The UFC held a Saturday afternoon card from Prague in the Czech Republic featuring a light heavyweight main event between Thiago Santos and Jan Blachowicz.
In the main event, a closely contested two rounds set the stage for the third where Santos caught Blachowicz moving in with a right hook and left hand to follow up that dropped Blachowicz. Santos drilled his opponent with numerous hammer fists on the canvas for the stoppage at 39 seconds of the third round.
It was the fourth consecutive win for Santos and his third since moving up to light heavyweight following stoppages against Eryk Anders and Jimi Manuwa. This is going to accelerate Santos at light heavyweight, a division that is always is need of new contenders. The loss was Blachowicz’s first since April 2017 and ended a four-fight win streak.
It was nearly ten years to the day since Stefan Struve made his UFC debut on February 21, 2009, and Saturday’s victory over Marcos Rogerio de Lima may be the final time he steps into a cage.
After being knocked down and controlled on top for the duration of the first round, Struve recovered in the second with a takedown and working in half-guard. Struve improved his position as he worked to the mount and locked in an arm-triangle to pull off the upset and snap a three-fight losing skid. This was his first win since October 2016.
Struve said he was leaving his gloves inside the octagon, although had not made a final decision whether he will compete again.
Here the full results from the card:
*Damir Ismagulov def. Joel Alvarez by unanimous decision (30-27 all)
*Carlos Diego Ferreira def. Rustam Khabilov by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
*Ismail Naurdiev def. Michel Prazeres by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
*Damir Hadzovic def. Polo Reyes by TKO at 2:03 of Round 2
*Gillian Robertson def. Veronica Macedo by rear-naked choke at 3:27 of Round 2
*Chris Fishgold def. Daniel Teymur by rear-naked choke at 1:10 of Round 2
*Dwight Grant def. Carlo Pedersoli Jr. by TKO at 4:59 of Round 1
*Magomed Ankalaev def. Klidson Abreu by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
*Petr Yan def. John Dodson by unanimous decision (30-27 all)
*Liz Carmouche def. Lucie Pudilova by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
*Michal Oleksiejczuk def. Gian Villante by KO at 1:34 of Round 1
*Stefan Struve def. Marcos Rogerio de Lima by arm-triangle at 2:21 of Round 2
*Thiago Santos def. Jan Blachowicz by TKO at 0:39 of Round 3
