UFC London Preliminary Results: Luke Barnatt Scores Monstrous Stoppage
The UFC Fight Night 37 Preliminaries are in the books, and provided an exciting night of fights for the fans cageside in London, England. The UFC’s first trip to the UK in 2014 has provided some great contests thus far.
First up was Louis Gaudinot vs. Phil Harris, and this fight was all ‘Goodnight’. The Tiger Schulman product handed the local favorite Harris his second loss on the bounce; locking in a tight guillotine choke to get the submission win in just over one minute of action.
Igor Araujo and Danny Mitchell went at it in a welterweight affair next, and the result was a one-sided three round decision win for the Brazilian Araujo. He used his superior Jiu-Jitsu skills to dominate Mitchell on the mat and take home the win.
Home favorite Brad Scott went up against Brazilian Claudio Henrique De Silva next, and the London shootfighter looked confident in the early goings. The second round included some absurd moments as Silva claimed a low blow and turned away, the ref urged Scott to continue and he hesitated before going for the finish, but had missed the opportunity. Silva lands quite a few eye pokes when he is in trouble and the action is stop-start in round three. Silva takes the decision.
Luke Barnatt was thoroughly impressive while picking up the first win of the night for the Brits; ‘Big Slow’ dominated highly touted Mats Nilsson en route to a savage first round TKO. Barnatt is looking to be a force at middleweight, as he moves to 8-0. Great boxing from the Brit, as he scores his third straight in the UFC.
Lastly on the card was a light-heavyweight scrap between Ilir Latifi and French kickboxer Cyril Diabate, and Latifi was once again against the odds; this time in the form of Diabate’s eight inch reach advantage. Latifi looked very strong as he pinned down Diabate, grabbed the neck and cranked his way to a first round submission win. He was dominant, and in fantastic shape, but oddly decided to smash his own face in to the canvas in celebration. A great night of fights thus far, bring on the main event!!
Results
Louis Gaudinot def. Phil Harris by submission (guillotine choke) round one
Igor Araujo def. Danny Mitchell by unanimous decision
Claudio Henrique De Silva def. Brad Scott by unanimous decision
Luke Barnatt def. Mats Nillson by TKO round one
Ilir Latifi def. Cyril Diabate by submission (front choke) round one
Photo: Gary A. Vasquez for USA TODAY Sports
