UFC on FOX 16 results: Tom Lawlor drops Gian Villante with devastating right hand

Tom Lawlor

CHICAGO – By the first minute of the second round, Tom Lawlor’s face had already been split open and lumped up by Gian Villante’s powerful punches. But one counter right hand from Lawlor (9-5 MMA, 6-4 UFC) was all it took to end the night for Villante (13-6 MMA, 3-3 UFC), as his knees buckled and his body sagged to the mat, setting up the TKO finish 27 seconds into Round 2.

The light-heavyweight bout closed out the preliminary card of today’s UFC on FOX 16 event at United Center in Chicago. It aired on FOX following additional prelims on UFC Fight Pass and ahead of the main card on FOX.

The early second round finish was something of a surprise after the events of the first frame. With his crisp boxing and straight, powerful punches, Villante blasted Lawlor with a series of heavy shots that seemed to have him hurt at times. Soon he was sporting a sizable cut under his right eye, and his face had already begun to swell by the time the fight entered the second round.

But that’s where Villante got a little too aggressive for his own good. As he backed Lawlor toward the fence, Villante came charging in behind a long punch combo that came up just short. Lawlor, just out of range, planted his feet and countered with a short right hook that caught Villante as he ran face-first into the punch, which dropped him immediately to his back.

Lawlor wasted no time rushing in with follow-up hammerfists to finish it, but by then referee Robert Madrigal was already diving in to wave it off. As Villante stood to protest the stoppage, his woozy legs betrayed him, sending him swaying back into the fence even as he tried to plead his case.

With the win, Lawlor has now won two straight in the UFC. Villante loses for the first time since March of 2014, snapping a two-fight winning streak.

Up-to-the-minute UFC on FOX 16 results include:

• Tom Lawlor def. Gian Villante via knockout (punches) – Round 2, 0:27
• Jim Miller def. Danny Castillo via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
• Ben Saunders def. Kenny Robertson via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Bryan Caraway def. Eddie Wineland via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• James Krause def. Daron Cruickshank via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 1:27
• Andrew Holbrook def. Ramsey Nijem via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Elizabeth Phillips def. Jessamyn Duke via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

For complete coverage of UFC on FOX 16, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s Matt Erickson contributed to this report on site in Chicago.)