Luke Rockhold did everything necessary to cement himself in the number contender spot after an impressive win over Lyoto Machida. In a fight where we expected a great display of striking, the match was won on the ground. Rockhold showed off his high level BJJ en route to a rear naked choke on the next to impossible to finish Machida. In the co-main event Jacare Souza pulled off an intro lesson arm bar on Chris Camozzi while Paige Van Zant and Max Holloway both looked impressive in their victory. It was a gritty night of fights as we expected from the Fox card in Newark, New Jersey.
When Lyoto Machida (22-6) moved back into the middleweight division, he knew there was a murderer's row of individuals he would have to face. After losing a well fought bout to Champion Chris, Weidman Luke Rockhold (14-2) surely would be his current biggest obstacle. The AKA product and former Strikeforce champ has been cruising since his loss to Vitor Belfort. Tonight he left little doubt as he navigated into a smooth rear naked submission over Machida. Lyoto never got going as the pace of Rockhold overwhelmed him early which ultimately led to the second-round finish. Now all he can do is wait and see what happens in the title fight before he can plan his next move.
Give all the credit in the world to Chris Camozzi (21-10) for stepping up to take on Jacare Souza (22-3) on short notice. The only issue is when he has already beat you by a submission before, more than likely he will look for it again. Stepping into the cage with Ronaldo is like taking your first BJJ lesson from anyone purple and above. Plan on getting submitted. It didn't take long for Jacare to allow Chris to get in a few leg strikes before it was all over. He landed a solid take down and found himself in position to go for an easy arm bar. Still Chris saved the co-main event, but the fight with Romero is what the fans want to see. Similar to Rockhold, Jacare must play a game of wait and see.
Max Holloway (13-3) wanted this fight with Cub Swanson (21-7) and he got it. The young featherweight is truly coming into his own as we saw Blessed pull off a fantastic guillotine submission over Cub Swanson. The fight was a kickboxing affair from the start with the advantage going towards Blessed. The Hawaiian out struck Cub and at one moment toyed with the former contender to prove he was the better man. After stunning Cub with a great left hook, Max almost submitted the vet with an arm triangle before finally releasing. He still had dominant position and a rare mistake by Cub out him in the position of the guillotine. It took a while for it to take effect but once it was locked in, all Cub was left to do was tap out. Max Holloway has shot himself right up to the top five with a win here, and hopefully we will see him and Lamas or Bermudez mix it up next.
Many people questioned the quick signing of Paige Van Zant (5-1) to the Reebok brand, but after Saturday’s performance, we are sure they have a smile on their face. The team Alpha Male product put on an impressive performance by out grappling and working the gritty veteran in Felice Herrig (10-6). The initial start of the match would have led you to believe that Van Zant was in trouble as we saw a look of agony on her face during an initial scum. From there, she cut off Felice in every way and found dirty boxing mixed with great scrambles to wear down Herring with her pace. It is possible the fight could have been stopped a few times in the third, but this was still a dominant victory by the young strawweight. Van Zant still has a ways to go to catch up to the striking speed of the top flight weights, but she continues to prove she is difficult to handle.
The prelims saw stellar victories from Beneil Dariush (11-1), Ovince St. Preux (18-6), Gian Villante (13-5), Aljamain Sterling (11-0), and Tim Means (24-6). Also of note in the Diego Brandao versus Jim Hettes fight, Jim almost lost his ear. Up next for the UFC is UFC 186 Johnson versus Horiguchi on April 25th, 2015. The full results for UFC on Fox 15 are listed below.
Main Card
Luke Rockhold def. Lyoto Machida via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:31
Ronaldo Souza def. Chris Camozzi via submission (arm bar) – Round 1, 2:33
Max Holloway def. Cub Swanson via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 3, 3:58
Paige VanZant def. Felice Herrig via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)
Prelims
Beneil Dariush def. Jim Miller via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Ovince Saint Preux def. Patrick Cummins via KO (punches) – Round 1, 4:54
Gian Villante def. Corey Anderson via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 4:18
Aljamain Sterling def. Takeya Mizugaki via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 3, 2:11
Tim Means def. George Sullivan via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 3, 3:41
Diego Brandao def. Jimy Hettes via TKO (doctor stoppage) – Round 1, 5:00
Chris Dempsey def. Eddie Gordon via 29-28, 28-29, 29-28