In a month chock full of UFC events, Sunday’s UFC Fight Night 113 show at SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland, flew a bit under the radar.
One reason for the card’s low profile was that most of the MMA world was focused on the Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor world tour in the days leading up to the event. Another reason was the broadcast time; the event was an evening show in Scotland, which translated to Sunday afternoon in North America. While that time slot might work in the winter, it’s a risky one during the summer months.
For those who didn’t catch the fights as they happened, I’m sorry to say you missed out.
Seven of the bouts, including a main event in which Santiago Ponzinibbio defied the odds and knocked out the favored Gunnar Nelson in 88 seconds, ended in stoppages.
For more on the UFC’s most recent fight card, check out 10 memorable moments from UFC Fight Night 113.
Competing in the first main event of his UFC career, Ponzinibbio delivered. Not only did he pick up an upset win Ponzinibbio (25-3 MMA, 7-2)
also became the first man to stop Nelson (16-3-1 MMA, 7-3 UFC)
inside the distance after delivering a straight left that had “Gunni’s” eyes rolling into the back of his head. Ponzinibbio also claimed his first “Performance of the Night” bonus in nine UFC fights with the first-round knockout.
While the victory might not turn Ponzinibbio into a star – and Nelson’s complaints of an eye-poke have soured a bit of the post-event celebration – it will put the Argentinian fighter on the radar of fight fans who might have been sleeping on him. The win should also earn Ponzinibbio a fight against a top-15 welterweight, and if the UFC needs some suggestions, Ponzinibbio suggested Carlos Condit or Neil Magny.
Cynthia Calvillo scored the biggest win of her three-fight UFC career after earning a unanimous-decision win over Joanne Calderwood. The victory came in Calvillo’s third fight of 2017, and now the UFC and the fighter have some things to ponder.
After her submission win over Pearl Gonzalez at UFC 210, UFC President Dana White said he got the same feeling from Calvillo that he did from Ronda Rousey, Conor McGregor and Joanna Jedrzejczyk, which seemed to indicate the promotion is going to want to keep her busy and visible. That might be a mistake.
Despite her unbeaten record, Calvillo is still a green pro, and her active schedule has kept her in training camp pretty much since her pro debut in August 2016. Calvillo (6-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) did well against Calderwood (11-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC), but the UFC might want to provide her with some more gym time to allow her to strengthen her overall MMA game before rushing her into a fight against a top-level strawweight.
The move to Team Roufusport has literally paid off for Paul Felder. Since shifting his training to the Milwaukee gym, Felder has scored two “Performance of the Night” bonus-winning first-round knockouts, including his UFC Fight Night 113 stoppage via elbows on the ground of Stevie Ray.
The victory over Ray (21-7 MMA, 5-2 UFC) should raise Felder’s (14-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) stock to its highest level since he joined the UFC in 2014, and don’t be shocked if he gets his post-fight wish of a place in the lightweight rankings or a fight against a top-15 opponent.
There was something different about Khalil Rountree at UFC Fight Night 113. Something that was noticeable as he stood in his corner ahead of his light-heavyweight bout against Paul Craig with a look on his face that seemed to say, “Yeah, let’s get this over with.”
When the fight began, what that something was became evident: It was confidence.
Rountree (6-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) calmly stalked Craig (9-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) throughout the first stanza, lowering his defenses as his fear of his opponent’s offense dropped. When the end came, it was a short and brutal uppercut that turned out Craig’s lights with seconds to spare before the horn ended the round.
After a rough 0-2 start to his UFC career, Rountree now has two consecutive first-round knockout wins to his name and a lot of momentum to go with his surging confidence.
Danny Roberts and Bobby Nash were looking to get back in the win column after they both had long winning streaks come to an end in their previous bouts. Roberts (14-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) had his wish come true after earning a second-round TKO win over Nash (8-3 MMA, 0-2 UFC) in their welterweight contest.
Roberts set up the finish with a hard kick to Nash’s body and then delivered a big left that dropped him to the mat. With Nash still flat on his back, Roberts stalked around the cage before shouting, “I’m (expletive) back!” into the cageside camera.
Any confidence Roberts lost following his KO loss to Mike Perry in October seemed to be restored by his first knockout win under the UFC banner.
Neil Seery might have finished his MMA career with a submission defeat, but he didn’t leave the octagon with regrets. After the fight, he said he felt it was the right time to wrap up a run that began in 2005.
After tapping to Alexandre Pantoja’s (18-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) via third-round rear-naked choke in their flyweight bout, the 37-year-old Seery (16-13 MMA, 3-4 UFC) spoke about the uncertainty facing him now that he is a former fighter.
“There are a lot of options out there,” he said. “I’ve got a full-time job. I’ve got another kid on the way. I have five kids. I’m just going to have to find something to do. I’ve got a lot of fishing rods up the riverside.
“But I just don’t know. And that’s what scares me. I’ve got to be honest with you – that’s what scares me. When you think it’s all over and it’s done and you’re not going to fight again, it’s very frightening.”
Galore Bofando opened his welterweight contest against Charlie Ward by throwing a lot of flashy kicks, but it was his strength that earned him a knockout win in his UFC debut.
After dealing with two minutes of Bofando (5-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) dancing around the outside, Ward (3-3 MMA, 0-2 UFC) closed the distance and worked his opponent to the fence. With the fighters in the clinch, Ward attempted a trip, and that’s when Bofando used his power to shrug it off and slam him to the mat, knocking him out.
After the memorable KO win, Bofando called out Ward’s teammate.
“There was talk of Artem Lobov before at 155 pounds, which could be an interesting fight,” Bofando said. “I think I (would) beat him.”
As far as game plans go, it’s hard to recommend the one David Henry used to secure a victory over Daniel Teymur.
Knowing Teymur (6-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) had never been past the 3:27 mark of the first round, Henry (11-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) wanted to take him into uncharted territory. To accomplish that feat, Henry absorbed 49 strikes in the first five minutes of the fight from Teymur, who entered the lightweight contest with six first-round stoppages on his resume.
The risky plan paid off. Teymur faded as the bout wore on, allowing Henry to find his groove and come close to finishing the fight on several occasions. Henry ultimately settled for a decision victory in his UFC debut.
Henry and Teymur were awarded “Fight of the Night” honors for their exciting prelim bout.
Brett Johns put together a solid performance in securing a unanimous-decision win over Albert Morales (7-2-1 MMA, 1-2-1 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 113. After the victory, Johns (14-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) revealed he was a “broken” fighter heading into the contest.
“People don’t realize this, but it’s been a 20-week camp,” Johns said. “I trained for London (UFC Fight Night 107 in March), and it didn’t happen. And I didn’t take time off. I went right back into camp. This is my 20th week in camp. Like I said, I’m quite broken at the moment.”
Now 2-0 in the UFC, the former Titan FC and CFFC bantamweight champ plans on taking a break before returning to the octagon in December. Johns hopes to face a fighter near the top 20 when he does fight in his third UFC contest.
With her TKO win over Amanda Lemos, Leslie Smith has her first two-fight winning streak in the UFC, and she has an idea where she wants that streak to lead: right to a fight vs. Bethe Correia.
Smith (10-7-1 MMA, 4-3 UFC) put pressure on Lemos (6-1-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) from the start of the fight, throwing 207 strikes before referee Rich Mitchell waved off the bantamweight bout in the second round. After the win, Smith, bloodied but unbothered, told UFC commentator Dan Hardy about her goals.
“Bethe Correia, you’ve been building up everybody else’s career; now I want to use you to build up mine,” Smith said. “It’s a payday for both of us and a damn good fight for all the fans.”
For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 113, check out the UFC Events section of the site.
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