No. 5 ranked middleweight contender Derek Brunson put the middleweight division on notice, as he defeated no. 7 ranked middleweight Darren Till with a third round submission by way of rear-naked choke in the third round.
The first round started with frequent activity. Till was throwing punches with big power, forcing Brunson to throw some wild shots back. However Brunson got Till on the ground with a good takedown and maintained ground control for approximately two minutes. Brunson poured shots onto Till in top position, giving Till a visible shiner on his right eye. Till got the fight back to the feet with a minute remaining but did not do much in the striking department in the remainder of the first round.
The second round opened up with a takedown shot from Brunson to no avail. Brunson shot a couple more takedowns on Till which were defended nicely. Ultimately, though, Brunson got Till back on the ground with a nice double leg against the cage. The no. 5 ranked contender again retained ground control. While Brunson had quite the offensive edge in the first round, there was not nearly as much activity in the second from Brunson in top position. Till attempted to get back to the feet toward the end of the second but Brunson transitioned to back control, however Till did manage to get back to the feet just before the conclusion of the second round.
The third round opened up with some nice strikes landed from Till. Brunson got Till up against the cage but Till managed to work his way out of the clinch. Till appeared to be much more active with the striking, appearing to hurt Brunson but Brunson instinctively got the fight back on the ground and took Till’s back. Brunson then singed in a rear-naked choke, forcing Till to tap 2:13 into the third round.
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UFC Vegas 36 results: Tom Aspinall gets first round TKO victory over Serghei Spivac in UFC Vegas 36 co-main event
Tom Aspinall retained his undefeated streak in the UFC, as the no. 13 ranked heavyweight contender defeated the no. 14 ranked Serghei Sivac with a first round TKO victory.
The first round started off slowly. Aspinall and Spivac felt each other out and both exhibited patience in the early stages.
Aspinall opened it up with a nice body shot. Spivac threw some strikes but was ultimately ineffective. The Moldovian shot in for a takedown but his shot was nicely defended by Aspinall. The 28-year-old British contender then countered in the clinch with a knee followed up by an elbow to the face that landed flush and knocked down Spivac.
Aspinall then followed up with persistent ground and pound, landing a barrage of hammerfists on top to force referee Mark Smith to stop the fight 2:31 into the first round.
With this victory, Aspinall notched his fourth UFC victory and is currently on a seven fight winning streak.
UFC Vegas 36 results: Derek Brunson shines with dominant submission victory over Darren Till in main event