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Former middleweight champion Michael Bisping was flattened in the first round of the main event of UFC Shanghai American Kevin Gastelum, when he stepped in as a late replacement for the absent Anderson Silva earlier today.

In the opening moments of the first stanza, some nice footwork and feints by the Englishman indicated that the bout had all the hallmarks of an interesting match-up in the opening moments. But when “The Count” leaned in too much on an attack, leaving himself exposed to a counter, Gastelum would land a perfectly timed left hook to the chin, before finishing Bisping on the ground.

This defeat marked Bisping’s second loss in as many months, but the Manchurian jokingly insisted “it will take a bigger pile of sh-t than Gastelum to make me retire” hinting at a final fight in London.

In the co-main event of the evening, China’s Li Jingliang put on a spectacle for the crowd with a first round finish of Zak Ottow, marking his fourth consecutive win in the UFC.

Jingliang found his range early on, rocking Ottow back on numerous occasions before dropping his opponent to the ground. He then landed numerous strikes on the ground, forcing the referee to call a halt to proceedings.

https://twitter.com/ufc/status/934406072412004353

Jingliang immediately ran to his daughter, delighted with victory and continued to embrace his native crowd with a chant post-fight; lifting the spirits and making for an incredible atmosphere in mainland China’s UFC debut.

More Chinese success was to be found on the card in form of Guan Wang the man known as The “Dongbei Tiger” who had a tricky and enigmatic character in front of him in the form of Alex Caceres.

In a tight affair, Wang almost finished his opponent in the first round. After rocking Caceres with elbows, he almost got another finish with a straight left which landed flush on the chin of “Bruce Leeroy” but somehow, he survived to live another round.

In the end the fight would go to the judges and it was sheer delight for the home fighter, being crowned the victor via split decision in front of his own fans.

On the undercard, stand-out prospect Zabit Magomedsharipov defeated Sheymon Moraes in the third and final round, submitting his opponent via an anaconda choke.

This marks the Russian’s tenth consecutive win and maintains his perfect record in the UFC with his second win so far.

The 26-year old has high ambitions and in the post-fight interview, called for a top ten contender in the featherweight division. Being so young, time is certainly on his side and we could well be witnessing a new force to be reckoned with.

One of the biggest crowd-pleasers on the card was Kenan Song who on debut; finished Bobby Nash in just fifteen seconds in front of his home crowd.

UFC Shanghai Main Card Results

Middleweight contest – Kelvin Gastelum def. Michael Bisping via KO (Punches) – (Round 1 – 2:30)

Welterweight contest – Li Jingliang def. Zak Ottow via KO (Punches) – (Round 1 – 2:57)

Featherweight contest – Guan Wang def. Alex Caceres via decision (Split) – (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

Welterweight contest – Alex Garcia def. Muslim Salikhov via submission (Rear-naked choke) – (Round 2 – 3:22)

UFC Shanghai Undercard Results

Featherweight contest – Zabit Magomedsharipov def. Sheymon Moraes via submission (Anaconda choke) – (Round 3 – 4:30)

Welterweight contest – Kenan Song def. Bobby Nash via TKO (Ground and Pound) – (Round 1 – 0:15)

Strawweight contest – Xiaonan Yan def. Kailin Curran via decision (Unanimous) – (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

Featherweight contest – Yadong Song def. Bharat Kandare via submission (Front choke) – (Round 1 – 4:16)

Heavyweight contest – Shamil Abdurakhimov def. Chase Sherman via KO (Punches) – (Round 1 – 1:24)

Women’s Bantamweight contest – Gina Mazany def. Yanan Wu via decision (Unanimous) – (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Featherweight contest – Rolando Dy def. Wu Lijiburen via decision (Unanimous) – (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)

Heavyweight contest – Cyril Asker def. Yaozong Hu via submission (Rear-naked choke) – (Round 2 – 2:33)

 

 

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