Dustin Poirier and Eddie Alvarez fought over a year ago, but their duel ended in a lousy “No Contest.” The two vowed redemption and a thrilling fight; both predicted a knockout. They were both right and the fight more than lived up to expectations as they waged one of the best wars of 2018 thus far.
However, Alvarez couldn’t withstand the Louisiana native’s crushing power as Poirier ended things in spectacular fashion in the second round at UFC on Fox 30.
The two lightweights stood toe-to-toe and traded submission attempts on the ground, but when the combatants were restarted in the center of the ring when referee Marc Goddard scolded Alvarez for an illegal elbow, everything changed. “The Diamond” ruined his foe’s equilibrium with a knee to the head and chased Alvarez into the cage. From there, he unloaded everything in his arsenal: punches, knees, kicks, elbows.
Alvarez threw haymakers out of desperation but missed, only to finally crumble under a barrage of punches. Goddard had no choice but to pull Poirier off “The Underground King,” giving him the TKO win at 4:05 of the second frame.
Aldo Crushes Stephens in First
Jose Aldo is back. The former World Extreme Cagefighting and Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight champion scored his first knockout inside the Octagon in five years as he survived a wild war with Jeremy Stephens in Saturday’s co-main event.
Stephens rocked “Scarface” with a pair of right uppercuts early in the first and had the Brazilian reeling. Stephens charged in and swarmed his woozy opponent with a tidal wave of punches, but Aldo’s head was clear enough to avoid the ensuing barrage. Once recovered, Aldo obliged the aggressive American and stood toe-to-toe with him.
Finally, Aldo dug a crippling left hook to the liver, forcing “Lil’ Heathen” to double over in agony and collapse. From there, Aldo pounced on him and dished out an endless supply of punches and hammerfists, prompting referee Yves Lavigne to eventually intervene.
The end came officially at 4:19 of the opening frame, giving Aldo his first win in two years after losing back-to-back fights to Max Holloway.
Jedrzejczyk Rights the Ship
After a rocky year in which Joanna Jedrzejczyk lost her women’s strawweight title by knockout to Rose Namajunas and then losing the rematch, the former queen at 115 pounds needed a win.
Jedrzejczyk was a heavy favorite over Tecia Torres on Saturday and even though she won the fight, it wasn’t easy. The Polish striker had to deal with an aggressive opponent who not only tied her up against the cage, she welcomed countless exchanges on their feet during the duel. Torres rocked Jedrzejczyk late in the second, but overall, Jedrzejczyk landed the cleaner, more accurate punches and kicks. Couple that with the fact that “The Tiny Tornado” couldn’t take her opponent down, Torres came up short.
All three Octagonside judges favored Jedrzejczyk via tallies of 30-27 for the unanimous verdict.
Hernandez Continues Momentum
After running through the Resurrection Fighting Alliance and Legacy Fighting Alliance, Alexander Hernandez blew away Beneil Dariush in just 42 seconds.
Looking to build upon that momentum, Alexander “The Great” had his hands full with Olivier Aubin-Mercier on Saturday but he passed the test with flying colors. Hernandez come out swinging for the fences and had Aubin-Mercier on his heels early. However, the Montreal native showed his veteran toughness and pushed the young contender as hard as he could and forced the 25-year-old the full 15 minutes. Hernandez rifled off plenty of solid strikes in the third and sealed the deal with a timely takedown late in the final round.
In the end, the Houston fighter walked away with an impressive unanimous nod with scores of 30-27 and 29-28 (twice).
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