Check out the results of the six preliminary card bouts at UFC 213: Romero vs. Whittaker in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The UFC 213 preliminary card is in the books. It should be noted that with the loss of Amanda Nunes vs. Valentina Shevchenko, Rob Font vs. Douglas Silva de Andrade was moved to the main card.
As for the first half-dozen fights of the night, Trevin Giles won his UFC debut in dominant fashion, Cody Stamann won an entertaining contest with fellow Octagon rookie Terrion Ware, Belal Muhammad bloodied up Jordan Mein, Thiago Santos put a hurtin’ on Gerald Meerschaert, Chad Laprise stopped Brian Camozzi with terrific body work, and Oleksiy Oliynyk tapped out Travis Browne in a back-and-forth thriller. Here’s how the fights played out.
Oleksiy Oliynyk def. Travis Browne by submission (face crank) at 3:44 of round 2 - Heavyweights
Browne opened up with head and body kicks straight off the bat. Oliynyk connected on a right hand as Travis circled away from him. A beautifully-timed knee caught Oliynyk squarely in the face, and Browne was off to a good start. Several more knees got through as Oleksiy failed on a takedown. A huge left hook hurt Oliynyk and he dropped to the floor after a flurry by “Hapa.” Browne stayed away from Oliynyk’s guard and looked for a big uppercut to finish the fight. Oliynyk turned things around with a big right hand knockdown. He tried throwing Browne down and they quickly stood back up. Oliynyk threw hard punches to the body against the fence. More head and body combos by Oliynyk tagged Browne cleanly. Browne answered back with a knee to the body and a head kick, Oliynyk took Browne down and went to side control. He took Browne’s back and looked for a neck crank but ran out of time.
Both men attacked each other’s body in round 2. A head kick clipped Oliynyk, and Browne continued to land the knees in the clinch, even as Oliynyk was punching him in the stomach. Browne had a powerful takedown and advanced to side control. He failed to do any additional damage and the Russian was back to his feet. Oliynyk took Browne’s back and again worked for a submission, and this time he got it, scissoring Travis’ body and getting Browne to tap out with a face crank. Oliynyk continues to find ways to win, and this is his 43rd submission victory of his career. Meanwhile, it’s the first time Browne has ever been submitted, and it’s his fourth loss in a row.
Chad Laprise def. Brian Camozzi by TKO (punches) at 1:27 of round 3 - Welterweights
Laprise threw some serious heat at Camozzi in round 1. Camozzi’s offense consisted primarily of kicks, while Laprise found success with his hands, landing several right hands over the top. Laprise was in control of the opening round and ended it by catching a kick and putting Camozzi on his back. The best moments for Camozzi were leg kicks and some jabs.
Camozzi was the one moving forward but also eating punches on the counter. He did get in a good body kick against the fence early in round 2. It definitely was a better round by Camozzi as he was able to land more often and maintain a volume-based attack. Laprise connected on a lunging left hook, only to take a body kick in return. The TUF Nations welterweight winner punctuated the 2nd with a good outside leg kick.
Just as it seemed Camozzi was getting the upper hand in this fight, a left hook to the head and then a right to the body badly hurt Camozzi. Laprise attacked with more body punches, then a knee, and finished off Camozzi with strikes on the ground. A terrific finish by Chad, as he gets his second win in a row, while Brian is 0-2 inside the Octagon.
Thiago Santos def. Gerald Meerschaert by TKO (strikes) at 2:04 of round 2 - Middleweights
In this striker vs. grappler matchup, Santos threw a heavy leg kick but Meerschaert reacted with a takedown and tried to hold him down, but Santos muscled his way back up. Meerschaert connected on some good shots in the clinch, only for Santos to unleash some big strikes as he attempted to get the fight to the ground. Meerschaert was eating more shots and in some trouble. Santos didn’t want to play too much with Gerald’s dangerous guard and had him stand back up. Meerschaert was then poked in the eye, which briefly stopped the action. The left was landing regularly for Santos, whose right side of his face was bloodied from a strike landed earlier in the round. Meerschaert was taking these head and body blows well, but it was a rough opening stanza for the American.
Meerschaert immediately shot for two takedowns and paid for it by getting pummeled with an onslaught of punches. Referee Marc Goddard was very close to stopping the fight at this point, and Santos wasn’t relenting. Santos unleashed hammerfists galore from half-guard and this time Meerschaert was finished. It’s the first time he’s ever been finished via strikes. “Marreta” is 2-0 in 2017 and this was one of his best showings to date.
Belal Muhammad def. Jordan Mein by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27) - Welterweights
Mein showed good takedown defense and stuffed Muhammad’s initial shot at the beginning of round 1. The Canadian did get cracked with a hard right hand by Muhammad, and then stopped another takedown. Mein was active with his leg kicks, and they were accurate and hard. It was a fairly even-keeled round with not too many really exciting moments. A cut did open up on the forehead of Mein as a result of an elbow in the clinch.
Muhammad was pressuring more in round 2, as Mein’s cut continued to pour blood. Mein was still finding a home for those lead leg kicks, but not with the same frequency as in round 1. Muhammad was slowly but surely getting the better of the striking exchanges and was outworking him in the clinch battles. Belal took Mein down late in the middle frame and nearly mounted him as he uncorked some elbows.
Muhammad was determined to get the takedown on an exhausted Mein in the 3rd, and he got it. Mein tried to get on top with a kimura sweep but lost the grip and Muhammad scrambled back to a favorable position. Muhammad took the back and locked in a body triangle halfway through the final round. Belal just beat Mein up until he lost the body triangle. It was evident though that Mein was spent and Muhammad beat the fight out of him. Mein failed on another kimura and only briefly put Muhammad down, but it was too little, too late. Muhammad gets his second straight win, while Mein still hasn’t won a fight since 2014, and this is his third successive defeat.
Cody Stamann def. Terrion Ware by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) - Featherweights
Stamann was sharp early on with knees and left hooks. Ware cracked Stamann with a right hand before Stamann answered back with a flurry and then a completed takedown. “Flash” Ware got himself back to his feet and then landed a standing elbow. Ware got himself into a rhythm with his own boxing and tagged Stamann several times with jabs and power shots. Stamann took Ware down a second time with about 100 seconds left in the opening round, and stayed on top without really doing much damage until the closing moments.
The two men exchanged some nice strikes to start round 2 and talked some trash before Stamann powered through for another takedown. Ware got back to his feet and threw a series of body punches and then a knee to the head, and Stamann answered back with a hard left hook. A right hand by Ware scored but Stamann insisted the punch didn’t hurt him. Stamann took him down for the fourth time in the fight, and after posturing up with some punches, Ware again rose to his feet. While Ware seemed to have the technical striking advantage, Stamann’s wrestling dictated things, and he secured one last takedown in the 2nd, this time thudding home several hammerfists to Ware’s head.
Stamann was landing the better strikes in round 3, and while Ware stuffed the first takedown, Stamann re-shot the double-leg and had Ware down once more. He steadily wore his opponent down and advanced to full mount. Stamann unleashed some ground-and-pound, threatened with a choke, then let it go and fought in half-guard. Cody beat Ware up some more on the ground, then they exchanged haymakers in the final seconds before one last takedown. A complete performance by Stamann to move to 15-1. Ware goes to 17-5, and both men will be returning to bantamweight for their respective second UFC bouts.
Trevin Giles def. James Bochnovic by KO (punches) at 2:54 of round 2 - Light Heavyweights
Giles had the early takedown and had to deal with the active guard of Bochnovic. He coped with it well and landed some good ground-and-pound from dominant positions. Bochnovic was overpowered and eating powerful shots throughout round 1. Giles stayed on Bochnovic in round 2 and tagged him with a body shot on the feet, then took him down again. He threatened with a north-south choke before letting it go to transition to side control. His final takedown spelled the end for Bochnovic. Giles took the back and flattened Bochnovic out, and put him out cold with a slew of punches from back-mount and then full mount. This battle of Octagon newcomers was woefully lopsided in Giles’ favor, and he moves to 10-0. Bochnovic needed oxygen in the cage before being taken out on a stretcher. His record is now 8-2.
