Read on for UFC Fight Night early prelim results...
JOHN DODSON vs MANVEL GAMBURYAN
Two-time flyweight challenger John Dodson returned to the bantamweight division Saturday and the result was the same as it was the last time he graced the weight class – a first-round knockout – as he stopped Manvel Gamburyan in 47 seconds at Amalie Arena in Tampa.
After a cagey opening sequence, Dodson found an opening for his left hand and jarred Gamburyan briefly. That was all it took, as the speed of “The Magician” took over, and he began unleashing a rapid-fire barrage of punches that left James Warring no choice but to stop the fight.
With the win, Albuquerque’s Dodson moves to 19-7. In his last bantamweight appearance in 2011, he stopped TJ Dillashaw in less than two minutes to win the Ultimate Fighter season 14 title. Gamburyan falls to 18-10 with 1 NC.
More from Fight Night Tampa: Full results | Postfight bonus recap | Watch: Dana White has final say on Fight Night Tampa | Teixeira KO’s Evans in main event | Namajunas, Swanson go distance for wins; Nurmagomedov takes shorter route | Dodson makes it look easy in bantamweight return | Chiesa, Graves get submission wins, Pennington gets close victory | Backstage Interviews: Glover Teixeira, Rose Namajunas, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Cub Swanson, Michael Chiesa, Raquel Pennington, Santiago Ponzinibbio, Michael Graves | Octagon interviews: Glover Teixeira, John Dodson | Best images from Fight Night Tampa
FERREIRA vs. BAMGBOSE
A week’s notice wasn’t enough for Oluwale Bamgbose in his middleweight bout with Cezar Ferreira, as he faded down the stretch, allowing “Mutante” to win the match via unanimous decision.
Scores were 29-28 twice and 29-27.
Bamgbose (6-2), who replaced the injured Caio Magalhaes, nearly picked up the seventh first-round stoppage of his career in the second minute, rocking and dropping Ferreira with a right hand. Ferreira weathered the follow-up ground-and-pound attack by the New Yorker and later scored a takedown, but that early barrage likely won Bamgbose the frame.
Sao Paulo’s Ferreira (10-5) got a takedown to start round two, the first time Bamgbose had ever seen the second stanza, and the bloodied Brazilian began firing away with a steady barrage of punches and elbows, dominating until Bamgbose was able to get up with seconds remaining.
Clearly winded, Bamgbose did little offensively in the first half of the final round, with only sporadic bursts of action in the final two and a half minutes. Ferreira wasn’t a ball of energy either, but two takedowns allowed him to wrap up the final round and the fight.
ZALESKI DOS SANTOS vs. AKHMEDOV
Welterweights Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos and Omari Akhmedov got after it in the opener, with Brazil’s dos Santos finishing in impressive fashion with a third-round TKO win.
Most of the first round took place on the feet, where the busier dos Santos held an edge, but the most compelling action happened during a brief spell on the mat, where both traded submission attempts and sweeps before assuming a standing position once more.
Dos Santos briefly jarred Akhmedov with a right hand early in round two, prompting a takedown by the Russian, who recovered quickly and landed with some hard ground strikes. More takedowns would follow, but the round was far from one-sided, as dos Santos’ strikes and submission attempts kept him neck and neck with his foe.
In the third, dos Santos was the fresher of the two fighters and he sensed it as well, as he wobbled Akhmedov with several hard shots. Midway through the round, it looked like the end was near, but the game Akhmedov wouldn’t stop throwing back, keeping him in the fight. Finally, dos Santos upped his work rate even more moments later, and with Akhmedov not answering, referee Dan Miragliotta stepped in and stopped the fight at the 3:03 mark.
With the win, Parana’s Zaleski dos Santos moves to 15-5. Makhachkala’s Akhmedov falls to 15-4.
