UFC Fight Night 79 results: Dongi Yang TKOs Jake Collier in second

Dongi Yang

SEOUL – Eye-pokes frequently deflate their recipients, but for Dongi Yang, an accidental foul seemed to energize him.

After Jake Collier’s (9-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC) extended arm led to a temporary stoppage and doctor check, Yang (13-3 MMA, 2-3 UFC) rallied to pound out his opponent with ground and pound in the second frame.

The middleweight bout closed the preliminary card of today’s UFC Fight Night 79 event at Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul. It streamed on UFC Fight Pass.

The fight was called off at the 1:50 mark of the second round as Yang hammered at a turtled Collier, who just moments before had banked heavily on a kneebar attempt he couldn’t fully extend. The win started Yang’s second UFC stint on a good note after a 1-3 run led to his release in 2012. Collier goes back to the drawing board after a split-call over Ricardo Abreu at UFC Fight Night 68.

Collier’s energy in the opening round was counteracted by Yang, who looked to intercept the American with heavy hooks. The two traded dominant positions in a pair of takedown attempts, but it was Collier who scored the most significant offense with a right hand that dropped Yang to the mat.

Collier was defending himself from Yang’s punches when the eye-poke landed. But upon the restart, Yang fired back with more punches.

Yang turned up the tempo in the second round, slapping Collier with more punches before fighting off a guillotine choke. Reversing to top position, he had a perfect vantage point to rain down punches on Collier, who eventually succumbed to the blows.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 79 results include:

• Dongi Yang def. Jake Collier via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 1:50
• Mike De La Torre def. Yui Chul Nam via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Tae Hyun Bang def. Leo Kuntz via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
• Seo Hee Ham def. Cortney Casey via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Fredy Serrano def. Yao Zhikui via TKO (arm injury) – Round 1, 0:44
• Marco Beltran def. Ning Guangyou via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Dominique Steele def. Dong Hyun Kim via knockout (slam) – Round 3, 0:27

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 79, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan contributed to this report on site in South Korea.)