MMAPLUS will be bringing you up to the minute, play-by-play results from tonight’s UFC Fight Night 59 event which goes down at Boston’s TD Garden and features a main event between featherweights Conor McGregor and Dennis Siver.
UFC Fight Night 59 play-by-play results
Main Card
Featherweight: Conor McGregor def. Dennis Siver via TKO in 1:54 of Rnd 2
McGregor started straight off with the flash spin kicks. He was landing at ease over Siver, but the most success came through the left straight punch, which continually broke through Siver’s guard. Siver scored two takedowns but did nothing with them. McGregor showed exactly the same in the second round, as he continued to push the pace with the jab, which visibly hurt Siver on numerous occasions. Eventually he dropped Siver with the left and finished the fight with some ground and pound. McGregor didn’t look to have a scratch on him, as he jumped the cage and got in Jose Aldo’s face, but the champion didn’t even blink. Oh boy.
Lightweight: Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone def. Benson Henderson via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Both guys wanted to cement a lead from the get-go, but both were cautious with their shots. Benson kept Cerrone at bay using the kicks to the knee, and managed to land a big right hand, although unable to visibly affect Cerrone. Round two was another close contest between the pair, as Benson continued to apply pressure to Cowboy, using the kicks to the thigh and legs with great effect. Cerrone started to land nice high kicks at the end of the second, and picked up a takedown, but couldn’t pin down Bendo to do anything of worth. Cerrone and Bendo threw plenty of leg kicks in the final round, but it was Henderson who landed the flusher strikes, in a relatively close round. All rounds were close, but it seemed that Benson did enough for the win. Maybe not.
Middleweight: Uriah Hall def. Ron Stallings via TKO (Doctor’s stoppage) in 3:37 of Rnd 1
Hall showed his unpredictable nature, starting the fight with a flying knee. For the rest of the round he threw a lot of unorthodox strikes, whilst Stallings tries to cut down his legs with some good kicks. However, a nasty right hand dropped Stallings, causing a deep gash over his left eye, and forced Herb Dean to bring in the doctor, who called time on the fight.
Lightweight: Gleison Tibau def. Norman Parke via unanimous decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Parke immediately tried to get his combinations away, using his jabs pretty well, but as the round progressed Tibau’s big left hand came into play. He landed a couple of hard lefts to the body and head of Parke and kept the Northern Irish fighter on the outside. Tibau comes out for round two looking very strong and looked to hit Parke straight away. He didn’t find much success with his striking but scored two takedowns on Parke, although ineffective with any ground play. It was Parke who came out more aggressive in the final round, and started to land his combinations again. It didn’t seem to affect Tibau too much but Parke was able to keep Tibau away for the majority of his rounds through his popping shots. Nothing too impressive though from Parke, as Tibau continued to push forward as well.
Under Card
Welterweight: Cathal Pendred def. Sean Spencer via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Pendred started the fight looking strong, as he worked a good takedown from the clinch, but Spencer worked his way out without too much struggle. Spencer nailed Pendred with two HUGE right hands, and followed up with what looked like an illegal knee, the referee didn’t see and then Spencer scored another big right hand. Pendred managed to recover to end the round with a takedown, but against Spencer got out. Spencer looked the better fighter in round two, landing his jab well and putting together some quick combinations. Spencer landed a big overhand right which forced Pendred to take him down, and looked to finish with the kimura. Spencer wormed out before the end of the round. Pendred started to get his strikes away in the third, but it was little too late, as Spencer stayed out of range, with the SBG fighter missing most of his shots. A disappointing fight for Cathal, but somehow picks up the win.
Welterweight: Lorenz Larkin def. John Howard via TKO in 2:17 of R1
Larkin starts the fight as the aggressor, using his jab to great effect, keeping Howard on the back foot. Larkin showed some great movement, and fluidity with his strikes and he continued to score with shots at range. A huge right shot dropped Howard as Larkin immediately swarmed his opponent, forcing the finish with some thunderous left hooks to a grounded Doomsday. Great performance from Larkin.
Lightweight: Chris Wade def. Zhang Lipeng via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
Almost quicker than you could spell NUTS, Lipeng hit Wade with a kick to the groin. Wade would recover and score a nice judo hip-toss on Lipeng, however was unable to do anything from the ground against a strong Lipeng. It was Lipeng who showed his strneth in the clinch towards the end of the round but didn’t do anything major, expect a knee to the groin of Wade. The second round was a battle of strength between both fighters, who grappled on the cage. Lipeng would again knee Wade’s groin with the referee forced to deduct a point. Wade finished round two strong with a big takedown. More of the same in round three, as Lipeng tried to work the fight to the ground, but Wade reversed and ended up in control, keeping pressure on Lipeng as he landed some nice punches and knees.
Flyweight: Patrick Holohan def Shane Howell via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
The fighting Irish kicked it off. Holohan started the fight with some nice kicking and made an easy take takedown from his efforts. The Irishman locked in a tight body triangle and worked his submissions, trying to secure a one handed rear naked choke, as well as a full variation. Howell managed to survive these efforts. Holohan looked strong at the start of round two, throwing some nice strikes to the body, feinting, and scored another take down. It was much more cautious this time from Holohan, mainly due to a tired Howell not being as active, which negated the quick transitions of Holohan. Howell started round three the aggressor, but Holohan quickly got back on top, with yet another takedown, and similar to the first two rounds, he unsuccessfully worked for a rear-naked, but dominated the round on the ground.
Lightweight: Johnny Case def. Frankie Perez TKO (GNP) in 1:54 of Rnd 3
Both men were very active from the get go, but it was Perez who initiated the first takedown. His control didn’t last long as once Case scrambled he would then catch a takedown of his own. He scored another takedown later in the round and threw some big shots from a standing position. Case really dictated the striking in the second, and uttered complete control standing and on the ground. Perez tried to catch a heel hook but Case broke out with ease. Round three was the definitive one for Case who started with a strong right hand and right kick. After a failed takedown from Perez, Case reversed, and transitioned into full mount to rain down some sweet ground and pound for the finish.
Featherweight: Charles Rosa def. Sean Soriano via submission (D’arce choke) in 4:43 of Rnd 3
Soriano looked pretty comfortable in the first round, hurting the left leg of Rosa, however the tides changed in the second. Rosa started working his grappling and got a few good submission attempts on Soriano. In the third, Soriano looked to be hurting Rosa’s left leg, but questionably decided to pull guard. Rosa started working the submissions here, and transitioned from a guillotine choke into a D’arce. A bit of confusion over whether Soriano tapped, but the referee’s decision is final. On the replay it isn’t clear if it was a tap.
UFC Fight Pass Prelims
Sean O’Connell def. Matt Van Buren via TKO (punches) in 2:11 of Rnd 3
Joby Sanchez def. Tateki Matsuda via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
