UFC Prague results and highlights: Struve rallies to sub de Lima, Yan dominates Dodson

By Eddie Mercado@TheEddieMercado

Bloodyelbow.com

The UFC Prague main card is in progress, and the co-main event just saw longtime UFC veteran Stefan Struve submit Marcos Rogerio de Lima in the second round. The victory snapped a three-fight losing skid for Struve, who has been in the UFC for a decade. In his post-fight interview, Struve announced that he is seriously considering retirement, and even left his gloves on the Octagon floor. He competed in 22-fights with the promotion since February of 2009.

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In his first fight since 2017, Michal Oleksiejczuk got back to work by knocking out Gian Villante with a body shot in just 94 seconds. Oleksiejczuk has not tasted defeat since 2014, and has proven to be quite the problem in the 205-pound division. Before that, the #6 ranked UFC women’s flyweight Liz Carmouche picked up a gritty win over a very game home-crowd favorite Lucie Pudilova. The longtime UFC veteran Carmouche has now strung together back to back wins at 125-pounds.

Also on the card, the promotion’s #14 ranked Petr Yan poured it on UFC veteran and #9 ranked John Dodson to earn a unanimous decision victory. The Tiger Muay Thai trained Yan has won all-four of his UFC bouts, and should likely break the top-10 in the rankings. Opening up the main card, Magomed Ankalaev broke the nose of UFC newcomer Klidson Abreu, which aided him in his unanimous decision victory. Ankalaev is now 2-1 in a light heavyweight division that doesn’t require much to make a run in.

Main card:

Stefan Struve def. Marcos Rogerio de Lima by submission (Arm Triangle) at 2:21 of round 2: Heavyweight

Struve got dropped with the first right hand that de Lima threw. Looking for the finish, de Lima followed his foe to the floor, but the bout sort of stalled out. A couple of ground strikes landed for de Lima, just enough to not get stood up. Struve gave up the full mount, but couldn’t do anything with it before the round came to a close. Punching his way into the clinch, de Lima got himself taken down by the veteran. Struve controlled from the top and worked his way into full mount. An arm triangle opportunity opened up and Struve took full advantage of it, forcing de Lima to tap.

Michal Oleksiejczuk def. Gian Villante by KO (Body Shot) at 1:34 of round 1: Light Heavyweight

Oleksiejczuk backed up Villante to start the fight. Villante was ready to counter and tried to stand his ground. A mean body hook to the liver landed for Oleksiejczuk, dropping Villante in agony. A couple of follow up ground strikes were unanswered and the referee was forced to stop the fight.

Liz Carmouche def. Lucie Pudilova by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 x2): (W) Flyweight

Carmouche came out and shoved her opponent up against the cage to obtain some control time. Pudilova fought off the takedown for awhile, landing some Travis Browne elbows that cut open Carmouche, but ultimately gave up top position. Pudilova threatened with a guillotine attempt, but never find her separation.

Pudilova threw a lot more volume in the second round. Carmouche was content to keep it standing across the first-half of the frame, but once she shot in she found her takedown. Carmouche moved into full mount, but got reversed to the crowd’s delight. Pudilova wasn’t able to do much with the position before time ran out.

Pudilova threw a lot in the opening minutes of the final round, even if the bulk of her strikes missed their mark. Carmouche didn’t throw as often, but she was more accurate and throwing the harder punches. Carmouche found her moment to take the fight to the ground, and ultimately attacked a leg. Pudilova hung tough and escaped into top position. A couple of ground strikes landed for Pudilova before the clock ran out.

Petr Yan def. John Dodson by unanimous decision (30-27 x3): Bantamweight

Dodson looked to land body punches early in the fight. After finding top position, Dodson disengaged saying that Yan kicked him in the balls. Back on the feet, Yan landed a crisp right cross that snapped back the head of Dodson. Yan brought the forward pressure, leaving Dodson defensive for the rest of the round.

Yan kept up the pressure in the second round, backing up Dodson to the cage. In an exchange, Dodson dropped Yan with a bolo, but Yan quickly recovered and got back to pressuring. Yan landed some hard combos as Dodson’s back was to the cage, and poured it on as time melted away.

Dodson continued to get pushed backwards in the final round. The strikes continued to rack up for Yan with Dodson remaining defensive. It seemed as if Dodson was fading and Yan began to pour it on. Dodson grabbed the fence to avoid a takedown, but got away with just a warning. Yan finished up the round landing punch after punch on a turtled up Dodson as time ticked away.

Magomed Ankalaev def. Klidson Abreu by unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 29-28): Light Heavyweight

After a bit of wall and stall from Ankalaev, Abreu landed a clean hook that go the attention of the Russian. A crisp right hand from Ankalaev exploded the nose of Abreu, ultimately resulting in a guard pull. Ankalaev controlled from the top, dropping shots for the remainder of the opening round.

Abreu opened up the second round with a head kick that nearly decapitated Ankalaev. The fighters exchanged punches back and forth before the focus shifted to grappling. Abreu looked to get the takedown, but Ankalaev remained upright, and even tossed Abreu on his back. Ankalaev controlled from the top, doing enough to not get stood up until time expired.

Abreu pressed forward to start the final round, but struggled to land clean on his opponent. Ankalaev would sneak in his short right hand whenever the fight entered into close quarters. A lot of control time was racked up for Ankalaev against he cage to secure his decision victory.

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