UFC 169 took place on Saturday night at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey and Renan Barao retained the UFC bantamweight title with a first round TKO victory against Urijah Faber.
After a feeling out process, Barao landed an uppercut that dropped Faber and went for the finish. Faber would be able to get back to his feet but Barao was able to land another punch that put Faber down.
Barao began to throw a series of punches and looked at referee Herb Dean to see if he was going to stop the fight. Dean asked Faber to show him something and Faber put his thumb up to say he was alright. However, that was not enough for Dean as he came in to stop the fight.
Following the conclusion of the fight, Faber was pure class and said that Dean is a great referee and he is looking out of the safety of the fighter. Barao (32-1, 1NC) has now won seven straight fights in the UFC bantamweight division and that is the longest active streak in the division.
Aldo retains featherweight title by unanimous decision
Jose Aldo made his sixth successful UFC featherweight title defense on Saturday night in New Jersey as he defeated Ricardo Lamas by unanimous decision.
The opening round was a feeling out process from both fighters with Aldo being tentative for the first half of the round. He started to close the distance and land his strikes as the round came to an end.
Aldo would take complete control of the fight over the next three rounds as he landed multiple leg kicks to the lead leg of Lamas. He would end up taking the fight to the ground and went for a rear-naked choke. Lamas would be able to survive the submission attempt but struggled to get his offense going in the first twenty minutes of the fight.
Lamas best round would come in the final round and in the final three minutes of the fight. After Aldo took the fight to the ground, Lamas was able to reverse the position and work his ground strikes from top position. He would not be able to land any potential fight ending strikes and the fight went to the scorecards.
All three judges had the fight 49-46 for Aldo (24-1) and he could be moving up to the lightweight division to challenge Anthony Pettis for the 155 pound title.
Overeem snaps losing streak with dominating decision over Mir
Former Strikeforce champion Alistair Overeem snapped a two fight losing streak with a one-sided decision victory over Frank Mir.
Overeem was able to hurt Mir early in the fight and nearly scored a stoppage victory in the opening round. During the first round, he pounded Mir with strikes and paced himself so he would not gas out.
The best opportunity for Mir to get the victory came in the second round as Mir scored a takedown and went for a guillotine choke. He would not get the submission and Overeem controlled the bout for the rest of the fight.
All three judges had the fight 30-27 for Overeem (37-13) and this is only his third win by decision. In his post fight interview, “The Reem” said he would be interested in a rematch if Brock Lesnar wants to come back.
Bagautinov used takedowns to defeat Lineker
In a potential title eliminator bout, Ali Bagautinov used his takedowns to defeat John Lineker.
Right from the start, it was clear that Bagautinov wanted to get the fight to the ground. He was able to get the fight to the ground twice in the opening round and the fighters exchanged heel hook submissions.
Lineker would be able to stop the takedown attempts of Bagautinov in the second round as Bagautinov attempted six takedowns. Lineker would score with his strikes and the fight was even heading into the final round.
In the final five minutes, Bagautinov would score multiple takedowns and stay away from the explosive strikes of Lineker. The fight would go to the scorecards and Bagautinov (13-2) would win by unanimous decision.
Bagautinov is now 3-0 in the UFC and he may end up securing a title shot with this victory.
Trujillo KO’s Varner in a lightweight brawl
In the opening bout of the UFC 169 pay-per-view, Abel Trujillo had a brawl with Jamie Varner and won by knockout in the second round.
The fighters wasted no time in throwing bombs and Varner would take the fight to the mat and went for a north-south submission. Trujillo would be able to defend the submission and get back to his feet. The remainder of the opening round would be on the feet with each fighter landing big punches.
As the second round opened, Varner was able to take control and appeared close to a victory. He landed multiple punches against the fence, but Trujillo would survive. Then would once again engage in a brawl and Trujillo would land a right hand that would end the fight.
Trujillo (12-5, 1NC) has won back to back fights and both wins have come by TKO/KO. He is 3-1, 1NC in his five UFC bouts and all of those wins have come by TKO/KO.
The complete UFC 169 results are below.
Main Card: (PPV)
Renan Barao def. Urijah Faber via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 3:42
Jose Aldo def. Ricardo Lamas via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-46)
Alistair Overeem def. Frank Mir via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Ali Bagautinov def. John Lineker via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Abel Trujillo def. Jamie Varner via KO (punch) – Round 2, 2:32
Preliminary Card: (Fox Sports 1)
Alan Patrick def. John Makdessi via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Chris Cariaso def. Danny Martinez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Nick Catone def. Tom Watson via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
Al Iaquinta def. Kevin Lee via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-27)
Preliminary Card: (Fight Pass)
Clint Hester def. Andy Enz via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Rashih Magomedov def. Tony Martin via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Neil Magny def. Gasan Umalatov via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)