Antonio Carlos Jr. won his fifth straight with a dominating submission win against Tim Boetsch in the main event of the UFC on Fox 29 preliminaries.
Carlos Jr., also known as “Shoe Face,” improved his record to 11-2 (1 NC). Boetsch, a longtime Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran, dropped to 21-12.
The Brazilian started the first round landing leg kicks, putting Boetsch on his heels and moving backward. Carlos Jr., who won “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3,” continued to press his advantage until he eventually used a double leg to take Boetsch down against the cage.
Carlos Jr. then positioned himself on Boetsch’s back and attacked with power punches. “Shoe Face” then took his foe’s back and locked in the rear-naked choke, forcing him to tap at the 4:28 mark of round one.
Salikhov Sparks Rainey
The “King of Kung Fu” has his first win in the UFC.
Muslim Salikhov, regarded as one of the best Wushu Sanda competitors in the world, dropped Ricky Rainey at the 4:12 mark of the second round. The win improved the welterweight prospect to 13-2. Rainey, who was making his UFC debut replacing Adbul Razak Alhassan, dropped to 13-5.
Both fighters were cautious in the first, feeling each other out. In the second, Salikhov began to push the pace against a tiring Rainey.
Rainey, who has seven knockout wins of his own, threw a big right hand at Salikhov, but the victor was able to avoid the big blow and land his own big right, which stunned and dropped Rainey on his back. Salikhov then finished off his prey with three heavy right hands before the referee Chris Tognoni stepped in.
Surging Moraga Stays Hot
John Moraga won his third straight with a unanimous decision win over Wilson Reis. Moraga, who won the first two rounds, won all three judges’ scorecards 29-28.
Moraga (19-6), a former Arizona State University wrestler and No. 10 ranked flyweight, had the Glendale, Arizona, crowd on his side during the highly-competitive bout against Reis (22-9), the sixth-ranked flyweight.
Moraga kept Reis off-balance in the opening period by squaring him up with inside low kicks and changing angles. Moraga eventually took Reis to the ground and tried to submit his Brazilian opponent with guillotine chokes. However, Reis was able to weather the early storm.
In the second frame, Moraga changed his focus from submission to boxing, eventually stunning Reis with a flying knee. Once again, Reis buckled down, even attempting his own choke but Moraga was able to reverse the position and finish the round with some strong punches on the floor.
Moraga started the third stanza with low kicks, but Reis was able to secure a takedown and control the round. Reis eventually secured Moraga with a bodylock and tried to lock in a choke as the round ended.
Tavares Continues Streak
Brad Tavares won his fourth straight and posted his first stoppage since 2011 with a third-round knockout of Krzysztof Jotko, who has now lost three straight.
Tavares (17-5) controlled the fight with his right hand from the start of the fight as Jotko, the 13th ranked middleweight, never seemed to get comfortable against No. 15.
Tavares, “The Ultimate Fighter 11” runnerup, finished the fight with a huge right hand that landed flush on Jotko’s chin that sent him down. Tavares, sensing his first finish since 2011, pounced on Jotko (13-4), continuing to land blows as referee Al Guinee closed in to officially end the fight at the 2:16 mark of the third.
‘Durinho’ Flashes Power
Gilbert Burns spoiled Dan Moret’s debut with a knockout 59 seconds into the second round.
Burns, a former world Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion, has now won two straight fights by knockout to improve his record to 13-2.
The hard-hitting welterweight used a big uppercut to hurt Moret (13-4). After the uppercut stunned Moret, “Durinho” continued the attack by landing an overhand that folded his foe.
Burns then finished the fight with another powerful uppercut. Burns showed his sportsmanship by walking away from an obviously concussed opponent before referee Nick Jones could officially stop the fight.
Mueller Victorious in Debut
Lauren Mueller quickly overcame the nerves of her Octagon debut to win a unanimous decision over Shana Dobson in the women’s flyweight division, 29-28, 29-28, 29-28.
Mueller is the only female fighter to earn a contract in Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series.
Mueller (5-0) ate an early jab from Dobson (3-2) that slowed down her aggressiveness early in the first round. However, Mueller would get out of early trouble by attacking Dobson’s lead leg to answer’s Dobson’s jab, and Mueller would start landing harder strikes as the round ended.
Dobson used her boxing early on to control the second round, but Mueller used her size advantage to regain control of the fight. The third frame was all Mueller as she pressed her advantage early on and overwhelming Dobson. Dobson was able to hurt Mueller with a body shot late in the third stanza, but Mueller was able to use a takedown to hold off Dobson’s body shots.
Okami Victorious Against Lima
Yushin Okami wanted to stay on the offensive and keep pressure on Dhiego Lima to earn his first UFC win since March 2013.
Mission accomplished.
Okami (35-11) used level changes to take Lima down early and often to control the fight from the ground to earn a unanimous decision over Lima (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
The Japanese fighter was never really challenged by Lima (14-7), who seemed to suffer a rib injury in the second round. Lima has not won since November 2014.
At the end of the second round, Okami had three takedowns on seven attempts. At the start of the third frame, Okami used a high-crotch single takedown and spent the rest of the round working off Lima’s back.
Wieczorek Hits Rare Omoplata
Polish heavyweight Adam Wieczorek, a +275 underdog, stopped Arjan Singh Bhullar with a omoplata at 1:59 of the second round. It was only the second omoplata finish in UFC history.
Wieczorek (10-1) struggled in the first round after Bhullar (7-1) was able to take him down and control the first frame. Bhullar, who represented Canada in 2012 Olympics as a freestyle wrestler, used his wrestling background to even out the 5.5-inch reach advantage of Wieczorek.
The second didn’t start much better for Wieczorek, but he was eventually able to regain control from his back and hooked the omaplata, which puts immense pressure on an opponent’s shoulder, to finish off Bhullar.
Perez Takes Third Straight
Alejandro Perez (21-6-1) effectively used knee strikes to stop Matthew Lopez by TKO at 3:42 of the second round.
Perez, the former bantamweight winner of “The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America” as a member of Team Velasquez in 2014, has now won three straight fights in the UFC and has not lost in his six overall.
Lopez (10-3), a former Division I wrestler, controlled the first round of the fight with takedowns and had opportunities to end the fight, but Perez was able to fend off three submission attempts.
Lopez was unable to take down Perez in the second round. Perez ultimately made him pay with crushing knee strikes to the head, and Lopez was unable to recover as referee Nick Jones stepped in to stop the fight.
Sanders Rights the Ship
Luke Sanders snapped a two-fight losing streak with a unanimous decision over Patrick “The Animal” Williams, 30-27, 30-27, 29-28.
Sanders (12-2) started the fight putting forward pressure on Williams (8-6) to limit his explosiveness in the opening fight. The win could not have come at a better time for the former Resurrection Fighting Alliance bantamweight champion as this was his last fight on his current contract.
Sanders used a right elbow to open up a gash on Williams’ head in the first round. The cut seemed to affect the former Arizona State University wrestler, as he tired early in the second frame.
Williams was able to mount some offense late in the period with a big overhand right, but it was not as Sanders was able to ride out the affect of the hit until the bell sounded to end the stanza.
After both fighters took a measured pace to start the third round, Sanders closed out the fight with a big left that stunned Williams.