Thiago Santos climbs the UFC cage at UFC Fight Night 125

The Body Lock brings you live results and updates of all the action taking place at UFC Fight Night 145 in Prague, Czech Republic.

In the main event, Jan Blachowicz will do battle with heavy-hitting Thiago Santos.

Also on the card is the always exciting Petr Yan, who will compete against John Dodson in an intriguing bantamweight clash.

Read on for results, commentary and highlights.


UFC Prague Results

Main Card

  • Thiago Santos def. Jan BÅ‚achowicz via KO/TKO (punches) – R3, 0:39
  • Stefan Struve def. Marcos Rogerio de Lima via submission (arm-triangle choke) – R2, 2:21
  • MichaÅ‚ Oleksiejczuk def. Gian Villante via TKO (body strikes) – R1, 1:34
  • Liz Carmouche def. Lucie Pudilova via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 x2)
  • Petr Yan def. John Dodson via unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
  • Magomed Ankalaev def. Klidson Abreu via unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 29-28)

Prelims

  • Dwight Grant def. Carlo Pedersoli via KO/TKO (punches) – R1, 4:59
  • Chris Fishgold def. Daniel Teymur via submission (RNC) – R2, 1:10
  • Gillian Robertson def. Veronica Macedo via submission (RNC) – R2, 3:27
  • Damir Hadžović def. Polo Reyes via TKO (ground and pound) – R2, 2:03
  • Ismail Naurdiev def. Michael Prazeres via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27 x2)
  • Diego Ferreira def. Rustam Khabilov (30-27 x2, 29-28)
  • Damir Ismagulov def. Joel Alvarez via unanimous decision (30-27 x3)

Thiago Santos finishes Jan Błachowicz early in the third

The respect between both fighters in the early going is palpable. The hesitation from Thiago Santos has been different from past bouts, Jan BÅ‚achowicz is finding his patented jab still. The kicks are coming at regular pace for Santos, but there needs to be more setup to each strike to penetrate the defense of the Polack. Razor thin difference between both fighters at the end of the first, judges scorecards will likely be divided at the end of the first five minutes.

The battle of leg kicks starts to take place in round two. Santos and Blachowicz are going tit-for-tat on strikes as they start to look to pull ahead. Santos has beckoned some of the best striking on display from Blachowicz since his UFC debut. A highly contested bout thus far, and both fighters are playing high stakes chess with extremely lethal consequences. Santos starting to get a little impatient with the timidness of his opponent.

Jan Blachowicz came out with a bit more intensity in round three, much to his demise. Thiago Santos found his golden moment as he laid out a trap for his massive right hand, and the following ground strikes were a foregone conclusion for this fight. Santos is now the owner of a four-fight win streak in the UFC, and a possible claim to the next title shot with this victory.

Stefan Struve comes back in a big way, finishes Marcos Rogerio de Lima

Marcos Rogerio De Lima wasting little time to get acquainted against Stefan Struve with a quick takedown following a strike. The imposition of strength starts here for de Lima. The Brazilian is suffocating with top pressure as he pushes his shoulders into his opponent. Struve looked for a kimura attempt but de Lima quickly collapsed onto his weak side to prevent that danger. de Lima is finding thunderous short strikes from half control and is making this fight a tough one. He ends the round with complete control over his opponent as Struve didn’t even record a strike to his favor in the entire first round.

de Lima continues the same gameplan from last round as Struve simply has no answer for the forward pressure. Struve counters a trip from de Lima and falls into half control. Amazingly, Struve puts his all into an arm-triangle choke and forces his opponent to tap from the pressure. Quite the comeback for the Dutch fighter, and a great win to get him back in the good graces of the organization.

Michał Oleksiejczuk finds the liver shot against Gian Villante

Michał Oleksiejczuk using erratic movement early to throw different looks at Gian Villante. Villante found some success early with a straight, but the action would soon end by the hands of the Polish juggernaut. A massive liver shot to the body sent Villante sinking to the canvas for our quickest finish of the night thus far.

Liz Carmouche defeats Lucie Pudilova in enemy territory

Lucie Pudilova came out to massive cheers from the crowd as a hometown favorite. Liz Carmouche did well to cancel out the noise and establish her grappling early against the fence. Even still, Pudilova is managing her hips well against the cage and Carmouche is struggling to really make the most of this position. Carmouche suffers a cut near her hairline towards the end of the round that could complicate the fight going forward.

Pudilova hesitating to make the most of her striking credentials with the fear of grappling already established. The Czech fighter has done well to gain octagon control and linger over her opponent in an imposing manner. Carmouche hasn’t been able to offer much in terms of standup due to Pudilova’s length advantage. The American finishes the round with a takedown but doesn’t have enough time to do anything meaningful with that control.

The Czech striker continues to throw strikes with a little more abandonment this round, but none of her straights can find a target. The striking accuracy says it all for Pudilova as she is struggling to land even 15% of the strikes she throws. Carmouche grabs a failed axe kick from Pudilova to slide into side control. She focuses in on the left hand of Pudilova in search for a kimura. Carmouche locks down on a heel hook, but she doesn’t have the leverage to make her opponent tap and Pudilova is able to wrap around for top control. Pudilova unleashes a slew of strikes from the top in the dying seconds, but it may be too little too late for the hometown hero as Carmouche put in another stifling performance.

Petr Yan puts on a show against John Dodson

Petr Yan coming into this bout a little more calculated than usual as John Dodson tries to bull rush his opponent early. Yan still chooses to impose his control to keep Dodson on the fence, but fails to capitalize on strikes as Dodson catches a leg. Yan lands a seething right hand that touches the chin of Dodson. He wanted to drive for a takedown from the body lock but Dodson remains tough against the fence and refuses to give Yan the advantage he’s looking for on the ground. ‘No Mercy’ really showing his opponent the merits of his nickname but Dodson lands a crisp one-two to close out the round.

The scrappiness in this fight is hard to encapsulate for any kind of play-by-play action. Dodson and Yan are going blow for blow as the Jackson-Wink product doesn’t want to give any kind of advantage towards his opponent. ‘No Mercy’ starts to settle into a flow of striking but Dodson counters with a huge right hand that leaves Petr Yan on his butt momentarily. Yan does such a great job of baiting in Dodson to throw his right hand and immediately unloads a left hook, right straight combo that wobbled his opponent.

Yan is doing an impeccable job of making the octagon smaller for his opponent. John Dodson is still finding scenarios to land his left hand, but there isn’t as much venom behind his attacks in this round. Yan is landing his right hand at will now, and the pressure is evident by the way Dodson is trying to avoid the offense. Dodson just barely dodges a flying knee from Yan but he continues to keep the pressure and locks Dodson into position for a probable back take. John Dodson avoids a point deduction for pulling on the fence, but the decision won’t matter as Petr Yan clearly proved himself a cut above his opponent in this fight.

Magomed Ankalaev defeats Klidson Abreu via UD

Rather docile first round in the first opening minutes until Klidson Abreu found a quick jab. Magomed Ankalaev wasted little time to exact revenge, and lands a stinging right uppercut that immediately shatters the nose of Abreu. With his nose broken, Abreu starts to change game plans as he looks to pull guard and engage the grappling. Ankalaev doesn’t play his game, and instead decides to reign down strikes and add more damage to the nose of his opponent. The bleeding has become a slight issue for Abreu at this point, and you have to wonder how much more punishment he can receive without calling in the doctor for a quick evaluation.

Abreu opens up the round well with a head kick that lands. Ankalaev postures up like a sleeping giant, remaining calm until he finds the precise moment to throw hands. You have to admire the mental toughness of Abreu to endure damage and still come forward without fear. Ankalaev closes out the round trying to make it gritty for his opponent as he engages the grappling. Abreu may be the more proven fighter on the ground, but there’s little energy or space for him to work his ground game.

Ankalaev continues to follow the blueprint to a tee and continues pounding the already battered nose of his opponent. Abreu is already lacking the cardio, but continues attempting knees in order to break through the staunch defense of his opponent. An entertaining three rounds, but there’s no doubt that Ankalaev comes out the victor of this bout.

Dwight Grant finishes Carlo Pedersoli in emphatic fashion

Carlo Pedersoli starts this fight as the aggressor as he attempts different looks to engage the offense early. The southpaw is finding success with his lead right hook, and Dwight Grant is looking slighly displaced against this offensive pressure. Both fighters are swinging with bad intentions, but are hesitant to fully pull the trigger for fear of a counter strike. Grant’s reach for this matchup is impressive, but Pedersoli is doing a good job of never staying still and keep Grant on his toes. A back-and-forth round thus far, and out of nowhere Grant lands a monster right hand that sends Pedersoli’s mouthguard flying. The ensuing ground and pound was too much to overcome for the Italian as he seemingly lost consciousness. Amazing finish for Dwight Grant to obtain a first round stoppage right before the whistle.

Chris Fishgold finishes Daniel Teymur with a sneaky RNC

Chris Fishgold goes for an early takedown that gets Daniel Teymur against the fence. Teymur grabs the fence on the way down and is immediately deducted a point for denying the position that Fishgold was sure to attain. The fighting resumes and Fishgold puts the pressure on him immediately but Teymur recovers quickly. Top control has been traded back and forth and the action resets in the middle as Teymur finds some excellent strikes. Fishgold is relentless in his pursuit of the takedown and looks for a submission with the back control he just attained. The fighting this round has been ferocious, and Fishgold almost secured a submission victory via arm-bar if it wasn’t for Teymur’s toughness in the dying seconds.

Teymur is showing his potency in the striking department, but Fishgold is no joke with his grappling as he is taking down his opponent seemingly at will. Fishgold sneaks around his opponent to secure the back and secures a quick RNC against his exhausted opponent. Excellent display of grappling for the Scouse in his UFC debut.

Gillian Robertson submits Veronica Macedo via rear-naked choke

Veronica Macedo comes out of the gate early with some blinding speed behind her straight right that doesn’t find her target quite yet. Gillian Robertson counters the pressure with a grapple exchange that gives her top control from mount. Macedo uses the cage in order to switch positions but Robertson is keeping control of her legs to force her will. She paces up the cage but this time Robertson is privy of the move, and uses her movement to take the back of her opponent. Macedo is known as a striker but her ability to get out of danger has been admirable so far.

The second round continues in the same vain, as Robertson is focusing on the grappling and countering the hard body kicks of Macedo to engage takedowns. Robertson shifts from side control in an attempt to land an arm-triangle choke, but Macedo counters. Even still, the danger from Robertson is ever present and she’s laying down the foundation for more submsissions in mount. Gillian ‘The Savage’ Robertson forces her opponent to break by giving up her back and forces an RNC to end the fight.

Damir Hadzovic finishes Polo Reyes via TKO (ground & pound)

The striking exchanges have been tense in the opening minutes. Both fighters are looking for the right moment to engage as Hadzovic starts to find some openings behind his jab. Polo Reyes is not dormant by any stretch, as he finds success with his lead left and follows that with a leg kick on the way out. Hadzovic clinches against the cage and lands a left hook on the release. While the striking numbers have been even, Hadzovic may very well steal the round with his takedown attempt. Hadzovic seemingly the more studied fighter in this opening round as he had an answer for every scenario.

Reyes feeling the need to land more strikes in the second round but Hadzovic counters expertly with a wonderful leg catch that leads to a takedown. Within seconds, Hadzovic finds himself in top position and is forcing a back take with dominant strikes from this point. The strikes simply became overwhelming and there was no way for Reyes to respond. Hadzovic picks up our first finish of the evening in dominant fashion.

‘Austrian Wonderboy’ Ismail Naurdiev takes a unanimous decision in UFC debut

Michael Prazeres wastes little time to close the distance on Ismail Naurdiev with an early clinch. Naurdiev eventually regains his footing and now the striking starts to take hold. Prazeres suffered wobbly legs when Naurdiev went for a switch kick, and now the tables have been turned as the Austrian establishes ground-and-pound and submission attempts to retaliate. A spirited first round from the Austrian international, and the crowd is firmly behind him as they approach the stools.

Both fighters are obviously sapped from their first round exploits. Prazeres starts to walk down his opponent against the cage, but Naurdiev is finding the target with his jab and a left roundhouse to the head and body. Even still, Prazeres comes forward with the intensity of a bull, but Naurdiev is proving his craftiness on the ground as well.

The fatigue has now officially set in for Prazeres as the initial minutes were spent holding down his opponent with a body lock against the fence> After being broken apart, Prazeres returns to the ground with another takedown but Naurdiev is simply making himself hard to move as the ground transitions have seemingly reached a deadlock. Naurdiev is desperately searching for a finish but Prazeres is weathering the storm. In the final minutes of the fight, it’s an offensive onslaught from the Austrian as he puts his stamp on this bout, and shows shades of brilliance in his UFC debut against a game opponent.

Diego Ferreira defeats Rustam Khabilov by UD

Diego Ferreira has put the pressure on his opponent early with some solid striking to open his account. Rustam Khabilov seems poised in the pocket, though, and doesn’t hesitate to dodge a few strikes in order to trade. Ferreira found some success early, but Khabilov worked in a takedown of his own to tilt the momentum of the fight. Khabilov continues to circle towards his right hand but Ferreira is hyper aware of this trap. The setups from Ferreira have been the difference maker in this first round. Although Khabilov found another single leg, Ferreira quickly made him pay with an evasion that almost granted him an arm-bar attempt to close the round.

Khabilov obviously listened to his corner advice this round as he changed his gameplan noticeably in the second. The Russian was relying too much on his right hand to do damage. Now the setups are coming from his lead left hook and Ferreira is having trouble finding the range. Khabilov continues to look for takedowns, but there is no keeping Ferreira on the mat as the Brazilian lifts himself from the canvas at will. A scrappy 10 minutes of action so far, and Khabilov may have tied up the rounds with his output.

The action has slowed down slightly with both fighters fatigued, and Khabilov is starting to find openings that weren’t there before. While his ground game has been neutralized by the Brazilian, the striking exchanges have become much more contentious. A spirited effort from both fighters, but the numbers are clearly in favor of Ferreira as his output may have put him ahead in the final minutes.

Damir Ismagulov defeats Joel Alvarez in second UFC appearance

Our first fight of the evening brings an interesting matchup between seasoned lightweights. Joel Alvarez is using his length to his advantage, but Damir Ismagulov has the speed to counter effectively. Level changes from Ismagulov have been vital to evading strikes and setting up his own combinations. The mobility from the Russian has granted him control of the fight so far, and the left hooks have started to make a mark on his opponent.

The second round saw much of the same themes as Alvarez can’t engage his offense with ease. The speed advantage is firmly in Ismagulov’s favor and his straight right hand has been punishing in this bout. The output of strikes has also been an added benefit for the Russian as he continues to mix up his offense with body and head strikes. Alvarez needs a finish in round three if he wants to come out on top.

Ismagulov has kept the same pace for all three rounds, which is a testament to his cardio thus far. While it doesn’t seem like he possesses the KO power to finish Alvarez, the culmination of strikes has put a toll on his opponent. Ismagulov continues to catch the leg of Alvarez and lay into his straight right hand, possibly his most potent weapon of the fight.


UFC Fight Night 145 Bonuses

  • Thiago Santos earned a Performance of the Night bonus after crushing Jan Blachowicz with punches
  • Stefan Struve came back to win by TKO in the second round against Marcos Rogerio de Lima and earned a Performance of the Night bonus
  • Dwight Grant walloped Carlo Pedersoli on his way to a Performance of the Night bonus
  • Michal Oelksiejczuk stabbed Gian Villante with a left hook to the liver, earning a Performance of the Night bonus

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