UFC Fight Night 106 results: Big third vaults Jeremy Kennedy past Rony Jason in hostile territory

FORTALEZA, Brazil – Jeremy Kennedy’s smothering wrestling attack wore down Rony Jason over three rounds. But his chin saved him from a quick ending.

Kennedy (10-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) survived a flying knee flush to the chin to wrest back control over Jason (14-7 MMA, 4-4 UFC), taking home a unanimous decision.

The featherweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC Fight Night 106 event at Centro de Formacao Olimpica do Nordeste in Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil. It streamed on UFC Fight Pass ahead of the rest of the card on FS1.

The final scores were 29-28 twice and 29-27 for the undefeated Kennedy, who made his featherweight debut in the octagon against “The Ultimate Fighter Brazil” winner Jason.

Kennedy switched to grappling early when Jason went headhunting and caught him with a left hook. On the mat, he scored with elbows over the top. More than that, he seemed to take more energy from Jason, who looked just a bit too casual on his back.

If Jason was going to win the fight, he needed to be the aggressor. And charge forward he did, landing a flurry of punches before flooring Kennedy with a perfectly timed flying knee. It was a shot that might have put away other fighters, but somehow, the undefeated American managed to survive.

Not eager to replicate that experience, Kennedy took the first opportunity to reassert himself on the mat, taking advantage of Jason’s flat-footed stance. While Jason managed to avoid more of Kennedy’s concussive blows, his attempts to escape were foiled. And by the time he got to his feet, he had little time to work.

After a unanimous call in the opposite direction, Jason’s slide continues with a 1-4 tally after a submission win over Damon Jackson was overturned due to a positive drug test.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 106 results include:

• Jeremy Kennedy def. Rony Jason via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
• Paulo Borrachinha def. Garreth McLellan via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:17

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 106, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan and Fernanda Prates contributed to this report on site in Fortaleza.)