UFC on ABC 4 Prelims: Matt Brown Electrifies Crowd with Record-Tying Knockout

Matt Brown may be in the final act of his career, but his stellar highlight reel is still a work in progress.

In the top prelim of UFC on ABC 4 on Saturday in Charlotte, North Carolina, the 42-year-old Ohioan flatlined fellow grizzled welterweight Court McGee with a brutal overhand right. With the first-round stoppage, “The Immortal” tied Derrick Lewis’ record for most knockouts in Ultimate Fighting Championship history. Up until the moment of the KO, the fight seemed to be shaping up into the kind of clinch-heavy grind that had allowed McGee to stay relevant as he headed toward his own 40th birthday. With a minute left in the frame, however, Brown set “The Crusher” up with a front push kick and, as McGee came forward again, landed a single right hand that ended the fight. Referee Dan Miragliotta rushed in to save the stricken fighter, but Brown was already walking off with his hands raised, his 13th UFC knockout a mere formality.

The win elevated Brown’s record to 24-19 (17-12 UFC), while McGee fell to 21-12 overall, an even 10-10 in the promotion.

Williams Holds on for Controversial Decision over Sherman

Karl Williams ran out to an early lead against Chase Sherman, then held on across the final 10 minutes, doing enough to win in the minds of the judges tasked with determining the winner of their heavyweight showcase. Round 1 was a clear Williams round, as he hurt Sherman more than once with punches, and landed a late takedown that led to some damage on the ground including a cut, and a couple of punishing blows as they returned to the feet. The rest of the way, Sherman appeared to pull ahead of the increasingly fatigued Williams, whose striking volume all but dried up while his takedown attempts proved fruitless. However, the judges saw the fight unanimously in Williams’ favor, including two baffling 30-27 scorecards. The win drove Williams’ record to 9-1 as a professional, 2-0 since joining the UFC as a graduate of Dana White's Contender Series last year; Sherman dropped to 16-2 (4-11 UFC).

Silva de Andrade Edges Out Stamann

In a planned 140-pound catchweight contest, Douglas Silva de Andrade (29-5, 1 NC) picked up a hard-fought win over Cody Stamann (21-6-1), outlanding him over the first two rounds, then holding on as the American came roaring back in the third. “D’Silva” was the sharper striker for most of the fight, stinging Stamann with leg kicks and clean counter punches. Stamann looked to wrestle early on, landing an emphatic first-round takedown, but the Brazilian received a gift standup from referee Wayne Spinola after landing an illegal upkick, and Stamann’s wrestling did not end up being a factor for the rest of the fight. Likely down two rounds to none heading into the final frame, Stamann fought like it, coming out with a noticeable sense of urgency and dropping de Andrade with a big left hand and a flurry of follow-up punches. “The Spartan” swarmed with punches on the ground, but de Andrade survived long enough to regain his wits, tie Stamann up in his guard and recover fully. Stamann maintained the momentum, but failed to secure either a finish or the kind of damage that might have elicited 10-8 scores from the judges. After the final horn, Silva de Andrade prevailed by unanimous 29-28 scores, bringing his UFC mark to 7-5; Stamann’s tally in the promotion fell to 5-4-1.

Bohm Takes Foul-Plagued Technical Decision

In one of the more bizarre UFC fights in recent memory, Mandy Bohm prevailed over Ji Yeon Kim by technical decision. The flyweight meeting had been scheduled to take place in February but was postponed when Bohm fell ill on the day of the event. The rescheduled bout nearly didn’t make it out of the first round, as Kim hurt Bohm badly with a pair of punches early, then came close to being submitted when she overpursued the finish and had her back taken. Bohm’s rear-naked choke attempt came up short, however, and both women survived to hear the horn. The second round was another back-and-forth affair, ending with Bohm in top position on the canvas. Kim kicked Bohm in the chest several seconds after the end of the round, prompting referee Larry Carter to penalize her a point at the beginning of the final stanza. It would prove a harbinger of the weirdness to follow. Near the midpoint of Round 3, Kim struck the grounded Bohm with an illegal knee to the head. The German went down in apparent distress and when the cageside doctor examined her, she stated that she could not see out of her left eye. Referee Carter called off the contest and the cageside judges turned in their scores, including scores for the truncated final round, for a technical decision. After further review—and after the judges had already rendered their scores—Carter then deducted a point from Kim for the foul, necessitating a delay of several minutes while the tallies were adjusted. Finally, the result was announced as a technical split decision (27-28, 28-27, 28-27) for Bohm, bringing her record to 1-2 in the UFC, 8-2 overall. Kim’s fifth straight loss brought her record to 9-7-2 (3-6 UFC).

Battle Sparks Green

The only Charlotte native on the card, Bryan Battle (9-2) made it count, flattening Gabriel Green (11-5) just 14 seconds into their 173-pound catchweight contest. Green charged forward behind a storm of punches and kicks as soon as referee Wayne Spinola waved them into action, and “Pooh Bear” obliged him with the brawl he wanted. Battle got much the better of it, catching his man with punches even as he backed into the fence, but it was one clean right hand that short-circuited Green. Battle tacked on a couple more punches as Spinola dived in for the stoppage and the crowd exploded. Battle missed the welterweight limit on Friday, forcing the catchweight and forfeiting any chance at an official “Performance of the Night” bonus, but nonetheless moved to 4-1 in the UFC since joining the promotion as the middleweight winner of “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 29. With the crushing loss, Green’s Octagon record stood at 2-3.

Debuting Lisboa Taps Out Clark

In the opening fight of the night, Tainara Lisboa (6-2) served notice that she is more than just a crossover kickboxer, choking out Jessica-Rose Clark (11-9, 1 NC) with under a minute left in their bantamweight clash. From the early going, it proved to be more of a balanced affair than Lisboa’s credentials as a multiple-time world muay thai champion might have suggested. Clark experienced significant success on the feet, landing several clean punches to the head, while Lisboa surprised by taking Clark down, pinning her against the fence and landing some hard strikes from half guard as the round expired. The second round offered more of a straightforward striker vs. grappler dynamic, as Lisboa hurt Clark badly with a punch combination early in the round, prompting a desperation double-leg from “Jessy Jess” and setting the pattern for what was to come. Lisboa stung Clark repeatedly for the remainder of the frame, turning aside several determined takedown attempts along the way. Clark finally secured a takedown early in Round 3, grounding Lisboa in the center of the cage and punishing her with punches and elbows, one of which opened a deep cut over the Brazilian’s right eye. The ground turned out not to be a safe place for Clark either, however, as Lisboa stuffed a single-leg takedown, hopped on her back and cinched up a lightning-quick rear-naked choke. The tap came seconds later at 4 minutes, 20 seconds of the final round, marking a successful UFC debut for Lisboa; Clark fell to 4-5 in the Octagon.