UFC Chile main card results: Reyes stops Cannonier, Luque knocks out Laprise

On the UFC Chile main card, Dominick Reyes kept his perfect record intact by knocking out Jared Cannonier in the first round. Reyes now moves to 9-0, and has put the promotion’s light heavyweight division on notice. Also on the main card, Guido Cannetti scored a hard fought decision win over hometown fighter Diego Rivas. The bout was pretty competitive, but Cannetti seemed to get the better of the transitions to earn 29-28 marks on all three scorecards. In her UFC debut, Andrea Lee picked up a unanimous decision victory over Veronica Macedo, earning 30-27 honors on all three scorecards. Opening up the main card, Vicente Luque put on a stellar performance, stalking Chad Laprise before dropping him with a short left hook to earn the first round knockout. Luque has now achieved a finish in his past six wins.

Main Card:

Dominick Reyes def. Jared Cannonier by TKO at 2:55 of round 1: Light Heavyweight

This bout was action right away, with each man being aggressive. A hard shot landed that seemed to wobble Cannonier, and Reyes did not let him off the hook. Reyes went in for the kill and landed an uppercut that caused Cannonier to do a faceplant, forcing the referee to step in. What a win!

Look at this Reyes uppercut that caused all sorts of issues for Cannonier:

Guido Cannetti def. Diego Rivas by unanimous decision (29-28 x3): Bantamweight

Rivas came out and closed the distance on Cannetti, holding him up against the cage while he searched for a takedown. It was Cannetti who found top position, and when Rivas locked up an armbar, Cannetti spiked him, and then landed a few ground strikes before taking the back. Rivas returned to his feet, but with Cannetti attached to his back. Cannetti was unable to find a sub, and Rivas was able to spin into him, to look for a takedown before the round ended.

An inadvertent low blow occurred as both fighters kicked at the same time to start the second round. Rivas scored a takedown upon the restart, but had too much momentum and was immediately rolled into the bottom position. Cannetti was content to eat up some clock from the top, until the inactivity forced the referee to stand them back up. Rivas blasted a big takedown, but then jumped a guillotine, giving Cannetti the top position.

Rivas started the final round with a sense of urgency, going right at Cannetti with the strikes. From the clinch, Rivas connected with punches, elbows, and knees before dropping down for a takedown. Somewhere in the mix, a cut was opened up over the right eye of Cannetti, but it didn’t seem to affect his vision much. Rivas attacked with a flurry in the final seconds, but was unable to land before time ran out.

The crowd was hyped for Rivas:

There’s more than one way to escape an armbar:

Andrea Lee def. Veronica Macedo by unanimous decision (30-27 x3): (W) Flyweight

Lee found wild success with the Thai clinch, landing an assortment of knees to the gut and to the head alike. The striking advantage clearly resided on the side of Lee, but Macedo landed a few head kicks to get the attention of her opponent. Lee found a takedown quickly transitioned to the back where she worked her subs for the rest of the round.

Lee worked the takedown early in the second round, and when it didn’t appear, she switched it up and threw some knees, which actually opened up the takedown. A bunch of leg kicks scored for lee as she stood above her opponent until the referee stepped in to allow Macedo to return to her feet. Once standing, Macedo picked up a takedown of her own, but quickly got reversed and found herself fending off an arm triangle attempt until the bell sounded.

Lee found top position early in the final frame, and again opted to stand above her opponent, launching leg kicks and eating up kicks whenever she got too close. Just when it looked like they were about to start slugging it out, Lee closed the distance and found a takedown into side control. Lee would control the bulk of the remaining moments of the fight, attempting an armbar late and then finding top position when it didn’t work.

Here’s Macedo showing that Lee isn’t the only one with strikes:

Knees and knees and knees:

Vicente Luque def. Chad Laprise by KO at 4:16 of round 1: Welterweight

Luque took the center of the Octagon, pumping his jab as Laprise played the outside. Laprise closed the distance, but was unable to mount any offense because of it and opted to disengage into open space. Luque continued to pressure forward, stalking his opponent until the opening presented itself, and boy did it! A short left hook clipped Laprise as he threw a jab, dropping him to the ground, and a few followup strikes sealed the deal. What a finish from Luque!

Look at this lethal left hook from Luque: