Before the UFC on FUEL TV 9: "Mousasi vs. Latifi" main card kicked off on FUEL TV today (Sat., April 6, 2013) from Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden, an entire seven-bout "Prelims" under card was broadcast on Facebook.
The final fight of the Facebook "Prelims" card saw Lightweights Reza Madadi and Michael Johnson engage in a spirited scrap with Madadi getting a third-round submission victory via d'arce choke. Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) made the right choice putting this bout at the top of the "Prelims" card as it was one of the most exciting of the event with each man having their high points in the fight.
Johnson's moment came in the first round when he blasted Madadi with a massive head kick but could not finish the fight. In the second and third rounds, Madadi used his superior grappling game to control "The Menace" until he eventually found the opening to lock in the submission. Madadi is on the rise right now and if some controversial judging had gone his way could be undefeated (3-0) in the Octagon. Johnson, on the other hand, has lost two fights in a row and subpar defensive grappling skills continue to be a trend in his career defeats.
Tor Troeng gave his hometown Swedish fans what they wanted to see with a complete domination and first-round submission of Adam Cella. The two cast members from The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 17 engaged in a feisty scrap but it was clear it was going to be Troeng's fight once he established dominant position on the ground. Once the 30-year-old got Cella's back the rear-naked choke finish was inevitable. After somewhat of a disappointing effort on TUF 17, Troeng redeemed himself in a big way and he is now officially a UFC fighter.
In a battle of two veterans from the now-defunct Strikeforce organization making their UFC debuts, Adlan Amagov defeated Chris Spang by unanimous decision in a striking-heavy 170-pound contest. The fight was a tale of two different performances as Amagov was fluid and loose with his attacks throughout the duration of the 15-minute bout while Spang appeared nervous and never had any significant moments in the fight. Amagov's offensive striking attacks are some of the most unique in the sport and fans will certainly be looking forward to seeing him again after an impressive rookie effort inside the Octagon.
Conor McGregor lived up to the hype in a big way with a first-round technical knockout of Marcus Brimage in the most anticipated bout on the UFC on FUEL TV 9 preliminary card. There was a lot of talk surrounding the Irishman coming in to his UFC debut and he produced the result fans were looking for by taking out "The Bama Beast" in just 67 seconds. McGregor showcased outstanding patience and striking accuracy in the short contest, staying composed when Brimage came forward aggressively and picked his shots until eventually scoring the knockout blow. "Notorious" has all the traits of a potential superstar outside of the cage and with 12 knockouts of 13 career victories also has the skills to go far inside of it.
Welterweight Ryan LaFlare made a successful UFC debut in Stockholm, dominating Ben Alloway en route to a unanimous decision win to keep his undefeated record in tact. The offensive pressure of the New York native was far too much for his Australian foe to handle for 15 minutes and Alloway was never really able to get anything going that would have changed the momentum of the fight in his favor. LaFlare put forth a promising effort in the fight and it will be interesting to see what he will be capable of going forward.
Tom Lawlor didn't have his most impressive performance of his UFC career, but that didn't prevent him from getting the job done with a second-round submission of Michael Kuiper in Middleweight action. "Filthy" struggled to take the fight to the ground early on and it seemed Kiuper's striking and defensive wrestling was going to lead him to win. The entire complexion of the fight changed in the second round, though, when Lawlor jumped guard for a guillotine choke attempt that forced Kiuper to tap out. After arguably being robbed of a win in his last fight against Francis Carmont, Lawlor needed to get his hand raised in Sweden and he did exactly that.
In a battle of two Swede's, Papy Abedi finally earned his first UFC victory with a split decision win over Besam Yousef in the opening fight of the preliminary card on Facebook. Abedi entered UFC on FUEL TV 9 with a winless (0-2) record under the UFC banner and had not won an MMA fight since Oct. 2010. While it may have been somewhat controversial, he finally changed that with a gutsy effort that gave him the nod on two of the three judges' scorecards and likely kept him employed for at least one more fight.
Here are the complete results from the UFC on FUEL TV 9 "Prelims" card:
155 lbs.: Michael Johnson vs. Reza Madadi -- Madadi wins via submission (D'Arce choke) at 1:33 of round three
185 lbs.: Tor Troeng vs. Adam Cella -- Troeng wins via submission (rear naked choke) at 3:11 of round one
170 lbs.: Adlan Amagov vs. Chris Spang -- Amagov wins via unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
145 lbs.: Marcus Brimage vs. Conor McGregor -- McGregor wins via TKO at 1:07 of round one
170 lbs.: Ben Alloway vs. Ryan LaFlare -- LaFlare wins via unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
185 lbs.: Michael Kuiper vs. Tom Lawlor -- Lawlor wins via submission (guillotine) at 1:05 of round two
170 lbs.: Papy Abedi vs. Besam Yousef -- Abedi wins via split decision (28-29, 29-28 x2)
That's it for the "Prelims" portion of the UFC on FUEL TV 9 fight card.
Be sure to hit up MMAmania.com's for up-to-the-minute results and blow-by-blow coverage of the rest of today's UFC on FUEL TV 9 main card action by clicking here.
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