Makhachev (21-1) continued his roll with a first-round submission victory over Hooker, ending it with a kimura near the midway point of the first round. His last three opponents have been unable to land one significant strike. He returned to the cage with a remarkable opening takedown of Li, picking up his Chinese opponent shortly after the opening bell and then carrying him over to the side of the cage, where he said a few words to UFC President Dana White before throwing Li to the canvas.Ĭhimaev eventually finished by rear naked choke midway through the first round. Chimaev had been sidelined by COVID-19 and other difficulties. READ MORE: Brutal takedown halts Khawaja's hot Ashes bidĬhimaev (10-0), a popular pick to contend for the welterweight belt in the near future, dominated Li Jingliang in his first fight since early last year. READ MORE: Cricket great Alan Davidson dies at 92

Yan got the better of more exchanges and won 49-46 on all three cards. Yan and Sandhagen traded a wide variety of strikes and ground moves in a high-level technical fight that thrilled Abu Dhabi's fans. The UFC decided to award an interim belt to the winner of Yan's showdown with Sandhagen because Sterling isn't ready to return from neck surgery. Yan won the bantamweight belt last year in Abu Dhabi, but lost it to Aljamain Sterling in March when Yan was disqualified for an illegal knee strike in the fourth round of a bout he appeared to be winning in Las Vegas. Teixeira becomes the second fighter to hold the UFC's 205-pound belt since Jon Jones left the division he dominated for much of the past decade in a bid to move up to heavyweight.Įarlier, Yan (16-2) reasserted his claim to the bantamweight belt by beating Sandhagen (14-4) in a thrilling match of elite strikers. He struggled on the ground against Teixeira's jiu-jitsu and fell short in his second defense of the title he won by beating Dominick Reyes last year. After struggling through a 5-5 stretch of his career, Teixeira rededicated his training and reeled off five straight victories since the start of the 2019 to earn this title shot.īłachowicz never got to unleash much of his famed striking strength, dubbed 'Polish Power' by his fans.

Teixeira hadn't fought for a UFC title since 2014, when his 20-fight winning streak was snapped in a clear decision loss to Jon Jones.

Ufc 2 submission defense