UFC on ESPN 52 ‘Dariush vs. Tsarukyan’ Play-by-Play, Results & Round Scoring

Round 1

Women’s flyweights get the ball rolling, as Hardy (7-4-1, 2-4 UFC)
takes on the undefeated Horth at 125 pounds. The 33-year-old Horth
(6-0, 1-0 UFC) has finished five of her first six opponents. Mark
Smith draws the officiating assignment. They touch gloves, and we
are underway in the Texas capital. They spend the first 45 seconds
sizing up one another. Horth slips on a kick and eats a right hand
for her troubles. The Canadian has a significant size advantage.
They trade body kicks, and Hardy circles on the perimeter. The
Venezuelan lands an inside leg kicks, and Horth returns fire with
one of her own. Not much in terms of meaningful offense from either
women in what has been a tepid start. Hardy unleashes and overhand
left, setting off a brief flurry between the two. She then pins
Horth along the fence and scores with punches from both hands.
Hardy initiating a majority of the exchanges. She sits down an
off-balance Horth with a one-two, then engages the Canadian in the
clinch. Hardy complains about an eye poke, and Smith decides to
pause the action. Horth declines attention from the cageside
physician, and the two women get back to business.

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 Hardy
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Hardy
Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Hardy

Round 2

Hardy pumps out her jab in a bid to gauge distance, then fires a
few left hands over the top. Horth not doing much to maximize her
physical advantages. Hardy darts in and out of the pocket,
punctuating a combination with a kick to the body. Speed a definite
factor in the Venezuelan’s favor. Hardy gets in and gets out with
punches before the Canadian can answer. Horth pulls guard, but
Hardy lifts her back to her feet and engages her in the clinch. She
lands a close-range elbow over the top but absorbs a few knees to
the body. They continue to jockey for position in the clinch, then
separate. Horth closes the distance and completes a takedown,
setting up shop in full guard with a minute to go. She scores with
body-head combinations from the top but not yet connecting with
anything significant. Horth stands up and absorbs a upkick to the
chest that knocks her off-balance for an instant. She finishes the
round in top position.

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 Hardy
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Hardy
Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Hardy

Round 3

Hardy steps into a two-punch combination from her southpaw stance,
then fires a kick to the body and another to the leg. Horth lands
an elbow over the top that gets Hardy’s attention, then sticks the
Venezuelan with a right hand. Hardy follows a body kick with a left
hook. Horth turning to elbows in the standup exchanges, making her
first noticeable adjustment on the feet. She once again ties up
Hardy along the fence, fires a knee to the body and separates. They
both connect on the break. Hardy slams another kick into the
Canadian’s midsection. Horth closes the distance, plants an elbow
upstairs and moves into the clinch. They trade knees to the legs.
Hardy doing everything she can to stay upright. Horth hacks away
with elbows to the head and eats a few punches. She drops an
off-balance Hardy with a stepping elbow, but the Venezuelan gets
back to her feet. They engage one another in the clinch. Hardy
counters a takedown into top position, and they scramble back to a
standing position, trading along the fence to close it out.

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 Horth (29-28 Hardy)
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Horth (29-28 Hardy)
Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Horth (29-28 Hardy)

The Official Result

Veronica Hardy def. Jamey Lyn-Horth—Split Decision (28-29, 29-28,
29-28)

Round 1

Attention shifts to the welterweight division, where Turman (18-7,
3-5 UFC) confronts Gooden (22-9, 1-4 UFC) at 170 pounds. Neither
man has managed to gain much traction inside the Octagon. Jeff
Rexroad serves as the referee. Turman opens with a stiff leg kick,
then another. Gooden wades into range, and Turman unleashes a left
hook. The Brazilian connects with a one-two. Gooden answers with a
pair of leg kicks and continues to operate from the center of the
cage. Turman mixes in a jab and probes for openings from the
outside, shrugging off a few pawing left hands from his opponent.
Gooden connects with a hard jab, then targets the body with a right
hook. They trade power shots, and Turman unloads with a flying
knee. Gooden maintains his composure. Turman leaning on leg kicks
and short left hooks. Gooden answers with his jab. Turman hoists
the American skyward with a high-crotch single-leg and rotates him
down to the mat before setting up in half guard. The Teixeira MMA
rep feeds Gooden a steady diet of short elbows and punches. Turman
threatens with a guillotine choke and briefly moves to full mount.
He settles back in half guard and applies his ground-and-pound to
close out the round.

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 Turman
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Turman
Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Turman

Round 2

Back to business, with Gooden firing his jab from the center of the
cage. Turman wobbles the Atlantan with a pair of power punches.
Gooden staggers the Brazilian with a left hook, swarms with punches
and executes a beautiful hip toss into full mount. Punches and
elbows follow.
Turman turtles, eats more shots and surrenders his back. Gooden
slips his forearm under the neck, locks in the rear-naked choke and
lets his squeeze do the rest. Stellar comeback from
Gooden. Turman appeared to suffer a shoulder injury amid all the
fight-ending chaos.

The Official Result

Jared Gooden def. Wellington Turman—Submission (Rear-Naked Choke)
1:11 R2

Round 1

Light heavyweights are next to the stage, as Bellato (11-2, 0-0
UFC) makes his organizational debut opposite Potieria (19-4, 1-2
UFC) at 205 pounds. Potieria will be remembered as the man who
retired Brazilian icon Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
For more on Bellato, read “Zero Hour” from Sherdog’s own Christian
Stein. Jacob Montalvo steps up as the third man in the cage.
They touch gloves, and we are underway. Bellato backs Potieria onto
his back foot and clips him with a right hook. Potieria answers
with an inside leg kick. Bellato closes the distance, but Potieria
shrugs off his bid for a takedown. Jab-jab-cross combo from the
Ukrainian. Bellato tests the midsection with a kick. Potieria finds
a home with a clean straight left, which has been his best weapon
thus far. Sweeping hooks from both hands wobbles Bellato. Potieria
using his speed and lateral movement to stay ahead of the
Brazilian. He steps into a knee to the body. Bellato steps forward
and engages his adversary in the clinch. A knee south of the
equator draws an audible reaction from Potieria and results in a
halt to the action. Future generations of Potierias cry out as we
await a restart. Potieria sticks the Brazilian with a straight
left, dodges a flying knee and circles out into open space. He
clips Bellato with a multi-punch burst, avoids return fire and
scores with another straight left. Bellato presses his efforts in
the clinch, drawing boos from the crowd. A knee and a right hook
gets Potieria’s attention. They trade at close range to close out
the round. Excitement starts to build.

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 Potieria
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Potieria
Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Potieria

Round 2

Bellato immediately closes the distance and scores with a front
kick to the gut. He follows clubbing left hand with an elbow strike
and knee up the middle. Potieria floors him with a multi-punch
volley, follows up with heavy fire, shuts down a takedown, takes
top position and unleashes a barrage of brutal hammerfists. Bellato
somehow survives the onslaught. Potieria slows, waits for his
second wind and gets busy again with punches and hammerfists. The
Brazilian may not be able to take much more, with Montalvo hovering
above. Potieria passes guard and slams home more punches and
hammerfists. Bellato rises to his feet. Potieria looks exhausted
but continues to throw. Bellato connects with a left hook, ducks a
few counterpunches and trips the Ukrainian to the floor. What a
turn of events.
Bellato sets up in half guard and slams elbows into the legs, body
and head. Bellato moves to full mount with a minute to go and cuts
loose with punches. Potieria offering no intelligent defense, and
Montalvo decides to stop it. Amazing rally from
Bellato in his UFC debut.

The Official Result

Rodolfo Bellato def. Ihor Potieria—TKO (Punches) 4:17 R2

Round 1

The undercard closes with a showdown between women’s bantamweights,
as Tate (19-9, 6-6 UFC) seeks her first win in more than two years
in a three-round clash with Avila (9-2, 3-1 UFC), aka the “Raging
Panda.” Montalvo serves as the referee. A customary glove tap gets
us started. Tate walks through punches to get to the clinch and
shoots on the hips. She trips Avila to the floor, passes to side
control and forces her to abandon a guillotine choke. Tate moves to
north-south briefly, shifts backs to side control and applies
stifling pressure. She advances to toward the back and threatens
Avila with a face crank. Tate now in full mount with a little more
than half a round left. She could not have scripted a better start.
She floats to the back with a loose body triangle and hammers away
with punches and elbows. Tate continues with the ground-and-pound,
all while hunting the neck. It looks like Avila will survive with
20 seconds on the clock. Tate returns to full mount and closes out
a dominant round.

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 Tate
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Tate
Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Tate

Round 2

Tate presses forward to start Round 2, eats several punches and
scoops up Avila to complete a double-leg takedown. She lands in
side control and once again forces Avila to abandon a guillotine
choke. Tate looks to be right where she wants to be. Avila reclaims
full guard and scores with elbows from the bottom. Tate postures
and punches, then works hammerfists from a kneeling position. The
intensity of the shots briefly increases. Tate continues to pile up
points from half guard. Avila needs to change the narrative—in a
hurry. She absorbs more punches to the body and head, then a few
shoulder strikes. Tate offering no space to escape. She slides to
side control, then to the knee-on-belly position before climbing to
full mount. Clubbing punches follow. Tate progresses to the back
with 20 seconds left and flattens out Avila as the horn sounds.

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 Tate
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-8 Tate
Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Tate

Round 3

Avila needs a finish. Tate pushes forward and drives her to the
canvas. Avila builds a base and gets back to her feet, only to be
dumped back to the mat.
Tate climbs to mount yet again, then advances to the back. She
snakes her arms in place for a painful crank and procures the
tapout before fully tightening her squeeze. Pure
domination from Tate in her best performance in years.

The Official Result

Miesha Tate def. Julia Avila—Submission (Face Crank) 1:15 R3

Round 1

Middleweights open the main draw, where Xtreme Couture’s Soriano
(9-3, 3-3 UFC) awaits Stoltzfus (14-5, 1-4 UFC) at 185 pounds.
Soriano has lost three of four since starting his career a perfect
8-0. Referee Kerry Hatley steps up as the third man in the cage. No
glove touch. Soriano stalks from the center and follows a short
left hand with a thudding right that knocks his opponent
off-balance. Stoltzfus manages to regroup initially, then lands an
accidental kick to the testicles. Now they touch gloves. Soriano
presses forward behind punches upstairs and front kicks to the
body. Stoltzfus shoots for a takedown but goes nowhere. Soriano
continues to occupy the center of the cage. Stoltzfus answers a
body kick with one of his own and clips the Hawaiian with a sneaky
left hook before bullying his way into the clinch. No takedown yet.
Stoltzfus lands a knee to the body before his adversary escapes to
open space. He steps into a right hook, as Soriano counters with a
left. Both men wobbled. With 90 seconds to go, it remains anyone’s
round. Stoltzfus lands another front kick to the gut, then follows
with one to the inside of the lead leg. Stoltzfus slams Soriano
with roughly 45 seconds on the clock but cannot corral him on the
canvas. Soriano staggers his adversary with counter left hook.
Stoltzfus sneaks in a right hand near the end of the round and
drops his man as the horn sounds.

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 Stoltzfus
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Stoltzfus
Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Stoltzfus

Round 2

Stoltzfus walks forward behind kicks to the body, then unleashes a
multi-punch volley upstairs. Soriano too often limiting himself to
one shot at a time. Stoltzfus connects a pair of push kicks to the
knee, paws with his jab and keeps his opponent at bay with multiple
punches. Another inside leg kick from Stoltzfus. Soriano looks a
little out of sorts here. He steps into the pocket behind his left
hand but abandons continuing the combination. Stoltzfus raps the
body with kicks, then scores with another high-amplitude takedown.
Soriano gets back to the feet but allows Stoltzfus to wheel behind
him.
Stoltzfus resets, exchanges and secures another takedown. He moves
to the back and threatens with a neck crank. The forearm then slips
under the chin, and Soriano taps to the underdog.

The Official Result

Dustin Stoltzfus def. Punahele Soriano—Submission (Rear-Naked
Choke) 4:10 R2

Round 1

They keep the line moving with a lightweight feature between Silva
(12-4, 5-4 UFC) and the venerable Guida (38-23, 18-17 UFC), a man
who has spent more than 6,000 days on the UFC roster. Smith
supplies the law and order once the Octagon door closes. Guida
circles frenetically on the outside, presses forward behind his
jab, mixes in an inside leg kick and dives at the hips. Silva
dodges his efforts, stays composed and looks for openings. A jab
gets Guida’s attention. Guida’s punches are coming up short. Silva
sneaks in a leg kick and a short left hook. Guida continues to
swing at air, occasionally hitting the Brazilian’s arms. Guida
knocks him off-balance with a hook. Silva staggers Guida with an
uppercut, sprawls on a takedown and unleashes a hellacious barrage
of punches. Guida stands and eats two elbows over the top. “The
Carpenter” in survival mode with 30 seconds to go. Guida scores a
takedown in the closing seconds.

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 Silva
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Silva
Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Silva

Round 2

Guida moves forward behind punches. He still has not figured out
the range. Silva’s defense on point, too. Guida lands a body kick,
then dumps the Brazilian to the floor. Silva gets back to his feet
immediately and bites down on a guillotine. The choke fails but
allows Silva to move into side control. Guida stands, eats hooks to
the body and two knees to the head. He back up Silva with an
overhand right. The man just does not go away. Guida shoots on
another takedown, wanders into a guillotine and breaks free. The
crowd roars its approval. Guida works knees to the legs of the
kneeling Brazilian. Silva gets back to his feet along the fence and
clings to a whizzer to prevent another takedown. Guida stays on the
hips with 90 seconds to go in the round. He shifts his weight and
works into a takedown, but Silva rises to his feet almost
immediately. Guida back on the hips and executes another takedown.
Silva gets back up and absorbs a few more knees to the thigh. With
10 seconds left, this looks like a patented Guida round.

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 Guida
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Guida
Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Guida

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:

Round 4

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:

Round 5

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tristen Critchfield scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:

The Official Result