Outside Source
Cory Sandhagen buried an all-time great and kept his hopes alive for a shot at the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight crown.
“Sandman” appeared to be well on his way to a lopsided win against Deiveson Figueiredo when the Brazilian was forced to tap out due to a knee injury in the second round of their UFC on ESPN 67 main event on Saturday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa. Figueiredo (24-5-1, 13-5-1 UFC) asked out of the match 4:08 into Round 2.
Sandhagen (18-5, 11-4UFC) had taken care of business right up to the finish. He scrambled into top position after being taken down in the first round and made Figueiredo pay for repeated heel hook attempts with heavy ground-and-pound. A similar scene had begun to play out in Round 2. There, with both men fishing for leg locks, Sandhagen rolled into top position while still entangled with the two-time flyweight champion. The torque proved to be too much for Figueiredo’s left knee, resulting in the stoppage.
Meanwhile, former two-division ONE Championship titleholder Reinier de Ridder brought down four-time NCAA All-American wrestler Bo Nickal with a knee strike to the body in the second round of their middleweight co-headliner. De Ridder (20-2, 3-0 UFC) drew the curtain 1:53 into Round 2, as he extended his current winning streak to four fights.
Nickal (7-1, 4-1 UFC) had no answer for the brute force with which he was met. De Ridder baited him into an ill-advised guillotine choke in the first round, swept into top position and applied suffocating control to send a message. The Dutchman turned up the heat in the clinch in Round 2, then proceeded to batter Nickal with knees and punches to the midsection. The blue-chip prospect retreated into open space, at which point de Ridder stepped into a savage knee to the liver. Nickal collapsed at the base of the cage. No follow-up shots were required.
De Ridder has delivered 18 of his 20 career victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission.
Further down the main card, Daniel Rodriguez put away “The Ultimate Fighter Brazil” Season 2 semifinalist Santiago Ponzinibbio with punches in the third round of their welterweight showcase. Ponzinibbio (30-9, 12-8 UFC) checked out 72 seconds into Round 3, losing for the fourth time in five appearances.
Rodriguez (19-5, 9-4 UFC) was the heavier hitter and made the most of it. He wobbled Ponzinibbio with a clubbing left hand in the first round, maintained a steady pace in the middle stanza and delivered the kill shot in the third. There, he pieced together a three-punch combination, leveled Ponzinibbio with a sweeping left hook and mopped up what was left of the Argentinian with a diving standing-to-ground right that prompted referee Kevin MacDonald to act.
It was Rodriguez’s first finish in almost four years.
Elsewhere, Dana White’s Contender Series graduate Montel Jackson rode a persistent jab, clean one-twos and a stellar get-up game to a unanimous decision over the previously unbeaten Daniel Marcos in their three-round bantamweight attraction. Jackson (15-2, 9-2 UFC) swept the scorecards with matching 30-27 marks from all three judges.
Marcos (17-1, 4-1 UFC) was limited to a few completed takedowns and sporadic kicks to the inside leg. Jackson controlled virtually all of their standup exchanges and also authored the most memorable moment of the 15-minute encounter in the third round, where he doubled up on right hands over the top and had the former 300 Sparta titleholder ducking for cover along the fence. The Eric Schafer protégé later snapped down on a standing brabo choke in the waning seconds, and while his efforts came up empty, his squeeze gave Marcos something by which to remember him.
Jackson has rattled off six consecutive victories.
Deeper into the draw, ex-Battle Fight League champion Serhiy Sidey brought his all-terrain weapons to bear in a unanimous decision over Metro Fight Club prospect Cameron Smotherman in their three-round bantamweight feature. Scores were 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28—all for Sidey (12-2, 2-1 UFC), who won for the eighth time in nine outings.
Smotherman (12-5, 1-1 UFC) ran into a puzzle he could not solve. Sidey speared him with jabs from the perimeter, mixed in kicks to the legs and body, countered effectively when the situation called for it and turned to takedowns later in the match. He threatened with a brabo choke in the third round, and though he failed to net the finish, it short-circuited any thoughts of a Hail Mary comeback from his game but outmatched opponent.
The setback snapped Smotherman’s four-fight winning streak.
Finally, former two-division Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder Mason Jones spoiled the return of hometown favorite Jeremy Stephens and took a unanimous decision from the Alliance MMA rep in their three-round lightweight appetizer. All three cageside judges scored it the same: 30-27 for Jones (16-2, 2-2 UFC).
In his first UFC appearance since 2021, Stephens (29-22, 15-19 UFC) had his moments—he damaged the Welshman’s left eye with a clean one-two in the first round and sent his mouthpiece flying with a right hook in the second—but struggled to sustain offense. Jones utilized effective kicks to all levels, opened a cut on top of the Iowa native’s head with a spinning back elbow and executed repeated takedowns, often transitioning between full mount and the back. He completely neutralized Stephens across the final five minutes, grounding him over and over again as the crowd showered him with boos.
Jones, 30, has won five fights in a row.
Continue Reading » UFC Des Moines Prelims: Azamat Bekoev Dusts Ryan Loder
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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