UFC 212 results: Full fight card winners and reaction from Aldo vs. Holloway

Max Holloway came out on top in the main event of UFC 212: Aldo vs. Holloway on Saturday, scoring a TKO victory over featherweight champion José Aldo.

Holloway entered the fight as the interim champion, with Aldo billed as the undisputed champion. Aldo took the first round for sure, and the second was a little bit closer. They both landed well in the striking game and very little time was spent on the mat. But Holloway landed on the button with a punch that dropped Aldo in the third round.

From there, he was able to get into a dominant position and rain down punches until the referee called a stop in the third round, giving him the TKO win.

The penultimate fight on the card featured Cláudia Gadelha and Karolina Kowalkiewicz. It was a quick fight, with Gadelha securing the only takedown she needed after a couple minutes. She quickly took Kowalkiewicz’s back and locked in a rear-naked choke for the victory.

The first two fights on the main card ended in TKOs. Yancy Medeiros scored a knockout over Erick Silva at 2:01 of the second round, though the referee stoppage was probably early. Silva definitely took some big shots, but seemed to be intelligently defending himself when the referee stepped in.

The other fight saw Oluwale Bamgbose throw some fancy striking at Paulo Borrachinha, but eventually he faded and found himself on the ground and eating punches. Borrachinha also scored his TKO in the second round.

Vitor Belfort fought a conservative three-round fight against Nate Marquardt and ended up with a unanimous decision victory. It wasn’t a great fight overall, and Marquardt landed more shots and had a successful takedown. Many felt Marquardt won the fight but it was close, with nobody absorbing that much damage in the middleweight contest.

Below are the play-by-play results from the main card and below that is the full list of results from Saturday’s card.

Round 3: That second round may have been Holloway’s, but he nearly made a fatal mistake in the final seconds. Aldo nearly lands a punishing head kick as Holloway comes in with his head low, but he doesn’t quite connect. Aldo lands two stiff jabs. Holloway throws two big overhand rights, right over the jab, and they land. But Aldo is sticking with it. Aldo misses with a huge overhand right. Aldo lands a left hook as Holloway lands one of his own. Holloway and Aldo exchange right straights and then Holloway lands one right on the button. It sends Aldo down to his back, and Holloway swarms. Aldo avoids getting mounted, but he can’t get Holloway off of him. Holloway is trying to rain punches from above but it takes some time before he lands clean. With two minutes to go, Holloway gets the mount. Holloway lands shot after shot on Aldo’s head. Aldo turns and gives up his back. Aldo rolls again and Holloway gets to his feet. He gets back on top of Aldo and gets the mount again. Aldo can only defend at this point. Holloway gets his back and rains down shot after shot from back mount. Aldo is eating shot after shot and Aldo can’t get out of it. The referee stops it before Aldo takes more damage.

Round 2: Aldo lands a stiff right hook, and just misses with a follow-up left. Aldo isn’t throwing any leg kicks, which is surprising. Hollow lands a left uppercut and a right hook, and it’s the best shots he’s landed thus far. But Aldo circles away from further damage. Holloway lands a big right straight. Aldo throws a big hook of his own, but Holloway circles away and flicks two quick jabs that hit Aldo. Holloway is having a much better round, and it’s stemming from him being way more active. Holloway goes in for more of the same, but Aldo lands a big right jab. Holloway throws a head kick that misses. Another stiff jab, this one a left, from Aldo. He sneaks it in ther again, and one of them snaps back Holloway’s head. Aldo lands a one-two combo and Holloway smiles and shakes it off. He’s taunting Aldo now. Aldo lands a big left hand, throws a spinning kick that misses and then clips Holloway hard near the temple. That last shot definitely hurt Holloway, but the round comes to an end.

Round 1: They touch gloves to start the fight. Nothing is thrown for the first minute as these two settle in and look for their range. Holloway tries to land a couple one-two combos but Aldo circles away from both. Aldo throws a right straight that lands. Holloway jabs from range and lands as well. The two clinch up and Holloway lands a left hook as they separate. Aldo lands a hard, hard shot right on Holloway’s face. Holloway stumbles, and Aldo tries to swarm. He lands a couple big shots, but Holloway recovers and Aldo slows it down. Holloway definitely took some serious damage in the exchange. Holloway lands a good right hand on the cheek. Holloway lands punch to the body. Aldo throws a right uppercut that barely lands, and follows it with a left straight. Aldo is picking his shots very, very well. Holloway throws a spinning back kick that just grazes Aldo as the round comes to an end.

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The UFC featherweight championship will be unified on Saturday, provided there’s a winner in the pay-per-view main event bout between José Aldo and Max Holloway.

We’ll have live play-by-play coverage of every round on the main card here in this post. The current round will be at the top of the article, with the past fights listed below along with the full results for the entire night of fights below that.

In addition to Aldo and Holloway, the main card will feature a middleweight fight between Vitor Belfort and Nate Marquardt, two veterans who always go all-in. Erick Silva, a welterweight standout, will also be in action taking on Yancy Medeiros.

Below are the results from Saturday’s night of action.

Round 1: Kowalkiewicz is pressing the action early, trying to get Gadelha moving backwards. Gadelha just misses with an overhand right. Gadelha throws a high kick and Kowalkiewicz blocks it and just misses with a big right straight of her own. They clinch up, and Gadelha lands a big, big elbow as they separate. Gadelha goes for a takedown and she gets it, and ends up with Kowalkiewicz’s back. Kowalkiewicz essentially gave up her back while trying to scramble to her feet, and it cost her big time. Gadelha is trying to flatten her out and eventually gets the hook under the neck. Kowalkiewicz quickly realizes her mistake, but she can do nothing to stop it. She has to tap from a rear-naked choke.

Round 1: The first minute passes with nothing but a Marquardt leg kick as the two circle. Marquardt feints a punch and gets into Belfort’s clinch, but quickly turned it into a takedown and ends up on top in full guard. Belfort is doing his best to hold him down and for a minute, he’s done a good job. The referee steps in and gets them back standing because Marquardt couldn’t do anything offensively from the position. Marquardt just misses a front head kick. Belfort throws a right jab and a huge left hook that forced Marquardt backwards but doesn’t quite land. Belfort is trying to walk Marquardt down and into the fence. Marquardt throws a one-two combo that grazes, and lands a couple outside leg kicks. Belfort throws a head kick that doesn’t land as the round comes to an end.

Round 2: Belfort is being very conservative. He’s likely worried about getting tired, but he’s not throwing much. Marquardt throws a pair of head kicks that Belfort blocks. He lands a straight right hand as well. Belfort lands a left hook and Marquardt shakes his head like he’s not hurt. Belfort swarms him, throws a head kick that’s blocked, and throws some big punches in a clinch. Marquardt absorbs some damage but has weathered the storm. Marquardt lands a stiff jab after a half a minute of circling. Marquardt throws a leg kick and another head kick that is blocked. When Marquardt is throwing hard kicks, Belfort isn’t hitting him, so he really should be throwing more kicks. Belfort has a cut on the left side of his face. Marquardt lands a big body kick. Not long after, Belfort lands one of his own. Marquardt land a straight right as the buzzer sounds.

Round 3: Belfort lands a very stiff left hand at the start of the round. Marquardt is fine, but he can’t take too many of those flush. Marquardt is still looking for the big shot but isn’t throwing it. Belfort is still working a ocunter game, and two minutes pass with nothing of note in the round. Marquardt throws a head kick that’s blocked. Marquardt lands a big body kick, and then a calf kick. Two minutes to go and Belfort lands a big, short right hand that hurts Marquardt, but Belfort continues to take his time and not follow up. Belfort throws a head kick that lands but Marquardt throws a one-two punch combo right after. Belfort eats it and lands two straight punches of his own. Marquardt is taking some damage. He shoots for a takedown and can’t get it. Belfort just misses with a head kick. Marquardt lands a right straight. Thirty seconds to go. The two scrap in the final seconds with Marquardt landing a body kick but nothing serious. It will be interesting to see where the judges go with this one.

Round 1: Bamgbose throws a big overhand right that just misses to start the fight. He lands a short right hand that Borrachinha shakes off, but it definitely did a little damage. Bamgbose continues to throw hard strikes, but nothing big is landing. Borrachinha blocks a high head kick, then blocks another. Bamgbose shoots for a takedown but can’t get it. Borrachinha throws an overhand left but Bamgbose throws a leg kick that drops Borrachinha to his knees briefly. But Borrachinha gets up and throws a grazing head kick of his own. Borrachinha lands a big body kick that hurts Bamgbose. Then he lands another. Borrachinha is starting to zero in on Bamgbose. He lands a right hook, and Bamgbose turtles up. Borrachinha throws a big body kick and big hooks to the body and head. Bamgbose is doing not much else but cover up. Bamgbose is exhausted already, with a minute to go in the first round. They tie up and Bamgbose gets Borrachinha up against the cage. Bamgbose gets Borrachinha to the ground and up against the cage, but he’s just holding him down. Bamgbose is trying to take a breather. The round comes to an end.

Round 2: Bamgbose is tired, and looks completely and utterly beaten on his way back to the stool. They resume fighting, With Borrachinha quickly taking the center of the octagon. Bamgbose tries an axe chop, and then a double axe chop. Nothing lands. He does land a nice left jab though. Borrachinha isn’t throwing yet, and then ... there he goes. He lands a leg kick that sends Bamgbose to the mat as he’s off balance. Borrachinha swarms and delivers shot after shot to the head while standing over him, and Bamgbose can do nothing but take it. The referee stops the fight because Bamgbose was doing nothing to get out of it or really defend himself.

Round 1: The two touch gloves to start the fight. Medeiros feints several light shots, and then throws a big leg kick that lands. Silva isn’t throwing, but is waiting for the counter — or maybe not, as he throws and just misses a head kick. Silva eats a short punch to the head while coming in for a combo and it seems to stun him. He goes for a takedown, doesn’t get it, and gets back to his feet, seemingly recovered. Silva throws a body kick and Medeiros lands a right hand, both shots grazing. Silva lands a spinning body kick, and then lands a left hook that does some damage. Medeiros recovers throw, and uncorks a massive overhand right that just misses. Medeiros throws a spinning body kick of his own that pushes Silva back. Silva dodges a hook and lands a big leg kick. Medeiros follows it up with his own leg kick though. Silva responds with yet another, one that stumbles Medeiros. Silva starts to stumble Medeiros and then goes for a big knee that grazes him. The round comes to an end with both fighters standing.

Round 2: Medeiros comes out a little more aggressive. Both fighters have landed shots in the first round, but Silva has landed the more damaging strikes overall. Medeiros throws a wide hook that would have took Silva’s head off, but Silva ducks it and tries for a head kick that also doesn’t land. Medeiros lands a straight left jab, and then another. Silva lands a short combo of his own and Medeiros smiles and shakes it off. Silva lands another leg kick to Medeiros’s lead leg and it’s clearly hurt. Silva is picking up confidence, but Medeiros lands a short left hook that quickly puts Silva down. The shot came from nowhere, and Medeiros swarms. He goes for the ground-and-pound, and the referee steps in. It was potentially a fast stoppage from the referee.

Featherweight: Max Holloway def. José Aldo via TKO (punches) at 4:13 of Round 3
Women’s strawweight: Cláudia Gadelha def. Karolina Kowalkiewicz via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:03 of Round 1
Middleweight: Vitor Belfort def. Nate Marquardt via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Middleweight: Paulo Borrachinha def. Oluwale Bamgbose via TKO at 1:06 of Round 2
Welterweight: Yancy Medeiros def. Erick Silva via TKO (punches) at 2:01 of Round 2

Bantamweight: Raphael Assunção def. Marlon Moraes via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
Middleweight: Antônio Carlos Júnior def. Eric Spicely via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:49 of Round 2
Bantamweight: Matthew Lopez def. Johnny Eduardo via TKO (punches) at 2:57 of Round 1
Bantamweight: Brian Kelleher def. Iuri Alcântara via submission (guillotine) at 1:48 of Round 1
Women’s strawweight: Viviane Pereira def. Jamie Moyle via unanimous decision (29-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Welterweight: Luan Chagas def. Jim Wallhead via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:48 of Round 2
Flyweight: Deiveson Figueiredo def. Marco Beltrán via TKO (punches) at 5:00 of Round 2