UFC on FOX 28 results and highlights: Kelleher beats up Barao, Reneau stuns McMann

On the UFC on FOX 28 prelims, the UFC’s former bantamweight king Renan Barao made his return to the 135 pound division, but fell short in a grueling war to a scrappy Brian Kelleher. The UFC’s #8 women’s bantamweight Marion Reneau pulled off a major upset win over the #7 Sara McMann, realizing a 2nd round Triangle on the former Olympian. Also on the prelims, Alan Jouban got himself back into the win column by realizing a 2nd round KO of a very game Ben Saunders.

Moving up from middleweight, Sam Alvey put in work in the light heavyweight division, clocking Marcin Prachnio with a well placed check hook to achieve the 1st round TKO. Rani Yahya earned an emotional 3rd round sub of Russell Doane just days after the passing of his mother. Much respect! Opening up the UFC Orlando card, Manny Bermudez won his promotional debut with a 2nd round Guillotine submission of 6-fight UFC veteran Albert Morales.

FOX Prelims:

Brian Kelleher def. Renan Barao by Unanimous Decision (30-27 x2, 29-28): Bantamweight

Kelleher came out taking the center of the cage and cracked Barao with a mean right hand. Barao closed the distance and held his foe there for a bit. The boxing combinations were scoring for Kelleher, even staggering the former champ in the final minute of the round.

Kelleher continued with his pressure into the 2nd frame, shoving his opponent up against the cage, making Barao carry his weight. Barao was able to reverse the position a few times, but ended up giving up the takedown, albeit briefly. Barao struggled to escape the grind, even though the referee separated them for the final 10 seconds.

The bantamweights went toe to toe in the final round, with each man landing solid shots, but Kelleher the one with the pressure. Kelleher turned it up down the stretch, connecting with a few spinning backfists to over hand rights. Kelleher continued to strike away and Barao was right there to answer. Just as the round was coming to a close, Kelleher let off a series of punches that had Barao severely hurt as the fight came to an end.

Warrrrrrrr:

Here comes the boom:

Marion Reneau def. Sara McMann by Submission (Triangle) at 3:40 of round 2: (W) Bantamweight

McMann closed the distance and caught a takedown off of a right hand about a minute into the fight. From side control, McMann worked for the crucifix position as Reneau struggled to get free from the top pressure. With about 10 seconds left in the round, McMann released a barrage of punches to put an exclamation point on a rather dominant round.

Reneau dropped her foe in the 2nd round, and successfully stuffed the follow up takedown attempts. McMann would not be denied her takedown, but when she achieved it, she landed right inside of a Reneau triangle. McMann hung tough for a second, but after a couple of adjustments from Reneau, McMann was forced to tap.

It looked as if they were about to brawl for a second:

McMann went for the kill there at the end of round 1:

McMann is kind of good at the takedowns:

Reneau pulls off the comeback:

Angela Hill def. Maryna Moroz by Unanimous Decision (30-27 x3): Strawweight

Hill came out pressing forward and throwing her volume, landing multiple times with her overhand right. Moroz landed high with a head kick, but Hill was right there to return fire with another blazing right hand. Moroz opened up the 2nd stanza with a set of front kicks and teeps in an attempt to stifle the forward pressure of Hill. Hill made her way to the inside and landed several clean strikes from the clinch before finding top position. Moroz made it back to the standing position and continued to to strike from range as the output of Hill began to slow down.

The long range kicks of Moroz were constant over the 1st minute of the final round, causing Hill to struggle to close the distance. Hill would have a few moments when she happened to get on the inside, but Moroz’s kicking volume just would not go away.

How about this hip toss from Hill:

FS2 Prelims:

Alan Jouban def. Ben Saunders by KO at 2:38 of round 2: Welterweight

These welterweights went right at each other, going technique for technique on the feet. Jouban landed a series of 3 stinging leg kicks, as Saunders looked to press forward. The check right hook of Jouban kept finding a home to compliment his brutal kicking attack. Saunders kept swing back in true warrior fashion, but Jouban made it out of the round having absorbed the lesser amount of damage.

An all out brawl broke out in the 2nd round, with each man landing some volume on the inside. Jouban found some space and went back to kicking the leg which seemed to zap the energy of Saunders. Quite a few elbows landed for Jouban, but it was a southpaw cross off of a leg kick that dropped Saunders and ended the fight.

Jouban was firing on all cylinders tonight:

Fight Pass Prelims:

Sam Alvey def. Marcin Prachnio by TKO at 4:23 of round 1: Light Heavyweight

Prachnio spent quite a bit of time holding his foe up against the cage, but Alvey got his strikes going once he found open space. Several strong leg kicks landed for Alvey, buckling his opposition, then dropped Prachnio with a clever check hook for rushing in. Still rocked, Prachnio rushed in again and was met with the same punch, but there was no recovering this time, as the referee stepped in with the rescue.

Look at the paralyzing punching power of Sam Alvey:

Rani Yahya def. Russell Doane by Submission (Arm Triangle) at 2:32 of round 3: Bantamweight

Yahya instantly achieved a takedown to kickstart the bout, and then locked up a funky reverse Full Nelson, complete with unblocked knees to the body. Doane finally escaped the precarious position, and was aided to his feet thanks to a pair of illegal knees to the spine from Yahya.

Yahya shot another early takedown to open the 2nd stanza, and quickly transitioned to the back of Doane. A graphic popped up on the broadcast just over the 3 minute mark, stating that the strike count was 54-0 in favor of Yahya. Doane mustered up the energy to return to his feet, but still had Yahya attached to his back, so Doane spiked his opponent, but Yahya held the position until the round expired.

Doane came out and found top position to start the final frame, but Yahya reversed the position and worked for an arm triangle. With the submission hold locked up, Yahya methodically transitioned into side control and Doane was forced to tap.

Kudos for Yahya for still competing after the recent passing of his mother:

Big 3rd round submission win for Yahya after a dominant performance:

This was Doane’s only offense in round 2:

Alex Perez def. Eric Shelton by Unanimous Decision (30-27 x3): Flyweight

Perez took the center of the cage, stuffing the initial shot of Shelton to take top position. Shelton was able to remain relatively safe on the floor before exploding back to his feet, but wasn’t quite able to get his offense going on top of giving up the late takedown.

Perez landed a crisp right hand that prompted an unsuccessful takedown attempt from Shelton, giving Perez the top position. Shelton began feeling the grind of his opponent as Perez forced him to carry his body weight for the remainder of the round.

The forward pressure of Perez was again on display, except Shelton was a bit more willing to stand his ground and return fire. The increase in output from Shelton resulted in another takedown for Perez, but Shelton did a sound job of getting up before spending any substantial amount of time on his back. Just when it looked like Shelton was going to keep it vertical, boom, another Perez takedown took the fight to the mat where it stayed until the final bell.

**It should be noted that Perez missed weight for this bout, clocking in at 126.5 pounds.

Manny Bermudez def. Albert Morales by Submission (Guillotine) at 2:33 of round 2: Bantamweight

Morales scored first here, cracking his foe with a hard right hand that resulted in a reactive takedown from Bermudez. It didn’t take very long for Bermudez to roll to his back and cinch up a Triangle Choke, but Morales made all of the right moves and successfully escaped harm’s way. Morales spent a bit of time on his back in the opening round, but managed to return to his feet to score a takedown of his own. Bermudez would scramble his into the dominant position before the round expired.

Morales had the striking advantage on the feet, staggering Bermudez as he attempted to close the distance, forcing Bermudez to pull guard. Again, Bermudez allowed Morales to return to his feet, but this time, Bermudez seized the opportunity to grab ahold of the neck of Morales, and jumped on a fight ending guillotine to win his UFC debut.

Welcome to the UFC Manny Bermudez: