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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is back on television TONIGHT (Sun., Jan. 14, 2018) with the UFC Fight Night 124 mixed martial arts (MMA) event on FOX Sports 1, which features a featherweight main event between Jeremy Stephens and DooHo Choi, who battle for a spot in the 145-pound title chase.
Elsewhere on the card, held inside Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri, Vitor Belfort and Uriah Hall throw hands for middleweight bragging rights, while Jessica-Rose Clark tries to spoil the return of flyweight debutant Paige VanZant.
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Fight Night 124 fight card below, starting with the UFC Fight Pass “Prelims” matches online at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the FOX Sports 1 “Prelims” bouts at 8 p.m. ET, before the main card start time at 10 p.m. ET, also on FOX Sports 1.
Keep in mind that we will also be the spot for the latest news, recaps, and post-fight analysis following “Stephens vs. Choi.”
Without further delay, see below for the latest UFC Fight Night 124 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 124 QUICK RESULTS:
Jeremy Stephens def. Doo Ho Choi via TKO (strikes) 2:36 Rd 2Vitor Belfort vs. Uriah Hall
Jessica-Rose Clark def. Paige VanZant via unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 29-28)
Kamaru Usman def. Emil Meek via unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
Darren Elkins def. Michael Johnson via submission (rear-naked choke) 2:22 Rd 2
James Krause def. Alex White via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
Marco Polo Reyes def. Matt Frevola via knockout (punches) 1:00 Rd 1
Jessica Eye def. Kalindra Faria via split decision (29-28 x2, 28-29)
Irene Aldana def. Talita Bernardo via unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
J.J. Aldrich def. Danielle Taylor via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
Mads Burnell def. Mike Santiago via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
Kyung Ho Kang def. Guido Cannetti via submissions (triangle) 4:53 Rd 1
UFC FIGHT NIGHT 124 PLAY-BY-PLAY:
145 lbs.: Jeremy Stephens vs. Doo Ho Choi
Round 1: Stephens in black, Choi in red. Stephens misses a leg kick, Choi does not. Choi lands a leg kick again and Stephens misses. Lands the nest time. Stephens just misses a big right. Choi with a knee. Gets in a few more leg kicks and Stephens is limping a bit. “Heathen” bites down and plows forward with a left. Another outside leg kick. Right hand cracks Choi, but he’s fine it seems. Hard leg kick to the back of the knee of the American. They clinch and a right elbow on the break from Stephens. Choi with a nice counter. They land simultaneous jabs. Jeremy throws hard and misses on all of them. Close round.
10-9 Choi
Round 2: Front kick directly to Stephens jaw. Choi comes in and promptly eats a left. Big knee from Stephens. Huge shots from both men here. Both men land again. Choi gets in a leg kick but Stephens counters with a big right and a left. Leg kick of his own. Choi is backing up and he’s eating a lot more. Lefts from both men and Stephens drops him with a right! Big elbow from Stephens. He postures up and lands an enormous right hand that makes Choi cover up. Two short elbows later and the reg stops the fight. It looked like Choi was in the process of moving, but in the words of the departed Goldy, “IT’S ALL OVER!”
Final result: Jeremy Stephens def. Doo Ho Choi via TKO (strikes) 2:36 Rd 2
125 lbs.: Jessica-Rose Clark vs. Paige VanZant
Round 1: Clark counters PVZ early. Superwoman punch from VanZant. Jumping switch kick to the body. Clark with a right and they clinch. VanZant tried a hip toss, but Clark slid out and took the back. PVZ stands into an arm triangle and gets taken down. Clark on top in the wrong-side half guard. She can’t get the arm triangle so she eventually bails on it. Not much happening here and I’m kind of surprised the ref, Mario Yamasaki, has let it go this long. Clark with some punches to the body. Just 30 seconds left. There’s an elbow at the horn.
10-9 Clark
Round 2: Spinning backfist from VanZant cracks Clark. They clinch and Clark gets in a knee. Not sure if Clark pulled guard or slipped, but Clark is on bottom. She attacks a leg and gets punched for her efforts. She uses it to get a double leg and the takedown. Kind of impressive to get that reverse. Plenty of time to work with 3:20 left in the frame. Half guard again. Not much happening here and the crowd is starting to sound off at the lack of action. One minute and... still nothing and finally the ref says something. Does nothing, but said something anyway. They roll and PVZ lands on top. Clark has a triangle set up, and it’s starting to get tight here. Paige is trying to punch her way out of it, but this is threatening. Clark gets the arm across the body as PVZ gets lazy for a second. She manages to get some room from the squeeze, so Clark gets in a bunch of elbows.
10-9 Clark
Round 3: The commentary team are mentioning that PVZ told her corner that her arm is broken from the first round. Paige with some kicks and flying knees. Switch kick nearly lands to the head. Slow paced here as VanZant is keeping the distance with circling and kicks. Counter right from Clark. There’s a flying knee from “12-gauge”. Left from VanZant. Knee from Clark. She lands a liver kick, near the bell.
10-9 VanZant
Final result: Jessica Rose Clark def. Paige VanZant via Decision (unanimous) 30-27, 29-28 x2
170 lbs.: Emil Meek vs. Kamaru Usman
Round 1: Meek (pronounced “meck”) in black, Usman in green. Meek coming out firing and Usman tries for a takedown early. Meek has a guillotine, but I’m not sure he’s got the right angle. Meek lets go and Usman immediately works for an arm triangle. Meek is up against the fence, so that’s going to be near impossible to finish. Usman ceases that effort and just goes to punch the body a bit. Meek scrambles and he’s back standing. Usman has a body lock and is kneeing the legs of the Norwegian. Meek fighting the grip with a kimura threat. Usman gets a big slam on Meek into side control. Meek spins, stands but is still stuck with a Usman backpack. Usman gets a bit of position and gets in some right hands.
10-9 Usman
Round 2: Meek trying to come in firing and make this a standup match. Usman catches a kick, but eats a spinning backfist as he tried to capitalize with that. Usman changes levels and gets Emil back to the fence. Body lock and a slam. Usman holding and not doing much here. Meek with some elbows from the bottom. Usman gets some elbows back. Usman postures up and gets in some decent GNP at the end of the round.
10-9 Usman
Round 3: Leg kick from Meek. and a cup kick. Usman gets a breather and we’re looking at the replay. They get wild brawling for a minute until Usman tires of the chin checks and drops for a takedown. He gets it. Meek strikes from the bottom for a minute before kicking Usman back and standing. One second later, Usman goes for another takedown and has a bodylock. Usman grapevines the legs and gets it back down. Meek trying to get out from bottom, but not succeeding. Meek up, Meek down.
10-9 Usman
Final result: Kamaru Usman def. Emil Meek via decision (unanimous) 30-27 x3
145 lbs.: Darren Elkins vs. Michael Johnson
Round 1: Johnson in gray, Elkins in blue. Nothing landing clean for either men, despite both men throwing. Elkins misses a takedown about 40 seconds in and gets dinged coming back to his feet. Elkins with a low kick and slips awkwardly. Johnson with a right. There’s a left after he stops a takedown. Another left that has Elkins off-kilter. Elkins with the fake takedown that has Johnson sprawling hard, but he’s unable to capitalize on it. Another left from MJ. Right hand gets in there for Elkins, who’s bleeding from his nose and maybe his mouth. “Damage” gets in a left. MJ with the lead leg low kick and both times, Elkins tried an overhand right. Left hand counter from MJ. Another. Johnson looking really good here so far. Johnson slips a front kick and gets in a pair of punches.
10-9 Johnson
Round 2: Body kick from Elkins. Darren eats a kick to the groin but catches it and lands on top. He’s in half guard, raining down punches as best as he can on Johnson. Elkins gets a crucifix position for a second, and that makes Johnson scramble hard to get out of there. Elkins jumps on Johnson’s back and immediately get his hooks in. Elkins gets in a body triangle and starts to slither his arm underneath the neck of Johnson. Johnson tries fighting it off, but a few seconds later and the huge underdog Elkins gets in another comeback win!
Final result: Darren Elkins def. Michael Johnson via submission (rear-naked choke) Rd 2 2:22
155 lbs.: James Krause vs. Alex White
Round 1: White is, perplexingly, in blue and Krause is in black. White throws a combo that misses. Krause misses a counter. White with a left. They clinch and he lands a knee, too. Body shot to the left side. Krause punches into a clinch and a takedown attempt. White crossfaces Krause to stay upright. Krause working hard, but not getting it. He gets an outside trip and lands on top. White tries to get out, nearly gets his back taken. Side control for Krause. Not much happening and they eventually move to north-south. Side again. 30 seconds left and... not much. Krause has had top control for a good three minutes, but really did nothing with it other than maintain control.
10-10 round.
Round 2: White charges in and gets one part of the combo to snap Krause’s head back. Both men land rights. White gets in a 3-2, but eats a big counter right about ten seconds later. Left lands for White. Krause ducks under a punch and gets the double leg at about 3:20 of the round - let’s see how long he maintains this. Not much again. White tries an armbar. Lands in the south part of the north-south again. White with some punches from bottom and he kicks off and reverses into a takedown of his own. Krause manages to get up fairly soon and clinched with Krause. Takedown again for James. White reverses into a guilllotine as the round ends.
10-9 Krause
Round 3: White swings and a right hand buckles Krause. Krause gets a clinch to recover. They break. Krause punches into a clinch again, but eats a big elbow. Krause trying to get this fight down, but 90 seconds in, unsuccessful so far. Knee from White. White reverses and breaks for a second, but Krause closes. Elbow from White. Right hand lands flush on the chin for White. Veteran Krause clinches again, but he’s still eating knees and shots. Right for White. Elbow. Krause pulls guard and goes for an armbar. White gets out and spins around on the turtled Krause. Krause, however, is much better at BJJ than White and gets on top. White with a triangle attempt and some strikes from bottom. Krause gets in a left, and another. Krause able to control the rest of the round, despite not getting in a lot of offense. There’s a right hand.
10-9 White
Final result: James Krause def. Alex White via decision (unanimous) 29-28 x3
155 lbs.: Matt Frevola vs. Marco Polo Reyes
Round 1: Frevola in blue, Reyes in green. Frebola with a headkick that gets blocked like... two seconds in. Reyes with a huge punch that knocks out Matt’s mouthpiece. Frevola gets rocked again and nearly goes out. Frevola is hugely sloppy here and he’s eating a ton of shots. He’s trying to bum rush Reyes and Reyes is just piecing him up. Hurt him with a left. BOOM! Huge right to the chin just turns the lights out for Frevola.
Final result: Marco Polo Reyes def. Matt Frevola via Knockout (punches) at 1:00 of Rd 1
170 lbs.: Thiago Alves vs. Zak Cummings
Round 1:
Round 2:
Round 3:
Final result:
125 lbs.: Jessica Eye vs. Kalindra Faria
Round 1: Faria and Eye out firing. Punching in bunches to start off and Faria with a nice clinch knee. Headkick from the Brazilian and she gets Eye to the ground. Mount on Eye. Jessica with a heel hook to get out of it and Faria attacks with one of her own. Hard to tell, but it looks like Eye has a nice hematoma from that kick earlier. Neither seem to really get solid locks on, despite near two solid minutes of 50/50 position. Hand-fighting by both women to make sure their ligaments don’t rip. Faria gets an elbow in. One minute left. Eye with a couple punches from the bottom.
10-9 Faria, but it could go either way
Round 2: Quick clinch with Eye backing Faria into the cage. Eye has a bodylock and drags Faria to the ground. Eye gets one hook in, then the second. RNC attempt, but it’s not under the chin. Body triangle now. Faria trying to spin into the triangle, but Eye blocks it. 100 seconds to go. Eye with a punch - the first strike in a good three minutes. Eye lets go of the triangle and loses her hooks. Gets one back as Faria tries to stand. Left from Eye near the clapper and that’s all for this round.
10-9 Eye
Round 3: Knee to the body from Faria. Leg kick. Jab from Eye might be her first strike this round. Side kick to the face of Eye. Left hand a couple seconds later, too. Not sure why Eye hasn’t made a concerted effort to get this to the ground, as she had a lot of success last round dominating the ground. Spinning backfist for Kalindra. There’s the takedown from Eye and she’s in a loose full guard. Eye curiously stands up and backs off, letting Faria up. Faria with a takedown of her own. Knee to the left side of eye’s ribs. Trip from Eye and she’s on top, passing through Faria’s attempt at rubber guard. Arm triangle attempt goes nowhere, as does an Americana. Nothing really happens as the bout ends.
10-9 Faria in a close fight.
Final result: Jessica Eye def. Kalindra Faria via decision (split) 29-28 x2, 28-29
135 lbs.: Irene Aldana vs. Talita Bernardo
Round 1: Bernardo in the dark purple tank top, Aldana in green camo. Aldana with a right hand. Aldana pumping the 1-2, but not landing a whole lot clean. It’s keeping Bernardo busy and as I type that she gets in a nice right to the temple. 2-1. 1-2... it’s basic, but it’s clean and working. Big right wobbles Bernardo and Aldana is pouring it on. Bernardo tries a takedown and lands on bottom with Aldana in full mount. Bernardo is a solid BJJ player and is able to get out of the position. She threatens a takedown of her own, but gets hip tossed on her back again. Aldana lands on top, but again, Bernardo is able to get up and do what she does best. Bernardo trying to land a takedown, but she isn’t getting it as Aldana’s balance is too good so far. Aldana manages to get free and is back to slinging her punches. Aldana stonewalls a takedown attempt and stays out of the guard pull attempt. GNP from Aldana as the round ends.
10-8 Aldana
Round 2: Nice shovel left hook from Aldana lands flush on the chin. Nice little footwork change from Aldana there. She realized she was chasing and moved back to the center of the cage to make sure she could cut off the angle of escape. Bernardo finally gets a nice single and chain wrestles it into a takedown. Top control for Bernardo, but Aldana threatens with a triangle. Punch from Bernardo. Closed guard. Elbows from bottom by Irene. Aldana posts and tries to turn, but Bernardo drags her back down. Closed guard again. Bernardo posts and that lets Aldana get in an upkick. Bernardo moved back for a second and that let Aldana stand up. Bernardo tries a double, but can’t get it as the round ends.
10-9 Aldana
Round 3: Slow start to the round as Bernardo is just going backwards, getting boxed up with occasional 1s and 2s while shooting takedowns from way out. Aldana with a smart, if boring approach to make sure that she doesn’t get too aggressive and taken down. Bernardo finally getting aggressive and lands a couple of nice shots. Bernardo gets rocked coming in on a takedown, but manages to at least get it to the ground, despite being on bottom. Bernardo gets on top, stacks Aldana, but fails and loses control when she tries to pass. Aldana on top now and eventually backs away with the round almost over. One last takedown attempt from Bernardo that fails.
10-9 Aldana
Final result: Irene Aldana def. Talita Bernardo via Decision (unanimous) 30-27 x3
115 lbs.: J.J. Aldrich vs. Danielle Taylor
Round 1: Taylor opens with an inside leg kick and drops Aldrich. But it’s just a slip. Taylor continues to utilized the kicking game, while Aldrich tries to get her jab going. Taylor lands a good body shot. Aldrich counters with a left, as they are content with exchanging strikes. Aldrich fires off a good one-two combo. Aldrich is now looking to score a takedown, buy Taylor connects with a good shot to the body. Aldrich is relentless in her attempts for takedowns, but Tayor with the good defense. Aldrich doesn’t give up and scores the takedown. She tries to get her ground-and-pound going, but not really putting a lot into it. Still good enough to win the round.
10-9 Aldrich.
Round 2: Not a lot of action from the two women to open up the round. Taylor looks to be the busier of the two, but isn’t doing much with her combinations. Aldrich manages to land a good left hook, and follows it up with a nice and clean body kick. Taylor doesn’t want to sit idle. so she fires off some strikes of her own. She scores with a body shot an a lead right. Aldrich fires off a couple of jabs. Taylor connects with a hard right hand. Aldrich now looks to counter with a couple of kicks to the body. Taylor tries to land a couple of combinations that don’t have a lot of affect. Taylor score with a clean right and is countered by a left hook to close out the round from Aldrich. Close round.
10-9 Aldrich
Round 3: Adrich fires off a nice combiantion to open up the final frame and she does her best Nick Diaz by taunting Taylor to bring the heat. Aldrich socres a clean spinning back fist as her confidence has gone through the roof. Two clean right hands and some body work from Aldrich. It’s all Aldrich at this point, as she is stalking her foe. Spinning kick from Aldrich. Tayloretries to land a haymaker, but to no avail. Taylor wants to get the kickinggame going, but Aldrich’s striking is coming together nicely. Aldrich is now working the jab as she delivers a leg kick for good measure. She lands a stiff left strike as she tries to get a good takedown. Great round and great performance from Aldrich.
10-9 Aldrich
Final result: JJ Aldrich defeats Danielle Taylor via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
145 lbs.: Mads Burnell vs. Mike Santiago
Round 1: Santiago comes in with a good one-two combo. Burnell scores a slam takedown on his foe. Santiago looks to fight off a submission attempt from Burnell, who tries to get the fight back to the floor after Santi gets back up. Back on the feet , Santiago tries to score a guillotine but it’s defended well. Burnell with another takedown. A quick reverse and Santiago is now on top scoring some points with striking from the top. A couple of submission attempts from both men. After breaking free, Santiago lands a flurry of strikes and scores one more take down for the road. Good close round.
10-9 Santiago.
Round 2: Santiago opens up with a couple of devastating leg kicks. Burnell tries to fire back but his foe scores another takedown. He doesn’t do much damage before the fight gets back up. Santiago delivers a crushing knee to the belly once in the clinch. Mads scores a takedown. He is in mount. Burnell tries to go in for a choke. Santiago gives up his back. Burnell trying to score any submission, while trying to open him up with some strikes. He’s high on his back. Looking for a rear-naked choke. Time runs out. good round for Mads. Were even at this point.
10-9 Burnell.
Round 3: Santiago opens the round with another hard kick. Burnell tries to bully him to the cage. They grapple a bit before Mads scores himself another takedown. He lands some elbows from top position, but not doing any major damage. Santiago looking to get back to a batter position, but Mads does a good job of keeping him down. Side control now for Mads. Good pressure from Burnell, who thwarts Santiago’s attempts to get back up. Santiago gets back to standing position, but Mads isn’t letting up on his pace one bit. Mads looks dominant this final round, as he eats a couple of crushing elbows to the body. The round and fight comes to an end.
10-9 Burnell.
Final result: Mads Burnell defeats Mike Santiago via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
135 lbs.: Guido Cannetti vs. Kyung Ho Kang
Round 1: My cable went out briefly and I rejoin to see Cannetti just miss on a wheel kick. They clinch and Cannetti gets in a nice knee and a left. Kang gets an underhook and spins out. They exchange lefts and Kang takes him down. Kang in full mount trying to work his arms free. Kang gets too high and Cannetti scoots out the back door. Kang throws his legs up quickly and gets Guido in a triangle. Guido powers Kang all the way up into the air, but he can’t get a slam out of it. They slide down the cage and Kang manages to get the tap in with just seven seconds left in the round!
Final result: Kyung Ho Kang def. Guido Cannetti via submission (triangle) at 4:535 of Round 1
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