UFC 173 took place on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and T.J. Dillashaw shocked the mixed martial arts community as he dominated Renan Barao to win the UFC bantamweight title.
Dillashaw controlled the fight from the opening bell as he was able to confused Barao with his foot movement and dropped the now former champion in the opening round. Barao would be able to survive a flurry at the end of the first round and make it to the second.
Barao best statistic round would come in the second as he landed 35 strikes, but Dillashaw was the more effective striker. Dillashaw would continue to pour it on in the third and fourth round.
As the fight moved to the fifth round, it was clear that Dillashaw was not trying to work his way to a decision. He continued to come straight forward till Barao and ended up dropping him with strikes and after multiple significant strikes on the mat, referee Herb Dean came in to stop the fight.
Dillashaw (10-2) is the third Ultimate Fighter contestant (Griffin, Evans, Serra) to win UFC gold and he is the first Team Alpha Male fighter to win UFC gold. This is his fourth career victory by TKO/KO and his first title defense could be against Raphael Assuncao.
Cormier takes another step towards title shot as he dominates Henderson
The co-main event was a light heavyweight bout as Daniel Cormier remained undefeated with a three round rear-naked choke submission over Dan Henderson.
Cormier used his wrestling early in the fight to get the fight to the ground and controlled Henderson on the mat. Henderson would be unable to get the bigger Cormier off him and would be unable to mount any offense. Cormier would land 119 more total strikes and he landed more strikes in the first round (25) than Henderson landed (12) in the entire fight.
Following a big slam in the third round, Cormier would begin to look for a submission and locked in a rear-naked choke. Henderson would not tap out and went to sleep. Referee Yves Lavigne noticed that Henderson was out and come in to stop the fight.
Cormier (15-0) is now 2-0 since dropping down to the light heavyweight division and this is his first submission win since 2010. In his post fight interview, he called out UFC champion Jon Jones and Cormier is likely to face either Jones or Alexander Gustafsson for the title in 2015.
Lawler dominates Ellenberger, wins in third round by TKO
It was sixty-nine days ago that Robbie Lawler came up short against Johny Hendricks for the vacant welterweight title and he returned on Saturday night as he dominated Jake Ellenberger to win by TKO in the third round.
Lawler opened the fight by landing several leg kicks to send a statement and Ellenberger struggled to get his strikes going. Lawler would dominate the action on the feet and when Ellenberger got the fight to the ground, Lawler was able to get right back to his feet. The end of the fight would come at the 3:06 mark of the fight round as Lawler dropped Ellenberger and finished the fight on the mat.
Lawler (23-10) has now won four of his five fights since coming back to the UFC and stated in his post fight interview with Joe Rogan that he wants to do whatever he can to get another chance at the UFC welterweight title.
Mizugaki wins fifth straight with decision over Rivera
In the other bantamweight bout on the main card, Takeya Mizugaki was able to keep his winning streak alive as he scored a decision victory over Francisco Rivera.
As the fight opened, Mizugaki landed a right hand that took the fight to the ground and looked for a finish. Rivera would be able to survive the flurry and get back to his feet. During the round, while Mizugaki had three failed takedown attempts, Rivera was able to convert three of his four takedown attempts.
Rivera would get off to a good start in the second round but Mizugaki would control the second half of the round and attempted a rear-naked choke attempt. The fight would move into the third round and Mizugaki would control a majority of the round.
All three judges would score the fight for Mizugaki (20-7-2) and he should get a big fight in his next appearance in the UFC.
Krause scores victory following Varner breaking his ankle
The opening bout of the main card on pay-per-view was a lightweight bout and James Krause scored a victory at the end of the opening round after Jamie Varner suffered a broken ankle in the round.
Early in the round, Krause threw a low kick that connected to the left ankle of Varner and it was obvious that something was wrong. Varner struggled to put weight on his left leg throughout the round and Varner attempted to end the fight with his hands.
He would be unable to land anything that could end the fight and as the round ended, Varner told referee Jason Herzog that he broke his ankle. Once Herzog heard that, he waived off the fight and Krause (21-5) has now won two of his three fights in the UFC.
The complete UFC 173 results are below.
Main Card: (PPV)
T.J. Dillashaw def. Renan Barao via TKO (strikes) – Round 5, 2:26
Daniel Cormier def. Dan Henderson via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 3:53
Robbie Lawler def. Jake Ellenberger via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 3:06
Takeya Mizugaki def. Francisco Rivera via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
James Krause def. Jamie Varner via TKO (injury) – Round 1, 5:00
Preliminary Card: (Fox Sports 1)
Michael Chiesa def. Francisco Trinaldo via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
Tony Ferguson def. Katsunori Kikuno via TKO (punch) – Round 1, 4:06
Chris Holdsworth def. Chico Camus via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Mitch Clarke def. Al Iaquinta via submission (d’arce choke) – Round 2, :57
Preliminary Card: (Fight Pass)
Vinc Pichel def. Anthony Njokuani via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Sam Sicilia def. Aaron Phillips via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Jingliang Li def. David Michaud via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)