Sean Brady Dominates, Throttles Leon Edwards at UFC London

Sean Brady may have just made himself undeniable as a welterweight title contender.

In the main event of UFC Fight Night 255 in London’s O2 Arena, the Philadelphia native put in a thoroughly dominant performance, grounding Leon Edwards in every round and mauling him with strikes and submission attempts en route to a fourth-round finish. Brady took it to the former champ right away, surging forward behind a flurry of punches. “Rocky” remained calm, giving ground and looking for counter opportunities. Nonetheless, Brady’s volume and aggression kept Edwards on the back foot for much of the first round. The second frame was less ambiguous, as Brady grounded Edwards early, then went to work. The Daniel Gracie protégé took Edwards’ back, where he locked up a body triangle, pelted him with strikes from behind and looked to set up a choke. Edwards escaped back mount, but Brady remained all over him, moving to regular mount and briefly threatening with a kimura. Edwards survived to the horn, but the momentum was all with the American as they returned to their corners.

In Round 3, Brady took over where he left off, taking advantage of an ill-advised takedown attempt by Edwards to bring things back to the ground, where he put his heavy top game back on display. He trapped Edwards on the bottom and landed a string of unblocked punches that looked like a potential fight-ender before the Brit managed to buck and escape the position. It was only a momentary reprieve, however, as Brady continued to put in completely dominant work on top for the balance of the round. The onslaught continued in the fourth frame, as Brady once again charged across the Octagon, corralled Edwards against the fence and hoisted him for yet another easy takedown. This time he went for the kill, snaring Edwards in a guillotine, rolling to mount and getting the tap seconds later. The end came at 1 minute, 39 seconds of Round 4, bringing Brady to 18-1 overall, 8-1 in the UFC, and made an eloquent case for a rematch with the lone man to defeat him, current champ Belal Muhammad. Edwards, who had never been manhandled in that fashion, fell to 22-5 with one no contest overall, 14-4 with one no contest in the Octagon.

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Ulberg Upends Blachowicz for Eighth Straight Win

Despite the undeniable knockout power both competitors brought to the cage, the co-main event between Carlos Ulberg (12-1) and Jan Blachowicz (29-11-1) sparked and simmered, but never quite exploded into a full-blown conflagration. At 42, former champ Blachowicz showed that he can still compete with the top talents in the division, as he used a steady stream of low kicks, forward movement and well-chosen punch combinations to keep Ulberg from getting completely comfortable in the cage. For his part, “Black Jag” willingly exchanged calf kicks, and as the fight wore on, found increasing opportunities to display his superior reach and hand speed. The expected dynamic of Blachowicz’s battle-tested wrestling against Ulberg’s improving takedown defense never truly materialized, as Blachowicz never made more than perfunctory attempts to bring the fight to the floor. All three rounds were competitive, and neither man truly took control of the fight for more than a few seconds at a time, but Ulberg prevailed, with all three judges seeing it 29-28 in favor of the kickboxing Kiwi. With the win, his eighth in a row since dropping his UFC debut to Kennedy Nzechukwu, Ulberg is well positioned to lobby for a title shot; Blachowicz’s record in the promotion now stands at 12-8-1.

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Holland Plays with Fire, Prevails Over Nelson

Kevin Holland (27-13, 1 NC) prevailed over Gunnar Nelson (19-6-1) in a welterweight scrap that was wilder and more fun than expected—or needed to be, perhaps. Faced with a decorated grappler in Nelson who gave up serious deficits in height, reach and speed, Holland got the better of the striking exchanges throughout, but also chose to engage Nelson on the ground for extended sequences in all three rounds. Holland experienced success there as well, including a second-round exchange in which he snared the Icelander in a deep omoplata, only to have Nelson stand and lift him completely off the ground like a suitcase. Notwithstanding Holland’s strategic approach, he appeared to be up two rounds to one going into the final frame. Nelson did his best work in Round 3, taking Holland down, moving to mount and briefly threatening with a choke, but it was too little too late and Holland carried the day via unanimous 29-28 scores. The win elevated the Texan’s UFC mark to 14-10, 5-4 at welterweight, while Nelson fell to 10-6.

Debuting Thainara Retires “Meatball Molly”

Alexia Thainara gave a cruel demonstration of MMA’s circle of life, as she made her UFC debut on less than two weeks' notice, then wrecked one of the promotion’s most popular fighters, Molly McCann, leading to McCann’s emotional and somewhat surprising in-cage retirement. Thainara was clearly the faster and harder hitter on the feet, but elected to haul McCann to the canvas early, where McCann threw strikes from her back while Thainara looked to pass her guard. Midway through the round, she succeeded, and from there moved to full mount, then back control. Once she secured the position, she worked for a rear-naked choke. McCann fought off the Brazilian’s first attempt, buoyed by the supportive crowd, but when Thainara adjusted and worked her arm under the chin, the tap was not long in coming. The submission at 4:32 brought Thainara’s record to 12-1 overall, 1-0 in the UFC, while McCann walked away from the sport—for now, at least—with a record of 7-7 in the Octagon, 14-8 overall.

Duncan Dominates, Throttles Vucenic

In a battle of former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholders, Chris Duncan (13-2) prevailed in emphatic fashion, lighting up Jordan Vucenic (13-4) on the feet and getting the last laugh in their guillotine choke derby. Former CW lightweight champ Duncan figured to have the size advantage over his former featherweight counterpart while giving up speed, but it was “The Problem” that dropped his man with a slick body kick-right cross combo in the early going. Duncan followed Vucenic to the ground and attempted a guillotine, which gave the Englishman time to recover, though he spent the balance of the round on the bottom and in defensive mode. Round 2 opened up with Duncan again catching Vucenic cleanly on the feet. Midway through the round, Vucenic appeared to come alive, scoring with jabs and straights, but when he shot for a takedown off of a caught kick, Duncan snared him in another guillotine choke. This time there was no way out, as the Scot closed his guard, adjusted his grip and elicited the tape at 3:42. The dominant win brought Duncan to 5-1 in the UFC, while Vucenic’s record fell to 0-2 since getting the call up late last year.

Wood Outpaces Charriere

In the main card opener, London’s own Nathaniel Wood (21-6) did not disappoint the hometown fans, leaving Morgan Charriere (20-11-1) largely in the dust across three rounds in their featherweight clash. “The Prospect” and “The Last Pirate” sprang into action immediately, engaging in some furious striking exchanges early, but Wood’s advantages in speed and power were obvious, and Wood dropped Charriere with a sharp right hand. Wood followed the Frenchman to the floor, where he was swept, but launched enough offense from his back to carry the round nonetheless. From there, Wood began to achieve separation, tagging Charriere on the feet with increasing confidence and winning most of the brief wrestling and grappling exchanges. While both men appeared to slow in the final frame, the essential momentum of the fight was unchanged and the judges had an easy job, scoring the fight for the Brit by unanimous 30-27 tallies. The win elevated Wood’s Octagon record to 10-3, 5-1 since moving up from bantamweight, while Charriere fell to 2-2 in the promotion.