UFC Fight Night 42 took place on Saturday night at the Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, New Mexico and former lightweight champion Benson Henderson earned his first stoppage victory in the UFC as he submitted Rustam Khabilov in the fourth round.
Henderson did not get off to a great start in the fight as he was taken down twice in the opening round and Khabilov was the more effective striker in the round.
During the second round, Henderson was able to even up the fight as he was able to score a takedown and land twice as many punches as Khabilov did in the round. As the fight moved into the third round, Henderson began to find openings and attempted a rear-naked choke submission. Khabilov would defend the attempt and make it to the fourth round.
The end of the fight would come following Henderson landing a combination that dropped Khabilov and immediately went for the submission. Once the submission was locked in, Khabilov tapped and this is the first stoppage win for Henderson since submitting Donald Cerrone four years ago.
Sanchez wins highly questionable split decision
The co-main event of the fight card was a lightweight bout as Diego Sanchez scored a highly questionable split decision victory in his hometown over Ross Pearson.
During the opening round, both guys were looking to find their range but Pearson would land 13 strikes compared to 8 by Sanchez. While most people believed that Pearson won all three rounds, his best round came in the second as he would drop Sanchez in the round and nearly came up with the finish.
Pearson would continue to out land Sanchez in the final round and it appeared that he would get the decision victory. However, two of the three judges scoring the fight gave it to Sanchez, with one of them scoring all three round for Sanchez.
Dodson breaks the nose of Moraga, wins following doctor stoppage
In the only flyweight bout on the card, John Dodson made his case for being next in line for a title shot as he defeated John Moraga at the end of the second round.
Dodson was able to use his speed advantage to out land Moraga in the opening round as Moraga struggled to land combinations. Moraga attempted to get the fight to the ground twice in the opening round, but both of the attempts were stopped. Moraga opened the second round being the aggressive fighter as Dodson was picking his spots on when to attack. In the final minute of the second round, Dodson landed a knee to the nose of Moraga and nearly scored a stoppage victory.
Following the conclusion of the round, the cage side doctor came in to look at the nose of Moraga and decided to call the fight due to the fact that the nose was broken. Dodson (16-6) has won back to back fights since losing to flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson and in his post fight interview, he said that he is coming for the belt.
Dos Anjos drops High, scores first TKO/KO win since 2011
Rafael dos Anjos has now won six of his last seven fights as he defeated Jason High by TKO in the second round.
As the fight opened, High made it clear that he was looking to take the fight to the ground, which he was able to do. He would not be able to keep the fight on the ground long as Dos Anjos got up and went for a standing guillotine choke. He would drop to the mat with the submission, but High would escape.
High would end up in top position, but Dos Anjos looked for a kimura submission attempt. While the submission would not be successful, he would reverse the position and end the round in top position. At the start of the second round, Dos Anjos would poke High in the eye and High would be able to continue. After the restart, High would score a takedown but Dos Anjos would get up and score his own takedown. Once on the ground, he immediately got the side control position but High would be able to work his way back to his feet. The fight would end up back on the ground, but it would not be there long.
Shortly after they got back to their feet, Dos Anjos landed a right hand that dropped High and following punches on the ground, the referee came in to stop the fight. Following the stoppage, High pushed the referee and that will likely result in a fine from the New Mexico Commission.
Dos Anjos (21-7) is currently ranked as the number five contender in the UFC lightweight division and in his post fight interview, he did not call out any opponent and said he just wants to fight the best the division has to offer.
Hallmann stops Edwards in third round by submission
Piotr Hallmann earned his second victory in the UFC on Saturday night as he defeated Yves Edwards by rear-naked choke submission in the third round.
Edwards opened the fight by landing several left leg kicks and during a striking exchange, Hallmann accidentally poked Edwards in the eye. He would be able to continued and Hallmann looked for a takedown at the restart, but Edwards was able to defend the attempt with a guillotine choke. They would end up separating and Hallmann would use his grappling to take the fight to the ground. Edwards worked his way to his feet and the round ended with the fighters grappling against the fence.
As the bell sounded to start the second round, Hallmann was the aggressor and would end up poking Edwards again in the same eye. He would be able to continue and Edwards would end up poking Hallmann in the eye. After the restart, Hallmann would get the fight to the ground and opened up a cut on the forehead of Edwards with an elbow.
Hallmann would be able to get the fight back to the ground early in the third round and began to work for a submission. He would go for a rear-naked choke and once it was locked in, Edwards immediately tapped.
Hallmann (15-2) now has seven career wins by submission and both of his wins in the UFC have come by submission. Edwards (42-21-1, 1NC) has now dropped three of his last four fights and his last win came at the end of 2012.
Caraway scores another submission victory
The opening fight of the main card was a bantamweight bout as Bryan Caraway scored his 17th career victory by submission as he defeated Erik Perez in the second round.
Heading into the fight, it was known that Caraway would be looking for submissions and he was able to get a guillotine choke attempt early in the fight. Perez would defend the submission and get back to his feet. However, Caraway would get on the back of Perez and looked for a rear-naked choke.
Perez would be able to defend the submission attempt and the fight would move into the second round. As the second round opened, Perez attempted to get the fight to the ground, but it was Caraway that got the fight to the ground. Once on the ground, he began to look for a rear-naked choke and once he secured the submission, Perez tapped out.
Caraway (19-6) has now won back to back fights and all of his UFC wins have come by submission. Overall, this is his 11th career victory by rear-naked choke submission and he will likely face a top ten UFC bantamweight in his next fight.
The complete UFC Fight Night 42 results are below
Main Card: (Fox Sports 1)
Benson Henderson def. Rustam Khabilov via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 4, 4:16
Diego Sanchez def. Ross Pearson via split decision (27-30, 30-27, 29-28)
John Dodson def. John Moraga via TKO (doctor stoppage) – Round 2, 5:00
Rafael dos Anjos def. Jason High via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 3:36
Piotr Hallmann def. Yves Edwards via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 2:31
Bryan Caraway def. Erik Perez via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:52
Preliminary Card: (Fox Sports 1)
Sergio Pettis def. Yaotzin Meza via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Lance Benoist def. Bobby Voelker via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Scott Jorgensen def. Danny Martinez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Jon Tuck def. Jake Lindsey via submission (strikes) – Round 3, 2:47
Preliminary Card: (Fight Pass)
Patrick Cummins def. Roger Narvaez via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 2:28