Former Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold got his maiden UFC victory on Wednesday night (Thursday Australian time) when he made quick work of Costas Philippou in the main event of UFC Fight Night 35.
The event was held at the Gwinnett Centre in Dulorth, Georgia, USA and televised in Australia on Fuel TV and Fox Sports.
As the fight started, Rockhold caught Philippou with a solid right hook early. Philippou attempted to close the distance to recover before circling out. Shortly after Rockhold landed two kicks to the body that ended the fight. The stoppage came only 2:31 into the bout. It was only Rockhold’s second bout in the UFC after losing to Belfort in his promotional debut. Prior to that Rockhold went 9-0 in Strikeforce. Philippou drops his second consecutive fight to take his UFC record to 5-3.
Hawaiian fighter Brad Tavares scored the most important win of his career in the semi-main event as he defeated Lorenz Larkin. The fight started slowly, before both fighters started to find their mark. Tavares scored a takedown each in the opening two rounds and started to punish Larkin with leg kicks. Larkin showed some urgency in the last round as he came forward looking to land that devastating punch but Tavares was able to stay safe to take the unanimous points decision. All three judges awarded him the fight 29-28 with Tavares now moving to 7-1 in the UFC.
Alpha Male team member T.J Dillashaw recovered from a recent loss to capture a unanimous points decision over Mike Easton. Dillashaw looked a class above Easton as he scored from the outside throughout the fight. The 27 year-old also scored a couple of takedowns en-route to the win. All three judges scored it 30-27 to Dillashaw who takes his UFC record to 5-2. After winning his first three bouts in the UFC, Easton has now dropped his last three to take his promotion record to 3-3.
Former Strikeforce contender Derek Brunson was on his way to a decision win over Yoel Romero Palacio, however Palacio late charge paid off as the American Top Team member dropped Brunson with a left-hook. Brunson recovered back to his feet and attempted to throw but. Palacio though landed uppercuts inside the clinch as Brunson was dropped again. Palacio continued with the heavy shots from the top position with punches and elbows which forced the referee to end the contest, 3:23 into the third round.
In a flyweight battle, highly touted John Moraga rebounded from a recent loss to champion Demetrious Johnson to edge a split points decision over Dustin Ortiz. Ortiz was able to get the fight to the ground in the first where he was able to neutralise his opponent. Moraga came back in the second round that rocked Ortiz. The third round was tightly contested, with two of the judges giving it to Moraga who took home the win to take his UFC record to 3-1. Ortiz on the other hand drops to 1-1 inside the promotion.
In the opening fight of the main card, Cole Miller took his UFC record to 10-6 with a submission of the night win over Sam Sicilia. Miller was able to utilise his superior reach advantage and in the second round a straight right dropped Sicilia. From there Miller was ultimately able to sink in the read-naked choke to get the tap at 1:54 of round two.
Main Card (Fuel TV):
- Luke Rockhold def Constantinos Philippou via KO (Body Kick), Rd 1, 2:31
- Brad Tavares def Lorenz Larkin via Decision (Unanimous)
- T.J. Dillashaw def Mike Easton via Decision (Unanimous)
- Yoel Romero def Derek Brunson via TKO (Punches & Elbows), Rd 3, 3:23
- John Moraga def Dustin Ortiz via Decision (Split)
- Cole Miller def Sam Sicilia via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 2, 1:54
Preliminary Card (Fuel TV):
- Ramsey Nijem def Justin Edwards via Decision (Unanimous)
- Elias Silverio def Isaac Vallie-Flagg via Decision (Unanimous)
- Trevor Smith def Brian Houston via Decision (Split)
- Louis Smolka def Alptekin Ozkilic via Decision (Unanimous)
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass):
- Vinc Pichel def Garett Whiteley via Decision (Unanimous)
- Beneil Dariush def Charlie Brenneman via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 1, 1:45
