Prelim Results | UFC Abu Dhabi

Walker closed the distance quickly and pulled guard as soon as the two clinched up, chasing the heel hook straight away. Peterson rolled and began to extract his leg, defending well, but Walker trapped the calf, scootched forward to increase the pressure, and forced Peterson to tap to the unconventional submission.

“The Clean Monster” is on an incredible run at the moment, earning five straight first-round submission win to try Demian Maia for the longest streak in the Modern UFC era. Only 28 years old, the heavyweight is a rising star, always entertaining, and looking for a bigger matchup next time out.

The short-notice replacement showed no sign of nerves or anxiety on Saturday, landing the better strikes against Jacoby from the outset, stinging the American in the first while flashing his speed and dexterity. In the second, Saidov continued to turn up the pressure and punishment, hurting Jacoby to the body before going up top with a high kick that started the finishing swarm.

Now 10-0 as a professional and with a truly quality win under his belt, Saidov has to be considered a genuine person of interest going forward in the light heavyweight division. Training alongside the likes of Shara Magomedov, Valter Walker, and Bogdan Guskov, “Kubik” could be a dark horse worth backing going forward.

The tall and rangy Brit warmed into the fight at Etihad Arena, finding his range in the back half of the first before turning up the pressure and punishment in the second. Once he recognized he had Ponzinibbio hurt, Patterson walked him down and continued unloading until the veteran finally collapsed.

This is easily the biggest win of Patterson’s career and comes after a frustrating effort against Michael “Venom” Page in London. The Team Crossface man is now 5-1 in the welterweight division with five finishes and called for a showdown with the winner of next weekend’s main event in Belgrade for a date later this year.

Bonfim looked to press the action and close the distance straight away and the Frenchman used it to his advantage, hammering away with elbows to the side of the head that sent Bonfim to the canvas. From there, Sola patiently looked for openings, landing short shots and fishing for submissions before latching onto a D’arce choke and securing the tap just before the first round ended.

After a Fight of the Night battle with Mason Jones last time out, this was an impressive return to the win column for Sola, who moved to 12-1-1 with the win. Don’t be surprised if you see Sola take a step forward in the division and land a spot on the fight card in Paris later this year.

The Brazilian had the greater success in the opening round, backing up Tuchalov and stinging him late with a right hand that instantly created a mouse under the newcomer’s left eye. But at the fight progressed, the unbeaten Russian settled in and found success, showing the full complement of his skills in taking the fight to Ribeiro.

Tuchalov collected 29-28 scores across the board to advance to 7-0 overall and celebrate his first UFC win. There are clear signs of upside present, but an expedient climb up the rankings may not be in the offing for him quite yet.

Aliev leaned on his wrestling as he always does, constantly closing the distance and dragging the American to the mat. While Davis had moments where he scrambled well and chased submissions, Aliev was always keen to the setups, quick to defend, and then right back into his bag.

All three judges scored the fight in favor of Aliev, who advanced to 12-0 with the victory. He’s a suffocating and demoralizing wrestler, and one of only a couple unbeaten talents in the lightweight ranks, so it will be interesting to see how the UFC opts to position him next time out. 

Gibson has quality moments early, threatening with a series of chokes as the two battled on the canvas. Hussein remained patient, found a way through and hurt his American counterpart early in the second, spending the remainder of the round dominating on the canvas, the hunted becoming the hunter as he looked to put Gibson away. In the third, Hussein quickly reclaimed control, stinging the TUF 31 finalist along the fence and spilling him to the ground before finally chasing down the finish.

Finishing a game veteran like Gibson to win your debut is a solid first showing for Hussein, who extended his winning and finishing streaks to nine with the win. Set to turn 29 next Sunday, this was a sweet early birthday present and an entertaining introduction another talent to track in the loaded bantamweight division.