UFC Fight Night 105 results: Thiago Santos finishes Jack Marshman with spinning heel kick

HALIFAX – Thiago Santos found himself in a firefight with the heavy-hitting Jack Marshman in the first round, so he reached for a more powerful weapon in the second.

A spinning heel kick from Santos (14-5 MMA, 6-4 UFC) put Marshman (21-6 MMA, 1-1 UFC) on the floor, and some follow-up punches on the mat were enough to convince referee Brad Jardine to call it off at the 2:21 mark of Round 2.

The middleweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC Fight Night 105 event at Scotiabank Centre. It aired on FS1 following an additional prelim on UFC Fight Pass and ahead of the main card on FS1.

For a guy who nearly got himself knocked out in the first round, Santos controlled most of the early action. He stung Marshman with counter left hands early, then easily took him down and controlled him on the mat without doing much damage from the top.

But once Marshman got back to his feet he began to find his range with his heavy right hand late in the opening round. He countered a Santos kick with a cross that tagged the jaw of Santos and briefly dropped him, then hurt him again with the same punch later on.

That was enough to make Santos more cautious to start the second, though midway through the round he found the perfect range and timing to launch his kick, spinning into a shot that caught Marshman just behind the ear with the heel of his right foot.

The kick dropped Marshman immediately, prompting Santos to follow him down and fire off several quick punches from inside his guard. Marshman still seemed active and aware when the referee Jardine intervened, but his complaints fell on deaf ears by then. Santos had the TKO win, and Marshman had his first UFC loss.

Santos victory snaps a two-fight losing streak. Marshman’s defeat is his first since March of 2014.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 105 results include:

• Thiago Santos def. Jack Marshman via TKO (kick, punches) – Round 2, 2:21
• Gerald Meerschaert def. Ryan Janes via submission (armbar) — Round 1, 1:34

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 105, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s Matt Erickson and Mike Bohn contributed to this report on site in Halifax.)