UFC 241 went down tonight (Sat. August 17, 2019) from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The world’s leading mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion compiled an excellent card for fight fans to enjoy.
It was headlined by a meeting between Daniel Cormier and Stipe Miocic for the UFC heavyweight title. The co-headliner saw a welterweight bout between Nate Diaz and Anthony Pettis.
Yoel Romero vs. Paulo Costa in a middleweight bout, Gabriel Benitez vs. Sodiq Yusuff in a featherweight bout, and Derek Brunson vs. Ian Heinisch in a middleweight bout rounded out the five bout main card.
Daniel Cormier vs. Stipe Miocic
Early in the first round, Cormier picked up the challenger and slammed him down with ease. Near the end, DC stood up and ate an upkick. Miocic scrambled and DC was on top in the ride landing short hammerfists. Both fighters started to let their hands go as each star landed some hard shots that got the attention of fight fans. The third round saw Stipe clinch and pushed DC to the cage and landed a nice shot inside. DC looked like he might have wanted to rest a bit while also spitting out some blood. Miocic did score a takedown but Cormier was right back up. By round four the former champion was starting to implement body shots as they were adding up. Miocic earned the knockout win when he landed a flurry of strikes up against the fence that was finished on the ground. We have a new UFC heavyweight champ.
Nate Diaz vs. Anthony Pettis
Diaz was pressing early but actually got clipped in the early going. Diaz started to clinch so he could do some dirty boxing. Pettis managed to lock in a guillotine choke on a scramble but Diaz got out of it. The first round ended with Diaz on his back working him over with shots. In the second round, both fighters started to let their hands go. Pettis was spending a lot of time on the cage eating shots. The leg kicks effectively being removed from Pettis’ barrage have changed this fight. In the third round, Diaz fired off several knee strikes and punches to the head that dropped Pettis. Diaz would land some more strikes on the ground before taking his back. Diaz grabbed the decision win.
Yoel Romero vs. Paulo Costa
Both fighters hurt and dropped each other within a minute of the first round. Romero pinned himself back first up against the fence where he was eating some shots but also landing some as well. It was a wild round. Things calmed down slightly in round two with a straight up kickboxing affair. Romero changed things up late in the round with a takedown. Costa came to life in the third round and put it on the UFC vet. In a close fight, Costa got the unanimous decision.
Gabriel Benitez vs. Sodiq Yusuff
Benitez dropped Yusuff with a hard left land in the first round. Yussuf countered a Benitez straight left with a right hook then poured on the strikes on the ground for the finish.
Derek Brunson vs. Ian Heinisch
Heinisch lands a huge head kick in the opening moments that rocked Brunson. However, Brunson recovered and they traded shots while Brunson was hunting down the takedown in round one. Brunson tagged him a few times with his left hand while Heinisch was looking for a takedown. By the second round, Brunson started to come on with his strikes and stuffing takedowns with ease. More of the same in the third round. Brunson completely shut him down and got the unanimous decision win.
Quick UFC 241 Results
Main Card (10 PM ET, PPV)
- Heavyweight title bout: Stipe Miocic def. Daniel Cormier by TKO (punches) at 4:09 of Round 4
- Welterweight bout: Nate Diaz def. Anthony Pettis by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Middleweight bout: Paulo Costa def. Yoel Romero by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Featherweight bout: Sodiq Yusuff def. Gabriel Benitez by TKO (punches) at 4:14 of Round 1
- Middleweight bout: Derek Brunson def. Ian Heinisch by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28
Preliminary Card (8 PM ET, ESPN)
- Lightweight bout: Khama Worthy def. Devonte Smith by TKO (punches) at 4:15 of Round 1
- Bantamweight bout: Cory Sandhagen def. Raphael Assuncao by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Lightweight bout: Drakkar Klose def. Christos Giagos by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28
- Bantamweight bout: Casey Kenney def. Manny Bermudez by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Preliminary Card (6:30 PM ET, ESPN+)
- Women’s strawweight bout: Hannah Cifers def. Jodie Esquibel by unanimous decision (30-28, 30-27, 30-27
- Bantamweight bout: Kyung Ho Kang def. Brandon Davis by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
- Women’s flyweight bout: Sabina Mazo def. Shana Dobson by unanimous decision (30-24, 30-25, 30-25
