UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos may not be the high-profile, headline-grabbing champion the UFC craves, but he is the baddest man in the 155-pound division. He defeated Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone via TKO in just 66 seconds on Saturday night in Orlando, Florida.
Per Fox Sports' Ariel Helwani, via Michael Carroll of FightMetric.com, the victory was a record-setting one:
Rafael dos Anjos' finish of Donald Cerrone in 1:06 is the fastest finish in UFC Lightweight Title fight history, per @MJCflipdascript.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) December 20, 2015
Cerrone is known as a notoriously slow starter. The hitch in his giddyup was his downfall on Saturday—that and a nasty left kick to his midsection. The champion left no doubt who the better man was as this was his second win over Cerrone in as many meetings.
From the outset, dos Anjos looked more lively as the first punches he threw found their mark. The two momentarily went into the clinch, and the champion landed a knee in the same spot that he would land the kick seconds later.
Cerrone winced from the knee, but he completely folded and retreated to the cage when the kick connected. Dos Anjos immediately began to launch a myriad of punches in an effort to finish Cerrone, but the latter showed heart and resolve as he tried to regain his breath.
The two fighters would go to the ground, but dos Anjos was the only one firing strikes. A turtled Cerrone was trying to cover up, but dos Anjos was relentless. Referee Herb Dean stopped the bout.
The first victory over Cowboy was a unanimous-decision win in 2013. Cerrone had put together an impressive eight-fight win streak since the loss. He had looked like a new-and-improved fighter, but he's clearly still not on dos Anjos' level.
When the fight was over, dos Anjos took the opportunity to address newly crowned UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor. Here's the segment in this tweet from Fox Sports: UFC:
RDA calls out Conor McGregor! "Mr. McGregor. You want to come to LW division? This is MY division."@TheNotoriousMMA https://t.co/YS0oy44OmX
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) December 20, 2015
McGregor has talked about moving to 155 pounds after unifying the 145-pound crown. He did that last weekend when he knocked out Jose Aldo in 13 seconds at UFC 194. A battle with dos Anjos would give Brazilian fans a chance at revenge.
Stay tuned.
Overeem Overpowers Junior
Alistair Overeem has had some embarrassing UFC losses. He dropped three of four fights at one point from 2013-14. The only thing he dropped on Saturday was Junior dos Santos. After a cautious first round, Overeem took the former UFC heavyweight champion to the woodshed in the second.
Well-placed and timed body kicks softened dos Santos up; Left hooks would do him in. Overeem landed the first shot midway through the frame. It opened a gash over dos Santos' right eye. Shortly after that initial shot wobbled the Brazilian, Overeem would turn out the lights with a counter left hook.
Overeem slipped dos Santos' jab and came up with the definitive punch. He pounced on his opponent to land a few hammer fists and referee Dan Miragliotta stepped in. Dos Santos was unhappy with the decision to stop the fight, but it was the right one.
He was trying to get to his feet, but he was in a compromising position with a very powerful man hovering over him. Zombie Prophet captured dos Santos' struggle faces:
JDS Face 1-4 pic.twitter.com/FIcoGNSvRY
— ZombieProphet (@ZProphet_MMA) December 20, 2015
When it was over, Overeem was asked about his preparedness for a potential title shot against the winner of the Fabricio Werdum vs. Cain Velasquez rematch in February at UFC 196. MMAFighting.com has a portion of the response:
Overeem: I feel very confident for that next title run.
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) December 20, 2015
Overeem had an excellent game plan for this bout. He knew he was the superior athlete, but he didn't abandon his defense. He was patient, forcing dos Santos to initiate the action.
When he did, he made him pay. In the heavyweight division, it doesn't take much. He has beaten Werdum once back in 2011 when the two were in Strikeforce. In fact, he's the last man to beat the UFC champion.
If Werdum can defeat Velasquez again, the stage seems set for Werdum vs. Overeem 2. If you didn't catch it, believe in what Fox Sports' Damon Martin says about the event:
You know what -- that was a damn good FOX card to close out the year. #UFCOrlando
— Damon Martin (@DamonMartin) December 20, 2015
Here's a look at the rest of the results and highlights from the card:
UFC on Fox 17 Results
- Rafael dos Anjos defeated Donald Cerrone via first-round TKO (1:06).
- Alistair Overeem defeated Junior dos Santos via second-round TKO (4:43).
- Nate Diaz defeated Michael Johnson via unanimous decision (29-28 x3).
- Karolina Kowalkiewicz defeated Randa Markos via unanimous decision (29-28 x2, 30-27).
- Charles Oliveira defeated Myles Jury via submission (guillotine) (R1, 3:05).
- Nate Marquardt defeated C.B. Dollaway via second-round KO (0:28).
- Valentina Shevchenko defeated Sarah Kaufman via split decision (28-29, 29-28 x2).
- Tamdan McCrory defeated Josh Samman via submission (triangle) (R3, 4:10).
- Nik Lentz defeated Danny Castillo via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27).
- Cole Miller vs. Jim Alers ruled a no- contest (accidental eye poke by Alers).
- Kamaru Usman defeated Leon Edwards via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28).
- Vicente Luque defeated Hayder Hassan via submission (anaconda choke) (R1, 2:13).
- Francis Ngannou defeated Luiz Henrique via second-round KO (2:53).
Other Card Highlights
Francis Ngannou is Big and Nasty
The heavyweight division always has room for a devastating puncher. France's Francis Ngannou made a destructive statement in his UFC debut. A brutal left uppercut separated Luis Henrique from consciousness and gave the 29-year-old Ngannou the win.
UFC tweeted the finish:
SERIOUS POWER!! Welcome to the UFC @Francis_Ngannou! #UFCOrlando https://t.co/JwCuFd4Gto
— #UFCOrlando (@ufc) December 19, 2015
It's just his first win on the biggest stage, but one-punch knockouts are attention-grabbers. Let's just hope Ngannou is more consistent than his countryman Cheick Kongo. The latter teased us with an imposing physique and a few exciting KOs.
Overall, his UFC career was less than spectacular.
Luque Chokes Out One-Dimensional Hassan
Hayder Hassan talks a great game, but when it comes down to it, he's too dependent on his massive punching power. There's no layers to his skill set, and that's especially evident when his fights go to the ground.
His bout with Vicente Luque on Saturday did indeed go to the mat, and the latter was clearly superior. The fight was a rematch of a fight that originally took place during The Ultimate Fighter Season 21. Hassan won that bout, but Luque made sure the outcome would be different this time around.
He'd finish Hassan via anaconda choke in the second round. Unfortunately, everyone watching on television saw Hassan tap, but referee Jorge Alonso did not. Sherdog was dismayed with the way the fight ended:
Luque locks up a nice anaconda in a hurry. Referee Jorge Alonso misses Hassan's tap, lets him go out cold, then convulse. Sigh. #UFCOrlando
— Sherdog.com (@sherdogdotcom) December 19, 2015
SB Nation's Luke Thomas wasn't surprised with the result:
People asked me why I picked Luque. Simple: skills win fights. Hassan is talented, but Luque was overwhelmed physically 1st time....
— Luke Thomas (@SBNLukeThomas) December 19, 2015
Luque talked about his victory afterward with Rodolfo Roman of the Roman Show:
Vicente Luque Is Proud of Defeating Rival, But rivalry won't end between ATT and Blackzilians: https://t.co/1h4geoh052 via @YouTube
— Rodolfo Roman ????? (@romandh) December 19, 2015
If you watched Saturday's bout and had never seen the two men's initial meeting, it would be hard to convince you Hassan ever defeated Luque. It just goes to show how much one fighter can improve while another stays stagnant.
McCrory's Jiu-Jitsu Smokes Samman
A brilliant exhibition of jiu-jitsu led to a submission victory via Triangle Choke for Tamdan McCrory over Josh Samman. Take a look at the finish in the tweet from Fox Sports: UFC:
McCrory finishes Samman with a SICK triangle choke, gives @JoeRogan the 'hardest high five' of his life #UFCOrlando https://t.co/P7HHWLdhHZ
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) December 19, 2015
With pressure and superior movement on the ground, McCrory proved to be too much for his opponent.
Samman's athleticism and striking prowess might have gotten him the first round, but McCrory would take over in the second. He spent 3:14 of the frame in control and landed 17 significant strikes compared to just four for Samman.
In the third, McCrory took the fight to the ground again and locked in the choke. Samman was done. While his striking won't win him many fights, his jiu-jitsu is advanced enough to make him a relatively tough out in the middleweight division.
Marquardt Starches Defenseless Dollaway
Elvis Presley once sang, "Only Fools Rush In." Apparently, C.B. Dollaway doesn't know that song. In the second round of his bout against Nate Marquardt, Dollaway ran face-first into a right hand that put him out before his body hit the mat.
Here's the finish from Fox Sports: UFC:
Down goes Dolloway! Nate Marquardt lands a MONSTER right hand that clean KO's his opponent! #UFCOrlando https://t.co/x6DkMXuwtS
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) December 20, 2015
Dollaway seemed to be winning the stand-up battle initially. Although he and Marquardt had both landed 13 significant strikes in the first round, it was Dollaway who was consistently coming forward.
Unfortunately for Dollaway, that pursuit led him to his destruction in the Octagon. Neither man has what it takes to become a serious contender at middleweight, but they could still be relevant in the promotion's fictional veteran's division—if that really existed.
Heavy Oliveira Nearly Hung Jury
The weekend didn't begin well for Charles Oliveira. Per Matt Erickson and Christian Stein of MMA Junkie, the Brazilian missed weight on Friday before his bout with Myles Jury on Saturday night.
Oliveira didn't just miss weight by a little. He weighed in at 150.5 pounds, which is 4.5 over the allowed weight. This is the fourth time Oliveira has missed weight in the UFC.
This latest lack of conditioning cost Oliveira 20 percent of his purse. It's a good thing that deduction will come out of a winner's portion. In the very first round, Oliveira was able to lock in one of his signature guillotines.
This wasn't your run-of-the-mill guillotines while he was lying on his back. Oliveira applied it from the standing position, wrapped his legs around Jury's waist and hung on his opponent's neck until he tapped.
Fanaticos del MMA GT has the sequence:
Guillotina brutal por parte de Charles Oliveira, le amargó el debut en 145 a Myles Jury. #UFCOrlando pic.twitter.com/2tlDAuNWkD
— Fanáticos del MMA GT (@fanaticosMMAGua) December 20, 2015
If Oliveira can ever solve his weight issues, he's a real contender at 145 pounds. It would be best for him to move to 155, but he obviously wants to maintain what he believes is a size advantage at featherweight.
Charles, there's no advantage if you're risking your health and giving up a fifth of your dough—just saying.
What's Next?
The new year will begin with UFC 195 on Saturday, January 2 in Las Vegas. UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler will defend his title against Carlos Condit. That's a fight with an excellent chance to become a classic bout.
The co-main event is a heavyweight tilt that will feature Stipe Miocic and Andrei Arlovski. That, too, could be a barnburner. New year...more punches.
All fight stats per UFC.com official event page.
Follow Brian Mazique on Twitter.
