The UFC held their final event on Fox Saturday night from the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The main event was a rematch from 2014 with lightweights Kevin Lee and Al Iaquinta facing off.
The company has one more FS 1 broadcast with the preliminary fights on the UFC 232 card on December 29th from Las Vegas.
The card drew 9,010 and a gate of $616,633.
QUICK RESULTS:
*Juan Adams def. Chris De La Rocha by TKO at 0:58 of Round 3
*Mike Rodriguez def. Adam Milstead by KO at 2:59 of Round 1
*Dan Ige def. Jordan Griffin by unanimous decision (29-28 all)
*Zak Cummings def. Trevor Smith by unanimous decision (29-28 all)
*Jack Hermansson def. Gerald Meerschaert by guillotine choke at 4:25 of Round 1
*Joaquim Silva def. Jared Gordon by KO at 2:39 of Round 3
*Drakkar Klose def. Bobby Green by unanimous decision (29-28 all)
*Zak Ottow def. Dwight Grant by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
*Charles Oliveira def. Jim Miller by rear-naked choke at 1:15 of Round 1
*Rob Font def. Sergio Pettis by unanimous decision (30-27 all)
*Edson Barboza def. Dan Hooker by KO at 2:19 of Round 3
*Al Iaquinta def. Kevin Lee by unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47)
The Fight of the Night bonus went to Joaquim Silva and Jared Gordon and the Performance of the Night bonuses went to Al Iaquinta and Charles Oliveira.
Juan Adams def. Chris De La Rocha by TKO at 0:58 of Round 3 – Heavyweight
Adams is a heavyweight that cuts down to make the limit, weighing in at 266 pounds on Friday.
Adams controlled the first two rounds with his jab work and superior grappling skill. Adams powered him to the ground and worked on top from half-guard and side control with lots of ground and pound at the end of the second round. Adam finished him in the third with a knee to the body and followed with strikes.
Adams is 5-0 as a pro and came from Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series. He has a lot of raw talent and could mature into a credible heavyweight in time.
Mike Rodriguez def. Adam Milstead by KO at 2:59 of Round 1 – Light Heavyweight
Rodriguez has a reach of 82.5 inches, which is enormous. The betting underdog dropped Milstead in the first minute and started loading up on shots to the body, which paid dividends with a knee strike that forced Milstead to the ground and he was done.
Rodriguez improved to 9-3 with the win and bounced back from a decision loss to Devin Clark in April.
Dan Ige def. Jordan Griffin by unanimous decision (29-28 all) – Featherweight
The audience was behind Griffin, who fights out of the city and was a big favorite among the Milwaukee crowd.
Ige won the first and third rounds. The first round was wild with Griffin cut open and mounted by Ige. Griffin slipped out of the mount and applied a guillotine but in adjusting, Ige recovered mount and they ended the round trading strikes. It was even going into the final round where Ige got a takedown and later took the back of Griffin.
Ige stated he did not want to fight when he woke up this morning, but no one wants to hear stuff like that and he pushed forward and fought.
Zak Cummings def. Trevor Smith by unanimous decision (29-28 all) – Middleweight
This was a grinding affair with Smith winning the first round with his counter left hands, but not maintaining that momentum and dropping rounds two and three. While Smith was able to avoid takedowns, including drilling Cummings with a knee when he shot in, Smith was reacting rather than moving forward after the first. Cummings dropped Smith in the third round and connected with left hands and a pair of hard knees to the body near the end of the fight.
Cummings was returning to middleweight after fighting at welterweight, improving to 22-6 with the decision victory.
Jack Hermansson def. Gerald Meerschaert by guillotine choke at 4:25 of Round 1 – Middleweight
Hermansson took Meerschaert down and mounted him with the first thirty seconds. This was complete domination with Hermansson repeatedly mounting him and dropping tons of shots. Meerschaert would escape the mount and then make a mistake and was mounted again. The strikes were huge, and it came close to being stopped several times. Hermansson applied a guillotine and tapped him.
Hermansson improves to 18-4, his fifth win in the UFC and second in a row following his TKO win over Thales Leites in March. He suggested fighting Brad Tavares or Elias Theodorou next.
Joaquim Silva def. Jared Gordon by KO at 2:39 of Round 3 – Lightweight
This fight unreal, one of the better UFC fights of the year.
Gordon almost finished him in the first round after landing a powerful right hand and attempted a standing head-and-arm choke, which he lost. Gordon was dominating the round when Silva came alive and rocked Gordon with a right hand and connected with a flying knee before applying a ten-finger guillotine and may have stolen the first round.
They slowed down in the second round and Gordon took Silva down. Later in the round, Silva got a takedown of his own and applied an excruciating kneebar, that looked like a stunt puller out of professional wrestling, but Gordon survived.
In the third, they were spent but still threw everything they had at each other. This was another awesome round. It ended with Gordon being placed against the cage, Silva unloaded, and Gordon was out on his feet.
Outstanding fight.
Drakkar Klose def. Bobby Green by unanimous decision (29-28 all) – Lightweight
This was another great fight.
Green complained about his gloves being held in the clinch against the fence and Peterson warned Klose. This appeared to be the closest round, but I scored it for Green based on his strikes and nearly getting a standing rear-naked choke by the fence.
Green took Klose down with a body lock takedown and mounted Klose, who recovered half-guard. Klose returned to his feet and cut Green over the right eye. Klose attempted a throw, which backfired and Green countered to land on top in half-guard. This was Green’s round for sure.
In the third round, Green slowed down, they were both throwing enormous shots and eating them. Klose kept his pace while Green didn’t with Klose landing big strikes throughout the round to take the final round. I had it 29-28 for Green.
Klose is 4-1 in the UFC and was his second straight win.
Zak Ottow def. Dwight Grant by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) – Welterweight
The string of great fights ended here.
Ottow landed six combined strikes in the first two rounds and yet two judges scored two rounds for him.
I had Grant winning the fight 29-28 with Ottow taking the third round through his takedown and control in the clinch as well as his best round for output of strikes.
This was not a good fight, Grant was hesitant and seemed content to stay on the outside and circle rather than capitalize on Ottow’s tentativeness.
Ottow fights out of Milwaukee and got a good reaction when he was announced the winner. He came off well in the post-fight interview and called it the best night of his life.
Charles Oliveira def. Jim Miller by rear-naked choke at 1:15 of Round 1
Oliveira slammed him to the mat, instantly took his back and transitioned to a deep rear-naked choke to submit Miller.
This was a rematch from UFC 124 in December 2010 where Miller submitted Oliveira in the first round.
This was Oliveira’s 13th win in the UFC and third straight in 2018. He is only 29 years old and has already had 22 fights in the UFC.
Rob Font def. Sergio Pettis by unanimous decision (30-27 all) – Bantamweight
In his return to the bantamweight division, Sergio Pettis fell to Rob Font with Font winning each round through a solid game plan. Font’s boxing was a big factor in the fight working behind his jab and registering with his right hand frequently. Font had several takedowns in the fight and ended the fight on top with ground and pound while nullifying Pettis’ game throughout the fight.
Font earned his sixth win in the UFC and rebounded after a decision loss to Raphael Assuncao in his last outing in July and improves to 16-4.
Edson Barboza def. Dan Hooker by KO at 2:19 of Round 3
This was among the more brutal fights you are going to see this year. Barboza destroyed Hooker throughout the fight, however, Hooker was so incredibly tough that he took way too much damage in this fight and his corner should not have let this continue.
I scored the first two rounds 10-8 for Barboza. Barboza stunned him with a right hand and a head kick in the first round and ended with knees from the Thai clinch. In the second, Barboza wrecked the leg of Hooker with tons of inside leg kicks, he blasted Hooker with knees from the Thai clinch and finished the round with enormous shots.
They checked on Hooker between rounds and he came out for the final round. Hooker was standing but he was done. He took more leg kicks, was getting hit with jabs, and the Barboza began destroying him with hard kicks to the body and finally, Hooker went down to his knees and it was over.
Dana White left cage side to check on Hooker in the back.
This was something out of a video game, but I never to see a guy take so much damage as this is the type of outcome that changes a fighter forever.
Barboza needed a win like this after being blown out by Khabib Nuramgomedov and Kevin Lee in his last fights. He is now training at American Top Team and improves to 20-6 and was his first win since March 2017.
Al Iaquinta def. Kevin Lee by unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47) – Lightweight
This was a strong main event and a razor-close fight.
It came to how you scored the first round as it was the closest one. Iaquinta went for a spinning back elbow, the replay showed he didn’t hit with the elbow, but his arm connected. I felt Lee edged out the round because the elbow didn’t land the rest of the round saw Lee utilize lots of kicks while Iaquinta did connect with a left hook.
In the second and third rounds, Lee used his wrestling to take Iaquinta down and apply body triangles while mixing in strikes from behind.
In the fourth round, Iaquinta started tagging Lee and landed a head kick and a big right hand. You could definitely argue it was even going into the final round.
Round 5 was a big round for Iaquinta and he landed tons of power shots down the stretch. Lee was game for the striking exchanges but Iaquinta started to overwhelm him. Iaquinta also hit a front kick to the chin and was a solid round in his favor. I had it 48-47 for Lee, but most scored it the opposite way for Iaquinta with the first round going to Iaquinta.
Lee was shocked he lost the fight. He thought he won the first three rounds for sure. He congratulated Iaquinta.
