Rafael dos Anjos delivered an outstanding performance to outpoint former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler over five rounds at UFC Winnipeg. The Brazilian reaffirmed his title credentials with a well-rounded display to win every round on the judge’s scorecards.
The former lightweight champion’s volume of strikes was simply too much, even by Robbie Lawler’s standards. His muay thai and varied array of strikes nullified the threat provided by the future hall-of-famer.
Dos Anjos stated in his post-fight interview: “In my opinion, I just beat the toughest guy in the division and I think I’ve earned the title shot. I am 3-0 in this division and a former champion. I have earned my shot at Tyron Woodley, and I will be champion of this division.”
Josh Emmett caused a huge upset in the co-main event, decimating perennial featherweight contender Ricardo Lamas inside the first round. Emmett stepped in to replace Jose Aldo in Winnipeg, following Aldo’s move to rematch Max Holloway and his risk ultimately paid off.
Whilst Emmett would have been deemed to be a long way from being ranked in the division, Lamas is ranked at #3 with a victory likely to point him firmly in title contention. Emmett repeatedly looked to land the counter and was loading those up with power, eventually his counter left landed clean across the face of Lamas and left the title contender out cold on the canvas.
In a highly-anticipated welterweight fight, Santiago Ponzinibbio outpointed Mike Perry after three rounds. After a tentative first round, the Argentinian turned it on in the second and third, outlanding Perry in the second round before out wrestling him in the third.
Ponzinibbio moves to an impressive six consecutive wins in the division and improves to an impressive 8-2 record in the promotion, whilst Perry slides to 4-2 which ends any possibility of a match up with Darren Till in 2018. Could Ponzinibbio face Till?
Light heavyweight mainstay Glover Teixeira stopped Misha Cirkunov inside the first round with a barrage of strikes on the ground forcing the referee to call a close to proceedings. Teixeira had initially looked for a submission before abandoning those plans, flattening out the Latvian before raining strikes.
The fight of the night surprisingly came from middleweights Julian Marquez and Darren Stewart. Both men traded leather, with defence being left in the changing rooms before Julian Marquez took advantage of a weak takedown attempt to sink in a guillotine choke in the second round. Both men received $50,000 for their efforts.
Nordine Taleb produced a brutal finish of Englishman Danny Roberts inside the opening minute of their welterweight bout. Taleb landed a partially-blocked head kick that still stunned Roberts, before following it up with a vicious right hand which sent Roberts slumping to his knees.
Liverpool's Danny Roberts isn't happy, but is stopped in the first minute of round one at #UFCWinnipeg!
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The octagon is packed away safely for Christmas, before reappearing before we conclude 2017!
