It was an intriguing set of preliminary card matchups on deck at UFC 192. The Fox Sports 1 lineup kicked off with women's strawweights Rose Namajunas and Angela Hill, lightweight prospect Islam Makhachev against Adriano Martins, welterweight sluggers Alan Jouban and Albert Tumenov, and lastly TUF Latin America season 1 featherweight winner Yair Rodriguez against New Zealand's Dan Hooker. Violence was in full supply throughout the night.
Here's how these quartet of fights played out.
Rose Namajunas def. Angela Hill via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:47 of round 1 - Women's Strawweights
Both women started aggressively with their striking, but Namajunas changed the course of the fight with her first takedown attempt. Hill tried to scramble back to her feet by exploding out, but Namajunas took her back and went for the rear-naked choke. Namajunas locked in the choke standing and Hill was gasping for air and ultimately was tapping air as she collapsed to the ground. Namajunas wins her first bout since 2013 while Hill drops to 3-3.
Adriano Martins def. Islam Makhachev via KO (punch) at 1:46 of round 1 - Lightweights
Makhachev had the early advantage with his winging but landing power left hands. The undefeated lightweight out of Dagestan unfortunately paid dearly when he missed with another left, as the Brazilian countered with a violent right hook that put Makhachev down and out. Referee Frank Collazo immediately stepped in once Islam got planted on the canvas. It's Makhachev's first career loss after a 12-0 start, while Martins has won 3 in a row.
Albert Tumenov def. Alan Jouban via TKO (punches) at 2:55 of round 1- Welterweights
Fans expected fireworks and they got it, mostly from Tumenov. "Einstein" was the aggressor, landing high kicks and crisp punches. Jouban had success with the jab but Tumenov was absolutely superb. A high kick went through Jouban's guard and stunned him. Tumenov pounced near the fence with a right uppercut, a left hand and uppercut, another right hand, and then a destructive left hook which ended the fight. Jouban protested the stoppage, presumably because he actually wanted to be closer to death than he already was. When Jouban got up he was wobbling all over the place. Tumenov has won 4 straight since his debut loss last year.
Yair Rodriguez def. Daniel Hooker via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26) - Featherweights
It was a slow start to the opening round before Rodriguez started throwing tornado kicks and other spinning techniques to delight the pro-Rodriguez crowd. A beautiful takedown by Rodriguez led to an instantaneous mount of Hooker, who then reversed the position and nearly took the back. Rodriguez avoided that and they were tangled up in a clinch against the cage. Round 2 saw Rodriguez open up more on the feet, throwing even more spinning attacks with elbows and kicks and backfists. Hooker kept coming forward and even landed a few stiff punches of his own, but Rodriguez's athleticism and offense was the difference maker. Round 3 was contested mostly on the ground, with Rodriguez attacking Hooker's leg aggressively until Hooker wound up on top, although one of his legs was still trapped. Rodriguez bloodied Hooker from the bottom with sharp elbows, and they traded rather light-hitting ground strikes until the final minute of the round. Again Rodriguez went for a leg but the fight had ended and Hooker wasn't given a round. Rodriguez was later revealed to have broken his right foot during the contest, but still came out victorious nonetheless.