Recap: UFC Fight Night – dos Anjos vs. Alvarez

And just like that we have a new lightweight champion of the world! Eddie Alvarez becomes the first fighter to hold both Bellator and UFC lightweight titles, and he did it in some style.

Both fighters came out looking to impose themselves on this fight, but it was Rafael dos Anjos who was pressuring Alvarez and landing the cleaner strikes early on. Alavrez attempted a takedown but after a submission attempt from dos Anjos, decided to break away. Dos Anjos then attempted a takedown of his own, but failed to take Alvarez to the mat. Alvarez clipped dos Anjos with a right hand, and, after unloading against dos Anjos up against the cage, somehow managed to get taken down. Alvarez quickly reversed it and blitzed dos Anjos with huge shots, forcing Herb Dean to step in and award the victory to Eddie Alvarez. Wow!

Considering all the hype behind this fight, Roy Nelson did his very best to quench any excitement with his continual attempts to clinch with Derrick Lewis and take him down. And after seeing the power behind the strikes Lewis hit Nelson with in the first round, it was understandable. Lewis unloaded on Nelson after being tied up against the cage for most of the first round, only Nelson’s famous durability helped him reach the bell. The second round again saw Nelson go back to his grappling to stifle the striking of Lewis, landing takedowns and easily passing to side control. Lewis managed to pop to his feet each time but couldn’t land the shots he needed to put Nelson away. The third round continued the pattern of the previous two, with Lewis looking to strike and Nelson tying him up against the cage, not really doing much, but stifling the power and striking of Lewis. Despite Lewis’ best attempts in the last minute, Nelson managed to hold out and blunt the attacks of Lewis until the end of the fight. However, Lewis had been deemed to do enough to win the fight, with the judges awarding him the split decision much to the crowds annoyance.

The first round of Alan Jouban vs. Belal Muhammed was as back-and-forth as you’ll see all week. After dropping Jouban early in the first round, Muhammed fought back and looked to be dominating the striking and clinch exchanges against, but with two minutes left, Jouban dropped Muhammed with a headkick and went after the finish, landing elbow after elbow. Muhammed toughed it out and managed to see the end of the first round. The second round saw Muhammed come out a little tentative and he paid for it, with Jouban dropping him with a left hand but again couldn’t capitalise and allowed Muhammed to pin him against the cage and see the round out without suffering much more damage. The third round saw Muhammed continuing his clinch based approach, looking to tie Jouban up against the cage, but Jouban managed to turn the fight back into a striking exchange. This time it was Muhammed dominating those exchanges, unloading on Jouban for the last two minutes of the round, with Jouban eating everything that Muhammed had. The judges decided that Jouban had done enough to earn the decision victory.

Joe Duffy kicked off the main card with an impressive 25-second win over Mitch Clarke. Duffy dropped Clark with a right hand before following him to the canvas and landing some ground and pound. Duffy quickly took the back and sunk in a rear naked choke, returning to winning ways and making it look easy.