Jose Aldo retains his UFC featherweight title at UFC 163. Photo via UFC Facebook.
Jose Aldo defended his UFC featherweight title with a technical knockout of Chan Sung Jung in the main event at UFC 163 in Rio De Janeiro’s HSBC Arena on Saturday night.
The 145-pound champ retained his belt by capitalizing on a separated shoulder suffered by Jung, pounding out the challenger at 2:00 of the fourth round.
“I thought that if I can put him down and take his back to the floor,” Aldo said through a translator, “I felt I could win the round.”
Both fighters were very calm from the beginning of the fight. Aldo, however, controlled the pace and even scored a brief takedown in the final minute of the opening round. Time expired shortly after Aldo landed a spinning-heel kick on the challenger.
Chan Sung Jung (bottom) holds his injured shoulder after the TKO stoppage at UFC 163. Photo via UFC Facebook.
The second round had Aldo continuing to set the pace. Towards the end of the time frame, Aldo scored another big takedown to put Jung on his back. Aldo remained in side control until the end of the round.
An early takedown by Aldo in round three brought the fight to the floor for a lengthy period of time. The champion worked to land strikes while staying in top position, but Jung nullified most of Aldo’s offense. After returning to the feet, Jung attempted a fly and the two fighters fell with Aldo landing on his back. Jung worked from top to land strikes and Aldo defended with upkicks until the time frame expired.
Two minutes into the fourth round, Jung threw a right hand and appeared to dislocate his shoulder. Knowing his opponent was hurt, Aldo swarmed in with three high kicks and a takedown, and finished the fight with strikes on the ground.
With the win, Aldo improves his record to 23-1 and is on a 16-fight win streak.
Phil Davis (right) gets unanimous-decision win over Lyoto Machida (left) at UFC 163. Photo via UFC Facebook.
Davis decisions hometown favorite Machida
Phil Davis earned a unanimous decision over Lyoto Machida in their UFC 163 co-main event on Saturday night in Rio.
Davis, to the displeasure of the Brazilian crowd, earned judges’ scores of 29-28 across the panel.
“The late takedowns definitely helped,” Davis said. “It’s just part of what I do.”
Machida landed strikes for a majority of the first round until the final minute, where Davis scored a takedown. The former Penn State All-American wrestler controlled his opponent from side control, going for a kimura during the final minute of the opening round. Time expired with Davis in top position.
Round two had a similar ending to the first round. Davis scored another late takedown after Machida set the pace on the feet throughout the frame. With the former light heavyweight champion on his back, Davis landed knees, elbows and punches from top position until the end of the round.
Round three showed Machida continuing to land strikes on the feet, while demonstrating superior takedown defense. However, when the judges’ scorecards were read, Davis was announced as the winner and the spectators in Rio expressed their disapproval.
“I don’t know what the UFC rules are. I don’t know what they are judging,” Machida said. “Just listen to the crowd. They’re telling you what happened.”
Davis improves his record to 12-1, 1 N.C., while Machida drops to 19-4.
Ferreira, Leites, Lineker all pick up main-card wins
Cezar Ferreira finished off Thiago Santos in their main card fight at UFC 163. The inaugural TUF Brazil winner took just 41 seconds to put Santos in a guillotine choke and earn the first-round-submission win.
Thales Leites and Tom Watson engaged in a bloody war for three rounds, but it was Leites who outworked his opponent to win his return to the UFC with 30-27 scores across the judges’s panel.
John Lineker recovered from a near finish in the first round to TKO Jose Maria Tome at the 1:03 mark of the second round.
Preliminary Results
Anthony Perosh def. Vinny Magalhaes by KO at 0:14, R1
Amanda Nunes def. Sheila Gaff by TKO at 2:08, R1
Sergio Moraes def. Neil Magny via submission (triangle choke) at 3:13, R 1
Ian McCall def. Iliarde Santos by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Rani Yahya def. Josh Clopton by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Francimar Barroso def. Ednaldo Oliveira by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Viscardi Andrade def. Bristol Marunde by TKO at 1:36, R1