The Ultimate Fighting Championship came to the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas tonight for UFC 192: “Cormier vs Gustafsson.” The event featured a UFC Light Heavyweight Championship bout between reigning champion Daniel “D.C.” Cormier and challenger Alexander “The Mauler” Gustafsson.
Also on tonight’s card, Ryan “Darth” Bader took on “Suga” Rashad Evans in the 205-pound co-feature. Jessica “Evil” Eye looked to rebound from a July setback when she battled TUF 18 winner Julianna “The Venezuelan Vixen” Peña at 135 pounds. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for UFC 192.
UFC Light Heavyweight Championship
Daniel “D.C.” Cormier vs Alexander “The Mauler” Gustafsson
Round 1:
The fight began with an exchange of leg kicks and Cormier flipped Gustafsson all the way over in the process of slamming him to the mat. He punched to the body and avoided a Gustafsson triangle choke attempt. Cormier passed to side control, but Gustafsson scrambled back up to his feet. He landed a series of body kicks and just missed with an uppercut. Cormier finished the round with right hands. 10-9 Cormier.
Round 2:
Both men landed left hooks in the second round and Gustafsson cut Cormier below the right eye. More power punches were exchanged and Gustafsson briefly took Cormier down. Cormier stood and landed a hard right hand, but Gustafsson countered with a knee to the body and an elbow. Another knee from Gustafsson set off an exchange of uppercuts and Cormier landed repeatedly. He followed with a hard one-two and stunned Gustafsson with more uppercuts. Gustafsson took him down into back control and pinned him against the fence until the bell. Close round. 10-9 Gustafsson.
Round 3:
A big uppercut scored for Gustafsson early in round three, but Cormier tagged him with a right hook in return. Gustafsson’s nose began to bleed and Cormier punished him with a series of short uppercuts. Gustafsson broke free and jabbed from a distance. Cormier hurt him with a right hook to the nose and followed with more hard uppercuts. Gustafsson recovered and floored him with a knee and a barrage of punches. Cormier battled back to his feet late in the round. 10-9 Cormier, barely, in spite of the late knockdown.
Round 4:
Gustafsson opened round four with kicks to Cormier’s lead leg and liver. He followed with a combination and another body kick. Cormier began to bleed from his nose and from a second cut below his right eye. Gustafsson landed more jabs and right hands. Cormier rushed forward with right hands and counter a Gustafsson knee by landing an overhand right. Gustafsson tripped him momentarily and Cormier flurried before the bell. 10-9 Gustafsson by a slim margin.
Round 5:
Gustafsson backed Cormier up with a hard right cross in the final round, but Cormier responded with a lunging one-two. Left and right hooks landed for both men and Gustafsson tried unsuccessfully for a takedown. Cormier landed short uppercuts in close and Gustafsson answered with a knee. Blood poured out of Gustafsson’s nose and Cormier landed more uppercuts. The exhausted fighters traded punches in the final seconds and Gustafsson landed one more big knee. 10-9 Cormier.
Winner: Daniel Cormier by Split Decision (49-46, 48-47, 47-48) after five rounds. He improves to 17-1-0 and remains the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion.
Ryan “Darth” Bader vs “Suga” Rashad Evans
Round 1:
Overhand rights were exchanged in the opening minute and Bader landed the cleaner shots. Evans shrugged off a takedown attempt and landed two right hands. A nice right uppercut landed for Bader and Evans came up short with his punches. More right hands landed for Bader, but Evans punched his way into a clinch and tried for a takedown. Bader defended with elbow strikes and circled away. 10-9 Bader.
Round 2:
Bader opened the second round with more right hands and he scored a key takedown near the cage wall. Evans stood and Bader dumped him to the mat again. Evans escaped to his feet and just missed with a winging right hook. Bader jabbed and Evans landed a right hand. He followed with a leg kick and Bader threw a liver kick in return. Evans connected with another right hook over the top, but Bader was unfazed and he replied with a combination. Evans tried unsuccessfully for a takedown in the final 15 seconds. 10-9 Bader.
Round 3:
Bader lunged in with uppercut-hook combos in the final round. Evans missed with lead left hooks and Bader controlled the striking exchanges by landing jabs and right hands. He fought off a clinch attempt by landing a standing elbow over the top. Evans shot in for another takedown attempt and Bader easily stuffed it. He scored with an elbow and a right hook to the temple. Evans went high with a kick and Bader blocked it. He took Evans down very briefly and nearly got him down again before the final bell. 10-9 Bader.
Winner: Ryan Bader by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) after three rounds. He improves to 20-4-0.
Ruslan “Leopard” Magomedov vs Shawn “The Savage” Jordan
Round 1:
Jordan walked through early punches from Magomedov and clinched against the cage. He took Magomedov down, but was unable to do anything with the position and Magomedov used a kimura attempt to stand back up. Right hands were exchanged and Magomedov landed a side kick to the face and a nice flurry. He backed Jordan up with another combination in the final minute. 10-9 Magomedov.
Round 2:
Magomedov used his superior head movement to avoid all of Jordan’s punches while landing crisp counters in round two. Jordan kept the pressure on and he stunned Magomedov with a big combination. He tried to drag Magomedov down to the mat, but Magomedov defended and landed elbows. He broke free and landed a grazing kick to Jordan’s eye. Magomedov landed more kicks to Jordan’s lead leg and upper body until Jordan clinched. Magomedov fought off a takedown and landed another grazing head kick. Close round. 10-9 Magomedov.
Round 3:
Magomedov knocked Jordan off-balance with a counter right hands in the final round and he used a guillotine choke attempt to fight off a takedown. Big punches and two head kicks scored for Magomedov, and Jordan began to bleed from both eyes. Magomedov landed a question mark kick and picked Jordan apart with jabs, but Jordan retaliated with a chopping leg kick. He snuck in an uppercut in the clinch and Magomedov broke free by landing a head kick. Stiff jabs and two more head kicks landed for Magomedov before the bell. 10-9 Magomedov.
Winner: Ruslan Magomedov by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) after three rounds. He improves to 14-1-0.
Joseph Benavidez vs Ali “Puncher” Bagautinov
Round 1:
Benavidez landed a big right hand in the opening minute and he stayed out of range of Bagautinov’s haymaker punches. The fighters circled and traded occasional strikes. Benavidez landed quick punches, but Bagautinov cut him near the left eye with a right uppercut. Clearly bothered by the cut, Benavidez picked up the pace and pressed forward with a combination. Bagautinov landed a right cross late in the relatively uneventful round. 10-9 Benavidez.
Round 2:
Benavidez mixed things up with punch-kick combos in the second round and Bagautinov countered with a chopping leg kick. A left cross and a body kick scored for Benavidez, who sidestepped Bagautinov’s winging punches. Bagautinov finally landed a solid three-punch flurry and the fighters traded looping punches in close. Benavidez continued to throw kicks to Bagautinov’s upper body, but Bagautinov clinched and effortlessly slammed him down to the mat in the final seconds. 10-9 Benavidez.
Round 3:
Power punches landed for both men early in the final round, but very little transpired in the following two minutes. Another brief exchange followed and the disinterested crowd booed the lack of action. Finally, with 50 seconds to go, Bagautinov reversed a clinch and briefly held back control. Benavidez landed a nice knee before the bell. 10-10. Dreadful fight.
Winner: Joseph Benavidez by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) after three rounds. He improves to 23-4-0.
Julianna “The Venezuelan Vixen” Peña vs Jessica “Evil” Eye
Round 1:
Hard punches were exchanged right away and Eye knocked Peña off-balance with a leg kick. Peña stood and clinched, then tried to pull guard. Eye followed her down into Peña’s half-guard and locked on a guillotine choke as the fighters stood up. She released the choke after landing two knees to the chest. Eye pinned Peña against the fence and landed short punches until Peña threw her to the mat.
Peña landed right hands on the ground and Eye scrambled back up. She held Peña against the cage again and landed left hands and elbows. Peña tripped her into side control and landed elbows from the top. She threw more elbows to the side of Eye’s head and took her back in the final ten seconds, but Eye defended until the bell. 10-9 Peña.
Round 2:
The second round began with another exchange of punches and Eye backed Peña up against the fence. Peña broke free and landed a head kick, but Eye took her down into half-guard. She transitioned to back control and then to an arm-triangle choke. Peña defended very well and escaped danger. Eye spun into a unique armbar attempt, but she lost the position and Peña wound up on top. Eye landed an accidental but forceful illegal knee to Peña’s head and was deducted one point. 9-9.
Round 3:
Peña took Eye down early in round three and Eye countered with an inverted triangle choke attempt from the bottom. She gave up her back in a scramble and Peña locked on a tight rear-naked choke. Eye managed to break her grip and narrowly escaped from the choke. Peña moved to half-guard and tried to secure a top-side guillotine choke. Eye fought it until the final bell. 10-9 Peña.
Winner: Julianna Peña by Unanimous Decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27) after three rounds. She improves to 7-2-0.
(Undercard results and play-by-play on Page Two.)