THE SOUND OF THIS KNEE đ
#UFCVegas61 pic.twitter.com/asHYf7xYWKâ ESPN MMA (@espnmma)
October 1, 2022
Daniel
Gustavo Santos established his foothold in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight division, as he cut
down John
Castaneda with a knee strike in the second round of their
featured
UFC Fight Night 211 prelim on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las
Vegas. Santos (9-2, 1-1 UFC) closed it out 4:28 into Round 2, the
action-packed battle having been contested at a catchweight of 140
pounds.
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The Brazilianâs pace, pressure and powerâalong with his remarkable
recuperative abilitiesâwere too much for Castaneda (19-6, 2-2 UFC).
Santos withstood nearly being finished twice with head kicks in the
first round. Castaneda appeared winded when he emerged for the
middle stanza, and his Chute Boxe-trained adversary capitalized.
Santos tore into him with a relentless string of punches, kicks and
knees to the head and body, pinned him to the fence and fired the
final knee up the middle. An exhausted Castaneda collapsed at the
base of the cage, the stoppage following almost immediately.
The defeat snapped a two-fight winning streak for Castaneda.
Latifi Stifles Fading Oleynik
Multiple takedowns, positional control and mild but effective
ground-and-pound carried Allstars Training Center rep Ilir Latifi
to a unanimous decision over Alexey
Oleynik in a three-round heavyweight tilt. All three cageside
judges scored it the same: 30-27 for Latifi (16-8, 9-6 UFC).
Oleynik (60-17-1, 9-8 UFC) offered virtually nothing in terms of
meaningful offense. Latifi struck for takedowns in the first and
second rounds, steered clear of the Russianâs vaunted submission
game and piled up points with ground-and-pound. He then cut off
Oleynikâs rushes in Round 3, stymied him in the clinch and bled
valuable time off the clock.
Latifi has rebounded from a three-fight losing streak with
back-to-back wins.
Silva Knee Buries Ronson
Joaquim
Silva cut down former two-division TKO Major League MMA
champion Jesse
Ronson with a flying knee and follow-up punches in the second
round of their lightweight encounter. A late replacement for
Vinc
Pichel, Silva (12-3, 5-3 UFC) sealed the deal 3:08 into Round
2.
Ronson (21-12, 0-5 UFC) held his own through much of the first
round, flurrying on the Brazilian with punches along the fence at
one point. However, Silva switched stances from orthodox to
southpaw and knocked down the Canadian with a flying knee in the
waning seconds of the period. It was a harbinger of what was to
come. Ronson stuck to the American Top Team rep with left hands at
the start of the middle stanza, but his inability to address the
aerial attacks proved to be his undoing.
Silva decked him with another flying knee in the center of the cage
and trailed him to the canvas, where he unleashed a sustained
volley of punches and hammerfists until referee Keith
Peterson had seen enough.
The victory was Silvaâs first since Dec. 15, 2018.
Surging Allen Throttles Jotko
Former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion Brendan
Allen disposed of Krzysztof
Jotko with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their
middleweight confrontation. Allen (20-5, 8-2 UFC) drew the curtain
4:17 into Round 1, authoring the 10th first-round finish of his
career.
Jotko (24-6, 11-6 UFC) assumed top position after his opponent
slipped on a head kick but failed to consolidate those efforts with
control or damage. Back on the feet, Allen struck for a takedown,
climbed to mount and methodically lulled the American Top
Team-trained Pole into a false sense of security.
When an arm-triangle choke failed to materialize, he transitioned
quickly to the rear-naked choke and coaxed the tap.
Allen, 26, has rattled off three straight victories.
Chandler Batters Replacement Stoliarenko
Organizational newcomer Chelsea
Chandler put away former Invicta Fighting Championships
titleholder Julija
Stoliarenko with punches in the first round of their
catchweight contest at 140 pounds. A short-notice substitution for
Leah
Letson, Stoliarenko (10-7-2, 1-5 UFC) succumbed to blows 4:15
into Round 1.
Chandler (5-1, 1-0 UFC) dodged an early bullet. Stoliarenko took
down and mounted the Cesar
Gracie protégé inside the first minute, only to lose the
position in her haste to find one of her patented armbars. From
there, it was all downhill for the Lithuanian. Chandler hammered
her with thudding combinations on the feet and countered a takedown
into full mount. Stoliarenko did what she could to free herself
from ground-and-pound peril but instead
wound up eating a burst of unanswered punches that brought her
dayâs work to an unfulfilled conclusion.
The 28-year-old Chandler now finds herself on a five-fight winning
streak.
Cannetti Choke Bounces Costa
âThe Ultimate Fighter Latin Americaâ semifinalist Guido
Cannetti submitted Randy Costa
with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their bantamweight
pairing. In the midst of a two-year tailspin, Costa (6-4, 2-4 UFC)
checked out 64 seconds into Round 1.
Cannetti (10-6, 4-5 UFC) peppered his counterpart with kicks to the
body and lead leg, then tripped him to the floor,
scrambled to the back and immediately moved on the choke. Costa
failed to properly defend the 42-year-old Argentinianâs advances
and had no choice but to tap.
Costa, 28, has lost three fights in a row, all by stoppage.