UFC Fight Night 145 Results: Popular fighter announces his retirement after epic win
UFC's first event in the Czech Republic had everything that you'd expect from a typical MMA card. Hard-fought decisions, the quintessential knockouts and the rise of new title contenders - the first ever fight night in Prague had it all!
Stefan Struve quite possibly announced his retirement on a night that saw him return to the win column. That was just one the major highlights of the show as a new Light Heavyweight title challenger rose to the occasion in the main event.
Here are the UFC results of Fight Night 145: Blachowicz vs. Santos:
Prelims Results:
* Welterweight: Dwight Grant def. Carlo Pedersoli Jr. via TKO (Punches) (4:59, Round One)
* Featherweight: Chris Fishgold def. Daniel Teymur via submission (rear-naked choke) (1:10, Round One)
* Women's Flyweight: Gillian Robertson def. Veronica Macedo via submission (rear-naked choke) (3:27, Round Two)
* Featherweight: Damir Hadzovic def. Marco Polo Reyes via TKO (Punches) (2:03, Round Two)
* Welterweight.: Ismail Naurdiev def. Michel Prazeres via by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
* Featherweight: Diego Ferreira def. Rustam Khabilov via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
* Featherweight.: Damir Ismagulov def. Joel Alvarez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
#1. Magomed Ankalaev (11-1) vs. Kidson Abreu (14-2) (Light Heavyweight)
A Light Heavyweight fight between a Dagestani and a Brazilian kicked off the main card festivities of the night. Ankalaev was coming off a Performance of the Night victory against Marcin Prachnio while this was set to be Abreu's UFC debut.
Round 1: Abreu closed the range immediately as the fight kicked off. Ankalaev pushed forward and landed a good leg kick. They locked up in a clinch as Abreu attempted a leg trip.
Magomed stayed on his feet as both men jockeyed for position near the cage. Abreu connected with a long right hook that sent Magomed back. Ankalaev caught Abreu with a nice shot right uppercut that wobbled Abreu. Magomed went for the kill but Abreu steadied himself only to eat a high kick while retreating.
Abreu's nose looked busted as he let Magomed get on top of him. Magomed tried working his way in top control with the occasional ground and pound. Magomed ended the round on top as Abreu's nose looked broken for sure.
Magomed - 10-9
Round 2: Magomed looked to counter Abreu's level changes with the short right uppercuts and he did so once again. It was a fairly cautious first two minutes of the second round as Abreu's nose predictably gave looked to give him some discomfort.
Magomed was sharp and fast as he waited for Abreu to level change to unleash a combination of rights. He stuffed a takedown attempt from Abreu and clinched onto the cage.
Magomed tripped Abreu's leg and did a great job of taking the fight to the mat. Magomed worked his way into Abreu's guard which left him vulnerable to a potential arm triangle choke.
However, there wasn't much time left as Magomed ended another round in dominant fashion.
Magomed 10-9
Round 3: Magomed waited for Abreu to commit as usual and avoided the flurry before trying to connect with shots of his own. He caught an Abreu's attempted kick and got him off balance. Magomed kept going for the lead hand to set up the uppercut but it got predictable by now.
The voices around the arena grew louder as there were just over two minutes left on the clock. Both men clinched once again as Abreu attempted the leg trip. A good elbow from the clinch as the referee called for both fighters to make it work to avoid the split.
The referee rightfully broke them apart and the fight came to a close as Abreu wildly swung his hands in a bid to get a last-ditch knockout.
Result: Magomed Ankalaev def. Kidson Abreu via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Magomed extended his winning streak to two fights as he handed Abreu a loss on his UFC debut.