Before UFC Fight Night 30: "Machida vs. Munoz" main card kicked off on FOX Sports 2, (FS2) this afternoon (Sat., Oct. 26, 2013) from Phones 4U Arena in Manchester, England, an entire six-bout "Prelims" under card was broadcast on Facebook/YouTube, with this portion of action taking place exclusively online.
This installment of the "Prelims" featured some excellent submissions and showcased some amazing action before the Lyoto Machida vs. Mark Munoz-led main card kicked off from United Kingdom.
In the headlining slot, The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 15's Al Iaquinta was able to topple Piotr Hallmann via unanimous decision.
Iaquinta immediately shot for the takedown, and tried to attack from the back with both men pitted against the fence. As the broke free, Hallmann used legkicks to attack his opponent while Iaquinta was in a tight stance and did not bring much forward. Iaquinta was using the jab and looking for openings, with the European landing a headkick in the process. Iaquinta started to open up, going for the takedown often yet Hallmann stuffed every one of the attempts and then took Iaquinta down towards the end of the round.
Iaquinta started to mix things up in the second round, going high with kicks and using combinations more often. Hallmann was able to take his foe down once more, but Iaquinta shot up shortly after. Iaquinta nailed Hallmann with a big right hand, and the European's legs buckled and he went down. The Serra-Longo fight team product was unable to finish Hallmann, who was able to get back to his feet. "Raging" was able to finish the round strong, being quicker in the standup and using angles effectively.
In the third round, Hallmann tried to go for takedowns, with Iaquinta being able to stuff them. A spinning-back kick landed for Hallmann, yet there was not much power behind it. A bad eye poke halted the action momentarily, as Hallmann crouched down, with Iaquinta being strictly warned over the damage done. As the action resumed, Hallmann was able to push forward and secured two back-to-back takedowns with Iaquinta back on his feet in no time. Iaquinta then took his opponent down, took his back as both men stood up, and finished the round strong with another takedown.
Iaquinta moves to 2-1 in the UFC, and gets his seventh career victory.
Luke Barnatt dropped former Legacy FC champion Andrew Craig twice, and instead of swarming he decided to celebrate prematurely. Luckily for him, he was able to submit Craig in the second round.
"Highlight" was looking to throw down early, with the taller Barnatt going to the body with legkicks. Craig nailed Barnatt with a good right hand, and the Englishman returned the favor. Craig went to the body with a combination and tagged Barnatt with another right. Both men did stand in front of each other and were trading blows, although it was more so of a stick-and-move contest until Barnatt clocked Craig with a massive right hand, followed by a left hook. Instead of swarming "Highlight," Barnatt decided to celebrate instead of dishing out more punishment and Craig survived the round -- with an opportunity to finish the fight wasted.
Craig was more cautious in the second round, and Barnatt was tagging him with the jab over and over again. Barnatt dropped Craig again -- this time with an uppercut, and celebrated prematurely once more. This time, he was able to finish Craig, taking him down, getting his back and submitting him with a rear-naked choke.
"Big Slow" stays undefeated at 7-0, and is the first man to finish Craig, who is now 3-2 in the promotion.
The first UFC Women's Bantamweight fight in European history featured Manchester's Rosi Sexton and Jessica Andrade, with the Brazilian pummelling the hometown fighter for three rounds and walked out of Europe the victor.
Circling far apart from each other in the first few seconds, Andrade and Sexton engaged in a slugfest with Andrade backing up "The Surgeon" with a flurry of punches. Fighting in a low stance, Andrade was able to clock Sexton with a big right hand and was able to grind Sexton against the fence, opening her up in the process. The Brazilian got the better of the exchanges, yet Sexton's durability should not have been ignored. At the end of the round, Andrade dropped the hometown fighter with a right hand, and then followed up with an illegal knee to a downed opponent. No point was taken away.
Andrade clocked Sexton again with another right and followed up with devastating punches and although Sexton is as tough as they come, she was barely hanging in. Andrade was successfully setting up combinations and every time she brought forth a flurry, Sexton backed up against the fence. Wobbly on her feet, Sexton's face was a mess, and towards the end of the round, her biggest moment of success was a takedown as the seconds elapsed.
Andrade's power was simply too much for Sexton, and she was unable to mimic the skill set of her opponent. Sexton was able to clock Andrade with a right hand, but "Bate Estaca" returned the favor and went to the body often with legkicks. "The Surgeon" continued to look for takedowns, though there was nothing damaging behind them.
Andrade is now 1-1 inside the UFC, while Sexton in winless in the organization with two fights under her belt.
"Magrinho" was the veteran of the "Prelims," entering his 15th fight in the Octagon, and despite his up-and-down UFC tenure, he was on his game against Andy Ogle in England, winning the unanimous decision.
A fired up Cole Miller stood right in front of Ogle and traded blows, rocking the Sunderland native with two solid right hands. "The Little Axe" worked a takedown against the fence and secured one, but Miller had an underhook after they went down from a judo throw, and went straight for the rear-naked choke from behind. Miller relentlessly worked for the choke, with Ogle having trouble against the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt. "The Little Axe" was able to survive, exhausted.
Ogle came out more ferociously in the second round and instead of standing with Miller for as long as he could, he went for a single-leg takedown, however Miller caught him in a guillotine. Using the cage, Ogle was able to break free. Miller's ground skills were on full display as he tried to submit his opponent via triangle choke and when that did not work because of Ogle being able to posture up, he swept his opponent into an armbar. The round ended in the exact same way it the first did -- with Miller trying to work a rear-naked choke.
Ogle knew he had to do something significant in the third round, and he threw caution to the wind and began to throw down. With the crowd behind him, Ogle was able to rock Miller yet went for another takedown, which was somewhat puzzling based on how the previous two rounds went down. However, Ogle was able to land some nasty elbows from the top position and then looked to drop bombs on the American Top Team mainstay. Ogle was able to finish strong, decking Miller with elbows and shots to the body, with Miller not being able to get up the whole round.
Miller was able to walk away with a victory and instead of answering Joe Rogan's questions about his fight, he tore apart the judges in mixed martial arts (MMA) and European fighters as well, saying that Ross Pearson, Dennis Siver, and Ogle were not able to beat him -- and took a shot at Conor McGregor as well, setting up a potential future fight.
Miller moves to 9-6 in his UFC career, and brought the most amount of attention to himself thus far with his post-fight interview.
The first Scotsman to ever compete in the UFC, Robert Whiteford, came up short in a losing effort against the durable Jimy Hettes. Whiteford lost in the second round by technical submission.
Whiteford started off the round by catching Hettes with left hands, and assuming Hettes did not like that, he brought his opponent up against the cage and looked for the takedown. Hettes was working a keylock, and with Whiteford squirming out of position, Hettes took his back. Looking for the rear-naked choke, Hettes was unsuccessful yet finished the round in his adversary's guard.
It was more of the same domination for Hettes in the second round, with his grappling skills on full display. As Whiteford tried to reverse positions to wind up on top, Hettes secured a triangle, with impressive transitions setting up the submission. Whiteford did not tap, but went out momentarily which forced the referee to call off the fight.
It may have been a tall order for Whiteford, who took the fight on two weeks notice, although he looked promising. Hettes may have just been too tough for his opponent. "The Kid" moves to 11-1 in his MMA career.
Kicking off the night's action was Brad Scott against Michael Kuiper, with the former obtaining a first-round submission win.
In the first round, Kuiper was engaging in a kickboxing stance, looking to land kicks galore, with Scott tagging him with punches. Both middleweights clinched up against the fence with Scott looking for takedowns. The referee broke them up with 90 seconds left in the round, and Scott set up more clinching against the cage with a good combination. As Kuiper tried to break free from against the fence, he tripped and Scott caught him in a front choke (according to Joe Rogan).
Scott gets his first win inside the promotion in front of his hometown fans and moves to 9-2 in his career, while Kuiper is now 1-3 in the UFC.
Here are the complete results for UFC Fight Night 30 "Prelims" card:
Al Iaquinta vs. Piotr Hallmann -- Iaquinta wins by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27x2)
Luke Barnatt vs. Andrew Craig -- Barnatt wins by submission (rear-naked choke), at 2:12 of round two.
Rosi Sexton vs. Jessica Andrade -- Andrade wins by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26x2)
Andy Ogle vs. Cole Miller -- Miller wins by unanimous decision (29-28x3)
Jimy Hettes vs. Robert Whiteford -- Hettes wins by technical submission (triangle choke), at 2:17 of round two.
Brad Scott vs. Michael Kuiper -- Scott wins by submission (front choke), at 4:17 of round one.
That's it for the "Prelims" portion of UFC Fight Night 30 fight card.
Be sure to hit up MMAmania.com for the up-to-the minute results and blow-by-blow coverage for the rest of the night's UFC Fight Night 30 main card action right here.