UFC Wichita results and highlights: Price rallies to KO Means, Ivanov decisions Rothwell

Currently in progress, the UFC Wichita main card just witnessed an epic comeback knockout! Tim Means seemed to be doing his thing on the feet until a massive right hand from Niko Price ended the fight. Before that, Blagoy Ivanov and Ben Rothwell traded back and forth for the majority of three rounds. Despite Rothwell coming forward, the counters of Ivanov did enough for the judges to award him the nod. Ivanov now sits at 1-1 in his UFC career.

Beneil Dariush overcame being rocked on the feet to score a second round armbar sub on Drew Dober. Dariush now moves to 16-4-1 in his MMA career as he broke up a four-fight winning streak for Dober. Opening up the main card, Omari Akhmedov busted open the nose of Tim Boetsch en route to a unanimous decision victory. Akhmedov has not lost a fight since April of 2016.

Main card:

Niko Price def. Tim Means by KO at 4:50 of round 1: Welterweight

Means opened up the fight with a high amplitude takedown followed a bit of top control. Back on the feet, Means was the one getting the better of the exchanges. Just when it seemed as if Means was running the show, BOOM! A laser right hand sent Means crashing to the canvas. A few academic ground strikes sealed the deal.

Blagoy Ivanov def. Ben Rothwell by unanimous decision (29-28 x3): Heavyweight

Rothwell landed the first major blow of the fight, snuffing Ivanov up against the fence. Ivanov returned fire, attacking both the body and the head. Rothwell pressured back and the heavyweight boxing match continued.

The second round picked up where the first round left off. Rothwell pressed forward as Ivanov countered off his back foot. Rothwell began to up his output, throwing volume with his hands. Ivanov did a sound job of moving out of the way, and returning a counter combo. Rothwell landed a haymaker that caused some swelling around the eye of Ivanov going into the final round.

Again, Rothwell was the aggressor in the final act, moving forward and backing up Ivanov. An accidental cup kick from Rothwell caused a brief break in the action. Upon the restart, Rothwell started landing his hands. Ivanov wasn’t moving out of the way as well as he was earlier in the fight. The pace was pushed down the stretch by Rothwell. He walked down his foe and brawled it out for the closing moments.

Beneil Dariush def. Drew Dober by submission (Armbar) at 4:41 of round 2: Lightweight

The lightweights went right to work, trading blows back and forth. After a bit of clinch work from Dariush, Dober was able to free himself and land some stinging shots. More clean blows landed for Dober, but Dariush stood his ground and ate the shots. Dariush went back to a clinch attack against the cage, but Dober escaped again and snuck in some shots before the horn sounded.

Dober scored a flash knockdown right away in the second round. Dariush recovered and went back to clinching up. He was able to put Dober on his back and solidify the position. Dober tried to recover the full guard, but Dariush surfed on top of him to maintain control. From the bottom of full mount, Dober exposed his back in order to get back to his feet. Dober jumped a guillotine, but it just resulted with Dariush in top position. Dariush attacked an inverted triangle, and then committed to the armbar. Dober tried to fend it off, but Dariush held on and secured the tap.

Omari Akhmedov def. Tim Boetsch by unanimous decision (30-27 x3): Middleweight

Akhmedov spent a lot of time in the first round holding Boetsch up against the fence. Back in open space, Akhmedov landed a couple of leg kicks as Boetsch pressed forward. A couple of punches landed for Akhmedov before the round ended. A heavy right hand from Akhmedov blasted the nose of Boetsch in the second act. That didn’t discourage Boetsch from continuing to move forward. Despite Boetsch moving forward, he wasn’t able to inflict much of any damage on his opponent.

Akhmedov backed up Boetsch with punches to kick off the third round, opening up another cut. The pressure was reduced for Akhmedov, allowing Boetsch to get back to pressing forward. Akhmedov clinched up with Boetsch to eliminate the possibility of a last second knockout.