Austin, Dec 3: Austin, Nov 3: Arman Tsarukyan only needed a minute to make a statement at UFC Austin.
The No. 8 lightweight in the UFC’s rankings made short work of Beneil Dariush in the main event, knocking the veteran flat with a devastating combination to improve his record to 21-3.
Initially, it appeared Tsarukyan had taken out Dariush with a knee to the face, but subsequent replay showed the knee actually didn’t connect.
Instead, it was a quick follow-up with his right hand that pushed back Dariush and ended the fight.
The loss is Dariush’s second straight after an eight-fight win streak, having lost to former champ Charles Oliveira at UFC 289 in June.
The co-main event offered another opportunity to watch lightweight contenders go head-to-head as No. 12 Jalin Turner faced No. 13 Bobby Green.
Green had won his last two fights, but Turner was coming off back-to-back split decision losses.
Turner turned things around and ended the fight at 2:49 of the first round with some brutal ground and pound.
Referee Kerry Hatley watched on as Turner wobbled Green, then sat Green down with some follow up shots.
But Green being nearly unconscious on the ground wasn’t enough for Hatley as he allowed the fight to continue. Turner viciously unleashed more shots on Green and the fight was finally called around 15 unanswered ground-and pound strikes later.
Also on the stacked card, former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo made his bantamweight debut against veteran Rob Font and showed he’s just as powerful at 135 as he was at 125.
Figueiredo put the division on notice with a dominant outing versus Font and won 30-27 on all three judges’ scorecards.
Former women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate returned to her vintage form to dominate Julia Avila at 135 pounds.
After a long hiatus, Tate made her comeback to the UFC at flyweight, but looked incredible back at bantamweight in the fight against Avila.
UFC Austin fans saw one of the rarer ways to end a fight in all of mixed martial artists. Then they saw it again a half-hour later.
A pair of back-to-back prelim fights ended in wild fashion Saturday, with Drakkar Klose and Cody Brundage both ending their fights via a head slam.
Klose was up first, making a return to the Octagon after sitting out more than a year due to a torn ACL. The six-year UFC veteran got taken down early by Joe Solecki, but managed to get on top when his opponent went for his back. Solecki responded by going for an armbar, which turned out to be a very bad idea. Elsewhere, Miesha Tate hadn’t competed in 17 months prior, but she dominated her way to victory Saturday in her bantamweight return.
On the UFC on ESPN 52 prelims at Moody Center in Austin, Texas, Tate (21-9 MMA, 7-6 UFC) defeated Julia Avila (9-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC) by submission at 1:15 of Round 3.
From the opening seconds of the fight, Tate out-grappled Avila with strong, heavy wrestling and frequent submission attempts. Although Avila did just enough to deny earlier submission tries, she failed to do so early in Round 3 when Tate locked in a rear-naked choke. The tap came quickly.
After the fight, a fired-up Tate mentioned the hard work she put in during training camp and how she was motivated by frequent mentions of “retirement” by MMMA conversationalists.
Despite her domination, Tate appeared to suffer a leg injury and was carried out of the cage by fiancé Johnny Nunez.
Miesha Tate is carried out of the octagon by her husband after a DOMINANT win over Julia Avila at #UFCAustin. Tate, 37, moves to 2-2 since he returned from retirement in 2021. Tate attempted flyweight in her previous bout, a lopsided loss to Lauren Murphy in July 2022, but plans to stick at bantamweight.
Returning from pregnancy, Avila had not competed since June 2021. Avila, 35, falls to 1-2 in her most recent three bouts. (Agencies)
