UFC Fight Night 41 took place on Saturday at the O2 World in Berlin, Germany and was headlined by Gegard Mousasi making a statement in the UFC middleweight division as he became the first person to submit Mark Munoz.
Just like everyone expected, Munoz looked to get the fight to the ground early and all six of his takedown attempts were stopped by Mousasi. He would slam Mousasi, but Mousasi was able to get right back to his feet so it was not credited as a takedown.
As Munoz struggled to score the takedown, Mousasi landed multiple punches as Munoz was shooting for the takedown. Mousasi would end up attempting three submissions in the fight as Munoz worked for a takedown and on his third submission attempt, which was a rear-naked choke, Munoz tapped out.
Mousasi (35-4-2) has now won two of his three fights in the UFC and this is his twelfth career win by submission. Along with this being his twelfth submission win, this is his twenty-seventh career victory to come in the first round and he should be ranked in the top ten in the UFC media ranking following this performance.
Dolloway scores second straight victory with decision against Carmont
The co-main event of the fight card was a middleweight bout as C.B. Dolloway scored the biggest victory of his career as he defeated top ten middleweight Francis Carmont by unanimous decision.
During the first round, Dolloway would drop Carmont with a right hand but Carmont was able to survive and get back to his feet. Carmont would end up scoring a takedown as the round was coming to a conclusion and the round would end on the mat. Dolloway would be able to get the fight to the ground in the second round but while on the ground, Carmont went for a kimura submission. He would attempt the submission twice, but Dollaway defended the submission.
Dollaway would control the final round as he took the fight to the ground and got on the back of Carmont. The fight would be briefly on the feet, but Carmont was unable to mount much offense. The fight would go to the scorecards and all three judges had the fight for Dollaway (15-5), who has now won two straight and four of his last five fights.
Strickland remains undefeated with split decision victory over Barnatt
In a battle of undefeated middleweights, Sean Strickland was able to score a split decision victory over Ultimate Fighter alum Luke Barnatt.
The opening five minutes would be on the feet as they both would land almost the same amount of strikes. The fighters went back and fourth and after the fight, Strickland stated he broke his hand in the round. They would continue to have a striking battle in the second round but Barnatt would get a submission attempt in the round.
Prior to the third round starting, Barnatt told UFC President Dana White that Strickland was not fighting and running from him. In the final five minutes, the fight would be on the feet with Barnatt landing three more strikes and landed the more significant strikes.
The fight would be determined by the scorecards and two of the three judges had the fight for Strickland (15-0). While Strickland was awarded the victory, White tweeted that he soared the fight for Barnatt and called the 30-27 score for Strickland “insane.”
Backstrom wins UFC debut by submission
The opening fight of the main card was a featherweight bout as Niklas Backstrom remained undefeated as he defeated Tim Niinimaki by submission in his UFC debut.
The fight opened with Niinimaki scoring a takedown and it would be the only takedown that Niinimaki was able to complete as he went for seven takedowns in the fight. Backstrom would work his way up and they battled on the fence and Backstrom defended the takedown attempts by Niinimaki.
Backstrom would end up going for a jumping guillotine submission, but Niinimaki was able to escape the position. The fight would move back to the feet but Backstrom would end up getting the fight back to the ground as he went for a submission. It was a modified bulldog submission attempt and Niinimaki would end up submitting to the hold.
It officially went down as a rear-naked choke submission for Backstrom (8-0, 1NC) and this is his second career win by submission. The defeat for Niinimaki (21-6-1) snaps a twelve fight winning streak and this is his third career defeat by submission.
The complete UFC Fight Night 41 results are below.
Main Card: (Fight Pass)
Gegard Mousasi def. Mark Munoz via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:57
C.B. Dollaway def. Francis Carmont via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Sean Strickland def. Luke Barnatt via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
Niklas Backstrom def. Tom Niinimaki via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:15
Preliminary Card: (Fight Pass)
Nick Hein def. Drew Dober via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
Magnus Cedenblad def. Krzysztof Jotko via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 4:59
Iuri Alcantara def. Vaughan Lee via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, :25
Peter Sobotta def. Pawel Pawlak via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Maximo Blanco def. Andy Ogle via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Ruslan Magomedov def. Viktor Pesta via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)