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Ivan Erslan did it about how they must have drawn it up in camp.
In a light heavyweight clash atop the seven-fight undercard of UFC Vegas 117 on Saturday at the Meta Apex, the 34-year-old Croatian faced George Tokkos. It was a clash of styles of the kind that has characterized mixed martial arts for three decades and counting, as kickboxing convert Erslan faced submission specialist “Tuco.” Despite Tokkos’ obvious need to get the action to the mat at any cost, the fight was competitive in the early going, as Erslan was clearly uncomfortable with Tokkos’ constant encroachment on the feet.
Erslan may have won a competitive Round 1 anyway, but definitely found his groove in the second frame. Tokkos looked slow and suddenly tired on the feet, wading in from well outside with badly telegraphed takedown attempts. These attempts Erslan punished with accurate, solid counters in the pocket. When the action did go to the ground, it in the place, position and time of Erslan’s choosing, and he pelted the Englishman with deliberate ground strikes.
As the third round began, the fight was already becoming a slow-motion rout, with Tokkos offering little resistance but Erslan either too tired himself or too wary to truly step on the gas pedal and hunt for the finish. Tokkos, for his part, seemed to understand that the fight was getting away from him and elected to stand and swing, while Erslan punished him over and over again in close quarters. When the final horn sounded, there was no question of who had the momentum, nor of who had show himself to be the better fighter on the night. The judges saw things the same way, awarding the fight to Erslan by unanimous 29-28 scores. The win moved the burly Croatian to 15-6, 1 NC; 1-3 in the UFC, while Tokkos’ record dropped to 11-6; 1-3 UFC.
Gantt Grounds, Pounds Minev
In a matchup of undefeated UFC debutants thrown together on just days’ notice, former NC State All-American wrestler Thomas Gantt squared off with Artur Minev. Gantt, who picked up a quick submission win on Dana White’s Contender Series in September but appeared in danger of losing his debut booking when Trey Ogden withdrew from the card. Gantt’s game plan was evident from the jump, as he immediately walked the Ukrainian to the cage and looked for the takedown, but Minev was more than up to the challenge, putting on a clinic in defensive wrestling against the cage for over three minutes before the fight was paused for a groin strike.
Minev initiated the clinch battle to start the second round, which was apparently just what the American needed, as his wrestling attack quickly experienced greater success. After an unsuccessful first attempt of the round, Gantt hauled Minev to the canvas, then sent him flying with an emphatic mat return. Gantt pinned one of Minev’s wrists and poured on a stream of unblocked ground strikes until referee Kerry Hatley moved in for the TKO stoppage at 2 minutes, 51 seconds of Round 2. With the win, Gantt moved to 12-0 with one no contest, while Minev fell to 7-1.
Vieira Outgrinds Cavalcanti
Ketlen Vieira and Jacqueline Cavalcanti collaborated on a women’s bantamweight contenders’ matchup that was long on divisional relevance, short on fireworks. As might be expected of two big-bodied bantamweights who were used to being in charge, there was not A very tentative opening round may have gone Vieira’s way late, but neither woman truly put her stamp on things. Round 2 saw Vieira be more aggressive, closing the distance and corralling Cavalacanti against the cage. Vieira took down her foe from there, continuing to put in solid work in winning the round easily.
The final round needed in order to provide a clear winner but arguably failed to do so, as both women contented themselves with exchanging single, medium-speed strikes at range. The judges had seen enough, however, and awarded the fight to the Brazilian by unanimous 29-28 scores. The win kept Vieira in the title picture as her record moved to 16-5 overall, 10-5 UFC. Cavalcanti, who had an eight-fight win streak snapped in defeat, fell to 10-2; 5-1 UFC.
Brundage Shocks Petroski
Cody Brundage needed a win in the worst way and got one, dropping Andre Petroski in the second round of their middleweight undercard attraction. A very tentative first round finally broke open late when Brundage defended at takedown with a guillotine choke attempt, leading to a few tense moments but ultimately conceding the takedown. As a result, Petroski clearly won the first round, chipping away with short strikes from top position for the final two minutes.
The second round was an entirely different story. Brundage ducked behind a right-hand feint, floored Petroski with a sweeping left hook and pounced with ground strikes until referee Chris Tognoni moved in for the save. The shocking win moved Brundage to 11-9-1 with one no contest; 5-8-1, 1 NC in the UFC. Petroski fell to 13-6; 8-5 UFC.
Ardelean Nets Ultra-Rare Capsule Lock on Viana
Alice Ardelean picked up her third straight UFC win, tapping out Polyana Viana with a never-before-seen capsule lock in their strawweight prelim matchup. A couple of tense early exchanges led to an awkward sequence in which referee Eric McMahon halted the action after an apparent foul to the eye of Viana that turned out to have been caused by a legal punch. However, once the confusion was settled, the traffic on the feet was once again defined by Ardelean’s apparent ease navigating the Brazilian’s superior height and reach. Any time Viana opened up with a spinning attack, Ardelean caught the limb in question, not making any earnest attempt to bring the fight to the floor but disrupting her foe’s rhythm. Ardelean caught Viana several times with clean head strikes, including a knockdown in the second half of the round.
Ardelean kept up the solid work in the middle round, tagging Viana cleanly and taking her down with ease. Midway through the round, however, Viana came alive, wrapping Ardelean up in a tight body triangle from the bottom and pelting her with elbows and hammerfists from below. The action was close, and Viana was making a solid case for winning the round from her back, when with about 90 seconds left, she frantically tapped the canvas, having suffered an injury to her right knee. The end was a bit anticlimactic—until the replay showed it to have been quite deliberate—but does down as a TKO win for Ardelean (12-7; 3-2 UFC), while Viana falls to 13-8; 4-7 in the UFC.
Gurule Outslugs Barez
Luis Gurule and Daniel Barez left everything in the Octagon after 15 minutes of pitched flyweight combat. Gurule had some success early pursuing and pressuring the taller man, and when he was taken down directly into back control near the midpoint of Round 1, he quickly reversed Barez and threatened with a short D’Arce choke. Barez appeared headed for a better second round when with about two minutes left in the frame, Gurule hurt him with a left hook-right hook combination, then took his back standing and sent him flying. Barez kept his composure and attempted to bring the American down, but the remainder of the round saw Gurule hurt Barez repeatedly, but unable to pursue the finish.
Barez was game but clearly the worse for wear when the two bantamweights came out for Round 3, and Gurule quickly went back to mugging him against the fence with short uppercuts. Barez recovered and never appeared in serious danger, bt the result was another easy to score five minutes for the American, who won the unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27), moving to 11-3; 1-3 UFC. Barez fell to 17-8; 1-3 UFC.
Caliari Grounds, Strangles Bannon
In the strawweight opener, Shauna Bannon and Nicolle Caliari got things kicked off, their bout largely defined by Caliari’s ease taking the Irishwoman down and how much offense she did or did not mount once she got her there. Within seconds, Caliari sent Bannon flying with a hip throw, but Bannon rolled through and got right back to her feet. Caliari spent most of Round 1 on top in Bannon’s full guard, staying busy but not doing much damage or threatening to pass to a better position. Bannon, for her part, was content to wrap the Brazilian up in her full guard, box her ears with palm strikes from the bottom and otherwise concede the position. The round ends with Caliari in top position, trying to isolate one of Bannon’s arms.
The second round was Bannon’s best, as she fought off Caliari’s early takedown attempts, hurt her with body kicks, and reversed a late takedown, landing in top position, where she punished Caliari for the second half of the round. Caliari came out like a woman possessed for Round 3, however, rocking “Mama B” with a jab, hauling her to the canvas and patiently setting up an arm-triangle choke for the finish. Referee Kerry Hatley came to the rescue at 3:08 of the final frame, awarding Caliari (9-4; 1-2 UFC) her first win in the promotion, while Bannon (7-3; 2-3 UFC) fell below .500 in the Octagon.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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