The UFC 225 Fight Pass portion of the prelims has just finished up with Anthony Smith smoking Rashad Evans with a brutal knee to the face to score a knockout in ununder a minute into the opening round. Top-5 flyweights were on display when Sergio Pettis pulled out the biggest win of his career with a razor thin split decision over Joseph Benavidez. Charles Oliveira looked really sharp tonight, busting up Clay Guida on the feet before snagging a guillotine choke off of a takedown attempt. Dan Ige opened up the card with a sensational performance, storming the castle of Mike Santiago and achieving the TKO in just 50 seconds.
Fight Pass Prelims:
Anthony Smith def. Rashad Evans by KO at :53 of round 1: Light Heavyweight
Smith landed some solid leg kicks to open up the contest, followed by a brutal knee from the clinch that made Evans collapse on the canvas. A few follow up ground strikes landed for Smith, and the referee rushed in to rescue Evans. Yikes!
How about this lethal knee from Anthony Smith?
Sergio Pettis def. Joseph Benavidez by split decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29): Flyweight
Benavidez pushed the pace right away, but his aggression worked against him as Pettis dropped and hurt Benavidez twice within the first 90 seconds of the fight. Pettis was firing on all cylinders with his hands, but gave up the takedown which allowed Benavidez enough time to recover. Benavidez continued to press forward, but his combinations just weren’t landing, and when he did witch to a takedown attempt, Pettis snuffed it out with relative ease.
Pettis found himself with his back up against the fence early in the second round, but did a superb job of remaining vertical. Benavidez continued to blitz in, landing a few low leg kicks that left the calf of Pettis pretty red. The precise right cross of Pettis was giving Benavidez fits as he rushed in, but the pressure kept coming.
Benavidez opened the final round by connecting with a spinning backfist, but Pettis was able to shake it off. The takedown just wasn’t there for Benavidez, as Pettis continued to stuff the attempts and stay on his feet. The athletes banged it out down the stretch, exchanging strikes, with the aggression going to Benavidez, but the takedown defense was on point for Pettis.
Look at this bodacious backfist from Benavidez:
Peep Pettis hurting Benavidez early in round 1:
Charles Oliveira def. Clay Guida by submission (Guillotine) at 2:18 of round 1: Lightweight
Oliveira took to the center of the cage, letting go of straight punches that cut Guida early in the fight. It wasn’t long before Guida shot in and Oliveira grabbed ahold of the neck, wrapping up a guillotine choke. Once Oliveira engaged his hips, Guida immediately tapped out.
Check out Charles Oliveira picking up his 10th UFC submission:
Dan Ige def. Mike Santiago by submission at :50 of round 1: Featherweight
Ige landed a left hook right off the bat that allowed him to close the distance and get an early takedown. Without hesitation, Ige transitioned to the back and started raining down all sorts of blows. Santiago was unable to improve his position and the punches kept coming, prompting the referee to stop the fight in just 50 seconds into the first round.
Dan Ige was all business tonight: