UFC Fight Night 155 Prelims: Card’s Biggest Underdog Upsets Mike Rodriguez
John Allan is a machine!#UFCSacramento pic.twitter.com/S9p5SsATzN
— UFC (@ufc) July 13, 2019
Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC on ESPN+ live on your computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.
Advertisement
Arte (14-5) rocked the taller Rodriguez on multiple occasions, scored takedowns and controlled most of the action inside the cage. A late takedown in the third sealed the deal for Arte, who wound up winning a unanimous nod with scores of 29-28 (twice) and 30-27.
Related » UFC Sacramento Round-by-Round Scoring
Fili Overwhelms Moraes in Hometown
Local featherweight Andre Fili brought the arena to its feet in raucous applause as he turned Sheymon Moraes’ consciousness into shambles.
Fili (20-6) wobbled Moraes with a right hook, followed by a sneaky right head kick, and the Brazilian stumbled backward. From there, Fili engaged him in a slugfest, but the still-woozy Moraes was unsteady and eventually was crushed by a perfect right hook to the jaw.
Moraes (11-4) crumbled in a heap, prompting “Touchy” to unload a swarm of punches until Moraes was knocked out, just as referee Jason Herzog was rushing into the stop the bout. The end came officially at 3:07 of the first.
Pena Returns with hard-Fought Win
"The Ultimate Fighter" Season 18 winner Juliana Pena bounced back from a shaky opening round to turn the tides and dominate Nicco Montano (4-3) until the final horn.
Pena (9-3) scored several takedowns and controlled the pace of the bantamweight battle on the canvas, threatening with submissions while landing scattered punches and elbows. Montano, the inaugural winner of the UFC women’s flyweight title after winning "TUF" 26, scored a few takedowns of her own down the stretch couldn’t find a rhythm late in the bout. In the end, Pena won the judges’ nod via tallies of 29-28 (twice) and 29-27.
Hall Bewilders Elkins with Kicks, Rolls
Brazilian jiu-jitsu wizard Ryan Hall won his fourth straight fight inside the Octagon as he dominated veteran brawler Darren Elkins over three rounds.
Hall badly hurt Elkins (24-8) with a spinning head kick in the first and nearly finished him with a follow-up guillotine. However, “The Damage” hung tough, survived being nearly knocked senseless by a straight left in the second and avoided Hall’s plethora of submission attempts via the Imanari roll.
Hall (8-1) was never in danger, took virtually no damage in the featherweight contest and won a unanimous decision via tallies of 29-28 (twice) and 30-27.
Martinez Flattens Liu with Knee
In a bantamweight encounter that eventually had the crowd restless and booing for a lack of action, Jonathan Martinez ended things in the blink of an eye.
Pingyuan Liu was circling and playing it safe for nearly three rounds, leaving much to be desired in terms of action. However, when the Chinese fighter came inside and changed levels late in the third, Martinez (11-2)uncorked a lethal knee to the face. Liu (13-6) fell violently onto his back and just as referee Josh Rosenthal was rushing in to intervene, the victor bombed him with a fist to the face. Liu was out cold; the end coming officially at 3:54 of the third.
Van Buren Impresses in Octagon Debut
Invicta Fighting Championships veteran Brianna Van Buren was tremendous in her UFC debut as she dominated Brazil’s Lvinha Souza over three rounds in a strawweight encounter.
“Tha Bull” tagged Souza’s legs up with kicks, landed multi-punch combos and scored timely takedowns in all three rounds, easily winning the fight. Van Buren (9-2) thwarted most of what Souza (13-2) threw at her and won via tallies of 30-27 on all three official scorecards.
Lopez Edges Morales
In a bantamweight matchup that could have gone either way, it was Benito Lopez (10-1) who prevailed via unanimous decision over Vince Morales.
Lopez landed dozens of nasty leg kicks throughout the bout, but “Vandetta” busted up Lopez with a multitude of punches to the head and body. Though Morales (9-4) hurt and dropped Lopez in the first frame, all three judges favored “Golden Boy” with scores of 29-28 across the board.
Related Articles
