UFC Fight Night 49 Main Card Recap: Rafael Dos Anjos Knocks Out Ben Henderson In Oklahoma
The second event of the day from the Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC Fight Night 49, went down tonight (Saturday, Aug.16 2014) from the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma and it featured another great card of mixed martial arts action.
Headlining the event was a pivotal battle in the lightweight division as former champion Benson Henderson took on Brazilian standout Rafael Dos Anjos which had a short but dramatic finish. Right from the bell RDA came after Henderson and was showing him no respect on the feet.
A flying knee from Dos Anjos put “Bendo” on his back and when Henderson got back up he was met with a crushing left hook which put his lights out. “Smooth” appealed against the stoppage as he recovered quickly but the correct decision was made by “Big” John McCarthy.
The co-main featured one of the best finishes of the night as Jordan Mein flattened UFC vet Mike Pyle in just over one minute with a devastating left hook. Mein followed the shot up with a few more on the ground but Pyle was already done and referee Dan Miragliotta waived of the contest. With the stoppage “Young Gun” has back-to-back wins in the UFC following his victory over Hernani Perpetuo in April.
Former middleweight title challenger Thales Leites picked up his fourth straight win since his return to the UFC with a impressive second round upset over Francis Carmont. The Brazilian was unable to launch much of an offence in the first round but he came out firing early in the second and surprised Carmont with a quick barrage of punches. A couple of hard shots was enough to down “Limitless” and hand Leites his second straight win by KO/TKO.
Max Holloway and UFC newcomer Clay Collard put together one of the most exciting scraps of the night in their catchweight bout. Collard took the fight on just 10-ten days notice, stepping in for the injured Mirsad Bektic, he turned out to be a great replacement as he came at Holloway non-stop throughout the contest. However, despite his valiant effort, “Blessed” was just too much for him to handle and picked him apart before getting the finish in the final round.
The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) Live semi-finalist James Vick made a successful return to the UFC after a year long lay off to pick up his second win inside the Octagon over the debuting Valmir Lazaro. Vick had the Nova Uniao Fighter hurt numerous times throughout the fight but Lazaro refused to quit, but it didn’t matter as he went on to lose a decision.
Opening up the main card was a featherweight contest between Chas “The Scraper” Skelly and Finland’s Tom Niinimaki. It took Skelly under a minute to secure a takedown, from there he was able to quickly take his opponents back before sinking in a rear-naked choke. Niinimaki tried to break out but the squeeze was too much and he was forced to tap.
UFC Fight Night 49 Main Card Results:
Chas Skelly def. Tom Niinimaki via submission (rear-naked choke) Round 1 – 2:35
James Vick def. Valmir Lazaro via unanimous decision
Max Holloway def. Clay Collard via TKO (punches) Round 3 – 3:47
Thales Leites def. Francis Carmont via KO (punch) Round 2 – 0:20
Jordan Mein def. Mike Pyle via TKO (punches) Round 1 – 1:21
Rafael Dos Anjos def. Benson Henderson via KO Round 1 – 2:31
Photo: Joe Camporeale for USA TODAY Sports
