UFC Nashville results and highlights: Leites gets past Alvey, Moreno submits Ortiz in stunner

The UFC Fight Night: Swanson vs. Lobov preliminary card is in the books. Thales Leites used a bevy of kicks to get past Sam Alvey in the feature FS2 contest. Brandon Moreno cemented himself as a clear contender at flyweight, while Bryan Barberena and Hector Sandoval scored nice finishes on the Fight Pass portion of the card. Here’s how the fights played out.

Thales Leites def. Sam Alvey by unanimous decision (30-27 x3) – Middleweight

Leites was the early aggressor, firing off kicks to the head and to the body. He made Alvey grimace with some brutal leg kicks. Alvey rarely threw and consequently landed little of note. Leites had a late takedown attempt that was easily thwarted, and Alvey had a knee connect.

As the crowd grew impatient with the lack of offense from either fighter, Leites hammered home a counter left as Alvey lunged with the right hook. Alvey’s bursts were generally ineffective. In the clinch, Alvey was able to get in a knee to the body. Smilin’ Sam finally found success by staggering Leites with a left hand. The clinch was initiated and Leites sought and completed the takedown. Alvey got back up and avoided the BJJ’s dangerous grappling.

Leites slammed home those body kicks to kick off the final round. A groin kick had Alvey hopping in pain, but he recovered in reasonably quick time. Leites continued to go at Alvey’s midsection with that right kick. Alvey scored with a right hook as Leites was backed up from the forward movement of the American. Leites poked Alvey in the eye, which caused another stoppage in the bout. The rest of the fight was more of the same: Leites kicking and Alvey waiting to land a power shot. Thales failed on two takedowns and neither man really connected anything flush in the closing stages. Leites

Brandon Moreno def. Dustin Ortiz by technical submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:06 of round 2 – Flyweight

The strength of Ortiz was noticeable, as he closed the distance and searched for the takedown. He powered through Moreno’s kimura sweep and just blanketed Moreno, but didn’t light it up with offense. After a brief separation, Ortiz wonderfully timed a blast double and Moreno was down again. Moreno got back to his feet but dealt with knees to the thigh before Ortiz dumped him again. Moreno swept Ortiz spectacularly and into full mount, but was unable to maintain that position and was swept himself.

Moreno was catching Ortiz with vicious leg kicks, but Ortiz retaliated with the same move. The first couple of minutes of round two was more of a kickboxing battle, but Ortiz changed all of that by taking Moreno down and getting on hook in against the fence. Moreno escaped and popped Ortiz with a nice left hook. A massive head kick floored Ortiz and he was in massive trouble. Moreno was in attack mode and had the body triangle. The Mexican punched Ortiz from back mount, patiently waited for his opportunity before sinking in the tightest of rear-naked chokes, which put Ortiz out cold. What a brilliant win for Moreno, who is 3-0 in the UFC. Ortiz has lost three of his last four and tonight was his first ever stoppage loss, and it was a stunner in front of his home fans.

Scott Holtzman def. Michael McBride by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26) – Lightweight

Holtzman jarred McBride with a left hook straight off the bat, and then cracked by a right hand. The Tennessee-native prevented McBride from taking him down and was landing plenty of powerful shots early. McBride went for a kimura but lost it and wound up on the bottom. “Hot Sauce” let McBride stand back up instead of engaging on the ground any longer. A big left hand knocked McBride down, and Holtzman gladly let him return to his feet to punish him more. The fight had to be momentarily halted after Holtzman inadvertently hit him in the groin with a kick. McBride threw a couple of kicks to Holtzman’s legs but then was leveled with another left hook. It was a real mismatch on the feet, so McBride timed him coming in and got a takedown, but was outscrambled and lost top position. McBride got a kimura sweep to get back on top to end an otherwise bad round for him.

The dominant display by Holtzman continued in round two, as he smashed McBride with a beautiful inside elbow. Holtzman damaged McBride’s lead leg with powerful kicks. McBride went for a leg lock in a grappling exchange, then a calf slicer, and was able to take the back after failing to get either submission. Holtzman easily spun inside McBride’s guard and on top. Holtzman bashed McBride’s face with heavy ground-and-pound before they returned to the feet again.

Holtzman continued the offensive onslaught in round 3. McBride was trying to pull guard and just was helpless on the feet, but was tough enough not to get finished. The leg kicks and left hooks landed at will, and the strikes McBride did land didn’t have power on them. Holtzman took McBride down and again Michael went for the kimura. Holtzman got out of it and elbowed McBride several times. McBride survived the round but wasn’t anywhere near competitive enough. Holtzman is now 3-2 in the UFC, while McBride is 0-2.

Danielle Taylor def. Jessica Penne by unanimous decision (29-28 x3) – Women’s Strawweight

Taylor was active with the inside leg kick and she forced Pene into switching stances. She was also scoring with the left hook and the sweeping right. Penne’s naked kicks were being punished with counter right hands. With the size and reach advantage, Penne found success with her jab.

Both women were more willing to let their hands go early in the second. Penne threw some solid knees in the Muay Thai clinch and was able to get her timing in better than in the previous round. The right hand was connecting a little more regularly for Penne. Taylor continued to pepper away at Penne’s lead leg. One of her better offensive attacks in the round was a body-head combination with her boxing. She finished the round strongly with hard punches and had Penne hurt, but Penne was able to fire off clinch knees before the horn sounded.

Taylor threw lunging left hooks at Penne and was tagging Penne at the beginning of round 3. Penne was cracked by a right but again she kneed her in the brief clinch. Taylor was taking deep breaths as a result of the numerous knees landed by her opponent. Penne went for a takedown at the midway point of the round but couldn’t quite complete it, even with the body lock. Despite Penne’s efforts to spin to standing backmount, Taylor escaped her control but ate another knee for her troubles. A strong straight right by Penne caught Taylor just before the final minute of the fight. Taylor stung Penne with a jab before she was taken down just as time was about to expire. It was a close battle, a back-and-forth affair, and in the end Taylor got the nod, sending Penne to her third-straight loss.

Alexis Davis def. Cindy Dandois by unanimous decision (29-28 x3) – Women’s Bantamweight

Dandois easily took the Canadian down in the early seconds. Davis sought a high, active guard, and Dandois’ offense was generally limited from top position. Davis threatened with an armbar and rolled Dandois over. They soon became entangled in a total mess on the ground. Davis lost the armbar but did gain full mount, and she rained down strikes before Dandois went for a leglock. Towards the end of the round, Davis unsuccessfully attacked Dandois’ leg in 50-50 guard.

Dandois threw some god-awful punches to start round two. Sloppy technique with her had straight up in the air, and they were actually landing. Davis stuffed a takedown and threw knees to the body and thigh. The former UFC title challenger was able to get her jab going along with kicks and knees to the body. A failed head-and-arm throw by Dandois led to Davis getting top position. Dandois was back to he feet and exchanging shots with her foe. She was able to push forward and drive Davis to the mat in the final minute of the round. The Belgian scored with some ground-and-pound before the horn sounded.

Dandois secured a critical takedown early in the final round. While Dandois was firing off some strikes, Davis kept her legs active and was able to push her away and get back to her feet. It looked as if Davis was fatiguing, and Dandois muscled her to the canvas with a head-and-arm throw. Davis reversed her and was upright again. Another takedown by Dandois with just over one minute left in the fight. Davis searched for a triangle choke in the dying seconds. It became a triangle-armbar but she lost the arm and was unable to finish the triangle. Not a good fight to watch after the first five minutes, and the crowd booed the decision. Davis rebounds from her loss to Sara McMann, while Dandois loses her UFC debut.

Bryan Barberena def Joe Proctor by TKO (strikes) at 3:30 of round 1 – Welterweights

Barberena was on the front foot early, scoring with sharp hooks, hard leg kicks, and connecting on the counter. Proctor answered with kicks of his own, and tried goading Barberena to hit him more and engage in a slugfest. Barberena taunted back, but Proctor’s taunting backfired spectacularly, as a big right hook hurt Proctor right after all of that gesturing. Barberena blasted Proctor with a deluge of knees and then finished the fight with ground-and-pound. “Bam Bam” gets back in the win column, while Proctor has now lost two straight.

Hector Sandoval def. Matt Schnell by KO (hammerfists) at 4:24 of round 1 – Flyweights

Sandoval and Schnell got the crowd fired up with pure mayhem in the clinch in the opening minute of the fight. It was a real brawl with Sandoval landing the harder shots. A big right hand hurt Schnell as Sandoval immediately changed levels and took his opponent down. Schnell threatened with a triangle but Sandoval fended it off. Sandoval caught a Schnell kick, but Schnell caught him in a guillotine. Sandoval slammed Schnell to the mat to get himself out of the choke. In an incredible turn of events, Sandoval hammerfisted Schnell from his guard and knocked him out cold. The slam may have hurt Schnell earlier but what a spectacular way for Sandoval to get his first career UFC win. Schnell drops to 0-2 inside the Octagon.