Dominick Reyes appears to have established himself in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s light heavyweight division.
Teixeira mixed martial arts expert defeats former Cage Fury Fighting Championship titleholder Anthony Smith with punches and elbows in the second round of the highly anticipated UFC 310 prelims at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday. I stopped it. In his first assignment since the death of longtime friend and mentor Scott Morton, Smith (38-21, 13-0, November UFC) met his end 4 minutes, 46 seconds into the second round.
Reyes (14-4, 8-4 UFC) employed an aggressive kicking game at every level and called for a powerful jab-cross combo. Smith pounced for a single leg takedown early in the second round, only to be showered with elbows. Reyes continued to chip away at shots to the side of the head and maintain a steady pace, forcing referee Mark Goddard to intervene.
Meanwhile, Kill Cliff Fight Club’s Vicente Luque put Themba Golimbo to sleep with an anaconda choke in the first round of their welterweight bout. Golimbo (14-5, 4-2 UFC), who suddenly replaced Nick Diaz, fell into the abyss 52 seconds into round one.
Luque (23-10-1, 16-6 UFC) took advantage of the situation, defeating the Extreme Couture representative with a counter right hook. As Golimbo tried to stand up, he folded his arms in place and rolled over, waiting for his opponent to lose his grip on reality.
It was the first sub-minute finish in Luque’s distinguished 34-fight career.
Further down the undercard, American Top Team standout Mohsar Evloev maintained his perfect record as a professional by defeating Aljamain Sterling by unanimous decision in a heated three-round featherweight bout. All three cageside judges gave the fight the same score, 29-28 for Evloev (19-0, 9-0 UFC).
Sterling (24-5, 16-5 UFC) continued to dominate the Russian for much of the bout, which featured tactical takedowns, wild scrambles, and explosive comebacks. Ta. Evloev used a textbook Granby roll to grab the top spot midway through the third round, then added some ground and pound to eventually work his way to the back. Time ran out before Sterling could react.
Evloev, 30, has finished all nine of his UFC wins.
Elsewhere, former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion Eric Anders punched away Chris Weidman in the second round of a catchweight showdown at 195 pounds. Anders (17-8, 9-8 UFC) shut out the fight 4 minutes, 51 seconds into the first round, earning his third victory in four fights.
Weidman (16-8, 12-8 UFC) had a chance — landing a counter left hook on the former University of Alabama linebacker in the first round — but ran out of gas in the middle. Ta. There, Anders escaped a reckless guillotine attempt, set up in half guard, and unleashed a multi-minute burst of ground and pound that resulted in a stoppage.
Having lost three of his last four fights, the 40-year-old Weidman looks less and less like the man who once dominated the middleweight division.
Late in the preliminary draw, “The Ultimate Fighter” season 15 winner Michael Chiesa celebrated his 37th birthday in style, defeating Max Griffin with a rear-naked choke in the third round of their welterweight bout. Griffin (20-11, 8-9 UFC), who had never competed before, conceded defeat 1:56 into the third round.
Chiesa (18-7, 13-7 UFC) dominated the former Tati Palace Fight titleholder with awkward but effective stand-ups, repeated takedowns, and relentless clinch. He grounded Griffin just over a minute into the third round, moved backwards, secured position with a body triangle, and finished with a choke.
Griffin, 39, has alternated wins and losses in his past five starts.
Griffin wasn’t the only competitor to use his submission skills, as Chase Hooper disposed of former Strikeforce champion Clay Guida with an armbar in the first round of their lightweight bout. Guida (38-25, 18-19 UFC) raised the white flag of surrender 3 minutes, 41 seconds into the first round, suffering his third straight setback.
The 25-year-old Hooper (15-3-1, 7-3 UFC) slashed his left hand, cutting the Team Alpha Male representative near his eye and scoring multiple takedowns. Eventually he scrambled to Guida’s back and transitioned into an armbar, cutting off any escape route and moving his hips to prompt a tapout.
Hooper will head into his next assignment riding the momentum of a four-game winning streak.
Finally, two-time Dana White’s Contender Series contestant Kennedy Nzechukwu came on as a short-notice replacement for Talison Teixeira and punched Lukasz Brzeski in the first round of the heavyweight pairing. Brzeski (9-5-1, 1-5 UFC) was eliminated in the first round in 4 minutes, 51 seconds, suffering his second loss of the fight.
Nzechukwu (14-5, 8-5 UFC) came forward behind range-finding jabs, sharp front kicks to the body and the occasional straight left. Late in the first round, he knocked Brzeski down with a clean counter right hook, then followed up with cruel intent, wiping out the remnants with a hammerfist.
Nzechukwu, 32, has won back-to-back titles.
In other bouts, overweight Brian Battle (12-2, 7-1 UFC) defeated former Ring of Combat champion Randy Brown (19-6-13) by split decision (28 29, 29-28, 29-28). -6 UFC) Welterweight 3 round scrap. Former Fury Fighting Championship titleholder Joshua Vann (12-2, 5-1 UFC) used sharp combination punches to defeat American Top Team’s Cody Durden (17-7-1, 6-0) (5 losses, 1 UFC) by unanimous decision in three matches. The round of the flyweight tilt earned scores of 29-28, 30-26, and 30-27 from the cageside judges.
