Prelim Results | UFC Shanghai

The more experienced and polished Brazilian was the more effective of the two throughout the first two rounds, constantly walking down Batbayar and landing the bigger shots in what was a relatively low output contest on both sides. Midway through the third, Lima dove on a guillotine choke as the Mongolian dipped his head, quickly transitioning to full mount and securing the tap.

This was a great finish and solid win for the talented Dana White’s Contender Series grad, who moved to 5-1 in the UFC with the victory. Unfortunately for Lima, he missed weight for the second time in his UFC tenure, eliminating himself from the bonus conversation.

The Japanese standout took Borjas down in under a minute, spending the next several minutes punishing the Peruvian from top position. When Borjas worked to his feet, Tsuruya quickly took his back and dragged him back to the canvas, patiently working to find an opening to secure the rear-naked choke finish.

That’s two first-round submission wins in three months for the 24-year-old prospect, who has spoken about wanting to earn a place amongst the rising stars in the flyweight division. Mission accomplished, Rei.

But Jenkins changed approaches in the second, turning to his grappling and controlling things on the canvas to draw level before they stayed upright for the duration of the third, trading shots through to the final horn.

When the scorecards were collected and totalled, it was Woodson that landed on the happy side of the split decision verdict, getting himself back into the win column. The Contender Series grad is a difficult puzzle to solve for anyone in the division and should once again find himself on the doorstep of the Top 15 after this hard-earned win over a game Jenkins.

Xiao opened the fight with a flying knee that landed to the chest of Nuzzi before the bout was paused for a moment due to an accidental eye poke by the Italian newcomer. Right off the restart, Nuzzi stung Xiao and began to unload, grabbing a collar tie with his right hand and pumping home lefts until Xiao collapsed.

It only took Nuzzi a minute to register the 12th and biggest win of his professional career, proving himself deserving of the opportunity to compete on the biggest stage in the sport.

The Brazilian kickboxer was the more active and effective of the two in the opening round, forcing Lui to stand and landing the more impactful shots over the first five minutes. Seconds into the middle stanza, a right hand rattled Lui and Santiago took full advantage, pressing forward and connecting with a driving right hand that put the City Kickboxing man on the canvas, opening the door for the finish.

You couldn’t have asked for a better showing under the circumstances for Santiago, as the 33-year-old looked like a seasoned veteran in his promotional debut. What an outstanding performance and a ton-setter for Team Lucas Martins, who sends Andre Lima into the Octagon later tonight.

The strawweights spend the first half of the round trading blows in space, neither landing anything that shifted the momentum clearly in their favor. But as they engaged along the fence, Polastri attacked the body with a left and then went high with her right leg as Xiong looked to exit, catching her flush and knocking her out cold.

Just a devastating finish from “Pyscho,” who continued her pattern of alternating results through each of her UFC appearances, leveling her record to 3-3 in the process. Had she not missed weight, this would have been a perfect business trip for the Dana White’s Contender Series graduate.

Ding did well to keep things standing in the third, landing the better shots throughout, but nothing that truly rattled Nelson and opened up opportunities to try and chase down a finish before the Canuck finally dragged him back to the canvas in the final minute to salt things away.

All three judges scored the fight in favor of Nelson, who pushed his winning streak to six while becoming the first competitor from Prince Edward Island to compete and win inside the Octagon. This was a gutsy outing for the newcomer, who took the fight on three weeks’ notice and made the absolute most of it.