UFC 217 results: Ovince Saint Preux KOs Corey Anderson with head kick, calls out Ilir Latifi

Ovince Saint Preux had trouble with Corey Anderson through the first two and half rounds, perhaps owed to the fact he took the fight on less than two weeks’ notice.

But in the third, when it looked like he could be on his way to a momentum-halting decision loss, Saint Preux (22-10 MMA, 10-5 UFC) planted Anderson (9-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) with a wicked head-kick knockout. The end came at the 1:25 mark of the final round.

The light heavyweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC 217 event at Madison Square Garden in New York. It aired on FS1 following additional prelims on UFC Fight Pass and ahead of a main card on pay-per-view.

Anderson kicked low early, then got pushed back from a Saint Preux kick up the middle. Saint Preux came back on top of it with a left hand, and another left was on the money right after that. Anderson landed a solid right hand, though, and 45 seconds in landed a perfect double-leg takedown. When Saint Preux got up, Anderson scooped him up and slammed him again. Anderson put Saint Preux in trouble against the fence. Saint Preux worked back to his feet, but Anderson kept wrestling him.

Under the two-minute mark, when it looked like Saint Preux might work his way out, Anderson hit him with a pair of strikes and went back to the wrestling, even though he couldn’t get Saint Preux back down. They went back to the middle with 45 seconds left, where Saint Preux ultimately landed a big knee that forced Anderson to tie him up. Saint Preux landed a flurry of punches late in the round – and knocked Anderson down right before the horn.

Quickly into the second round, Saint Preux drilled Anderson with a head kick and knocked his mouth piece out. While Saint Preux was stalking him down looking to further the damage, Anderson told referee Dan Miragliotta his mouthpiece was out – and Miragliotta stopped the action to allow Anderson to put his mouthpiece back in, halting Saint Preux’s momentum. Anderson was able to recover and went back to his wrestling. Midway through the round, he scooped Saint Preux up for a takedown. He continued to put pressure on Saint Preux with punches and elbows once he got him to the canvas.

Anderson tried to get Saint Preux down in the third, but couldn’t find it in the first minute. Instead, he threw hands and touched Saint Preux up a few times. But out of absolute nowhere, Saint Preux threw a left kick and it was on the money. He planted Anderson on the canvas, and Saint Preux needed no follow-ups. Anderson was stiff on the canvas.

After the fight, Saint Preux told analyst Joe Rogan he wants to be on the UFC 219 card on Dec. 30 in Las Vegas against Ilir Latifi.

Saint Preux won for the third straight time. Anderson lost for the second straight time and third time in four fights.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 217 results include:

• Ovince Saint Preux def. Corey Anderson via knockout (head kick) – Round 3, 1:25
• Randy Brown def. Mickey Gall via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
• Curtis Blaydes def. Aleksei Oleinik via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) – Round 2, 1:56
• Ricardo Ramos def. Aiemann Zahabi via knockout (spinning back elbow) – Round 3, 1:58

For complete coverage of UFC 217, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan, Mike Bohn, Ken Hathaway and Abbey Subhan contributed to this report on site in New York.)