Sports

UFC Fight Night — Joseph Benavidez vs. Deiveson Figueiredo 2 — Live results from Fight Island

July 19, 2020
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After months of uncertainty, the UFC flyweight division will finally have a new champion Saturday night.

Deiveson Figueiredo and Joseph Benavidez will settle their rivalry Saturday in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island. The winner will own the belt that has been vacated since former titleholder Henry Cejudo relinquished it in December.

ESPN has Figueiredo ranked No. 2 and Benavidez at No. 3 in the world among MMA flyweight fighters. But the beef between the two of them goes deeper than that now.

Benavidez and Figueiredo fought Feb. 29 in Norfolk, Virginia. The bout was supposed to decide the title, but Figueiredo missed weight by 2.5 pounds. Benavidez was the only one who could win the belt in the fight — but Figueiredo ended up stopping Benavidez by TKO in the second round. There was some controversy there, too. Figueiredo’s finish came right after a clash of heads that rocked Benavidez.

Benavidez is taking the rematch personally. He said he was told by Brazilian media that Figueiredo made some comments about how he was proud that he head-butted Benavidez.

“What I felt after the last fight and the way it went about, not necessarily in the most fair way, it just makes me actually want to hurt him.,” Benavidez told ESPN. “I want you to feel dizzy when you get up every day and not know if your concussions are going to go away. I want you to freaking cry and be embarrassed and all that kind of stuff. So yeah, that is a different feeling towards this fight.

In the co-main event, former title challenger Kelvin Gastelum and Jack Hermansson will face off in a key middleweight battle. Gastelum (15-5, 1 NC) is ESPN’s No. 7-ranked middleweight, while Hermansson (20-5) is No. 8.

Also on the card, Alexandre Pantoja and Askar Askarov meet to potentially decide a future contender for the flyweight title, Irish fan favorite Joseph Duffy returns for the first time in 16 months and Brett Johnson and Montel Jackson square off in a battle of bantamweight prospects.

Fight in progress:

Light heavyweight: Khadis Ibragimov (8-2, 0-2 UFC, +145) vs. Roman Dolidze (6-0, 0-0 UFC, -165)

Results:

Catchweight (150 pounds): Grant Dawson (16-1, 4-0 UFC) defeats Nad Narimani (12-4, 2-2 UFC) by unanimous decision

Recap to come.

Lightweight: Joel Alvarez (17-2, 2-1 UFC) defeats Joe Duffy (16-5, 4-4 UFC) by first-round guillotine

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Joel Alvarez upsets Joe Duffy after forcing him to tap out via guillotine choke in Round 1.

You had to know someone was going to be tapping out in this one. Each of these men came in with 16 pro wins on his résumé, with Alvarez having scored all but two of them by submission and Duffy having produced 10 subs.

But the lightweights made it a kicking contest for the first two minutes. Each man reddened the other’s left calf with a succession of low kicks, and neither took a backward step. They both appeared content to continue the striking battle.

Then Duffy shot for a double-leg takedown and put Alvarez on his back with 2:45 to go in the round. But the Spaniard wasted no time in switching to grappling mode. He locked in a guillotine choke, and before it could register to onlookers that it was a tight submission attempt, Duffy was tapping at 2:25.

For Duffy, a 32-year-old Irishman who had not competed in 16 months, it was his third straight loss.

Alvarez, 2-1 in the UFC, had not fought in just over a year. He’s 27.

— Wagenheim

 

Men’s bantamweight: Brett Johns (17-2, 5-2 UFC) defeats Montel Jackson (9-2, 3-2 UFC) by unanimous decision

Johns knew he had an advantage in the grappling and never let up in that aspect of the fight.

Despite getting dropped in the first round, Johns stuck to his grappling-heavy game plan and pulled off a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) win over Jackson. Afterward, Johns told analyst Paul Felder that he had to overcome Jackson’s incredible grip strength, which he described as something he had “never felt in my life before.”

“That was a dire performance,” Johns said. “That wasn’t the best. I could do a lot better than that.”

Johns worked for a takedown against the cage in the first round, but didn’t get it. Jackson was able to get some distance and land a big left hand that put Johns down. Jackson got in top position and landed hard elbows. Johns tried for an armbar as the round was coming to an end, but Jackson defended and clearly won the first.

The wrestling and grappling of Johns won out in the next two rounds. Johns was able to get Jackson down in the second and work for a triangle choke. In the third, Johns took Jackson down twice and at one point cinched in a tight guillotine. Jackson escaped, but the third round — like the second — was clear for Johns.

Johns, 28, has now won two straight after dropping two in a row. The 28-year-old Welshman has won four of his six UFC bouts and looks to be headed back toward an increase in competition level. Jackson, a 28-year-old Wisconsin native, had a three-fight winning streak snapped.

— Raimondi

Amir Albazi (13-1, 1-0 UFC) defeats Malcolm Gordon (12-4, 0-1) by first-round triangle choke

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Amir Albazi stops Malcolm Gordon after submitting him with a triangle choke in Round 1.

Albazi showed the tighter, more accurate striking early on, but he really separated himself once this fight between two 125-pounders making their UFC debuts hit the canvas.

Albazi, a 26-year-old fighting out of London, threatened Gordon from top position after getting the takedown midway through Round 1, working his way to full mount with just over a minute to go. When Gordon reversed him and got on top, Albazi immediately locked in a triangle choke and elicited the tapout at 4:42. It was the first triangle submission of 2020.

Gordon came into his debut riding a four-fight winning streak — all finishes, including three submissions. He’s 30 and fights out of Toronto.

This was the first of three men’s flyweight bouts on the card, including the championship main event.

“The victory felt amazing, exactly what I’ve been working on,” Albazi said. “It went exactly to plan, plan was to stand up a bit, feel him out, take him down and finally put him to sleep with a choke hold or a submission. I’ve been training jiu-jitsu since the age of 14, both back home in Sweden and in London Shoot Fighters in London, so I feel very comfortable on the ground.”

— Wagenheim

 

Lightweight: Arman Tsarukyan (15-2, 2-1 UFC) defeats Davi Ramos (10-4, 4-3 UFC) by unanimous decision

This felt like a coming-out party for Tsarukyan. While the Armenian wrestler looked impressive in his previous two UFC fights, Tsarukyan really put it all together in a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) win over the very skilled and strong Ramos.

Tsarukyan’s boxing was sharp, his wrestling was excellent as usual and he stayed out of trouble the entire time on the ground against Ramos, a dangerous Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace.

Tsarukyan was able to take Ramos down in the first round, which some might have thought was a risky decision given Ramos’ prowess on the ground. It went fine for Tsarukyan, who landed ground-and-pound. Tsarukyan’s diverse striking took over in the second round. With Ramos looking for one big right hand, Tsarukyan threw great punching combinations — one of which briefly wobbled Ramos — and kicks. By the third, Ramos was bleeding from several cuts on his face. Ramos was pushing the pace, looking for a finish. But Tsarukyan was too skilled and technical with his countering and combos.

Tsarukyan, 23, has won two straight since dropping his UFC debut against Islam Makhachev in April 2019. The Russia resident has cemented himself as one of the best prospects in the stacked UFC lightweight division. Ramos, a 33-year-old Brazilian, has dropped two straight following a four-fight winning streak.

“This was a great fight for me because Davi Ramos is a very strong opponent,” Tsarukyan said. “He is one of the stronger grapplers in the world. Next fight, I want to fight with top-15, top-10 guys, maybe Al Iaquinta because he is a very strong guy and he fought with Khabib Nurmagomedov. I want to fight with him because it’s a good fight for me. I’m a very young fighter. Every day I will get better and better. I can destroy my whole division.”

— Raimondi

 

Heavyweight: Serghei Spivac (11-2, 2-2 UFC) defeats Carlos Felipe (8-1, 0-1 UFC) by majority decision

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Serghei Spivac unleashes a barrage of punches on Carlos Felipe and exchanges a war of words after the official decision.

Spivac’s dominant Round 3 secured the victory in the battle of 25-year-old heavyweights.

All three judges scored the final round 10-8 after Spivak took down Felipe in the opening seconds and kept him on the canvas for practically the entirety of the five minutes. And he didn’t just hold the position; the Moldovan punished his opponent with hard punches and elbows. Felipe was exhausted, rendering him all but defenseless.

Two judges scored the bout 29-27, while the third had it 28-28, indicating that he had awarded the first two rounds to Felipe.

That in itself is puzzling, because while neither man distinguished himself in the first 10 minutes, Spivac was far more accurate with his punches and showed more poise overall.

Felipe, making his UFC debut as an undefeated fighter, showed off a black belt in head shaking and not much more. Every time Spivac landed, Felipe shook his head. Which is to say: Felipe shook his head a lot in Round 1, as he absorbed several straight punches while he was winging looping right hands toward Spivac, who dodged or blocked most of them.

Felipe did have some success in the second round, but other than bravado, the big Brazilian did not show much.

“I think that I wasn’t great in this fight because I never had a proper camp because of the COVID situation,” Spivac said. “I was mad at my opponent because of his tricks on the weigh-ins and during the fight.

“My daughter was born right before the fight so I didn’t sleep well because of that, and I want to dedicate the victory to my wife and daughter.”

— Wagenheim

 

Still to come:

Men’s flyweight championship: Deiveson Figueiredo (18-1, 7-1 UFC, -220) vs. Joseph Benavidez (28-6, 15-4 UFC, +185)

Middleweight: Jack Hermansson (20-5, 7-3 UFC, -110) vs. Kelvin Gastelum (16-5 1 NC, 10-5 1 NC, -110)

Lightweight: Marc Diakiese (14-3, 5-3 UFC, -160) vs. Rafael Fiziev (7-1, 1-1 UFC, +140)

Women’s flyweight: Ariane Lipski (12-5, 1-2 UFC, -120) vs. Luana Carolina (6-1, 1-0 UFC, +100)

Men’s flyweight: Alexandre Pantoja (22-4, 6-2 UFC, -190) vs. Askar Askarov (11-0-1, 1-0-1+170)


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