Kyler Phillips began the preliminary contests with a decision victory over veteran Pedro Munhoz. Mateusz Gamrot and Maycee Barber followed suit, with their fights going all three rounds and ending in decision victories.
The final bout in the preliminary section of the night featured a round 2 TKO by Curtis Blaydes over Jailton Almeida via hammerfists, ending the latter’s six-year winning streak.
Beginning the main card was the contest between former UFC Bantamweight champion Petr Yan and Song Yadong. Yan captured a unanimous decision of 29-28, breaking his three-match loss streak.
The next matchup featured Welterweights Gilbert Burns vs. Jack Della Maddalena. Burns was up in points, having scored 20-18 in 2 rounds, but Maddalena landed a choice knee to the chin of Burns with just 77 seconds remaining in the fight, resulting in a knockout victory for Maddalena.
The third fight was another Welterweight bout between Kevin Holland and Michael “Venom” Page, and ended in a unanimous decision of 29-28 for Page.
The co-main event was a swift brawl between veteran Dustin Poirier and Benoit Saint Denis. Round 1 was filled with grappling, leaving Saint Denis up 10-9. In the second round, Poirier immediately began landing some hard hits on Saint Denis. He got the knockout 2 minutes and 32 seconds into the round, getting the win over Saint Denis.
The main event was a climactic, if not even, struggle. In a contest between Sean O’Malley and the man who gave him the only loss on his record, Marlon “Chito” Vera, all 5 rounds showed O’Malley’s superior skill. The final scorecards handed in by the officials showed scores of 50-45, 50-45, and 50-44.
O’Malley confirmed his next fight would come against the top contender in the division, Merab Dvalishvili. No date has yet been announced for that contest.
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