Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC
live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device
via the ESPN app. The bigger they are, the harder they fall — if
Jamahal
Hill has anything to say about it. In the main event of UFC Fight Night 201 on Saturday at the UFC
Apex in Las Vegas, the 6-foot-4 Hill (10-1, 1 NC) found himself at
a rare size disadvantage against titanic 6-foot-5 Johnny
Walker (18-7), but was unfazed. The light heavyweight knockout
artists spent the duration of the fight throwing their hardest
shots at one another; both men had their moments, but the chaos
ended in an instant when Hill landed an overhand right to the side
of Walker’s head. The towering Brazilian stiffened and fell,
hitting his head against the fence and floor on his way down, just
in time for Hill to land a diving follow-up shot. Referee Jason
Herzog called the action off at 2:55 of Round 1, giving Hill his
second win in a row, and third in his last four. Meanwhile Walker,
once the sensation of the UFC light heavyweight division, has now
lost four of his last five.
Daukaus Hits Buzzer-Beater Sub
Kyle
Daukaus made the best of a tough situation, forcing late
replacement opponent Jamie
Pickett to tap to a brabo choke as the horn sounded to end the
first round of their 195-pound catchweight co-main event. Daukaus
(11-2, 1 NC) had the round well in hand already, taking down
Pickett (13-7) multiple times and keeping him on the defensive, but
when Pickett countered a takedown with a guillotine attempt,
Daukaus took full advantage. He briefly worked for a shoulder choke
before grabbing a front headlock and cinching up the fight-ending
choke. Confusion reigned for a moment when Pickett tapped at the
horn, but referee Herb Dean
quickly ruled it a submission win at 4 minutes, 59 seconds. The win
gets Daukaus back on track with his first win since November 2020,
while Pickett falls to 2-3 in the Octagon.
Porter Takes Down Baudot
Parker
Porter used forward movement, kicks and a couple of well-timed
takedowns to earn a hard-fought unanimous decision over Alan Baudot
in the feature bout of “UFC Vegas 48.” Porter (12-6, 3-1 UFC)
carried the first round on the back of his jab, wrestling and
especially his thudding low kicks. The second round appeared to go
to Baudot, as he denied Porter’s takedowns and bloodied his face
with sharp counters. The third round began in much the same way,
but Baudot’s showboating jig in the first two minutes turned out to
be premature, as Porter took him down once again, then moved into
mount as the round expired, likely winning him the round and the
fight. In the end, the 36-year-old Connecticut native earned 29-28
scores from all three judges, for his third straight victory since
losing his UFC debut to Chris
Daukaus. Baudot falls to 8-3 with one no contest (0-2, 1 NC
UFC).
Miller Mashes Motta
For the second fight in a row, Jim Miller
(34-16, 1 NC) stopped a highly touted Octagon newcomer. On
Saturday, the unfortunate victim was Nikolas
Motta (12-4), who made his long-awaited debut after an
impressive performance on the Contender Series in November 2020.
Miller looked sharp from the get-go, as he marked up Motta’s lead
left leg and kept him off-balance with inside leg kicks for most of
the first round. The second round picked up right where the first
left off, but when another leg kick left Motta stumbling, Miller
pounced, blasting the Brazilian in the face with a right hand. The
stunned Motta fell with one arm trapped beneath him, but Miller
nonetheless had to tack on another 10 or 12 punches before referee
Keith
Peterson intervened at 1 minute, 58 seconds. The win was
Miller’s 23rd in the UFC, tying him with Donald
Cerrone for the all-time record and representing the first
back-to-back knockout wins of his 51-fight career.
Buckley Outlasts Alhassan
While few probably foresaw it going to the final horn, the clash
between knockout artists Joaquin
Buckley and Abdul
Razak Alhassan did precisely that, as the burly middleweights
engaged in an exhausting 15-minute battle in the main card opener.
“New Mansa” seemed to have the first two rounds in the bag —
especially the second, when he backed Alhassan to the fence and
unloaded largely unanswered punch combinations for most of the
round. Alhassan came out with renewed purpose in the final round,
however, and lived up to his “Judo Thunder” nickname for perhaps
the first time in his Octagon career, grounding Buckley repeatedly
and threatening there with heavy strikes. Buckley survived the
round, however, and both men collapsed to their backs in exhaustion
when it was all over. Buckley prevailed by split decision (29-28,
29-28, 28-29) to move to 14-4 overall, 4-2 in the UFC; Alhassan
falls to 11-5 (5-5 UFC).
