Cigano Gets It Done Again
Looking to close out 2018 in style, Junior Dos Santos understood that he would be going up against a violent and determined opponent in Australia’s own Tai Tuivasa in his own backward.
Showing championship metal, an iron chin and his experience in tough situations, Dos Santos took down one of the UFC’s bright new faces in classic fashion.
Junior Dos Santos (20-5, 14-4 UFC) defeated Tai Tuivasa (8-1, 3-1 UFC) by 2nd-Round TKO on Saturday night at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.
Known for his ability to hurt his opponents at difficult and odd angles while moving backwards, Junior Dos Santos did it again on Saturday night to silence a rowdy crowd in Adelaide.
Dos Santos took advantage of an over-aggressive and stalking Tuivasa by flooring him with a powerful right hook coming off a solid left cross as he was backpedaling near the fence.
The veteran former champion — who’s faced a who’s who at heavyweight in his career — would go on to finish the contest with ground and pound strikes from full mount, as Herb Dean called a stop to the fight to the dismay of a frustrated Tai Tuivasa.
Dos Santos won consecutive fights for the first time since beating Cain Velasquez and Frank Mir in consecutive victories in November 2011 and May 2012.
A difficult challenge to be sure, Dos Santos took punishment from the 25-year-old fast-rising heavyweight.
Tuivasa had his moments in this fight, particularly in the first round as the Aussie brawler was assertive and forced his will on the former UFC heavyweight champion, tattooing him with hard overhand shots while begging for Dos Santos’ best shots.
He also used leg kicks to the lead leg of Junior Dos Santos, causing him limp considerably.
But in the end, all it took was Dos Santos finding a window of vulnerability to bring the boom to a inexperienced but game fighter.
Afterwards, Dos Santos said he was interested in a rematch with Alistair Overeem, a fight he has wanted to avenge on his resume for quite some time now.
Alistair Overeem finished Junior Dos Santos by 2nd-Round TKO back in their matchup back in December 2015.
Dos Santos’ knockout victory on Saturday is the 9th of his UFC career. He is tied for second all-time with Andrei Arlovski. Derrick Lewis and Cain Velasquez are tied for first all-time with 10.
UFC Fight Night 142 Results
Mauricio Rua outlasts Tyson Pedro in wild war with TKO finish in Round 3
Mark Hunt (264) vs. Justin Willis outpoints Mark Hunt in unanimous decision
Jake Matthews (171) vs. Anthony Rocco Martin uses anaconda choke beat Jake Matthew by submission in Round 3
Sodiq Yusuff finishes Suman Mokhtarian by TKO in Round 1
Jim Crute gets Paul Craig with kimura to win by submission in Round 3
Alexey Kunchenko cruises past Yushin Okami for unanimous decision win
Wilson Reis outmuscles Ben Nguyen in unanimous decision win
Keita Nakamura squeaks by Salim Touahri with split-decision win
Kai Kara-France dominates Elias Garcia in unanimous decision win.
Christos Giagos in full control in unanimous decision win over Mizuto Hirota
Damir Ismagulov wins tactical battle over Alex Gorgees by unanimous decision
What are your takeaways from UFC Fight Night 142? Leave your comments below!
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