UFC London main card results: Blachowicz wins slugfest vs. Manuwa, Duquesnoy beats Ware

The main card for UFC Fight Night: Werdum vs. Volkov is almost complete, as the first three fights are in the books. Leon Edwards extended his winning streak to five with a last-second (literally) TKO of Peter Sobotta, Tom Duquesnoy got back in the win column with a hard-fought decision over Terrion Ware, and Jan Blachowicz took the decision over Jimi Manuwa in an exciting rematch of their decidedly unexciting first encounter. Here’s how the fights played out.

Jan Blachowicz def. Jimi Manuwa by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27) – Light Heavyweights

Manuwa came out swinging his trademark left hook, which Blachowicz evaded. A head kick partially landed on the Polish fighter, then Manuwa cracked Jan with a ripping left to the body. Manuwa scored with a couple of powerful body kicks, as he worked on the front foot. Blachowicz dropped Manuwa with a heavy right hand and was searching for the bulldog choke. Manuwa escaped the submission but he was still very hurt. Blachowicz hurt Manuwa again and almost took the back. Manuwa stopped Blachowicz’s takedown, all while bleeding out of his nose. Blachowicz exited the clinch with a left-right combo upstairs. They swung at each other to cap off a topsy-turvy round one.

Blachowicz peppered Manuwa with his jab to kick off the second round. A pair of left hooks to the body prompted a Blachowicz takedown, and Manuwa elevated to his feet in an instant. Blachowicz caught Manuwa with an uppercut through the guard, but Jimi stayed upright. Blachowicz again sought the takedown, and Manuwa continued to defend them with success. A foot sweep put Manuwa down, then he went for the rear-naked choke, but Manuwa spun out and back to his feet. Blachowicz got tagged with a left hook and again shot for a takedown to prevent any follow-up strikes. A hard jab momentarily froze Blachowicz, and when Jan did land, the power from round one clearly wasn’t there in round two. A massive head kick rocked Blachowicz, who somehow didn’t go down.

Manuwa slung a left hook Blachowicz’s way and Jan’s seemingly brick head just took it without issue. Jan counterpunched Manuwa to the top of the head in another exchange, as the two continued to trade heavy artillery. Blachowicz tried to strategically snipe out Manuwa with his jab. Manuwa wasn’t throwing much in the way of volume, as he was dead set on power. Blachowicz was in control of the final frame, outlanding Manuwa consistently. A crucial takedown essentially dashed hopes of a Manuwa comeback, as Blachowicz takes the rematch in a thoroughly enjoyable contest.

Tom Duquesnoy def. Terrion Ware by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27) – Bantamweights

Duquesnoy immediately pressured Ware and was aggressive with his leg kicks. Not only would he throw them as single shots, he would punctuate punching combinations with those low kicks. Ware landed a good body shot in a close exchange, but Duquesnoy was responsible for most of the offense. After a failed suplex, Duquesnoy ripped up Ware with a beautiful 1-2. Ware demonstrated a great chin and didn’t even seem wobbled. Ware threw and connected on a body punch, as well as a knee. A takedown by Ware led to him getting off some good ground-and-pound to end an interesting first round.

Ware was on the front foot early in round two, as both men had their moments on offense. A short three-punch combination tagged Duquesnoy upstairs, as he countered with a leg kick. Thudding body shots were exchanged, as they kept up a consistent and relatively fast pace. After a low blow by Ware, they restarted with more furious striking, but neither man appeared rattled by the other man’s power. Duquesnoy tried to toss Ware to the mat but nearly gave up his back in the process. He pulled guard and Ware ended the round with some effective ground strikes, as he did in round one.

A hard leg kick buckled Ware to begin the final round. “Flash” Ware egged the Frenchman to throw there again, which he eventually did. Ware closed the distance for a takedown against the fence, which Duquesnoy saw coming and stuffed. Almost all of Duquesnoy’s most successful attacks were via his kicks. Ware kept the pressure going, but did get countered by a Duquesnoy left hand. The body shots seemed to take a toll on Duquesnoy’s cardio, with the strikes coming slower. Ware got a single leg takedown, but Duquesnoy sprung back up. The American evidently didn’t do enough to get the nod on the scorecards, as the close fight was unanimously given to Duquesnoy.

Leon Edwards def. Peter Sobotta by TKO (punches) at 4:59 of round 3 – Welterweights

Edwards dropped Sobotta with a right hand in just 30 seconds, but then Sobotta tried to catch Edwards off guard with an armbar from his back. Leon stayed calm and escaped the sub, going right into Sobotta’s guard. With not much happening on the ground, Edwards got up and they went back to striking. Sobotta stung Edwards with a sharp jab from his southpaw stance, then Edwards did the same thing from the same stance. Sobotta did very well to get back into the fight after the near KO.

Round two began with a low blow by Edwards, but Sobotta didn’t need a whole lot of time to recover before the restart. Edwards took Sobotta down and into the butterfly guard. Sobotta eyed a kimura, using that to sweep to the back. He was a bit high on the back and Edwards tried to wriggle free. Sobotta still had control of the kimura until Edwards powered his way on top. Prolonged inactivity and a lack of offense on the ground prompted the referee to stand the fighters up with under a minute to go in the frame. Sobotta kept using his jab, as Edwards was far too content to work off the counter.

Edwards began the third and final round with a clipping left hand and then a takedown, which Sobotta defended successfully. “Rocky” got in a nice left uppercut and then another left hand. Sobotta was in very deep on a double leg takedown and managed to get Edwards down. Edwards stood back up but couldn’t get free from Sobotta’s grip. Leon hit a switch and put Sobotta on his back with two minutes remaining in a very close, competitive fight. Edwards landed a couple of elbows that cut Sobotta open, and the Brit clearly had Sobotta in trouble. Leon dropped down some big ground-and-pound in the last minute. Sobotta was in a complete defensive shell as Edwards kept pouring on the punishment, and the referee stopped the fight with literally a second left, making it two “4:59 of round 3” finishes on the evening. It’s a five-fight winning streak for Edwards, and the end to Sobotta’s two-fight winning run. In the post-fight interview, Edwards called for a fight with Darren Till, who is headlining UFC Liverpool in May.