Welcome to over coverage of UFC 246 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas headlined by Conor McGregor and Donald Cerrone in the welterweight main event.
Tonight, Phil Chertok joins me for the UFC 246 POST Show that will be available to everyone on the site late tonight.
The preliminary fights begin at 7 pm Eastern on ESPN+ and Fight Pass.
MAIN CARD
*Conor McGregor def. Donald Cerrone by TKO at 0:40 of Round 1
*Holly Holm def. Raquel Pennington by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
*Aleksei Oleinik def. Maurice Greene by armbar at 4:38 of Round 2
*Brian Kelleher def. Ode Osbourne by guillotine choke at 2:49 of Round 1
*Diego Ferreira def. Anthony Pettis by rear-naked choke at 1:46 of Round 2
PRELIMINARY CARD
*Roxanne Modafferi def. Maycee Barber by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
*Sodiq Yusuff def. Andre Fili by unanimous decision (29-28 all)
*Askar Askarov def. Tim Elliott by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
*Drew Dober def. Nasrat Haqparast by TKO at 1:10 of Round 1
ESPN+/FIGHT PASS
*Aleksa Camur def. Justin Ledet by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
*Sabina Mazo def. JJ Aldrich by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
JJ ALDRICH (8-3, 125.5) VS SABINA MAZO (7-1, 126.25*) – FLYWEIGHT
In the first two rounds, Aldrich was controlling the fight with her speed and timing with help from her left hand that was finding Mazo consistently. Late in the second round, Mazo landed a big knee from the Thai clinch and a head kick that were the best strikes of the fight and enough to swing the round in Mazo’s favor on my card, so I had it 19-19 after two rounds.
In the third round, Mazo lit her up with her Thai clinch as Aldrich was placed against the fence. Referee Chris Tognoni separated them and allowed Aldrich to get back to her striking game. They ended the fight at a solid pace and round three was very entertaining.
WINNER: Sabina Mazo by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
It came down to your score in the second round as Aldrich won the first and Mazo the third. Mazo, 22, earned her second win inside the UFC as she was coming off a decision victory over Shana Dobson in her last outing.
ALEKSA CAMUR (5-0, 204) VS JUSTIN LEDET (9-2, 205) – LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Camur was making his UFC debut after winning on Dana White’s Contender Series.
He was throwing big shots in the early going and you got the sense he was going to tire and get picked apart by Ledet. However, Ledet never turned up the pace and suddenly found himself down two rounds heading into the third. Ledet was measured with his left hooks but didn’t go to the next gear when he needed to. The third round saw Ledet connect with Camur going to the clinch and securing a late takedown. I scored it 30-27 for Camur.
WINNER: Aleksa Camur by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
DREW DOBER (21-9 1 NC, 155.5) VS NASRAT HAQPARAST (11-2, 156) – LIGHTWEIGHT
Dober landed a short left flush on the button and sent Haqparast to the canvas. Dober followed with approximately eleven unanswered shots until referee Mark Smith stopped the fight.
WINNER: Drew Dober by TKO at 1:10 of Round 1
Dober was a sizable underdog heading into this fight from the oddsmakers. This was Dober’s fourteenth UFC fight and has now won five of his last six. He told Joe Rogan he can knock anyone out in the top ten of the lightweight division. This was a short but stellar performance from Dober, who ends a three-fight win streak for Haqparast.
TIM ELLIOTT (15-9-1, 125.5) VS ASKAR ASKAROV (10-0-1, 126) – FLYWEIGHT
Askarov rocked him with a right hand in the first round and Elliott appeared done, however, he was taken down and weathered the storm. Askarov dominated this round from half-guard and landed hammer fists on top.
Elliott shined in the second round with three hip throws and threatened with a guillotine. Askarov ended the round with jabs but it was even after two.
Elliott threw strategy out the window in the third, putting his hands down and getting nailed with lots of shots. Elliott was attacking the legs but moved away from that offensive strategy allowing Askarov to easily take the final round and the fight.
WINNER: Askar Askarov by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Askarov remains undefeated and improves to 11-0-1 with his second fight in the UFC under his belt after a split decision over Brandon Moreno in his promotional debut.
ANDRE FILI (20-6, 145.5) VS SODIQ YUSUFF (10-1, 146) – FEATHERWEIGHT
The first round was fantastic with each landing big shots on the other. Yusuff connected with a right hand over the top with a left jab to follow. Fili had several takedowns but Yusuff was up immediately. Yusuff went for a kimura that he lost. Great round and 10-9 for Yusuff.
Yusuff dominated the second round from half-guard and moved to mount. Fili escaped and they finished the round standing.
The momentum shifted to Fili in the third round when he moved to a southpaw stance. Yusuff slowed down and Fili won the round but 29-28 for Yusuff overall.
WINNER: Sodiq Yusuff by unanimous decision (29-28 all)
Yusuff improves to 11-1 and 4-0 in the UFC with his sixth consecutive win. He spoke after the fight about being open to fighting at lightweight in the future. He looked great for two rounds but slowed notably in the last round.
ROXANNE MODAFFERI (23-16, 125) VS MAYCEE BARBER (8-0, 126) – FLYWEIGHT
Modafferi was throwing frequently and landed several right hands before taking down Barber with a body lock takedown. Modafferi worked from half-guard and defended a guillotine attempt to remain in control on the ground and take the first round.
The second round was dominated by Modafferi, who sent Barber down with a jab. Modafferi mounted her several times in the round and sliced Barber open with an elbow. Barber briefly reversed but lost that position. This was a 10-8 round on my card.
Between rounds, an inspector checked on Barber’s knee and believes she has a partially torn ACL but told referee Jason Herzog she was fine to fight. Barber’s knee did not seem okay and was struck several times before being taken down. Modafferi ended the fight with elbow strikes and pulled off an enormous upset victory.
WINNER: Roxanne Modafferi by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
Barber was a minus 850 favorite going into this fight and suffered the first loss of her career. Modafferi looked tremendous with her superior grappling skill and not afraid to engage in a striking affair with Barber, who was certainly affected by her knee injury.
ANTHONY PETTIS (22-9, 155.5) VS CARLOS DIEGO FERREIRA (16-2, 155.5) – LIGHTWEIGHT
Pettis was fighting from the southpaw stance. Ferreira got him down and secured his back, which Pettis escaped by spinning out of. Ferreira took him down a second time and moved to side control landing strikes to end the round.
In the second round, Ferreira fought for the single-leg and got Pettis down and once again had his back. He slid his leg through while applying pressure with a neck crank by the fence and forced Pettis to tap.
WINNER: Carlos Diego Ferreira by rear-naked choke at 1:46 of Round 2
Ferreira was limping after the victory and told Joe Rogan he popped something. He improves to 17-2 on his 35th birthday and has won six straight. Ferreira has not lost since fighting Dustin Poirier in 2015 and posted wins over Rustam Khabilov and Mairbek Taisumov in 2019.
This was the biggest win of Ferreira’s career and should allow him to ascend near the top of the lightweight division and become a focal player this year at 155 pounds.
BRIAN KELLEHER (19-10, 136) VS ODE OSBOURNE (8-2, 135) – BANTAMWEIGHT
Osbourne was crouched down and popped up to land a right hand immediately. Kelleher responded by taking Osbourne down against the fence. Kelleher climbed onto him with a guillotine, fell back into the full guard with the deep choke applied and got the tap.
WINNER: Brian Kelleher by guillotine choke at 2:49 of Round 1
After winning three of his first four fights in the UFC, Kelleher was coming off a pair of losses to John Lineker and Montel Jackson in his last two fights. He missed all of 2019, so this was a significant win for Kelleher to get back in the win column and re-assert himself within the bantamweight division.
ALEKSEI OLEINIK (57-13-1, 238) VS MAURICE GREENE (8-3, 243) – HEAVYWEIGHT
This was an entertaining affair because Oleinik is always threatening with submissions with Joe Rogan and Paul Felder captivated throughout the duration.
Oleinik got him down in the first round and after avoiding a triangle, he mounted Greene and applied a scarf hold submission and appeared to have it, although Greene fought the submission and lasted the round.
Greene came out with head kicks in the second round, was taken down and Oleinik moved to half-guard and worked from there. Eventually, Oleinik moved to mount and then beautifully worked for an armbar and Greene could not escape, and he tapped.
WINNER: Aleksey Oleinik by armbar at 4:38 of Round 2
Oleinik’s fights are never dull and he’s always moments away from pulling off a submission. He admitted his arms were gassed after the scarf hold failed to finish Greene in the opening round. Oleinik snapped a two-fight losing skid, including a twelve-second loss to Walt Harris in his last outing.
HOLLY HOLM (12-5, 135.5) VS RAQUEL PENNINGTON (10-7, 136) – BANTAMWEIGHT
This was not a great fight and was largely contested in the clinch against the cage with minimal engagement by either.
Holm was the stronger fighter as she initiated the clinching game and when reversed, she was easily able to outmuscle Pennington and take back control.
In the second round, Holm did land some strikes to the body while pressuring Pennington against the cage.
The game plan continued in the third round as Holm clearly won the fight but it was a dull one.
WINNER: Holly Holm by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Holm acknowledged she could have done more striking in the fighting but what she did was working and didn’t deviate from it. She believes she can still be a champion and this was her first win at bantamweight since beating Bethe Correia in June 2017.
CONOR McGREGOR (21-4, 170) VS DONALD CERRONE (36-13, 170) – WELTERWEIGHT
McGregor came out and missed with a left hand. He landed several shoulder strikes, including one to the nose that affected Cerrone. McGregor followed with a head kick and several left hands dropped Cerrone allowing McGregor to finish him with strikes on top. It was over in less than one minute.
WINNER: Conor McGregor by TKO at 0:40 of Round 1
