Glover Teixeira’s (22-2) heavy hands cemented his position as next in-line for a light heavyweight title shot, as he swept aside highly-ranked Ryan Bader (19-4).
Despite finishing Bader in the first round, Teixeira wasn’t happy with his performance. He looked susceptible to the jab of Bader, and the American’s speed advantage was evident when he caught and briefly dropped the Brazilian.
Despite the momentary blip, Teixeira weathered the storm and fired back with a heavy combination that knocked Bader off his feet, before the Brazilian swarmed and finished the fight.
Now it will be very difficult for the UFC to deny Teixeira a shot at light heavyweight gold, and it’s likely he will meet the winner of Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson next. It’s been predicted that Teixeira’s combination of impressive wrestling, powerful hands and world-class Brazilian Jiu-jitsu could be enough to overcome Jones.
In the co-main event, BJJ expert Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza (29-3-1) continued his dominant run by blitzing former title contender Yushin Okami (30-8) in the opening round.
‘Jacare’, who has become known as a submission expert throughout his career outside the UFC, ended up using the power in his hands to control the octagon, eventually dropping Okami, before reigning down enough strikes to force the referee to stop the fight.
In any other landscape, that fight would have most likely been a #1 contender fight, but with Anderson Silva set to rematch Chris Weidman for the title on December 28, Souza’s next step is unclear. He is, however, certainly in the title picture of the stacked division.
Explosive flyweight Joseph Benavidez (22-3) racked up a quick stoppage over top flyweight Jussier Formiga (16-3), by scoring a TKO over the Brazilian in his home country.
Benavidez wasn’t intimidated by the Brazilian crowd in support of Formiga, and immediately went on the offensive. With just over three minutes gone in the first round, Benavidez landed a clean combination of punches, followed by a knee, which signalled the end for Formiga.
European lightweight standout Piotr Hallman (14-1) overcame a difficult first round to defeat Brazilian Francisco Trinaldo (13-3) by submission.
Despite taking several clean body kicks that hurt him in the first round, Hallman managed to survive and make it into the second five minutes. He then earned top position and secured the kimora that forced the tap and silenced the Brazilian crowd.
Swedish prospect and former Ultimate Fighter contestant Tor Troeng (16-6-1) came up short against Rafael Natal (17-4-1) in an excellent grappling battle.
The fight was an intriguing ground battle, with Natal getting the better of the contest, executing high-level sweeps and demonstrating stifling top control. Troeng was defending submissions well while on the ground, but a heavy right hand in a standup exchange dropped Troeng and did the most damage in the fight, which eventually went to a unanimous decision in favour of Natal.
UFC newcomer Ali Baguatinov (11-2) upset Brazilian fan-favourite Marcos Vinicius (20-6-1) with a third-round TKO.
Powerful 125lb fighter Russian eventually found his breakthrough in the final round of a fairl even fight, when a hard straight right found its way through, and he followed up with a flurry that forced the fight to be waved off.
