UFC Fight Night 43 Prelims Results: Another Great Undercard In The Books
Fight Night 43 is underway from Auckland, New Zealand, and who would have thought that the prelims would have provided such a great showing? First up on the full Fight Pass card was a light-heavyweight showdown between Gian Villante and Sean O’Connell, and it was the kickboxer that bounced back from defeat against Fabio Maldanado as he got the decision win.
Dan Hooker and Ian Entwistle were up next, and a first round finish by elbows was the result here; Entwistle held on to the leg lock for way too long and Hooker made him pay with a barrage of elbows that opened a cut and forced the ref to stop it. TUF veteran Neil Magny also looked very sharp in his welterweight pairing with Rodrigo de Lima.
A second round rally for the taller American put a cap on a super-slick boxing display, and made his Brazilian foe look a little amateur at the finish. Vik Grujic and Chris Indich shared a gritty first round at welterweight, which saw Indich hurt and swarmed on by Grujic, who earned the third T/KO of the night in round one.
Flyweights now, as Roldan Sangcha-an takes on Richie Vaculik, and this was a predictably scrappy affair. Both men showed very good skills on the ground, but it was clear that Vaculik wanted to keep it grounded, and that the Filipino wanted to trade on the feet. Vaculik ultimately took the decision win with his grappling skills.
Last up was debuting fighters in the octagon, as 19-year old Jake Matthews took on former pro boxer Dashon Johnson. Matthews showed great fortitude to come back and get a slick submission win, showing that age is nothing as he sunk in a third round triangle choke. What a great card!
UFC Fight Night 42 Preliminary Card Results:
Jake Matthews def. Dashon Johnson by submission (triangle choke) round three
Richie Vaculik def. Roldan Sangcha-an by decision
Vik Grujic def. Chris Indich by TKO (punches) round one
Neil Magny def. Rodrigo de Lima by TKO (punches) round two
Dan Hooker def. Ian Entwistle by TKO (elbows) round one
Gian Villante def. Sean O’Connell by split decision
