Credit: Sean Ross Sapp
UFC Fight Night 70 was never going to be a huge draw or attention grabber. By the end of the night, it was an attention grabber, for better or for worse.
#6 Middleweight Yoel Romero upset #4 Lyoto Machida after a slow first round. Machida was as Machida is, keeping out of Romero’s range, sticking and running with a bevy of kicks. By the end of Round 1, it appeared as if Romero had started to time Machida’s movements, and it paid off dividends for the middleweight contender.
In round 2, Romero began landing heavy shots and appeared to win the round. In the third, Romero scored a takedown, in what has proven to be a weak area for Machida of late. A few big strikes later, Romero walked out with a TKO victory, and will probably make a big leap to #3 in the Middleweight rankings on Monday. Following the fight, Romero went on an anti-same sex marriage rant in broken English, something that will certainly draw the ire of UFC brass.
Lorenz Larkin was another big winner on the show, as he improved to 2-0 at welterweight, after dropping 4 of 5 fights at middleweight. Thiago Santos also scored a major knockout of the year candidate win, with a monster head kick knockout over former hockey enforcer Steve Bosse. You can check out full results of UFC Fight Night 70 below.
Main Card
Yoel Romero (#6) def. Lyoto Machida (#4) via knockout (elbows) – Round 3, 1:38
Lorenz Larkin def. Santiago Ponzinibbio via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:07
Antonio Carlos Junior def. Eddie Gordon via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 4:37
Thiago “Marreta” Santos def. Steve Bosse via knockout (head kick) – Round 1, 0:29
Hacran Dias def. Levan Makashvili via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Prelim Card
Alex Oliveira def. Joe Merritt via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Leandro Silva def. Lewis Gonzalez via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Tony Sims def. Steve Montgomery via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:43
Sirwan Kakai def. Danny Martinez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
