UFC middleweight Marvin Vettori has been asking for a big fight all year. The slugger wanted a matchup against a top-ranked opponent. It did not quite come together — through no fault of his own — until now.
At the end of what has been a trying 2020 for Vettori, he will get an opportunity against Jack Hermansson in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas. ESPN has Hermansson ranked No. 6 in the world at middleweight.
Vettori was booked to fight Darren Stewart in March at a UFC Fight Night in London. He made the trip there from California only to find out the event was canceled due to coronavirus. In May, Vettori was scheduled to fight Karl Roberson, but Roberson withdrew on the day of the bout after a bad weight cut. Vettori eventually beat Roberson by first-round submission in May.
Hermansson (21-5) is coming off a first-round submission win over Kelvin Gastelum in July. The Sweden native, who lives and trains in Norway, has won five of his past six fights. Hermansson, 32, sports an 8-3 record in the UFC with six finishes.
Vettori (15-4-1) has won three in a row. His last loss came against current UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya in April 2018, a split decision. In all, the Italian fighter is unbeaten in five of his past six UFC fights. Vettori, 27, has a chance to jump into title contention with a win Saturday night.
In the co-main event, light heavyweight stalwart Ovince Saint Preux meets up-and-coming prospect Jamahal Hill. Saint Preux (25-14) is 3-4 in his past seven. Hill (7-0, 1 NC) finished Klidson Abreu in his last bout back in May, but it was overturned to a no contest by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) due to a positive drug test for marijuana.
Also on the card, Gabriel Benitez and Justin Jaynes meet in a battle of exciting featherweights, undefeated featherweight prospect Movsar Evloev faces Nate Landwehr and bantamweight veterans Louis Smolka and Jose Quiñonez face off.
Fight in progress:
Lightweight: Matt Wiman (16-9, 10-7 UFC, +320) vs. Jordan Leavitt (7-0, 0-0 UFC, -400)
Results:
Men’s bantamweight: Louis Smolka (17-7, 8-7 UFC) defeats Jose Quinonez (9-5, 5-4 UFC) by second-round TKO
0:44
Louis Smolka smothers Jose Quinonez with a flurry of punches as Smolka grabs the easy second-round win at UFC Fight Night.
Twice, Smolka had been taken down and managed to scramble out of bad positions. Then he got a takedown of his own, quickly seized dominant position and allowed Quinonez no escape, raining down punches from full mount until the referee jumped in at 2:15 of Round 2.
The fighters came out with the urgency to be expected of two men coming off losses in which they had been finished in the first round. Quinonez was a ball of energy, damaging Smolka’s front leg with low kicks. Smolka did not stop stalking, however, and once he gauged the timing of Quinonez’s kicks, he returned fire with overhand rights.
But it was the ground work that made the difference. Smolka, a 29-year-old from Kapolei, Hawaiian, who is in his second UFC stint, was able to avoid damage when taken down. And when he got the takedown into side control midway through the second round, he immediately transitioned to mount and flattened out Quinonez, leaving the 30-year-old Mexican essentially defenseless.
And Smolka then showed that when he wins, he finishes the job. Each of his last eight wins has been by stoppage. Quinonez has lost three of his last four, all by finish.
— Raimondi
Men’s featherweight: Ilia Topuria (10-0, 2-0 UFC) defeats Damon Jackson (18-4-1, 1-1 UFC) via first-round KO
0:41
Ilia Topuria stuns Damon Jackson with a massive right hook as he has Jackson pinned against the cage in the middle of Round 1.
There will no longer be any sleeping on Topuria as one of the best lighter weight prospects in the UFC.
Topuria pieced Jackson up with his boxing, culminating in a gorgeous combination that put Jackson to sleep. The knockout came at 2:38 of the first round with a missile-like right hand as Jackson was backed up against the cage.
Thought this guy was just a grappler I was misinformed
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) December 6, 2020
The key, Topuria said, was his body work. The German-born featherweight was ripping hooks to the body from the opening bell, an inspiration from top boxer Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, he said. Topuria has been training at MMA Masters in Miami with the likes of fellow prospect Miguel Baeza.
“I was training a lot of the body shots like Canelo’s style,” Topuria said in his postfight interview.
Topuria, 23, was ranked No. 17 on ESPN’s 25 best MMA fighters under 25 list last month. Topuria, who is of Georgian descent, is now 2-0 in the UFC. In total, he has nine finishes in 10 pro wins. Eight of those have come in the first round. Jackson, a 32-year-old Texas resident, had a two-fight winning streak snapped.
— Raimondi
Heavyweight: Jake Collier (12-5, 4-4 UFC) defeats Gian Villante (17-13, 7-10 UFC) by unanimous decision
UFC middleweight-turned-heavyweight Collier earned his first win of 2020, as he defeated Villante via unanimous 30-27 scores.
Collier used to fight at 185 pounds, but he moved up to light heavyweight in 2017 and then heavyweight this year. He did well controlling the fight with his jab, low kick and a variety of other strikes on the feet. He had Villante hurt with a left hook in the opening round, and despite wearing a bloodied nose early, was never in any danger himself.
The boys were throwing!! Should be a win for Collier there. Fun fight. He looked good! #UFCVegas16
— Tanner Boser (@BulldozerBoser) December 6, 2020
Neither fighter ever looked once to take the other down, as the fight took place exclusively on the feet. Villante, who also used to fight at light heavyweight, appeared to turn the tide a little in the second round — he landed a nice short uppercut in tight and an overhand right counter — but he was consistently beaten to the punch by Collier.
For Villante, he is now on a three-fight skid and has not won back-to-back fights since 2015. Collier picks up his first win since 2017.
— Okamoto
Still to come:
Middleweight: Jack Hermansson (21-5, 8-3 UFC, +120) vs. Marvin Vettori (15-4-1, 5-2-1 UFC, -140)
Light heavyweight: Ovince Saint Preux (25-14, 12-9 UFC, +150) vs. Jamahal Hill (7-0 1 NC, 1-0 UFC 1 NC, -170)
Lightweight: Gabriel Benitez (21-9, 5-4 UFC, -210) vs. Justin Jaynes (16-5, 1-1 UFC, +180)
Light heavyweight: Roman Dolidze 7-0, 1-0 UFC, -200) vs. John Allan (13-5 1 NC, 0-0 1 NC UFC, +175)
