UFC featherweight Dan Ige threw one punch. Ige landed one punch.
And that got the job done. What an efficient workflow Saturday night at the Apex in Las Vegas on the Fight Night undercard of the Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad main event.
The fight began with Ige and Gavin Tucker circling in the center of the cage and measuring each other for about 20 seconds. Then Ige unleashed a single right hand that landed flush on Tucker's chin, and Tucker fell stiffly backward. He had barely hit the canvas before referee Mike Beltran jumped in to wave off the fight as a knockout at 22 seconds.
"Boom goes the dynamite," Ige said. "Fifty K."
"Dynamite" is Ige's nickname, and now we know why. This was just his fourth knockout in 15 career victories, but it was one that earned him that $50,000 he referred to -- as in a postfight bonus.
For Ige, a 29-year-old Hawaiian who was fighting in his adopted hometown, it was a short but satisfying night's work. He competed for the first time since July, when he fought in a main event against Calvin Kattar and saw his six-fight winning streak end. Now, Ige is back on track, and he called out Chan Sung Jung afterward.
"I just feel ecstatic," Ige said. "I'm happy that I came out with the win. I'm happy that I'm healthy. I'm just grateful. And I'm excited to go home, be with my wife, spend time with her and get ready for this new baby boy.
"It's nice that I'm fighting here in Vegas. This is my home. I get to go back, shower, drive 10 minutes and eat some pizza, hang out with my wife, my mom, my friends. I'm just happy. I'm happy to be home, and I'm happy to be in good health."
@Dynamitedan808 living up to that name tonight. Gotta buy them diapers now Dan! Congrats #50k #newdad
— Paul Felder (@felderpaul) March 14, 2021
Tucker, who is 34 and fights out of Nova Scotia, had a three-fight winning streak come to a thudding conclusion.
"I was expecting a war; Gavin is a tough kid," Ige said. "Could've just as easily been me there on the canvas, but we trained hard. I saw everything in there and landed the first shot. The rest is history."
-- Jeff Wagenheim
Welterweight: Leon Edwards (18-3, 10-2 UFC) fights Belal Muhammad (18-3, 9-3 UFC) to a no contest
Leon Edwards had not competed in nearly two years. This was obviously not the result he hoped for in his return.
Edwards accidentally poked Belal Muhammad in the right eye in the opening seconds of the second round Saturday in the main event of UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas. Muhammad dropped down immediately in pain and blood started to trickle from his eye.
-- Marc Raimondi
Light heavyweight: Ryan Spann (19-6, 5-1 UFC) defeats Misha Cirkunov (15-6, 6-4 UFC) by first-round TKO
It was a quick night at the office for the 29-year-old Spann, who showcased his knockout power.
Fighting out of Fortis MMA in Dallas, Spann dropped Cirkunov with a right hand early in the fight and then dropped Cirkunov again with a left hook moments later to finish the job. It was a beautiful bounce-back win for Spann, who suffered his first loss in the UFC in his previous fight against Johnny Walker.
Spann, who earned a $50,000 performance-of-the-night bonus, is known for his power, and that was very evident on Saturday. It was his 14th win by knockout in 19 career wins. He has now won nine of his past 10 fights overall.
Cirkunov, of Toronto, suffered the fourth KO loss of his career. A one-time hot prospect at 205-pounds, Cirkunov has struggled to get over the hump in terms of earning a light heavyweight title shot. He is now 2-4 in his past six, with losses to Spann, Walker, Glover Teixeira and Volkan Oezdemir.
-- Brett Okamoto
Men's bantamweight: Davey Grant (13-4, 4-3 UFC) defeats Jonathan Martinez (13-4, 4-3 UFC) by second-round KO
Grant doesn't fight all that frequently. But lately, when he does get in there, he leaves his mark.
The Ultimate Fighter veteran crushed Martinez with a combination, finishing him via knockout at 3:03 of the second round in a bantamweight bout. Grant ripped a right hook to the body and then followed up with a left hook to the head that connected flush. Martinez fell to the ground, and that was it. Referee Chris Tognoni stepped in, and Grant had picked up a stoppage victory.
They threw at the same time and @DaveyGrantMMA was the one left standing 🥶 #UFCVegas21 pic.twitter.com/zVbolb7Eku
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 14, 2021
Martinez actually looked very good on the feet in the first round. He was peppering Grant with low kicks -- hard ones. Grant actually left the Octagon limping from those kicks. But Grant came out extremely aggressive in the second round, not letting Martinez get back into that kicking rhythm. While pushing forward, Grant let loose with that two-punch combination and put Martinez down for good.
"I think my foot is definitely broke, but it's totally worth it," said Grant, who earned a $50,000 performance-of-the-night bonus.
Grant, 35, has won three straight, including two straight knockout victories. The England native's issue has been activity. Due to injury, he has fought just three times since 2018 and just six times since 2013. Martinez, a 26-year-old Texas native, had a two-fight winning streak snapped.
-- Marc Raimondi
Men's flyweight: Matheus Nicolau (16-3-1, 4-1 UFC) defeats Manel Kape (15-6, 0-2 UFC) by split decision
A fun flyweight matchup on paper delivered as promised.
The bout was close, and that was reflected on the scorecards. Two judges awarded the fight to Nicolau, 29-28. The third judge scored it 29-28 in favor of Kape. It all came down to the third round, as Kape got off to a slow start in the opening frame, and then dominated the second on the feet.
Kape was getting caught early and offend in the round can't win just the last min and expect to win the whole round
— Jamahal "Sweet Dreams" Hill (@JamahalH) March 14, 2021
Early in the third, Kape defended a Nicolau takedown and ended up in a standing position over his guard. Kape considered going into top position but ultimately allowed Nicolau to stand up. It was a critical decision, as Nicolau landed some good punches after getting back to his feet, but then Kape answered with two heavy knee strikes in the final 30 seconds.
Nicolau, of Brazil, took advantage of Kape's inactivity at times, and stayed busy with takedown attempts. Kape, who was born in Angola, showed devastating speed and power when he let his hands go. He rocked Nicolau with uppercuts and short left hooks in the second round but probably could have been a little more aggressive -- particularly early in the fight.
Kape falls to a surprising 0-2 start in the UFC. The 27-year-old joined the promotion in 2020 under some fanfare as a high-quality prospect. Nicolau picks up his first win in over a year, as he was inactive in 2020.
-- Brett Okamoto
Middleweight: Eryk Anders (13-5, 1 NC, 5-5 1 NC UFC) fights Darren Stewart (12-6 2 NC, 5-5 2 NC UFC) to a no-contest
Eryk Anders knees Darren Stewart while Stewart's knee is down, drawing comparisons to Aljamain Sterling's controversial win at UFC 259.
Déjà vu, anyone?
For the second straight week, a UFC fight was ended by an illegal knee. However, unlike last Saturday's bout, in which Petr Yan was disqualified and lost the fight and his bantamweight championship to Aljamain Sterling, this time the offender paid a lesser price.
Anders was on his way to a finish -- a legitimate finish -- late in the first round as he mauled a severely compromised Stewart against the cage. Stewart was on one knee and barely defending the punches coming his way when Anders inexplicably threw a knee that landed on the right side of the head, prompting referee Herb Dean to jump in, pause the action and call in the cageside doctor.
As long as ppl with a brain of reason can see the difference https://t.co/D56C1Pra42
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) March 14, 2021
The doctor recommended that the fight be ended, and Dean waved it off at 4:37 of Round 1. But rather than awarding a DQ win to Stewart, a 30-year-old from Great Britain, the ref ruled the fight a no decision.
It was a puzzling ending, for both Anders and Dean.
Anders, a 33-year-old from Birmingham, Alabama, was well on his way to what would have been his third win in his past four bouts. All he had to do was continue pummeling Stewart, whom Dean was imploring to fight back, lest he stop it.
Once Anders landed the knee, it's curious why the ref did not disqualify him. It was an intentional blow. So in the end Anders did not get the victory he was close to securing, but he could have paid a more severe price.
--
Strawweight: Angela Hill (13-9, 8-9 UFC) defeats Ashley Yoder (8-7, 3-6 UFC) by unanimous decision
Hill was only 1-0 as a pro MMA fighter when she debuted in the UFC back in 2014. Seven years later, "Overkill" might have just put in the best performance of her run in the world's largest MMA promotion.
In a critical women's strawweight matchup, Hill bested Yoder via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) in the UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs. Muhammad featured prelim. Hill outstruck Yoder throughout and had some of her best success going to Yoder's body. This was a rematch of a 2017 fight that Hill also won.
In the first round, Hill took the fight right to Yoder with her Muay Thai striking. She found a home with her right hand over and over, adding in some elbows and knees to the body in the clinch. At one point, Hill snapped Yoder's head back with three straight right hands. Hill backed Yoder up with punches to the body in the second round. Yoder landed a late takedown, but Hill was the aggressor, landing elbows from the bottom.
@AngieOverkill with an amazing and dominant performance. Again, props for both women for setting the standard and making weight 2x in 2 👏🏽 weeks 👏🏽 @ufc #UFCVegas21
— Julia Avila (@RagingPandaMMA) March 14, 2021
Hill slammed Yoder with five straight hard left knees to the body in the third round, but then Yoder landed a takedown. That was Yoder's chance, but Hill hung on and Yoder couldn't do much damage on the ground. It was a clear decision win for Hill.
Hill, 36, snapped a two-fight losing streak. Both of those losses were very close split decisions that many thought Hill actually won. Hill, a San Diego resident, said she wanted to make sure it was clear to the judges that she was the victor.
"I felt like it was dominant," Hill said in her postfight interview. "I felt like there was no question who the winner was in this fight."
Yoder, a 33-year-old Indiana native who fights out of California, has dropped three of four.
-- Raimondi
Men's featherweight: Charles Jourdain (11-3-1, 2-2-1 UFC) defeats Marcelo Rojo (16-8, 0-1 UFC) by third-round submission
A closely contested bout turned into a runaway victory for Jourdain, as he secured a TKO finish at 4:31 of the third round.
Rojo, of Argentina, proved to be a tough out in his UFC debut, and he certainly had his moments -- but it was Jourdain who took over in a violent way late in the fight. He dropped Rojo with punches twice, and scored some vicious ground and pound from top position. At one point, he allowed the battered Rojo to get back to his feet, only to drop him again with a left hand up top and a right hand body shot, which brought in referee Mark Smith.
Man what a fight !! Jordain turned it up huge in the 3rd round!
— Chris Weidman (@chrisweidman) March 14, 2021
Rojo took the fight on short notice, after Jourdain's original opponent withdrew. He held his own with Jourdain on the feet for the first 10 minutes, scoring with knees and punches in the clinch and walking Jourdain down along the fence. Jourdain seemed to find his rhythm and distance in the third, though, and added the late exclamation point before time ran out.
Jourdain, of Quebec, has had an up-and-down career in the UFC thus far. He has had spectacular wins now against Rojo and Dooho Choi, but has also dropped two decisions and fought Josh Culibao to a draw in 2020.
-- Okamoto
Men's bantamweight: Rani Yahya (27-10-1 1 NC UFC, 12-4-1 1 NC UFC) defeats Ray Rodriguez (16-8, 0-2 UFC) by second-round submission
Rani Yahya submits Ray Rodriguez via head and arm choke for the 21st submission of his career at UFC Fight Night.
Yahya is good, and he is smart. He is good at submitting his opponents, and he is smart enough to persist in that game plan.
The 36-year-old Brazilian fighter got his first victory since 2018 by sticking to a tried-and-true formula. He took Rodriguez down a minute into their fight, immediately gained half-guard position and worked for a head-and-arm choke. He nearly finished the fight with that maneuver late in the first round, but Rodriguez survived.
Yahya was very patient setting up a nice arm triangle!#UFCVegas21
— Herbert Burns (@HerbertBurnsMMA) March 13, 2021
Not for long. Yahya did the very same thing in Round 2 -- early takedown, half guard, head-and-arm choke. And this time he got his opponent to tap out 3:09 into the round for his 21st submission in his 27th career victory. He has finished a fight no other way.
Yahya competed only once in 2020 and once in 2019, losing one and fighting to a draw in the other. Prior to that, he had won three in a row -- all submissions.
Rodriguez, who is 33 and from San Antonio, Texas, defended the submission try well in the early going, but with him unable to get out from underneath his opponent, it was just a matter of time. He has lost both of his UFC fights.
-- Wagenheim
Lightweight: Nasrat Haqparast (13-3, 5-2 UFC) defeats Rafa Garcia (12-1, 0-1 UFC) by unanimous decision
Haqparast is considered one of the top prospects in the UFC and did nothing to dispel that notion Saturday.
The southpaw slugger put in a very solid striking performance, beating the previously undefeated Garcia via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28).
Easy mistake to make 😅 #UFCVegas21
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 13, 2021
(via @Justin_Gaethje) pic.twitter.com/Gf6Jw9AgFU
Garcia showed a tremendous amount of toughness and durability. He had a strong start, landing a hard right hand in the first round that briefly wobbled Haqparast. But from there, Haqparast was the more effective fighter. Even with Garcia putting on the pressure, Haqparast was able to rip combination after combination, landing at will with his straight left hand and mixing in hard elbows and front kicks to the body.
By the third round, Garcia was bleeding from a cut near his right eye. Haqparast attempted two hard head kicks in the third that Garcia blocked, but they still did damage. There was no doubt when the bell rang to end the bout who had come away as the winner.
Haqparast, 25, has won two straight and five of his past six. The Germany native of Afghani descent is a legitimate up-and-comer in the UFC's stacked lightweight division. Garcia, a 26-year-old Mexico native, is the former Combate Americas lightweight champion, going 8-0 in that promotion.
-- Raimondi
Women's flyweight: JJ Aldrich (9-4, 5-3 UFC) defeats Cortney Casey (9-9, 5-8 UFC) by split decision
It was a disappointing result for Casey, who looked outstanding in the opening round. She hurt Aldrich with elbows in the clinch, found a home for the right hand and mixed in effective leg kicks. She also defended Aldrich's attempts to get her to the floor, which was obviously a big part of Aldrich's game plan. The one takedown she did give up came near the end of the round, and she attacked Aldrich with an armbar attempt from the bottom.
Aldrich, from Denver, started to find success with grappling in the second and third rounds. She took Casey down early in the fourth and spent nearly the entire round on top, landing offense. The third round was close, but it was Aldrich's wrestling again that might have been the difference.
Fighting out of Phoenix, Casey falls to 3-6 in her past nine contests. Three of those losses have come via split decision.
-- Okamoto
Strawweight: Jinh Yu Frey (10-6, 1-2 UFC) defeats Gloria de Paula (5-3, 0-1 UFC) by unanimous decision
Each woman showed off what she does best. Frey won the fight by doing it for two rounds and limiting de Paula to just one.
Frey, a 35-year-old former Invicta FC atomweight champion from Arlington, Texas, spent nearly the entirety of Rounds 1 and 3 in controlling positions on the canvas, enabling her to secure her first UFC victory and end a two-fight losing streak.
If round 5 last week was 10-8 , then Jihn Yu Frey should have 2 10-8 rounds
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) March 13, 2021
Frey got a takedown a minute into the fight, taking advantage of a Muay Thai clinch by de Paula to take the Brazilian fighter to the canvas. Frey then used a veteran's savvy to remain in control until the horn.
But de Paula, a 25-year-old making her UFC debut, took control in the second round, using crisp, straight punches and deft footwork to keep the fight standing.
It was anyone's fight going into the final round, and Frey seized it 30 seconds in, getting the takedown and threatening submissions for the rest of the fight.
All three judges scored the fight 29-28 for Frey, ending de Paula's two-fight winning streak.
-- Wagenheim
Welterweight: Matthew Semelsberger (8-2, 2-0 UFC) defeats Jason Witt (18-7, 1-2 UFC) by first-round KO
Matthew Semelsberger knocks out Jason Witt with a heavy punch 16 seconds into their fight.
Semelsberger's nickname is "Semi the Jedi" because of his last name. Maybe it should just be "Semi," because he hits like a truck.
Semelsberger blasted Witt with a monstrous right hand in the opening seconds, countering a Witt leg kick. The punch landed to Witt's jaw, and Witt went down in a heap. Referee Chris Tognoni came in to stop the bout, giving Semelsberger a knockout victory at just 16 seconds of the first round.
Wow what beautiful read on @SemiTheJedi and finish with that strong cross to the chin at 16sec! @ufc #UFCVegas21
— Julia Avila (@RagingPandaMMA) March 13, 2021
"I have a lot of thunder in my hands," Semelsberger said in his postfight interview. He earned a $50,000 performance-of-the-night bonus.
Semelsberger's quick knockout was the fastest in the UFC since Walt Harris knocked out Aleksei Oleinik in 15 seconds in July 2019. The 16-second KO was the seventh-fastest finish in UFC welterweight history.
Semelsberger, 28, has won both of his UFC fights now and sports a five-fight winning streak overall. The Maryland native beat Carlton Minus via unanimous decision last August in his UFC debut. He seems like someone to watch out for in the welterweight division. Witt, a 34-year-old Missouri native, has dropped two of three in the UFC.
-- Raimondi