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The first three fights of the main card of UFC Fight Night 89 are in the books, and...wow. The light heavyweight fight is an instant contender for fight of the year. The other two bouts were pretty good too, but this one was amazing. Here's how it all went down.
Steve Bosse defeated Sean O'Connell by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
This was one for the ages. I'm not big on over-hyping fights, but it's really rare that two guys get in there and just throw down for 15 full minutes. Both of these guys landed some ridiculous shots - strikes that would put down a moose. And they just kept going. O'Connell dropped Bosse early, but he recovered. Bosse won the second with some ridiculous shots. The third was closer, with Bosse landing spinning back fists at will and O'Connell cracking him with left hooks. In the end though, the win went to Bosse. O'Connell can take solace in the bonus check he'll surely receive though.
Olivier Aubin-Mercier defeated Thibault Gouti by submission (rear naked choke), 3:35 of round 3
Gouti landed some good strikes in the first, but Aubin-Mercier took him down and controlled him. The second saw more of the same. Gouti couldn't get much of anything going in the third before he was taken down again. This time, his back got taken and Aubin-Mercier methodically worked to sink the fight-ending choke. It worked. Here's the finish:
Olivier Aubin-Mercier gets a huge third round rear naked choke finish! Big win for @MMAOAM! #UFCOttawa https://t.co/LkgRIc2Oql
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) June 19, 2016
Joanne Calderwood defeated Valerie Letourneau by TKO (strikes), 2:51 of round 3
This bout was both awesome and strange. Both ladies were landing hard strikes in the first, before Calderwood dropped Letourneau with a vicious spinning back fist and nearly finished her. Letourneau survived, and had a decent second round despite getting taken down a couple of times. Calderwood turned it back up in the third though, hurting Letourneau to the body to the point that she walked away from engaging. When the ref didn't stop it, Calderwood floored her with strikes and the fight was brought to a merciful end. Here's the final sequence:
Joanne Calderwood stuns Letourneau with a kick to the body and SWARMS her with strikes to get the finish! #UFCOttawa https://t.co/OhbIGYj1e4
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) June 19, 2016
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