UFC 206 was not for the faint of heart.
Yes, the main event between Max Holloway and Anthony "Showtime" Pettis might have been for a mostly pointless interim title that only one fighter could win, but the card turned out some of the best action fights of the year.
Among those fights was Holloway earning what amounts to a No. 1 contender belt by virtue of his third-round TKO victory over Pettis in the main event.
Showtime wasn't eligible to win the interim title in the fight since he wasn't able to make weight on Friday night, but that didn't keep him from coming out aggressively with kicks in the opening round.
But there's a reason that Holloway came into the fight with the third-longest win streak in the UFC, per ESPN Stats & Info. His counterstriking is tough to deal with, and Pettis found that out the hard way.
Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA); 9-fight win streak is tied for third-longest active streak in the UFC. #UFC206 pic.twitter.com/7cJfQqtsaR
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 11, 2016
As the fight progressed, Holloway was able to consistently outpoint his opponent with accurate counters that continued to mount damage to Pettis' face.
Eventually, the patient Holloway found the break he was looking for. Shortly after scoring a takedown toward the end of the third round, Holloway decided to allow Pettis to stand up and landed a straight right that sent him to the cage.
From there Holloway battered Pettis with uppercuts that eventually drew the finish.
The win sets up a massive featherweight fight that should help the division move on from the loss of Conor McGregor. The Hawaiian immediately went to work hyping the matchup, per MMA Fighting:
Holloway: We couldn’t find Aldo, so we called him Waldo. Jose Waldo, I’ll see you in Brooklyn! #ufc206
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) December 11, 2016
The struggle at the scale and beatdown from Holloway appears to have sent Pettis back to the lightweight division as well. Showtime alluded to a return to the division he was once the champion of after a 1-1 stint at featherweight, per Mike Johnston of Sportnet:
Anthony Pettis is going back to 155. Smart move. When your biggest concern in training camp is your weight it can't be a good thing. #UFC206
— Mike Johnston (@MikeyJ_MMA) December 11, 2016
Here's a quick look at the complete results from the evening at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto along with a closer look at the action that went down on the main card.
UFC 206 Quick Results
- Max Holloway def. Anthony Pettis by TKO at 4:50 of the third round
- Donald Cerrone def. Matt Brown by KO at 0:34 of the third round
- Cub Swanson def. Doo Ho Choi by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Kelvin Gastelum def. Tim Kennedy by TKO at 2:45 of the third round
- Emil Meek def. Jordan Mein by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Misha Cirkunov def. Nikita Krylov via submission (guillotine) at 4:38 of the first round
- Olivier Aubin-Mercier def. Drew Dober via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:57 of the second round
- Viviane Pereira def. Valerie Letourneau by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Matthew Lopez def. Mitch Gagnon by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
- Lando Vannata def. John Makdessi by KO at 1:40 of the first round
- Rustam Khabilov def. Jason Saggo by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Dustin Ortiz def. Zach Makovsky by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Jordan Mein vs. Emil Meek
Emil Meek is someone you might want to keep an eye on. The 28-year-old made an impressive UFC debut with a win unanimous-decision win over Jordan Mein to kick off the main card.
The first round played out like it was going to be an all-out war with both fighters getting their licks in in the stand-up department. The UFC passed along some highlights from the crazy round:
This round is NUTS! #UFC206 https://t.co/tgJZPZLi7S
— #UFC206 (@ufc) December 11, 2016
However, the second and third rounds were much more one-sided for the Norwegian. Meek was able to work the fight to the ground, where he dominated from top position. With no answers, Mein offered very little resistance as Meek took over.
The performance is just as disappointing for Mein, who was making his first appearance in the Octagon since January 2015.
But this was more about Meek introducing himself to the UFC. With a knockout win over Rousimar Palhares in the fight before his debut, he's definitely someone who could be making waves in the welterweight division sooner rather than later.
Tim Kennedy vs. Kelvin Gastelum
It was a bit of a long road for Kelvin Gastelum to UFC 206, but none of it stopped him from putting together one of the most impressive performances of his career against Tim Kennedy.
Gastelum was supposed to fight Donald Cerrone at UFC 205 at welterweight, but he missed weight by so much that the fight was scrapped. Ultimately, he found some chance at redemption as a late replacement for Rashad Evans against Kennedy.
Kennedy had his moments in the first frame; it looked like he would be able to use his length to keep Gastelum at bay. However, the fight took a turn in the second round with Gastelum using his athleticism to close the gap without breaking a sweat.
As it turns out, Gastelum has a strong gas tank at middleweight but didn't say that he plans on staying in the weight class, per MMA Fighting:
Gastelum says he still wants to fight at 170. “I’ll show up to Dana’s door at 170 if I have to."
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) December 11, 2016
That's unfortunate if it turns out that's what he decides to do. He has only fought at middleweight twice since winning The Ultimate Fighter at 185 pounds, and he defeated two veterans soundly.
Regardless of whether Gastelum figures out his weight cut, he at least showed that he's able to be an interesting player in the middleweight division with a thoroughly impressive TKO performance in this one.
Doo Ho Choi vs. Cub Swanson
There's crazy. There's bonkers. Then there's what happened between Cub Swanson and Doo Ho Choi.
The Korean Superboy came in as the potential future star with skills to put on display, but Swanson didn't get the memo he was supposed to be the aging veteran punching bag. Instead, the former WEC mainstay hit Choi with an incredible onslaught early in Round 2, per the UFC:
WHaaaaatatttttt!!!!!!!!!??!??!?! #UFC206 https://t.co/GrUastuO1m
— #UFC206 (@ufc) December 11, 2016
Choi might need to work on defense, but his toughness is no longer a mystery. It's a shame the Korean Zombie moniker is already taken, because Choi was able to absorb a tremendous amount of punishment and still came rallying back later in the round:
Choi gets the last word to end R2!!! #UFC207 @KoreanSuperBoy7 https://t.co/6FlQXKAAOU
— #UFC206 (@ufc) December 11, 2016
Choi has shown a penchant for technical boxing counterpunching with power. Swanson did a great job of consistently swarming his opponent, overwhelming Choi and taking away counter opportunities while testing his chin.
As it turns out, he wasn't able to put the Korean away, but he was able to take the decisive decision in a bout that Patrick Wyman of Bleacher Report had no problem calling the fight of the year:
29-28 Swanson in the unequivocal fight of the year. Holy god in heaven, what a brawl that was. Utter insanity. Craziness. #UFC206
— Patrick Wyman (@Patrick_Wyman) December 11, 2016
Josh Gross of Bleacher Report wondered if the fight might wind up hurting Choi in the long run:
Judges: 30-27, 30-27, 29-28 for Swanson. Can't call this a learning experience for Choi. It was that rough and may cost him in the long run.
— Josh Gross (@yay_yee) December 11, 2016
A war like that is obviously not ideal for a fighter in general. But this was a huge step up in competition for Choi. He's still a man keep an eye on, especially because he's only 25, but we learned that Swanson has a little more left in the tank than originally thought.
Donald Cerrone vs. Matt Brown
The theme of incredible action fights continued with the co-main event pitting Donald Cerrone and Matt Brown against one another.
Both fighters have reputations for putting on entertaining fights, and this one lived up to the hype. Brown stepped up and brought the fight to Cerrone early on, but he also showed signs of maturation in his game. Connor Ruebusch noted the improvement of Brown when he wasn't pressing the action:
Brown looks a lot more comfortable off the back foot than he ever has before. I'm inclined to thank Duane Ludwig.
— Connor Ruebusch (@BoxingBusch) December 11, 2016
Brown's defense hasn't improved, though, and that was the difference. While he looked comfortable mounting offense off his back foot, he also allowed Cerrone to land more than his fair share of strikes. The UFC highlighted a head kick that ended up being a sign of things to come:
Head kick lands for @CowboyCerrone! #UFC206 https://t.co/litmnRTyT5
— #UFC206 (@ufc) December 11, 2016
In a fight characterized by wild back-and-forth exchanges, it was actually one clean strike that made all the difference. Wyman described the final blow that ended the fight:
That was about the cleanest round kick to the head you'll ever see. Cerrone plants his left shin right across Brown's head for the finish.
— Patrick Wyman (@Patrick_Wyman) December 11, 2016
Of course, Cerrone wasted no time in setting a date for his next fight, expressing interest in fighting in January when the UFC goes to Denver, Colorado, per Fox Sports: UFC.
Even though winning a title has never been Cerrone's MO necessarily, he's quickly ascending the welterweight rankings. The win put him at 4-0 in the division with four finishes. If the UFC decides to put him on that card, it should be against a top-tier opponent.
