UFC Boise results: Mendes returns to TKO Jury, Price KO’s Brown from his back

The UFC Boise main card is underway, and Rick Glenn and Dennis Bermudez just battled it out for all three rounds. Glenn worked his rangey strikes while Bermudez constantly worked for the takedown, but it was Glenn who walked away with the split decision. Niko Price pulled off some sorcery tonight, knocking out Randy Brown with hammerfists from his back in the second round! Usually, you see the guy that rolled for the leg get pounded out, not the other way around. Yeah, pretty crazy!

Chad Mendes returned to action tonight following over two years away from the sport, and did so in impressive fashion, dropping Myles Jury in the first round and finishing him with ground strikes. The UFC’s featherweight division is on notice! Opening up the main card, Cat Zingano and Marion Reneau went the distance. It was the takedowns of Zingano that were the moral of he story, spending quite a bit of time controlling Reneau from the top to earn the unanimous decision.

Main Card:

Rick Glenn def. Dennis Bermudez by split decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29): Featherweight

Glenn looked to use his rangy strikes to keep his opponent away, tagging Bermudez with his counter left hand on a few occasions. Bermudez was shooting his takedowns from a bit too far away, allowing Glenn the time to adjust and fend them off. Bermudez was able to get the fight down to the ground, but Glenn didn’t stay there for very long. Again, Bermudez got the fight to the ground but again Glenn sprung right back up. Bermudez picked up yet another takedown, but just ate some elbows from Glenn before the fight returned back to the feet.

Bermudez closed the distance in the final frame, shoving Glenn against the cage where he worked a takedown. Glenn continued to fight off the takedowns, but Bermudez would not stop. Finally on top of Glenn, Bermudez started bleeding all over his opponent, but continued to work. Glenn battled his way back to his feet, to finish up the fight standing.

Niko Price def. Randy Brown by KO at 1:09 of round 2: Welterweight

Some jockeying for position was going on for the first half of the opening round, but Price was ultimately able to put Brown on his back. Brown worked his way up and then methodically transitioned to the back of Price, but it was short lived. Brown cracked the chin of Price with knee right before the end of the round. Brown found top position early in the second frame, but Price rolled for a leg and started unloading hammerfists from his back, which actually put Brown out cold. What in the world?

Chad Mendes def. Myles Jury by TKO at 2:52 of round 1: Featherweight

Tons of feeling out was going on to start the bout, with each man measuring the other. When Mendes did throw, he dropped Jury with a left hook and followed up with sinister ground strikes. All Jury could do was cover up, and all the referee could do was step in and stop the fight. Welcome back to the UFC Chad Mendes!

This left might have dropped a horse:

Cat Zingano def. Marion Reneau by unanimous decision(30-27 x2, 30-26): (W) Bantamweight

Reneau took the center of the Octagon but got taken down right away. Reneau got back to her feet and shoved Zingano up against the fence, before pulling guard for some reason. Zingano opted to stand up and allow Reneau to return to her feet as well. The bantamweight connected with left hands at the same time, with Reneau seeming to have absorbed more damage than did Zingano. Reneau gave up a late takedown to finish up the round on the bottom.

Reneau seemed to have hurt Zingano right away to start the second stanza, but again elected to pull Zingano on top of her. A heavy leg kick landed for Zingano that knocked Reneau off balance, followed by a takedown in the center of the Octagon. Zingano again allowed Reneau to stand back up, just to duck under some strikes and take the fight right back down where it stayed for the rest of the round.

Zingano scored a slamming takedown when Reneau attacked a guillotine early in the final round. Reneau struggled to attack with any sweeps or submissions, allowing Zingano to rack up top control time as she dropped a few elbows here and there. Reneau did not return to her feet.

Cat ZIngano and Amanda Nunes have something to talk about:

The takedowns were there for Zingano: