Dominick Reyes and Jiri Prochazka delivered a brilliant back and forth bruiser, and Prochazka put a lock on the opportunity with a spinning back elbow KO in the second round to earn the right to contend for the middleweight title.
From the opening bell, Reyes landed with his pinpoint striking and Prochazka blasted with his unique and powerful style. In the second round, Reyes rocked Prochazka and the fight went to the canvas, but when Reyes recovered to his feet, Prochazka was there with a spinning back elbow for the KO.
After the fight, Prochazka said, “I’m more focused on upgrading my style now… I want to share with people the beauty of martial arts. I want them to know what’s happening in the fight. I am happy to be a UFC fighter and to show this performance… If Jan Blachowicz or Glover Teixeira is my next opponent, it doesn’t matter to me… I want the title shot. Let’s do it."
The featherweight thriller ended quickly in the first round when Giga Chikadze delivered a liver kick to Cub Swanson for the TKO victory.
“It feels great. Finally, I’m satisfied with things happening in my life. I’ve been digging at this for a long time. I know I’m one step closer to where I want to get to… When you beat someone like this in a minute, the next opponent should be big… I deserve someone in the top 10," Chikadze said.
Thailand’s Loma Lookboonmee opened strongly with power kicks and three takedowns against Sam Hughes in the women’s strawweight division. Hughes came back with wrestling in the second, but Loma threw knees and got a takedown to close the round. Loma’s Thai clinch wrangled with Hughes’ wrestling in the final round, and the striking tally came close, sending it to the judges, who awarded the unanimous decision to Loma.
“I have to admit I wasn’t confident… I need to be more confident in myself when I fight. Previously, I don’t like to watch my opponents fight, but I think it’s important that I start watching them more now," Loma said.
At light heavyweight, Ion Cutelaba ran through Dustin Jacoby in the first round with furious takedowns and dominant striking, and Jacoby began to find his defence in the second. The third round was a stand and bang battle, and the final scorecards came to a split draw.
Middleweight contender Sean Strickland patiently walked down Krzysztof Jotko and employed conservative, successful striking to take the unanimous decision.
At bantamweight, ranked Merab Dvalishvili handed a big loss to #13 Cody Stamann by unanimous decision through three rounds of relentless takedowns and surprising striking output.
UFC FIGHT NIGHT OFFICIAL RESULTS -
Fight of the Night:
Dominick Reyes vs Jiri Prochazka
Performances of the Night:
Jiri Prochazka
Giga Chikadze
Main Event
Jiri Prochazka def. Dominick Reyes via KO at 4:29 of round two
Co-Main Event
Giga Chikadze defeated Cub Swanson via first-round TKO
Main Card
Ion Cutelaba vs. Dustin Jacoby resulted in a split draw
Sean Strickland defeated Krzysztof Jotko via unanimous decision
Merab Dvalishvili defeated Cody Stamann via unanimous decision
Prelims
Luana Pinheiro defeated Randa Markos via disqualification
TJ Brown defeated Kai Kamaka via split decision
Luana Carolina defeated Poliana Botelho via a split decision
Loma Lookboonmee defeated Sam Hughes via unanimous decision
Andreas Michailidis defeated KB Bhullar via unanimous decision
Felipe Colares defeated Luke Sanders via unanimous decision
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