UFC 279: Diaz vs Ferguson Results

This time we weren’t surprised. In a fight that didn’t even exist a week ago, Nate Diaz smoothly transitioned from Khamzat Chimaev to Tony Ferguson, finishing the former interim lightweight champ in the fourth round of their UFC 279 main event.

The welterweight bout, which happened when Chimaev missed weight at 178.5 pounds on Friday, also saw Ferguson jump in on short notice, switching from a bout with Li Jingliang to face Diaz, and the two UFC stars delivered a fight that lived up to expectations.

​​​​​Ferguson mixed up his attacks in the early going, keeping Diaz off-balance, but the Stockton native soon settled in pecking and poking at Ferguson, who, not surprisingly, kept doing Tony Ferguson things. With under two minutes left, Ferguson landed a hard left punch that drew a smile from Diaz, who began firing back with heavier shots, landing a solid right with a minute to go.

After a wild couple days that saw him miss weight and get removed from the UFC 279 main event against Nate Diaz, Khamzat Chimaev got a co-main event fight at a catchweight of 180 pounds and kept his unbeaten record intact with a first-round submission of Kevin Holland.

Fighting at a catchweight of 180 pounds, welterweight standouts Daniel Rodriguez and Li Jingliang battled it out on nearly even terms for three rounds before Rodriguez eked out a split decision victory.

Scores were 29-28, 29-28, 28-29 for Rodriguez, now 17-2. The No.14-ranked Li falls to 19-8.

In a 140-pound catchweight bout, Irene Aldana broke open a close fight with Macy Chiasson by delivering a stirring third-round knockout.

In a competitive first round, it was Aldana (14-6) holding the edge thanks to hard leg kicks and right hands upstairs, and while Chiasson (9-3) got a takedown in the final minute, she walked right into a tight armbar. She escaped once, then twice, all the while taking a barrage of strikes before the horn sounded.

In the main card opener at 205 pounds, Johnny Walker submitted Ion Cutelaba in the first round.

Featherweight vet Julian Erosa made it three straight against highly-touted Hakeem Dawodu, shutting out the Canadian over three rounds.

Scores were 30-27 across the board for Erosa, now 28-10. Dawodu, who missed weight for the bout at 149.5 pounds, falls to 13-3-1.

Erosa was willing to stand with the striking specialist, rocking Dawodu with a right hand with 2:15 left and following up with several hard uppercuts before stunning the Canadian with a left hand late.

​​​Brazil’s Jailton Almeida continued to roll in a 220-pound catchweight bout, as he defeated UFC newcomer Anton Turkalj via first-round submission.

Almeida had Turkalj on the mat 20 seconds into the fight, and the Sweden native didn’t have any answers for his foe, even though he defended well initially. With a little over a minute left, Almeida made his move and sunk in an arm triangle. He then followed with ground strikes before using a rear naked choke that forced a tap out at 4:27 of the opening round.

Middleweight Denis Tiuliulin earned his first UFC victory in style, stopping Jamie Pickett in the second round.

Pickett (13-8) started fast, but Tiuliulin eventually started tagging his foe with right hands, drawing Pickett into exchanges in which “The Night Wolf” acquitted himself well, but not well enough to take the round.

Heavyweights Chris Barnett and Jake Collier brought it for nearly two rounds in a wild one, with Barnett outlasting and stopping Collier in the second stanza.

The big men went after it as soon as they were waved into battle, and it was Collier taking an early lead behind a pair of knockdowns that bloodied and shut Barnett’s left eye. Barnett weathered the storm, and while Collier appeared winded, in the final 90 seconds of the opening round, he got Barnett to the mat and took his back. Then came a series of strikes and a choke attempt, but with 30 seconds left, Barnett was back on his feet and sporting an apparent jaw injury.

Norma Dumont was in top form in winning a shutout three-round unanimous decision over featherweight newcomer Danyelle Wolf.

Scores were 30-27, 30-27 and 30-26 for Dumont, now 8-2. Wolf falls to 1-1.

After a tactical opening, Dumont stung Wolf with an overhand right midway through the round and that prompted a response from the Octagon debutant, kicking off some solid action from Wolf.

“The Mongolian Knight,” Alatengheili, impressed in shutting out game Canadian Chad Anheliger over three rounds.

Scores in the bantamweight bout were 30-27 across the board for Alatengheili, now 16-8-2. Anheliger falls to 12-6.

After getting stung early, Anheliger got rocked midway through the round by a left hand from Alatengheili. Anheliger fired back with both hands, seemingly unhurt, but with 90 seconds left, another shot rattled the now bloodied Canadian, who again refused to back down even though he was getting tagged with plenty of bombs.

In strawweight action, Elise Reed removed Mexican newcomer Melissa Martinez from the ranks of the unbeaten with a close, but unanimous, decision victory.

All three judges saw it 29-28 for Reed, now 6-2. Martinez falls to 7-1.

Martinez attacked the body in the early going, but a minute in, a stiff right cross dropped the newcomer briefly. Martinez shook off the blow quickly and in the second half of the round, the two strikers grappled, each having moments of control before separating.

In the welterweight opener, Yohan Lainesse picked up his first UFC win with a three-round split decision over Darian Weeks.

Scores were 29-28, 29-28, 28-29 for Lainesse, now 9-1. Weeks falls to 5-3.

Lainesse was sharp with his strikes from long range, particularly the right hand. Midway through the round, Weeks started to implement his grappling game, briefly attacking a guillotine choke, but once Lainesse got loose, he got back to successfully sticking and moving.