UFC 204 results: Jimi Manuwa flattens Ovince Saint Preux for vicious KO in second-round

MANCHESTER, England – After one round of having his way with Jimi Manuwa on the mat, Ovince Saint Preux quickly faded in the second round.

That left him exposed to Manuwa’s (16-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) fearsome punches, and at the 2:38 mark of the round, a combination toppled Saint Preux (19-9 MMA, 7-4 UFC).

The light heavyweight bout was part of the main card of today’s UFC 204 event at Manchester Arena in Manchester, England. It aired pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

A left hook to the body stunned Saint Preux, and a right hook sent him to the mat. He managed to recover long enough to receive a left hook that completely knocked him out, sending his head bouncing off the canvas as Manuwa threw in another shot for good measure.

Saint Preux’s defense seemed to disappear after a failed takedown attempt in the second. Manuwa worked the body and legs in response, and attempted a flying knee to finish the job. It was a stark turnaround from the first frame, when it Saint Preux outworked him on the mat.

Manuwa was put down early and spent much of the opening frame with Saint Preux at his back, trying to secure both hooks in for back control. He managed to avoid serious damage, and attempted a guillotine choke late in the round that forced Saint Preux to defend. If the trend continued, however, he likely would have dropped a decision on scorecards.

Instead, Manuwa returned to the win column after a knockout loss against current No. 1 contender Anthony Johnson in his previous fight at UFC 191. Saint Preux, meanwhile, drops to 1-3 in his past four outings, which included a failed bid for the interim light heavyweight title against Jon Jones at UFC 197.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 204 results include:

• Jimi Manuwa def. Ovince Saint Preux via knockout (punches) – Round 2, 2:38
• Stefan Struve def. Daniel Omielanczuk via submission (D’Arce choke) – Round 2, 1:41
• Mirsad Bektic def. Russell Doane via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:22
• Iuri Alcantara def. Brad Pickett via submission (triangle choke) – Round 1, 1:59
• Damian Stasiak def. Davey Grant via submission (armbar) – Round 3, 3:56
• Leon Edwards def. Albert Tumenov via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 3:01
• Marc Diakiese def. Lukasz Sajewski via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 4:40
• Mike Perry def. Danny Roberts via knockout (knee, punches) – Round 3, 4:40
• Leonardo Santos def. Adriano Martins via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

For complete coverage UFC 204, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan and Mike Bohn contributed to this report on site in Manchester.)