UFC on Fox 23 unfolded Saturday evening at Pepsi Center in Denver, and Valentina Shevchenko stole the show in the main event with a second-round victory via submission over a fiery Julianna Pena.
The triumph represented the second straight for Shevchenko, who bested Holly Holm via unanimous decision in July to rise up the bantamweight ranks.
Pena secured the first clinch of the bout and used her knees to strike Shevchenko early, but Shevchenko countered by notching the first takedown. That said, Shevchenko didn't offer much in the way of effective offense, as SB Nation's Bloody Elbow observed:
Pena followed up with a pair of takedowns in the second round, but Shevchenko came up with a stunning armbar as the frame drew to a close to wipe away thoughts of her initial inability to generate consistent strikes.
And considering she's a kickboxer by trade, Shevchenko's ability to pull off a win in that fashion was remarkable, according to MMA Fighting:
By virtue of Saturday's win, Shevchenko is now primed for a showdown against Amanda Nunes for the bantamweight belt.
And with Nunes in attendance, Shevchenko didn't hesitate to call out The Lioness in advance of one of the promotion's most anticipated tilts, via the UFC on Twitter:
Before Shevchenko stole the show in dramatic fashion, the evening had a slew of compelling fights for the packed house to enjoy. Below, you'll find a rundown of Saturday's complete results along with a recap of the other three fights featured on the main card.
Main Card
- Valentina Shevchenko def. Julianna Pena via a second-round submission
- Jorge Masvidal def. Donald Cerrone via a second-round TKO
- Francis Ngannou def. Andrei Arlovski via a first-round TKO
- Jason Knight def. Alex Caceres via a second-round submission
Undercard
- Sam Alvey def. Nate Marquardt via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Raphael Assuncao def. Aljamain Sterling via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Li Jingliang def. Bobby Nash via a second-round TKO
- Jordan Johnson def. Luis Henrique da Silva via unanimous decision
- Eric Spicely def. Alessio Di Chirico via a first-round submission
- Marcos Rogerio de Lima def. Jeremy Kimball via a first-round TKO
- Alexandre Pantoja def. Eric Shelton via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Jason Gonzalez def. J.C. Cottrell via submission
Highlights and Analysis
Jason Knight appears to be going places.
On the heels of a unanimous-decision victory over Dan Hooker at a UFC Fight Night event in November, The Kid secured arguably his most impressive win to date on Saturday evening.
Matched up against Alex Caceres, the 24-year-old brought his tactical best and secured a victory via submission (rear-naked choke) in the second round.
Bloody Elbow broke down how Knight was able to stop Caceres in his tracks:
Knight has now won three fights in a row and is 3-1 in UFC fights, according to ESPN.com's Brett Okamoto.
And now that he's riding a hot streak and has carved out a place for himself in the featherweight division, Knight has his eyes set on a showdown against Dooho Choi, according to MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani:
The evening's second showdown didn't last as long.
As expected, Francis Ngannou made light work of Andrei Arlovski and dispatched his challenger 92 seconds into the first round.
UFC on Fox provided a breakdown of some of the elite striking that allowed Ngannou to take control and never look back:
With a third straight first-round win under his belt, Ngannou is now looking like a force to be reckoned with in the heavyweight division. And as Helwani noted, his rising star could make him a tough out for even the toughest heavyweights moving forward:
The final showdown before the main event featured a vicious brawl between Jorge Masvidal and Donald Cerrone, as the UFC documented on Twitter:
Masvidal appeared headed for a first-round TKO when he had Cerrone on the canvas and started to blast away, but Cowboy was saved by the bell to ensure there would be a second round.
As it turns out, the second stanza didn't last long.
Masvidal continued to impose his will, and the fight was stopped in his favor a minute into Round 2, as UFC on Fox showed:
And while his performance was impressive from top to bottom, Okamoto raised an important point regarding Cerrone's fitness after he fought on Dec. 10 at UFC 206:
Cerrone will be back in the Octagon soon if his grueling track record is any indication, but Masvidal needs to be monitored as a welterweight wrecking ball now that he's rattled off three straight wins over quality competition.
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