UFC Fight Night 40 took place on Saturday night at the US Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio, and in the main event saw Matt Brown piece together a dominant performance that saw him landed vicious ground and pound on a bloodied Erick Silva until Herb Dean called the fight in the third round.
The fight started off with a frenetic first round that saw Erick Silva start off the first round by dropping Matt Brown with some body kicks, getting his back, and threatening with submissions. Brown would go on to get back and dominate the rest of the round by unleashing an onslaught of strikes.
Brown absolutely dominated the second, connecting with clean shot after clean shot and nearly obtaining a few fight-ending submissions.
Matt Brown (19-11) has now won seven fights in a row, and Erick Silva (16-5) continued his trend of alternating wins and losses. He’s now going 3-3 in his last six outings.
Philippou earns third UFC knockout victory
Costas Philippou rebounded after losing two straight in the UFC by finishing Lorenz Larkin inside the first round with a fight-ending combination against the cage.
The knockout win was the seventh in that fashion for Costas Philippou (13-4, 1 NC). Lorenz Larkin’s (14-3, 1 NC) three losses have all come in the last four fights.
Cruickshank blitzes Koch to win fight
In a lightweight encounter, head kick by Daron Cruickshank served as the catalyst for a barrage of strikes that finished Erik Koch in the first round. Up until the finishing sequence, each fighter tested each other out on the feet with kicks.
Cruickshank (15-4) has now finished nine fights with strikes, while Koch (14-4) has lost three of his last four.
Palelei shows off power
Australian heavyweight Soa Palelei welcomed Ruan Potts to the UFC with some heavy ground and pound that left Potts unconscious. Palelei finished the fight in the first round, after scoring takedown, transitioning into mount and putting Potts away with ground strikes.
The win was Soa Palelei’s (21-3) third in the UFC, and it extends his current winning streak to 11. Ruan Potts (8-2) was finished for the first time in his career.
Eduardo pulls off major upset
Nova Uniao bantamweight Johnny Eduardo pulled off a massive upset over Eddie Wineland on the preliminary portion of the card. Late in the first round, Eduardo knocked Wineland out with a pair of rights.
Coming into the fight, Johnny Eduardo (27-9) was a +735 underdog according to 5Dimes. With the loss, Eddie Wineland’s (21-10-1) UFC record has regressed to 3-3.
The complete UFC Fight Night 40 results are below.
Main Card: (Fox Sports 1)
Matt Brown def. Erick Silva via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 2:11
Costas Philippou def. Lorenz Larkin via KO (punches) – Round 1, 3:47
Daron Cruickshank def. Erik Koch via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 3:21
Neil Magny def. Tim Means via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Soa Palelei def. Ruan Potts via KO (punches) – Round 1, 2:20
Chris Cariaso def. Louis Smolka via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Preliminary Card: (Fox Sports 2)
Ed Herman def. Rafael Natal via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Kyoji Horiguchi def. Darrell Montague via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Zak Cummings def. Yan Cabral via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Johnny Eduardo def. Eddie Wineland via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 4:37
Preliminary Card: (Fight Pass)
Nik Lentz def. Manny Gamburyan via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Justin Salas def. Ben Wall via KO (strikes) – Round 1, 2:41
Albert Tumenov def. Anthony Lapsley via KO (punch) – Round 1, 3:56