UFC 172 took place at the Baltimore Arena, and in the night’s main event, UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones successfully defending his championship for the seventh consecutive time, winning a dominant unanimous decision against Glover Teixeira.
In each of the five rounds, Jones was able to fend off the powerful hooks, overhands and uppercuts from Teixeira by controlling the fight against the cage with lethal elbow combination and at a distance with hand fighting and an unorthodox array of kicks, punches and elbows.
Jones (20-1) extended his winning streak in the UFC light heavyweight division to eleven with the victory, and the loss ended Teixeira’s (22-3) stretch of twenty straight wins.
Johnson wows in UFC return
In his return to the UFC, this time in the light heavyweight division, Anthony Johnson looked impressive, beating up Phil Davis to win a clear unanimous decision.
Johnson proved to be a tough stylistic match-up for Davis, who was not able to score a single takedown in the entire fight. From the get-go, Anthony Johnson punished Davis his powerful striking, winning each round in convincing fashion. The victory extends Johnson’s (17-4) winning streak to seven, and the loss was the first time that Davis (12-2, 1 NC) has been defeated in a three-round fight.
Rockhold showcases his submission game
Top UFC middleweight Luke Rockhold showed just why he was a heavy favorite in his fight with Tim Boetsch by submitting him with ease in the first round.
Rockhold locked on a triangle choke after stuffing a takedown attempt by Boetsch and eventually transitioned into a kimura that elicited a tap. In the post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, Rockhold (12-2) called out Vitor Belfort, wanting to redeem himself from his last loss.
Miller chokes Medeiros out
Ninth ranked UFC lightweight Jim Miller made short work of his late-replacement opponent, choking out Yancy Medeiros with a guillotine choke in the first round.
Miller pulled for the choke amidst a scramble that took place after did some damage with a combination that started with a brutal shot to the body of Medeiros. Miller (24-4, 1 NC) now has 14 submission victories to his name.
Holloway submits Fili in the third
In a battle between two young featherweights, Max Holloway forced Andre Fili to submit with a guillotine choke in the third round.
The finish came as a direct result from a half-hearted takedown attempt from Fili that was induced by a combination of punches and elbows against the cage that Holloway unloaded. The first two rounds were relatively close with Holloway landed the cleaner strikes, and Fili scoring with a few takedowns and landing significant strikes of his own.
In what was 22-year-old Holloway’s (9-3) eighth career UFC fight, the Hawaiian improved his promotional record to 5-3. The loss snapped Fili’s (13-1) nine fight winning streak.
Benavidez unveils the “Joa Constrictor”
After being taken down three times and put in danger of potentially dropping the first frame, Joseph Benavidez took his flyweight fight with Timothy Elliott out of the hands of the judges by submitting him late in the first frame with a guillotine choke that Benavidez dubbed “the Joa Constrictor”.
The unique choke was a guillotine in full mount that trapped Elliott’s arms, forcing Elliott to tap out with his feet. Elliott’s awkward approach to fighting paid dividends early on in the fight as he was able to take down Benavidez throughout the round with unpredictable, explosive takedowns, but he was caught in the fight-ending choke after being on the losing end of a scramble.
With the victory, Benavidez (20-4) remains unbeaten against fighters who have never held the UFC Bantamweight Championship, and with the loss, Elliott (10-5-1) has now lost three of his last five.
The complete UFC 172 results are below.
Main Card: (PPV)
Jon Jones def. Glover Teixeira via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)
Anthony Johnson def. Phil Davis via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Luke Rockhold def. Tim Boetsch via submission (kimura) – Round 1, 2:08
Jim Miller def. Yancy Medeiros via technical submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 3:18
Max Holloway def. Andre Fili via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 3, 3:39
Preliminary Card: (Fox Sports 1)
Joseph Benavidez def. Timothy Elliott via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 4:08
Takanori Gomi def. Isaac Vallie-Flagg via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Bethe Correia def. Jessamyn Duke via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
Danny Castillo def. Charlie Brenneman via KO (punch) – Round 2, :21
Preliminary Card: (Fight Pass)
Chris Beal def. Patrick Williams via KO (flying knee) – Round 2, 1:51