UFC Fight Night 43 results: Neil Magny survives rough first to TKO Rodrigo Goiana de Lima

AUCKLAND, New Zealand – It was a tale of two fights between Neil Magny and Rodrigo Goiana de Lima, and Magny ultimately got the better of things.

Magny (11-3 MMA, 4-2 UFC) stopped de Lima (8-2-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) with a second-round TKO – but only after having to survive a brutal first round that the Brazilian dominated on the ground.

The welterweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC Fight Night 43 event at Vector Arena in Auckland, New Zealand. It streamed on UFC Fight Pass.

De Lima kicked early, then switched stances to kick again. But Magny used his jab with his height advantage. Moments later, he caught a kick and knocked de Lima to the canvas. He dove in and looked to take advantage, but de Lima expertly swept his way to Magny’s back.

When Magny popped to his feet, de Lima stayed glued to him. Two minutes in, de Lima worked to pass, and popped to full mount as Magny tried to buck his way out of trouble. Magny’s defense in the bad position was good, and he refused to give up his back.

De Lima was relentless in his passing and late in the round, got a triangle choke latched on. But Magny lifted him up, rested him against the top of the cage, then slammed him to the ground. But de Lima kept the choke on and Magny had to be saved by the bell.

But in the second, Magny came out quick and aggressive. He started pumping his jab right away, no doubt wanting to keep things on the feet going forward. He changed stances and landed a solid right that popped de Lima’s head back, and a left seconds later did the same.

Magny continued to keep the pressure on with combinations and bloodied de Lima up. Then a right hand from Magny planted de Lima on the canvas, and a couple punches on the ground were all she wrote. The stoppage came at the 2:32 mark of the frame.

“I wanted to dominate the entire fight, but I screwed up and gave away that first round,” Magny said. “He had great position and wasn’t letting me escape. I was definitely in trouble there for a bit, but I kept fighting and pushing.”

Magny won for the third straight time after a two-fight skid in 2013. De Lima had a three-fight winning streak snapped with the loss.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 43 results include:

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(John Morgan contributed to this report on-site in Auckland.)