UFC 245 went down tonight (Sat. December 14, 2019) from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The world’s leading mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion compiled an excellent card for fight fans to enjoy.
It was headlined by a meeting between Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington for the UFC welterweight title.
The co-headliner saw Max Holloway vs. Alexander Volkanovski for the featherweight title. The rest of the main card featured Amanda Nunes vs. Germaine de Randamie for the women’s bantamweight title, Marlon Moraes vs. Jose Aldo and Petr Yan vs. Urijah Faber.
Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington
Both fighters came out with an insane amount of strikes. Colby blitzed him with strikes and knees while in the clinch. It appeared that Usman hurt his left hand within minutes of the first round. This allowed him to throw more kicks when he had time and range. They were throwing some incredible shots both uppercuts and jabs throughout. Usman was throwing power strikes while Colby was relying on quantity. Usman stunned Covington at the end of the second round. In the third round, Covington started to get tired while Usman kept his pace and landing strikes at wheels. Covington poked him in the eye. Covington closes in and has to be pulled off by referee Marc Goddard. Both fighters were throwing bombs to start the fourth round. In the fifth round, Usman dropped him with a straight right twice then swarmed him with strikes on the ground for the win to retain the title.
Max Holloway vs. Alexander Volkanovski
After having a feeling out process in the early part of round one, Volkanovski attempted a takedown that was stuffed by the challenger. In the second round, Volkanovski was doing a nice job of mixing up his attack with both strikes and kicks. Holloway did have two good flurries of strikes. The rest of the fight, Holloway was able to continue to push the pressure upon his opponent and land his strikes but Volkanovski was using his leg kicks and really put on the art of the range. Volkanovski was talking trash the entire fight. Holloway tried to pour it on at the end of the fight but ran out of time. The judges gave the victory to Volkanovski by decision and awarded with the title.
Amanda Nunes vs. Germaine de Randamie
Nunes landed a big right hand then a few takedowns in round one. At one point, Nunes went for a guillotine choke but De Randamie got out of it. Nunes threw her down and landed a series of shots and smashed her. Somehow, De Randamie survived. In the second round, De Randamie started to let her hands go and stunned Nunes a few times. Nunes second a late-round takedown in the second round. Nunes scored a third-round takedown and got full guard where she landed some good shots. De Randamie caught her with an up kick and Nunes stunned her. In the fourth round, De Randamie went for a triangle choke but Nunes got out of it and scored a takedown. Nunes got a takedown right out of the gate in round 5. The judges gave the win to Nunes by decision. Nunes retained the title.
Marlon Moraes vs. Jose Aldo
Moraes caught him early with a hard kick that put Aldo on notice. Both guys were throwing bombs and stunned each other. Aldo landed two big right hands but Moraes managed to score a takedown to end the first-round. Aldo was walking him down but eating shots as a result. Although Aldo started letting his hands go and target the body, Moraes started landing some big shots. Aldo had complete Octagon control. In the third round, Aldo started to turn it on with his strikes while Moraes was on the bicycle. In the end, the judges gave the win to Moraes by split decision.
Petr Yan vs. Urijah Faber
In round 1, Faber landed a big knee strike to the face but Yan just ate it. Faber clinched with him but ate a few uppercuts as a result. Faber landed a left hook before getting his takedown attempt shutdown. Round 2 saw Yan drop Faber then swarmed him with strikes that busted open Faber. However, Faber was able to get back to his feet and answered with strikes of his own. Yan landed a major league elbow that dropped Faber. Faber got on his back and landed some more big strikes. Faber’s face is a mess. Faber got back to his feet. Yan scored a late-round takedown. The third round featured Yan landing a walk-off head kick for the win.
It’s certain to have a great night of fights from Las Vegas. Check out MMA News’ UFC 245 results below:
Quick UFC 245 Results
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
- Welterweight title bout: Kamaru Usman def. Colby Covington by TKO (punches) at 4:10 of Round 5
- Featherweight title bout: Alexander Volkanovski def. Max Holloway by unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 50-45)
- Women’s bantamweight title bout: Amanda Nunes def. Germaine de Randamie by unanimous decision (49-44, 49-46, 49-45)
- Bantamweight bout: Marlon Moraes def. Jose Aldo via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Bantamweight bout: Petr Yan def. Urijah Faber by knockout (head kick) at :43 of Round 3
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN2, 8 p.m. ET)
- Welterweight bout: Geoff Neal def. Mike Perry by TKO (punches) at 1:30 of Round 1
- Women’s Bantamweight bout: Irene Aldana def. Ketlen Vieira by knockout (punches) at 4:51 of Round 1
- Middleweight bout: Omari Akhmedov def. Ian Heinisch by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Welterweight bout: Matt Brown def. Ben Saunders by knockout (strikes) at 4:55 of Round 2
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 6:15 p.m. ET)
- Featherweight bout: Chase Hooper def. Daniel Teymur by TKO (strikes) at 4:34 of Round 1
- Flyweight bout: Brandon Moreno def. Kai Kara-France by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Women’s flyweight bout: Jessica Eye def. Viviane Araujo by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Middleweight bout: Punahele Soriano def. Oskar Piechota by knockout (punch) at 3:17 of Round 1
