Getty Images/UFC
Cody
Gibson may have placed his job as a history teacher on hold for
now, but he clearly isn’t done schooling people.
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In the top prelim of UFC on ESPN 60 on Saturday at the UFC Apex in
Las Vegas, Gibson (20-10) overwhelmed Brian
Kelleher (24-16) on the feet as well as on the canvas on his
way to a first-round submission win. Gibson jumped on “Boom” right
away, rocking him with a right hand in the opening seconds of the
fight, and never let up. Kelleher tried valiantly to rally, but
Gibson never gave him a moment’s peace, hurting him with punches
and long kicks at range and mugging him up close with knees.
Kelleher jumped on a guillotine attempt late in the round, but
Gibson kicked out of it immediately, moved to half guard and locked
up an arm-triangle choke. Kelleher tapped out in seconds, putting
the stamp on a dominant performance for Gibson. The win brought
Gibson’s record in the organization to 2-5 across multiple stints
dating back over a decade, and vindicated his decision to quit his
job teaching school in California and move to Las Vegas to focus on
fighting. Kelleher’s fourth straight loss dropped him to 8-9 in the
UFC.
Maverick Outduels Barbosa
Miranda
Maverick (14-5) made the most of her consolation prize,
outstriking and outwrestling Dione
Barbosa (7-3) in their flyweight preliminary bout. Maverick,
who had been scheduled to take on Tracy
Cortez on Saturday until Cortez was drafted into the main event
of UFC Denver, instead took on relative newcomer and unknown
Barbosa. Barbosa, the former Olympic judoka, was unable to show
much of her top skill outside of a beautiful scarf hold throw in
Round 2. Outside of that highlight, Maverick was the more effective
fighter at determining where the contest took place, grounding
Barbosa and doing sturdy work from top position. Maverick closed
out the fight as she spent much of it, dropping elbows and punches
from the Brazilian’s guard, and picked up a well-deserved unanimous
decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28). The win was Maverick’s third
straight and fifth in her last six fights, bringing her Octagon
record to 7-3 overall; Barbosa fell to 1-1 in the promotion.
Ogden Dominates Radzhabov with Wrestling, Grappling
The third of three upsets to open “UFC Vegas 94” saw Trey Ogden
(18-6, 1 NC) exploit the takedown defense of Loik
Radzhabov (18-6-1) en route to a largely one-sided decision in
a lightweight affair. Ogden racked up eight minutes of control time
in the first two rounds, thanks to a couple of easy-looking
takedowns. It was no “lay and pray” special, either, as Ogden took
Radzhabov’s back and worked for rear-naked chokes and face cranks
amid sporadic but stinging strikes from back mount. After landing
little offense of note in the first two rounds, Radzhabov came
alive in the final frame, sweeping Ogden in the second half of the
round and dropping heavy punches from top position. It was not
enough to make up the gap, and Ogden carried the day via 30-27,
29-28 and 29-28 scores. The win brought Ogden’s record in the UFC
to 3-2 with one no contest, while Radzhabov fell to 2-2.
Carolina Bloodies, Bruises Pudilova
Luana
Carolina (11-4) continued her quiet ascent up the flyweight
ranks, beating Lucie
Pudilova (14-10) to the punch—and elbow—for most of their
15-minute fight. “Dread” was the faster and sharper woman on the
feet, keeping Pudilova at bay with an array of kicks to the legs
and head, including a Round 1 high kick that was intercepted, but
arrived with enough zip to hurt the blocking arm. Carolina also
scored in the first frame with a close-quarters elbow strike that
opened a cut on the Czech fighter’s forehead. Pudilova was never
out of the fight, and had moments of offense in Rounds 2 and 3 that
swayed at least some of the cageside judges, but Carolina
ultimately prevailed by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28).
With the win, her third in a row, Carolina moved to 6-3 in the UFC
and a likely matchup with a ranked fighter in her next fight;
Pudilova fell to 3-8 across two separate stints in the promotion,
1-3 since being re-signed out of Oktagon MMA.
Petersen Touches Up Usman
In the heavyweight opener, Thomas
Petersen (9-2) stayed a step ahead of Mohammed
Usman (10-4) for three dreary rounds. While Peterson won all
three rounds on all three judges’ scorecards, neither man came
close to finishing the fight. Former junior college wrestling champ
Petersen had mixed results against Usman’s sturdy takedown defense,
but got the better of the striking exchanges, with Usman mostly
reduced to throwing single punches and kicks. While Petersen never
truly put his stamp on the fight, he came closest in the final
moments, as he flung his opponent to the canvas, pounced and
chained submission attempts and ground-and-pound until the horn.
With 30-27 scores across the board, Petersen elevated his UFC tally
to 1-1; Usman fell to 3-2.