UFC 180 emanated live on pay-per-view from the Arena Ciudad de Mexico in Mexico City, Mexico on Saturday night. It was the UFC’s first foray into Mexico, and the event was a smashing success. Featuring an interim heavyweight title fight between Fabricio Werdum and Mark Hunt, plus the featherweight and bantamweight finals of TUF Latin America. Check out the results of the card below:
Interim UFC Heavyweight Championship
Fabricio Werdum def. Mark Hunt via (T)KO (Round 2, 2:27)
With UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez injured, Fabricio Werdum and Mark Hunt met in the main event of the evening to crown an interim champ. Early in round one, Hunt dropped Werdum with an overhand right, but instead of following up, he wisely let Werdum, a jiu-jitsu black belt, back to his feet. About halfway through the round, Werdum locked Hunt up and pulled guard, pulling Hunt into his world. With a minute left, Hunt was able to escape the Brazilian’s guard and get back to his feet, where he hurt Werdum again with an uppercut towards the end of the round. In round two, Hunt dropped Werdum early again, this time with a straight right. Hunt let Werdum back up once again, and the two behemoths took turns just missing huge strikes. Werdum went for a takedown, but Hunt shook the attempt off. As Werdum returned to his feet, he leveled the former K-1 Grand Prix winner with a flying knee. Werdum followed Hunt to the ground, and finished off the Super Samoan with strikes to win UFC gold.
Kelvin Gastelum def. Jake Ellenberger via submission – rear-naked choke (Round 1, 4:46)
In the co-main event, long time top 10 welterweight Jake Ellenberger squared off with undefeated TUF 17 winner Kelvin Gastelum. Ellenberger immediately took the center of the cage to start the fight and controlled the action, landing powerful strikes. Gastelum eventually got a takedown, and although he was on top for a bit, he wasn’t able to do much damage. Upon returning to his feet, Ellenberger took control again, and with thirty seconds left in the round, he hit a big suplex on Gastelum. But, Gastelum hit a switch right away, and took Ellenberger’s back in an instant. Gastelum threw some weak strikes to Ellenberger’s head to build up a false sense of security in his opponent, and it worked. As Ellenberger stood up, Gastelum slipped his arm under Ellenberger’s neck in the blink of an eye, and before he knew what had hit him, Ellenberger was tapping to a rear-naked choke, giving Gastelum the biggest win of his young career.
Ricardo Lamas def. Dennis Bermudez via submission – guillotine choke (Round 1, 3:18)
Up next was an important fight between two top 10 featherweights, Ricardo Lamas and Dennis Bermudez. The first three minutes of the fight were dominated by the grinding style of Lamas against the cage wall. Bermudez finally worked his way back to the center of the octagon, but Lamas dropped him with a left jab and pounced on his neck, wrapping up a guillotine. Bermudez’s left arm was trapped, and with no way to effectively defend against the choke, he was forced to tap, snapping his seven-fight win streak, and giving Lamas the win.
Augusto “Dodger” Montano def. Chris Heatherly via (T)KO (Round 1, 4:50)
Heavily hyped Mexican prospect Augusto “Dodger” Montano finally made his UFC debut against stout wrestler Chris Heatherly, and he won in impressive fashion. From the jump, it was clear Heatherly wanted the fight on the ground, but Dodger used his size and reach advantages to keep the bout standing, landing at will on the outside and the inside with strikes, including punishing knees to the midsection against the fence. With around 30 seconds left in the opening round, Heatherly covered up against the fence for the second time in the fight, and Dodger unleashed a punishing barrage of knees to the body and head, and the bout was called off before Heatherly could even crash to the canvas.
Hector Urbina def. Edgar Garcia via submission – guillotine choke (Round 1, 3:38)
The main card got off to a quick start with Hector Urbina vs Edgar Garcia. The bout started with Garcia catching a leg kick from Urbina, which led to a takedown and back take for Garcia. Garcia attempted a rear-naked choke, but Urbina was able to reverse out of the submission attempt and gain side control. With two minutes left in the round, Urbina tried to lock up both a guillotine choke, then anaconda choke, but Garcia was able to escape and clinch with Urbina along the fence. Unfortunately for Garcia, he left his neck exposed again, and Urbina locked up another guillotine choke, but this time, he got the tap.
Preliminary Card Results
TUF Latin America Featherweight Final
Yair Rodriguez def. Leonardo Morales via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
TUF Latin America Bantamweight Final
Alejandro Perez def. Jose Quinones via unanimous decision (29-26, 29-26, 28-27)
Jessica Eye def. Leslie Smith via (T)KO (Round 2, 1:30)
Gabriel Benitez def. Humberto Brown via submission – standing guillotine choke (Round 3, 0:30)
Henry Briones def. Guido Cannetti via submission – rear-naked choke (Round 2, 1:44)
Marco Beltran def. Marlon Vera via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
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