Stay tuned to https://mmainsight.com this evening for all the UFC 166 results live as they happen from Houston, Texas.
The preliminary action will get underway at around 6pm ET (11pm UK) with the main card going live at 10pm ET (3am UK).
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Main Card:
Cain Velasquez defeats Junior dos Santos by TKO at 3.09mins of Rd5
Daniel Cormier defeats Roy Nelson by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
Gilbert Melendez defeats Diego Sanchez by unanimous decision (29-28 x2, 30-27)
Gabriel Gonzaga defeats Shawn Jordan by TKO at 1.13mins of Rd1
John Dodson defeats Darrell Montague by KO at 4.13mins of Rd1
Prelims:
Tim Boetsch defeats CB Dolloway by split decision (30-26 x2, 27-29)
This was a gritty battle with plenty of action. Dollaway’s attitude was surprising in the early rounds, appearing more confident than normal in his striking and even going as far as to taunt Boetsch at times, Nick Diaz style. To his credit he was looking more dangerous than normal and Boetsch was getting caught at times, though he landed some good shots himself at times which Dolloway shook his head at. In the second round Dolloway was able to work in some takedowns into the equation, though never really had his opponent in too much trouble on the mat. In the third things got ugly as Boetsch got caught with a finger in the eye which drew blood and forced a significant stoppage. Worse still, soon after he was caught with a finger in the other eye which resulted in Dolloway having a point deducted. Boetsch came in aggressively after that and hurt Dolloway with a punch which resulted in Dolloway looking for the takedown which he gets, but only briefly. Back on the feet both men were looking exhausted, but Dolloaway did drag the fight to the mat once again, only for Boetsch to then get on top and threaten with a choke in the closing seconds. Even bearing in mind the point deduction the scoring seemed a little odd from two of the judges here to give Boetsch the win so decisively.
Hector Lombard defeats Nate Marquardt by KO at 1.48mins of Rd1
Lombard got back to beast mode in his 170lb debut here, rocking Marquardt with a right hand early in the first round and then giving chase as his opponent hit reverse gear, connecting with more shots that took Marquardt’s legs out from under him. Hammerfists followed, each one bouncing Marquardt’s head off the mat and producing the flash KO.
Jessica Eye defeats Sarah Kaufman by split decision (29-28 x2, 28-29)
This was a fun, competitive fight on the feet from start to finish from the ladies. Eye showed off quick, fluid, accurate striking from range, making good use of the jab in particular, while Kaufman’s best work came when she was able to get into clinch range and rough her opponent up with short, hard strikes. In terms of damage, Eye’s work was having a clear impact on Kaufman’s face as the rounds progressed, sporting a swollen left eye in particular, but that being said there were times that Kaufman appeared to stun her opponent with heavier blows. That was most apparent in the third round when Kaufman rocked Eye a couple of times, but was unable to find a definitive finish. Overall, a close fight and that was reflected in the scorecards, with Eye doing just enough to eek out a split decision verdict over the Strikeforce veteran.
K.J. Noons defeats George Sotiropoulos by decision (29-28 x2, 30-27)
The first round was fairly quiet for the most part with Sotiropoulos content to circle around his opponent, while Noons occasionally tagged him with a body shot. Then in the final 30 seconds things exploded to life as Noons appeared to hurt Sotiropoulos with a strike and then stepped up a gear trying to follow it up with more punches, while Sotiropoulos fired back gamely in return. In te second round Noons seemed a little one-paced and let Sotiropoulos find his rhythm a little more and he started to land some strikes. later he landed a brief takedown too, perhaps just being enough to win him the round. Sotiropoulos began to land punches again in the third, but then Noons wobbled him badly with a strike, with a couple of other punches opening up a couple of cuts on his opponent’s forehead. Suprisingly Noons didn’t go in for the kill though and Sotiropoulos had time to get his equilibrium back and get back into the fight. Sotiropoulos had been threatening with head kicks frequently in the latter rounds and it finally paid off mid-way through the third as he connected upstairs, but Noons ate it and continued fighting. It was Soti’s best moment of the round, but it wasn’t enough to swing the fight in his favor.
Adlan Amagov defeats T.J. Waldburger by KO at 3.00mins of Rd1
Amagov marked himself out as the superior striker in the early minutes of this fight and left Waldburger looking for a takedown instead, but failing to land one. Bad news for him as Amagov started to really hurt him with strikes, and from the clinch landed some hard uppercuts, with one in particular landing so hard it almost seemed to lift Waldburger off his feet before he dropped to the mat. Amagov swarmed on him with punches on the mat and knocked him out, with Waldburger unfortunately taking a couple of unneccessary shots as the referee scrambled over to call an end to the fight.
Anthony Ferguson defeats Mike Rio by submission (d’arce choke) at 1.52mins of Rd1
Rio looked confident in the opening minute, but Ferguson took the spring out of his step with a well placed left hook to the chin that wobbled him, then soon after sprawled nicely on a takedown attempt and turned it into a d’arce choke attempt which produced the tap.
Andre Fili defeats Jeremy Larsen by TKO at 0.53mins of Rd2
Fili took full advantage of this short notice fight, coming out aggressive from the opening bell and quickly lighting Larsen up with punches and then landing some hard knees to the head from the clinch against the cage that opened up two deep cuts on his opponent’s forehead and left his face streaked with blood. Larsen was in real trouble in those early minutes of the round, but did manage to secure a confidence boosting takedown later on. He also started the second round brightly enough and landed a big overhand right, but soon after Fili came firing back and landed a hard hook to the temple that turned Larsen’s legs to jelly and had im struggling just to stay upright. Fili poured forward with more punches and Larsen’s legs gave out and the referee swooped in quickly to prevent any further punishment.
Kyoji Horiguchi defeats Dustin Pague by TKO at 3.51mins of Rd2
The two rounds of this fight couldn’t have been more different. In the first Pague was in complete control, dragging Horiguchi to the mat early and then sticking to his back when his opponent got back to his feet. From there he spent most of the round locked onto him with a body triangle attempting to find a rear-naked choke, but wasn’t able to find the finish. In the second round Horiguchi immediately found his range on the feet and started landing some hard shots. Then a left hook landed flush and sent Pague crashing to the mat. Horiguchi then looked close to stopping him with heavy ground and pound, but Pague just manged to survive. Horiguchi took his time before eventually posturing above again and raining down more thudding strikes to the head, and eventually Pague wilted and just covered up, brining about the TKO stoppage.
