An eventful UFC Fight Night 70 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida saw four big finishes on the main card, including a potential knockout of the year by Thiago Santos.
In the UFC Fight Night 70 main event, Yoel Romero put on a clinic against Lyoto Machida, as he methodically picked off the UFC veteran to score the biggest win of his career.
There were moments of the old Machida flair but nothing definitive, as the former Light-Heavyweight champion was unable to avoid the heavy strikes of his Cuban counterpart.
Romero’s dominance showed in the second round, when he landed several big shots to Machida, unanswered.
To much surprise Romero didn’t showcase much of his Olympic level wrestling, until the third round where he dragged Machida down to the canvas and finished him with some sharp elbow strikes.
In his post-fight interview with Jon Anik, Romero seemed to go on a rant at the American audience about religion. However he has since clarified his speech was in fact about the ‘American Dream’. You be the judge, “no forget Jesus” or “no gay Jesus?”
Also, Lorenz Larkin continued his career resurgence at welterweight with an incredible TKO finish over Santiago Ponzinibbio.
A left and right combination put Ponzinibbio on the ground, after Larkin had tirelessly targeted the Argentine’s leg in the first round.
‘The Monsoon’ followed up with some big shots on the ground, and scored his second win in a row at welterweight. A potential career turnaround for the 28 year old.
Elsewhere, Antônio Carlos Júnior controlled Eddie Gorden over three rounds before pulling off a rear naked choke in the final 23 seconds of the fight.
Meanwhile, Thiago Santos may have staked a claim to knockout of the year, with his jaw-dropping high kick knockout of Steve Bossé.
It took only 29 seconds for Santos to finish the fight, throwing a deadly high kick which left Bossé stiff and unconscious.
UFC Fight Night 70 Main Card Results
Middleweight: Yoel Romero def. Lyoto Machida via KO (elbows) (1:38: Round 3)
Welterweight: Lorenz Larkin def. Santiago Ponzinibbio via TKO (punches) (3:07: Round 2)
Middleweight: Antônio Carlos Júnior def. Eddie Gordon via Submission (rear-naked choke) (4:37: Round 3)
Middleweight: Thiago Santos def. Steve Bossé via KO (head kick) (0:29: Round 1)
Featherweight: Hacran Dias def. Levan Makashvili via Decision (split) (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
UFC Fight Night 70 Preliminary Card Results
Welterweight: Alex Oliveira def. Joe Merritt via Decision (unanimous) (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Catchweight (174 lbs): Leandro Silva def. Lewis Gonzalez via Decision (unanimous) (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Welterweight: Tony Sims def. Steve Montgomery via KO (punches) (2:43: Round 1)
Bantamweight: Sirwan Kakai def. Danny Martinez via Decision (unanimous) (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
