifth career TKO/KO win for Mitrione (6-2) and his second career first round victory.
The complete UFC on FUEL TV 9 results are below:
Main Card: (FUEL TV)
Gegard Mousasi def. Ilir Latifi via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Ross Pearson def. Ryan Couture via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 3:45
Matt Mitrione def Phil De Fries via KO (strikes) – Round 1, :19
Brad Pickett def. Mike Easton via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 30-27)
Diego Brandao def. Pablo Garza via submission (arm triangle choke) – Round 1, 3:27
Akira Corassani def. Robert Peralta via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Preliminary Card: (Facebook)
Reza Madadi def. Michael Johnson via submission (choke) – Round 3, 1:33
Tor Troeng def. Adam Cella via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:11
Adlan Amagov def. Chris Spang via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Conor McGregor def. Marcus Brimage via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:07
Ryan LaFlare def. Ben Alloway via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Tom Lawlor def. Michael Kuiper via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 1:05
Papy Abedi def. Besam Yousef via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)