Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is headed to Hollywood -- no, the "other" Hollywood -- for the upcoming UFC Fight Night 70 mixed martial arts (MMA) event on FOX Sports 1, locked and loaded for TONIGHT (Sat., June 27, 2015) inside Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.
Headlining the "Machida vs. Romero" fight card is middleweight striker and ex-light heavyweight champion Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida, as he tries to get back into the 185-pound title hunt against the Olympic stylings of Yoel "Soldier of God" Romero.
Elsewhere in the FOX Sports 1 line up, which follows "Prelims" on FOX Sports 2, Strikeforce import and former middleweight standout Lorenz Larkin will try to continue his improbable rise through the 170-pound ranks against division stalwart Santiago Ponzinibbio.
All that and so much more.
MMAmania.com will provide LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Fight Night 70 fight card below, starting with the FOX Sports 2 "Prelims" matches online, which are scheduled to start at 8 p.m. ET, right on through the FOX Sports 1 main card, which is slated to start at 10 p.m. ET.
Many of our readers check-in before, during and after the televised fisticuffs to share their thoughts on all the exciting action. Therefore, feel free to leave a comment (or 70) before you leave and chat with all the other Maniacs during the show -- it always turns out to be a great discussion.
Keep in mind we will also be the spot for the latest news, recaps and post-fight analysis following "Machida vs. Romero."
Without further delay, see below for the latest UFC Fight Night 70 results. (Note: This will go from the bottom up; therefore, scroll toward the bottom for the latest detailed round-by-round action.)
UFC FIGHT NIGHT 70 QUICK RESULTS:
Yoel Romero def. Lyoto Machida by TKO (elbows) 1:38 Rd 3
Lorenz Larkin def. Santiago Ponzinibbio by TKO (strikes) 3:07 Rd 2
Antonio Carlos Junior def. Eddie Gordon by submission (rear-naked choke) 4:37 Rd 3
Thiago Santos def. Steve Bosse by KO (head kick) 0:29 Rd 1
Hacran Dias def. Levan Makashvili by split decision (29-28 x2, 28-29)
Alex Oliveira def. Joe Merritt by unanimous decision (30-27) x3
Sirwan Kakai def. Danny Martinez by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
Leandro Silva def. Lewis Gonzalez by unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 29-27)
Tony Sims def. Steve Montgomery by knockout (punch) 2:43 Rd 1
UFC FIGHT NIGHT 70 PLAY-BY-PLAY:
185 lbs.: Lyoto Machida vs. Yoel Romero
Round 1: Machida in purple and green shorts, Romero in purple spandex. MA CHEE DA chants from the crowd. Feeling out process from both men here as Machida is dictating a slow pace with his distance. They trade low kicks. 'Cheeda with feints and lateral movement. Slapping leg kick from Lyoto. Romero getting a bit creative here with his striking, he might be getting frustrated. Body kick from Machida. Romero with a right that briefly staggers Machida. There's the nice step-in knee from Machida to the liver. Romero throwing a lot of kicks here.
10-9 Machida in a close round
Round 2: Left hands from both men there. Machida scoring some points with low kicks. Yoel with one, too. Machida gets in a left. Romero with a right hook, got a clinch and then tried some weird flying attack, but it looked more like he jumped over a fence and less like a martial art move. Lyoto with a left. Romero has one of his own. Machida with two leg kicks. Nice 1-2 from Romero. That was a sweet left from the Cuban. Machida doesn't look to be very steady. Balanced enough to avoid a huge overhand, however. Nice pair of kicks for Lyoto near the end of the round. Romero went for a Pettis-style Showtime punch, which didn't work, but managed to close the distance. He hit a left as he was off-balance to end the round.
10-9 Romero
Round 3: Shovel hook from Romero to open up the third stanza. A leg kick, too. Romero ducks a Machida left. Machida with a leg kick then about three hip-feints. Romero surges forward and explodes into a knee-tap takedown. Romero with a series of elbows that look like a piston on a wheel. Machida is out cold! Welcome to the Romero era!
Final result: Romero defeats Machida via TKO (elbows) at 1:38 of Round 3
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170 lbs.: Lorenz Larkin vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio
Round 1: Larkin in red, Santiago in gray. Larkin punching forward and backs Ponzy all the way across the cage. Got a nice left in during that exchange. Low kick from Larkin. Santiago still pressuring, punching. They trade low kicks. Solid teep from Lorenz backs the Argentinian off a few feet. Larkin slips a Santiago right hand. Body kick from Ponzinibbio. Heavy leg kick from "Monsoon". Another leg-buckling low kick from Larkin. Santiago punches into a clinch. Larkin is backed up to the metal. He gets in a knee and manages to escape. Left from Lorenz. Santiago deep on a single. Lorenz not having any of it and keeping upright. Finally Ponzy lets go of it to swing an overhand that misses. Crushing leg kick from Larkin. Uppercut from the American to end the round.
10-9 Larkin
Round 2: They're trading and both are landing punches here. Nice series of exchanges. Larkin with a spinning low kick, then another low kick and a big right. Ponzy gets in a low kick and punches Larkin backwards. Santiago lands a nice shot that stumbles Lorenz, but he's back up. Those are Aldo-esque leg kicks from LL here. Ponzinibbio with a nice right hand, uppercut from Larkin. Huge shot. Larkin gets in a 3-piece that drops Santiago. Two clean, brutal punches in that exchange. Larkin is pouring it on. Santiago staggers to his feet, but Larkin keeps smashing away. Finally, Herb Dean steps in to save Santiago from more brain damage.:
Final result: Larkin defeats Ponzinibbio by TKO (strikes) at 3:07 of Round 2
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185 lbs.: Eddie Gordon vs. Antonio Carlos Junior
Round 1: Gordon in red, Carlos in blue. Jab from Gordon. Junior gets in a headkick and they clinch. Gordon with unders and reverses Carlos to the fence. Eddie punches to the liver. They break, but Carlos follows and gets a takedown. He's on top in half guard. Gordon scrambles up, nearly leaves his head in there, but escapes that, too. Still clinched, Carlos still working on the clinch. Gordon reverses. Jr. reverses back. Junior finally gets a foot sweep with a minute to go. Full guard. Antonio with some nice elbows here. He's doing better work from full than half earlier. Lots of good GNP here. Knee to the body.
10-9 Carlos Jr.
Round 2: ACJ gets a head kick blocked, says fuck it and tries for a wheel kick right after that. Nearly hit a front kick, too. They land simultaneous jabs. Leg kick from Carlos. Gordon gets in a right hand. Body kick into the clinch. Gordon has a pair of underhooks, but Carlos pummels and breaks that. They're not doing too much here standing, just jabbing. Carlos got countered, but not solid. Clinch by Junior and he drags Gordon down. Half guard and Junior is looking for the position to get some room to land punches. He gets a few lefts in. Four more. Nice elbow from bottom there for Eddie. Carlos rolls for a kneebar for no reason.
10-9 Carlos Jr.
Round 3: "Shoeface" with a huge legkick that caught Eddie walking into it. ACJ ducks down for a lazy takedown. Pushes to the fence, looks for an arm-in guillotine that doesn't work. Gordon needs to break away and keep slanging leather. He gets the breakaway, but Junior is a crafty man who presses straight forward into a takedown that he gets. Gordon thinks to get a triangle, but he doesn't have the position, and Carlos is too good. Carlos passes to side and then gets the back. He gets both hooks in on Gordon and is searching for the rear naked. Body triangle from the Brazilian. Gordon using both hands to fight off one of Juniors. One minute left. Junior persistent in it, switching grips and finally, he gets the right hand position - there's the tap with about 25 seconds left on the clock.
Final result: Carlos Jr. defeats Gordon by submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:37 of Round 3
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185 lbs.: Steve Bosse vs. Thiago Santos
Round 1: Bosse in white, Santos in green. Leg kick from Santos. HUGE HEAD KICK AND HE IS OUT COLD! WALK OFF KTFO. Wow, Steve looked like he'd never seen a head kick before in his life. He even ducked into it.
Final result: Santos defeats Bosse by knockout (headkick) at 0:29 of Round 1
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145 lbs.: Hacran Dias vs. Levan Makashvili
Round 1: Dias with the green and black. Levan in white. Nice leg kick from Dias. Right hand from Levan. Dias jabs Levan into the cage. Levan with a leg kick of his own. Neither man too precise here. Crowd starts to let them hear it. They clinch and Levan has Dias backed into the cage. Over-under. Dias reverses off and they break. Levan with a nice right. Jab from Hacran. Dias with a nice duck under and gets the takedown. Levan has one butterfly in, preventing Dias from getting too much done. Full guard now. Dias did nothing with that.
10-10
Round 2: Levan nails a takedown after a Dias leg kick. Dias working for a kimura. He swings the leg up and might have something here. Transition to an armbar. Takes the back. Levan shakes him off and he's standing. He punches down into the full guard. Right into a triangle. Levan stands and slams his way out of it. He dives back down into full guard. Lands a solid punch. Dias uses an armbar threat to roll and stand. Dias gets a bodylock and hits the takedown. Levan explodes up, still in a clinch. Levan tries for a single, but Dias shows great balance and is standing. Dias shows it off again off a judo hip toss attempt. Dias ducks down and finishes the takedown with 35 seconds left.
10-10 again. It could go either way.
Round 3: Levan opens up with a nut shot and we're paused. Levan punches his way into a clinch with double unders. Dias gets one under and Levan attempts to make something happen by punching off the break. Dias gets a takedown stonewalled. Clinch with Levan working for a single. Nice right hand over the top as he gives up the attempt. Ref break at 2:41. Dias immediately goes for a takedown, can't get it, back into the clinch with the Brazilian's back to the metal. He reverses. Levan with a knee, gets unders, and a bodylock. Dias turns out of it, goes for a double-leg. They're doing nothing but cage-grappling here. Levan looks at Big John for help, doesn't get it. Makashvili with a switch, gets a takedown with 18 seconds to go. Half guard. Couple of Elbows from the Georgian to end it.
10-9 Makashvili
Final result: Dias defeats Makashvili by split decision
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170 lbs.: Joe Merritt vs. Alex Oliveira
Round 1: Cowboy Oliveira in red, Merritt in black. They clinch and Alex punches, but a bit low and gets a warning from the ref. Merritt fighting off the takedown attempt so far 90 seconds into the round. Oliveira trying hard for 2 minutes but ends up with nothing so far at all. Finally gets it at 2:22. He gets both hooks in on the back as Merritt tried to scramble. RNC attempt. Oliveira switches to a body triangle. Merritt doing a good job hand-fighting so far. Merritt manages to turn - THE WRONG WAY INTO THE BODY TRIANGLE - and he's on top in full guard. Nice elbow. Oliveira kicks him off and they're swinging away as the bell sounds. Merritt gets in a knee.
10-9 Oliveira
Round 2: Nice step-in elbow from Oliveira as Merritt got in a right. Oliveira with a wild head kick that he slips on, but Merritt lets him up. Alex lands with a hook. Oliveira with a flurry, Merritt tries for a trip, but Oliveira lands on top. Oliveira on top in mount. Merritt rolls and gives up his back, and manages to turn Oliveira on his back and end up in guard again. Both men with some elbows here. Great knee to the body as they stand. Oliveira has a cut from that slicing elbow. Oliveira looking for the single, switches to a double, back to a single. Finally gets it, scramble to the back again. He's got both hooks in and nearly gets the rear naked AGAIN, but Merritt is a slippery demon and turns out of it for a third time. Oliveira still hunting for it as the minutes go by. Merritt rolls out again, but into a triangle. A short slam from Merritt gets him out of it.
10-9 Oliveira in a very, very close round
Round 3: Oliveira ducking Merritt's slower punches as he's a bit tired. They're clinching with the Brazilian Cowboy the one pressuring Merritt into the links. Every time they're switching grips, Merritt is working hard to avoid Oliveira's grips. Oliveira trips Merritt down, but Merritt manages to twist and land into mount. Elbow from Joe. Alex bucks and stands - eats a knee for his troubles. Oliveira keeps pressuring and takes the back with a body lock. He slams Merritt down. Merritt scrambling and manages to spin, but he's in a front headlock. Oliveira with a slam, Merritt - to his credit - stands again. Another takedown. Cowboy on the back again. RNC attempt again. Body triangle again. The round is about to end and Merritt just couldn't handle the pressure from Alex Oliveira.
10-9 Oliveira
Final result: Oliveira defeats Merritt by unanimous decision
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170 lbs.: Lewis Gonzalez vs. Leandro Silva
Round 1: Silva in red, Gonzalez in black. Gonzo throws first, doesn't land. Silva low kicks and brushes the pills, getting a brief pause for a split second, but Gonzalez is fine. Lewis comes in with an overhand that misses, but he uses it to clinch up to try and get a takedown. Silva reverses, gets a takedown of his own. Gonzalez stands immediately, but Silva is persistent and gets it down. They're scrambling a bit, and Lewis hits a switch. Now he's on top, threatening a front choke. Silva fights it off, gets up and they're apart. Silva with a liver kick. Lewis with a low kick and a knee. Gonzalez switches levels and gets a nice double. Silva rolls for a heel hook, but can't control the other leg or body, which allows Lewis to get out. Silva on bottom again. Leandro is trying for an armbar, but Gonzo gets the angle back to parallel. Nice kick off and get up from Silva and once again, they're back up.
Fast-paced first round and there's a minute left. Lewis comes forward as if he's going to try for a double, but he realized he couldn't get it and went for a knee instead. That missed. Silva with a knee, but Gonzalez presses forward for a takedown, but the round just ends with Lewis doing nothing from top.
10-10 in a close round. I'd buy 10-9 Silva, too, but I'm going with a draw.
Round 2: Neither man landing early here. They both try for takedowns about 40 seconds in. Neither man is successful. They're clinched and Lewis has Silva backed up tot he links. Couple of punches from Lewis on the break. Silva with a left. Silva actually got lower than Gonzalez as he tried to initiate a clinch. He's got double unders and working with some elbows. There's a nice double leg into a slam from the Brazilian. Silva passes to half guard. Slow pace here. Gonzalez nearly got caught with an armbar, but rolls out of it and he's on top. Nearly fell into a triangle as well, but Lewis is on top, stacking Silva. That just lets Leandro leg press Gonzalez away. Lewis missed with a spinning back elbow by a mile. Silva with a kick to the body that gets caught. Gonzalez tries for a single, but can't get it and Silva is on top, punching away. He's got the back and nearly gets the rear-naked, but can't get it and settles for a few punches before the round ends.
10-9 Silva
Round 3: Silva with a right. Gonzalez returns fire, but the looping punch was too long and he hit him more with the forearm. Left from Silva and he tries a takedown. Fails and gets reversed. Silva gets both underhooks in and reverses him back. They break. There's a right from Lewis. One back from Leandro on the backfoot. Another nice step-back jab from Silva. High kick and he slips Lewis' counter right hand. There's a liver kick from Gonzalez. That's the third anchor-hook-like counter from Silva. 2-3 and a big knee from Silva hurts Gonzalez. He's on the ground and "Buscape" is half on Lewis' back, fishing for the rear-naked. He's a bit too high on Gonzalez, so he switches to an armbar threat, but can't get that either. Gonzalez is too tired and gives up the back again. Lewis gets another reversal as Silva isn't really controlling the body at all. Lewis gets on top and lands some nice GNP to end the fight. Silva ducks under out of it as they stand and lands a couple punches.
10-9 Silva
Final result: Silva defeats Gonzalez by unanimous decision
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170 lbs.: Steve Montgomery vs. Tony Sims
Round 1: Montgomery in the white with the big mullet, Sims in black. Sims with a straight right. Steve answers with one of his own. Montgomery backing Sims up with the jab, but eats a counter after a few pumps hit air. Sims tries a blast double, can't get it. They clinch. Montgomery with some good knees. Sims fakes a level change and tries an overhand, but misses. Sims gets a left in. Montgomery lands a sweet knee that catches Sims ducking. OH MY! Huge left hand that sends Montgomery crashing face first into the canvas. He's not defending the follow-up ground shots and there's the stoppage. Montgomery isn't happy, but his hands were down like chicken wings.
Final result: Sims defeats Montgomery by knockout (punch) 2:43 of Round 1
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135 lbs.: Sirwan Kakai vs. Danny Martinez
Round 1: Martinez aggressive as usual, pushing forward with arm punches. Kakai just whiffs on a counter combo. 1-2 from the Swede. Martinez yet to land clean. Kakai working behind his jab, lands a 1-3. One minute in. Lead right lands for him. Kakai shoots in and takes Martinez down on the fence. Martinez back to his feet, Kakai with the rear waistlock. Knees to the thigh. Kakai changes levels for a double-leg. Two minutes in. Knee from Kakai, dirty boxing from Martinez before they separate. 2-3 by Kakai. Martinez lands some clubbing shots,only to get crushed by a knee. Kakai trying to pound him out. Martinez makes it to his feet but Kakai is on the attack. Two minutes to go.
Kakai drills him with a pair of knees. Martinez looks unsteady, eats another knee. Kakai battering him on the fence as Martinez tries to throw back. Martinez slaps on a guillotine on a ducking Kakai, can't finish it. One minute to go. Martinez seems to have his senses back, walks into a check hook. Body shot from Danny. Kakai looking for the lead uppercut. High kick attempt by Martinez, who barrels into the clinch. Martinez lands some clubbing shots before the bell. 10-9 Kakai.
Round 2: Both men feinting early. Knee by Kakai. Martinez falling short with most of his punches. Nice check hook by Kakai. One minute in. Kakai staying busy with the jab as Martinez wades forward. Martinez rips to the body. Kakai shoots, denied and hit with a left hand. Martinez targeting the body with some success and gets taken down against the cage. Two minutes in. Kakai working towards the front headlock. Martinez scrambles up and they trade knees inside. Kakai dumps him again and moves towards the back. Two minutes to go.
Kakai lands some short punches before Martinez manages to stand, then drags him down yet again. Short punches from the ATT product as he looks for the back. One minute to go. Martinez manages to get to his feet, then eats a level elbow before they separate. Nice knee by Kakai draws an enthusiastic nod. Flying knee from Martinez before the bell. 10-9 Kakai.
Round 3: Martinez continuing to advance. Flying knee falls short. Left hand catches Kakai. Good jabs from Kakai met by a flurry. Check hook lands for him. One minute in. Kakai circling, using the jab primarily. Left hook from the American. Body shots by Martinez. Kakai looking for the straight right, eats a right hook. Two minutes in. Martinez tries to go high, lands a left straight. He stuffs a Kakai takedown. Kakai fakes a takedown and misses a left hook. Lead elbow just misses for him. Two minutes to go.
Kakai hits a blast double and again pursues the back. One hook in on the fence. Martinez manages to extricate his lag, but Kakai stays on him. One minute to go. Martinez scrambles back to his feet. Martinez lands a left, eats a knee inside. Martinez waving him on and flinging haymakers. Kakai smiling at him and returning the favor. Both men mug and wing punches to end the fight. 10-9 Martinez.
Final result: Kakai def. Martinez by unanimous decision
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