Knockdown Daily 8/7/22: Jamahal Hill Stops Thiago Santos In Longest Fight of UFC Career
Jamahal Hill's win over Thiago Santos leads the MMA headlines for Sunday
Welcome to the Sunday edition of the Knockdown Daily. Today’s issue includes a variety of stories, including a report on last night’s UFC card.
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Jamahal Hill Keeps Momentum Going With Fourth-Round Finish Over Thiago Santos
Jamahal Hill made another big move up the light heavyweight rankings on Saturday night, stopping Thiago Santos in his longest UFC appearance thus far.
Hill’s victory headlined a UFC “Fight Night” card from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA on Saturday night.
Hill earned his finish against Santos in the fourth round of their bout.
The fourth round was uncharacteristic to earlier rounds in the fight, suddenly turning the fight into a striking shootout. Santos dropped to the ground after enduring a series of punches on the feet from Hill during this exchange. On the ground, Hill landed a series of ground and pound shots to a shelled-up Santos until the fight was finally stopped by referee Herb Dean.
The fight was much less of a brawl in the previous rounds. The light heavyweights would engage in stand-up exchanges, but a large portion of the battle also saw Santos control the fight from clinch positions.
Saturday marked the first time that Hill went longer than three rounds in a UFC appearance. His previous fight was also a main event but saw him earn a quick, first-round victory over Johnny Walker.
With the win on Saturday, Walker is now expected to jump numerous places in the light heavyweight division. Santos was ranked a few spots above him this week due to many high-profile fights in the division.
Santos has struggled in recent years, having now lost five of his last six bouts.
Hill sounded ready to face anyone after scoring a win.
“Y’all ain’t ever experienced nobody like me. I’ve seen plenty like y’all though,” he said.
Hill and Santos were given the “Fight of the Night” award following Saturday’s card, earning both names $50,000 on top of their previously negotiated purses.
Mohammed Usman, Juliana Miller Win ‘The Ultimate Fighter’
Winners for Season 30 of “The Ultimate Fighter” were crowned on Saturday night.
Usman Earns Knockout To Get Crowned Heavyweight ‘The Ultimate Fighter’
Mohammed Usman won “The Ultimate Fighter’s” heavyweight bracket with a big knockout win on Saturday night, handing Zac Pauga his first pro loss in the process.
Usman floored Pauga early in the second round with a left hook. He then landed a pair of hammerfist punches before the referee stepped in to end the fight.
Usman, a PFL and Titan FC veteran, now has a record of eight wins and two losses.
He moved through the bracket earlier this year with two decision wins, defeating Mitchell Sipe and Eduardo Perez.
Pauga had a flawless pro record of five wins before entering this year’s season of “The Ultimate Fighter.” Earlier in the season, he beat Nyle Bartling on scorecards and scored a finish over Jordan Heiderman.
Usman was given a “Fight of the Night” award, along with winners Geoff Neal and Bryan Battle. Each fighter earned $50,000 for their victories.
Miller Finishes Walker Late To Win ‘The Ultimate Fighter’
Juliana Miller closed out a dominant performance against Brogan Walker late to win “The Ultimate Fighter” at flyweight.
Miller’s ground skills were on display throughout the fight, taking Walker down in every round and spending long amounts of time in dominant positions.
Miller closed out the fight from full mount, unloading with punches and elbows to Walker’s head. After Walker failed to explode out of the position numerous times, the fight was stopped and Miller was awarded the win.
Miller’s pro record is now three wins and one loss. She avenged that sole defeat earlier in this season of “TUF,” beating Claire Guthrie in the quarter-finals. She also later prevailed over Kaytlin Neil in the semi-finals.
“I level up exponentially every time I step in this cage,” Miller said in her post-fight interview.
Walker, an Invicta FC veteran, made it to the grand finals after defeating Hannah Guy and Laura Gallardo earlier this year.
A full report on last night’s UFC card can be read here.
Quick Results:
Preliminary Card (7:30PM EDT / 4:30PM PDT) (ESPN / TSN 2)
Bout 1: Mayra Bueno Silva def. Stephanie Egger via Submission, Armbar (RD 1, 1:17)
Bout 2: Cory McKenna def. Miranda Granger via Submission, Von Flue (RD 2, 1:03)
Bout 3: Bryan Battle def. Takashi Sato via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 0:44)
Bout 4: Michal Oleksiejczuk def. Sam Alvey via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:56)
Main Card (10:00PM EDT / 7:00PM PDT) (ESPN / TSN 2)
Bout 5: Terrance McKinney def. Erick Gonzalez via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 1, 2:17)
Bout 6: Serghei Spivac def. Augusto Sakai via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 3:42)
Bout 7: Juliana Miller def. Brogan Walker via TKO, Strikes (RD 3, 3:57) (The Ultimate Fighter Flyweight Grand Final)
Bout 8: Mohammed Usman def. Zac Pauga via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 0:36) (The Ultimate Fighter Heavyweight Grand Final)
Bout 9: Geoff Neal def. Vicente Luque via TKO, Strikes (RD 3, 2:01)
Bout 10: Jamahal Hill def. Thiago Santos via TKO, Strikes (RD 4, 2:31)
Cain Velasquez Pleads Not Guilty In Attempted Murder Case
UFC veteran Cain Velasquez appeared in the Santa Clara County court Friday, submitting a not guilty plea for an attempted murder case.
Velasquez, 40, is facing more than 10 charges stemming from an alleged incident that took place in February. Other charges include shooting at an occupied motor vehicle or aircraft, willfully discharging a firearm from a vehicle, and carrying a loaded firearm with intent to commit a felony.
Velasquez is accused of getting into a high-speed car chase and discharging a firearm during an altercation with Harry Goularte – an individual who has been accused of molesting a family member of Velasquez’s.
In February, Velasquez allegedly engaged in an “11-mile, high-speed chase” with a vehicle that carried Goularte and two other family members. Velasquez allegedly “rammed” his vehicle into the one that carried Goularte, then fired a handgun multiple times.
A relative of Goularte suffered non-life threatening injuries due to the incident that allegedly occurred.
At the time of the alleged attack, Goularte was out on bail after being charged with a lewd or lascivious act upon a child under the age of 14.
The pre-trial stage for Velasquez’s case is scheduled to begin on September 26th. He will remain in custody until then – something he has done since early this year.
Velasquez’s legal team has attempted on numerous occasions to get him bail, although the court has denied it in every instance.
Mark Geragos, a high-profile lawyer representing Velasquez, claims the courts aren’t treating his client fairly.
“They’re trying to desperately run away from the fact that the system failed Cain,” said Geragos, in a quote provided to ESPN. “They don’t want to get into that. They want to try a case that’s divorced from reality.”
Ariane Lipski vs. Priscila Cachoeira Moved To August 13th UFC ‘Fight Night’
This weekend’s UFC card suffered another hit just hours before it was expected to take place.
A flyweight bout between Ariane Lipski and Priscila Cachoeira was removed from Saturday’s lineup and is now expected to take place at the promotion’s August 13th event at the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California, USA.
News of the change was first reported by Adriano Albuquerque and Evelyn Rodrigues of Combate.
Lipski reportedly fell ill after an unsuccessful weight cut to the 126-pound limit at flyweight on Friday. The fight was scheduled to proceed despite her weight miss, and it was her physical condition that forced the bout to get postponed.
Because of these weight problems, the matchup set for next week will be held at bantamweight, per Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting.
Lipski was appearing for the first time in 11 months, coming off a 2021 decision victory over Mandy Bohm.
Cachoeira’s last fight was a more recent win, putting on a “Fight of the Night” performance against Kim Ji-yeon in February.
Volkan Oezdemir, Nikita Krylov Matched For UFC 280
Light heavyweight action has joined UFC’s October 22nd pay-per-view card, as Volka Oezdemir and Nikita Krylov had been matched for the event.
The bout is now part of UFC 280 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, per an announcement made by the promotion this week.
Both names will be appearing for the first time since appearing at UFC’s July event in London, England.
Oezdemir scored his first win in over two years on that card, taking Paul Craig to a unanimous decision result. Before then, he suffered a pair of losses in the UFC cage.
Krylov also snapped a two-fight skid at that event. He had a much more impactful victory, defeating veteran Alexander Gustafsson in just over a minute with punches.
The upcoming booking is scheduled to be Krylov’s third appearance in the year.
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