Colby Covington dominates Tyron Woodley en route to fifth-round fight end
It was a grudge match that both men wanted for a considerable amount of time, but only one of them showed up on Saturday night.
Colby Covington backed up his bravado with a dominant performance over long-time rival Tyron Woodley before the latter sustained a rib injury which saw the fight called off early in the fifth round.
“Chaos” out-struck, out-wrestled, out-thought and out-fought Woodley at the UFC Apex venue.
Woodley was unable to handle Covington’s pace and once again looked unwilling to pull the trigger to try and salvage a fight he was clearly losing.
That could be because Covington went a rather unexpected route of taking down the former UFC welterweight champion.
Covington threw with volume in the opening round before hitting a well-timed takedown to keep Woodley guessing.
That theme continued as Covington had his way with “The Chosen One” wherever he wanted, switching between standing in the middle of the Octagon to strike, clinching against the cage and throwing ground and pound on the mat.
In the fourth round, Covington took Woodley down and slashed his foe with a nasty elbow on the ground, causing Woodley’s right eye to leak.
That was the beginning of the end. Covington scored another takedown in the final round and Woodley threw an arm round his neck to try and land a hail Mary guillotine choke.
As Covington fought his way out of the submission attempt, Woodley was in visible pain as he shouted out that he had injured his ribs. The fight was immediately stopped and Covington is the winner of this long awaited fight between these two rivals.
Despite an anticlimactic end, Covington appeared very happy at his efforts, and called out UFC champion Kamaru Usman and former friend Jorge Masvidal for a fight for good measure.
Donald Cerrone and Niko Price fight to majority draw after back-and-forth war
Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone fought Niko Price to the first draw of his storied 53-fight career at UFC Fight Night 178.
Cowboy had to overcome some serious adversity in the first round. Price threw with power and reckless abandon to try and stop the Colorado native early in the fight. Cerrone was caught with big punches, elbows and kicks but somehow withstood that onslaught to regain his bearings.
Price was cruising to win that first round only to have a point taken away from him for two errant eye pokes. From there, Price would be fighting on the backfoot.
As we have often seen with Cowboy, he gets better as the fight wears on and that was the case against Price.
Cerrone’s striking output and accuracy continued to increase in the second and third rounds, while also showing he had the grappling edge over Price.
After a shaky start, Cerrone never looked in any danger following that dicey first round, while Price also appeared to be comfortable yet unable to do anything that would salvage a win against his biggest name opponent yet.
Two of the judges scored the fight 28-28, while the other scored it 29-27 in favour of Cerrone. Perhaps concerned about having a point taken away in the first round, Price was the much happier man as the scorecards were announced.
Khamzat Chimaev crushes Gerald Meerschaert in just 17 seconds
We’ve seen him wrestle and now we’ve seen him throw hands. On Saturday night, Chechen-born Swede Khamzat Chimaev showed the world how good his striking is with a devastating one-punch knockout victory over Gerald Meerschaert.
Unbeaten Chimaev was up against a motivated Meerschaert, who looked to be the 9-0 fighter’s toughest test to date on paper. However, Chimaev marched down Meerschaert with little care for any consequences, backing the American up against the cage fence.
Perhaps fearing the takedown, Meerschaert moved alongside the fence in retreat but didn’t expect the crushing right cross which flatlined him.
Meerschaert was instantly rendered unconscious and Chimaev threw some follow-up shots for good measure before referee Mark Smith could intervene.
Massive win for Chimaev and this will keep the hype train that rightly surrounds his name chugging along. UFC President Dana White told the press after the fight that there is a chance Chimaev could get another short-notice booking for their upcoming Fight Island run.
UFC Fight Night 178: Covington vs. Woodley full results
Welterweight: Colby Covington def. Tyron Woodley by TKO (rib injury) at 1:19 of round five
Welterweight: Donald Cerrone and Niko Price fought to a majority draw after three rounds
Middleweight: Khamzat Chimaev def. Gerald Meerschaert by KO (punch) at 0:17 of round one
Light Heavyweight: Johnny Walker def. Ryan Spann by KO (elbows and punches) at 2:43 of round one
Women’s Strawweight: Mackenzie Dern def. Randa Markos by submission (armbar) at 3:44 of round one
Middleweight: Kevin Holland def. Darren Stewart by split decision after three rounds
Flyweight: David Dvořák def. Jordan Espinosa by unanimous decision after three rounds
Featherweight: Damon Jackson def. Mirsad Bektić by submission (guillotine choke) at 1:21 of round three
Women’s Flyweight: Mayra Bueno Silva def. Mara Romero Borella by submission (armbar) at 2:29 of round one
Women’s Bantamweight: Jessica-Rose Clark def. Sarah Alpar by TKO (punch and knee) at 4:21 of round three
Featherweight: Darrick Minner def. T.J. Laramie by submission (guillotine choke) at 0:52 of round one
Bantamweight: Randy Costa def. Journey Newson by KO (head kick) at 0:41 of round one
Bantamweight: Andre Ewell def. Irwin Rivera by split decision after three rounds
Bantamweight: Tyson Nam def. Jerome Rivera by TKO (punches) at 0:34 of round two