In what may end up being the last fight in his Mixed Martial Arts career, Chris Leben, one of the stars of the original Ultimate Fighter, withdrew after being severely beaten by Uriah Hall, one of the stars of the Ultimate Fighter’s seventeenth season.
Hall opened the first round with a flying knee that dropped Leben. After recovering, Leben was aggressive, attempting to land a fight-ending haymaker, but he just could not match the speed of Hall.
Hall ended the round emphatically by dropping Leben with a right and cracking his head with hard shots against the cage.
After asking his corner if he the lost fight by knockout, Leben told them that he was done, and the fight was called.
The loss is the fourth straight for Leben (22-1), who has not won a fight in two and a half years. In his third try, Hall (8-4) earned his first UFC win.
Johnson impresses with knockout of Tibau
In a lightweight battle between American Top Team’s Gleison Tibau and The Blackzilians’ Michael Johnson, Johnson knocked out Tibau with a counter left in the second round.
Johnson used his speed advantage to land his shot before Tibau could land his punch. The strike sent Tibau to the canvas, and Johnson polished his opponent off with a few follow-up punches until the fight was called.
The knockout was preceded by a rather inactive and close round. Tibau tried to use his size advantage to bully Johnson against the cage, but Johnson was able to separate and turn the fight into a striking contest.
Johnson (14-8) reminded me of the way he looked against Danny Castillo at UFC on FX 5. He looked tremendous, and his future at lightweight is bright. This is the first time Tibau (28-10) was knocked out since his UFC debut against Nick Diaz.
Siver moves up ranks by outpointing Gamburyan
In a featherweight bout, Dennis Siver was awarded a unanimous decision verdict against Manny Gamburyan. Each judge scored the fight 29-28 for Siver.
There was no doubt that Siver was the victor in the first and third periods. Although both contestants traded takedowns in the initial frame, Siver convincingly beat Gamburyan on the feet. In the third round, Siver turned to his wrestling. The German took down Gamburyan and dominated the entire round from a positional standpoint.
Fans of Gamburyan can at least take solace in the fact that he won the second period. After losing a few exchanges on the feet, Gamburyan took down Siver a couple of times as well as cutting Siver open with ground strikes.
Coming off of a loss to Cub Swanson, Siver (22-9) looked impressive as he earned his third victory in his last four fights. The last time Gamburyan (13-8) lost a fight was in December of 2011.
Howard returns to welterweight with a victory
An effective mixture of wrestling and striking in the third round punctuated John Howard’s effective performance and earned Howard a unanimous decision victory over Siyar Bahadurzada.
While Howard undoubtedly took the third round against a tired Bahadurzada, the first two were close. The stand-up exchanges during the two periods were relatively even. Howard controlled the grappling aspect of the fight in the first round, whereas Bahadurzada out-grappled Howard in the second.
In his second stint with the UFC, Howard (22-8) is now 2-0, while Bahadurzada (21-6-1) has lost his last two fights via unanimous decision.
Patolino dominates Voelker with his striking
TUF Brazil 2 alumn William “Patolino” Macario picked apart Bobby Voelker on the feet en route to a clear unanimous decision victory.
All three judges gave each round of the welterweight contest to Macario. The Brazilian did a fantastic job of timing his strikes as he was able to connect with great accuracy while entering and exiting the pocket
Macario also did a great job of cutting off the cage throughout the fight. There were several instances where Voelker, with his back against the cage, was nearly finished by violent combinations from Macario.
Macario (7-1) now has his first UFC win, an accomplishment that has eluded Voelker (24-11) in his three fight tenure with the promotion.
Peralta opens night with a knockout
Following two back-and-forth rounds, featherweight Robbie Peralta opened the third frame with a barrage of hooks that knocked Estevan Payan out.
The first frame was controlled by Peralta early on. He was able to score a few takedowns and work from the half-guard position, but Payan swept Peralta and fought from side control for the last two minutes of the round. The exact opposite played out in the second period. Payan looked great early on with his wrestling, only for Peralta to score points later in the frame.
This was the thirteenth victory for Peralta (17-4, 1 NC) that ended with strikes. Payan’s (14-5, 1 NC) UFC record is still missing a victory as it regresses to 0-2.
Preliminary Card Results:
Uriah Hall def. Chris Leben via TKO (Retirmenet) – Round 1, 5:00
Michael Johnson def. Gleison Tibau via KO – Round 2, 1:32
Dennis Siver def. Manny Gamburyan via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
John Howard def. Siyar Bahadurzada via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
William Macario def. Bobby Voelker via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Estevan Payan def. Robbie Peralta via KO – Round 3, 0:12[]\