Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
After UFC on ESPN 50, five fighters picked up an extra $50,000 for their performances in Nashville, Tenn., including Tatiana Suarez.
The UFC handed out five post-fight bonuses after Saturday’s card, including one to each of the winners with stoppages.
After UFC on ESPN 50, five fighters picked up an extra $50,000 for their performances in Nashville, Tenn. Check out the winners below.
Check out live play-by-play and official results from UFC on ESPN 50 in Nashville, Tenn.
UFC on ESPN 50 took place Saturday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.
In the main event, Cory Sandhagen (17-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC) took on Rob Font (20-7 MMA, 10-6 UFC) in a key bantamweight fight. In the co-feature, former women’s strawweight champion Jessica Andrade (24-12 MMA, 15-10 UFC) meets unbeaten contender Tatiana Suarez (10-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC).
Check out round-by-round updates below.
Enjoy the fights, everyone.
The MMA community had a mix of criticism and praise for Cory Sandhagen after his UFC on ESPN 50 main event win over Rob Font.
[autotag]Cory Sandhagen[/autotag] enhanced his case for a bantamweight title shot on Saturday when he defeated [autotag]Rob Font[/autotag] in the UFC on ESPN 50 main event.
Sandhagen (17-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC) emerged with a lopsided unanimous decision win over fellow bantamweight contender Font (20-7 MMA, 10-6 UFC) in their 140-pound catchweight headliner at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., and potentially set himself up to challenge the winner of the Aljamain Sterling vs. Sean O’Malley title fight, which goes down at UFC 292 in two weeks.
Check below for the top Twitter reactions to Sandhagen’s victory over Font at UFC on ESPN 50.
If Cory Sandhagen needed to work on his wrestling to win a title, he showed that progression Saturday with a dominant win over Rob Font.
If [autotag]Cory Sandhagen[/autotag] needed to work on his wrestling to win a title, he showed that progression Saturday.
It may not have been the tune the fans in “Music City” wanted to hear to close the night, but Sandhagen’s takedowns and top control en route to a unanimous decision gave him a safe win and kept him in the title mix. It also may not have been what his boss wanted to see. Social media reports during the headliner indicated UFC president Dana White left his cageside seat in the middle of the fight and didn’t come back.
Sandhagen (17-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC) largely outwrestled [autotag]Rob Font[/autotag] (20-7 MMA, 10-6 UFC) on his way to a unanimous decision in their 140-pound contract weight bout, which was the UFC on ESPN 50 main event at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. The fight was five pounds up from bantamweight because Font took it on less than three weeks’ notice.
Sandhagen swept the judges’ scorecards for a trio of 50-45 scores and his third straight win and landed all seven of his takedown attempts. Then he called for a title shot against the winner of bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling and Sean O’Malley, who fight in two weeks in Boston.
“I wanted to put a more exciting fight on. I’ve been dealing with a lot of elbow problems recently, and I think I tore my tricep in the first round. … I’m a wrestler now, apparently. Sterling and O’Malley, I’ll see you guys in Boston. I’ve got next.”
Sandhagen shot for a takedown about 15 seconds into the fight and got it. But he found himself in a bit of a precarious spot when Font latched onto his neck for a guillotine choke attempt. Sandhagen defended well, though, and when Font worked for a kimura a few moments later, it allowed him to roll his way off the canvas and back to his feet. But two minutes in, Sandhagen quickly shot for another takedown, and he landed a solid right hand when Font tried to get back to his feet. With 30 seconds left in the frame, Font caught a Sandhagen kick and used it for a takedown, though he didn’t do much with the position other than remind Sandhagen he was there for a fight.
The second round was a dominant one for Sandhagen with a quick takedown, then top control throughout the frame. Font’s defense from his back was good enough to keep Sandhagen from getting momentum toward a finish. All that was worth, though, was Font had to suffer the same plight in the middle round. Sandhagen took him down a little later that round, but still added another more than four minutes of control time to his stats. With a minute left, he landed some solid punches from up top. Font got back to his feet with 35 seconds left and had to duck away from a second Sandhagen jumping knee.
After the third, the fans in “Music City” weren’t shy about letting Sandhagen in particular know their disappointment that 15 minutes hadn’t brought much of a barnburner for their last fight of the night. Font’s head coach, Tyson Chartier, told hm he needed to wake up in the final two rounds if he wanted to win the fight.
But 20 seconds into the fourth, Sandhagen drilled another easy takedown, and Font’s frustrations continued. They carried over to the fifth, a round in which Sandhagen at least threatened for a few moments with a D’Arce choke, until Sandhagen heard his scorecard sweep announced by Bruce Buffer.
Sandhagen won for the third straight time after back-to-back losses to T.J. Dillashaw and former champ Petr Yan in an interim title fight. Font went back to the loss column after a win over Adrian Yanez, and the Boston-based bantamweight now has dropped three of his past four.
Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN 49 results include:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 50.
Check out the best photos from Cory Sandhagen’s unanimous decision win over Rob Font at UFC on ESPN 50 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
Check out the best photos from [autotag]Cory Sandhagen[/autotag]’s unanimous decision win over [autotag]Rob Font[/autotag] at UFC on ESPN 50 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. (Photos by Christopher Hanewinckel, USA TODAY Sports)
Check out the official scorecards from all 12 fights at UFC on ESPN 50 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
Check out the official scorecards from all 12 fights at UFC on ESPN 50 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.
Check out the best photos from Tatiana Suarez’s second-round submission win over Jessica Andrade at UFC on ESPN 50 in Nashville.
Check out the best photos from [autotag]Tatiana Suarez[/autotag]’s second-round submission win over [autotag]Jessica Andrade[/autotag] at UFC on ESPN 50 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. (Photos by Christopher Hanewinckel, USA TODAY Sports)
Tatiana Suarez made things look easy against a former champion, and now she likely will be in the conversation as a future champion herself.
[autotag]Tatiana Suarez[/autotag] made things look easy against a former champion, and now she likely will be in the conversation as a future champion, herself.
Suarez (10-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) took out former women’s strawweight champ [autotag]Jessica Andrade [/autotag](24-12 MMA, 15-10 UFC) with a second-round guillotine choke. The tap came 91 seconds into the middle frame of the UFC on ESPN 50 co-main event at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.
Suarez won for the second time since her return from a layoff of nearly four years. She came back in February and submitted Montana De La Rosa with a guillotine choke. But the win over Andrade likely will carry a lot more weight for Suarez’s title aspirations.
About halfway through the first round, Suarez shot for a takedown, and while it wasn’t pretty, it got the job done. Suarez went to work on the former champion from side control and when Andrade got back to her feet with about 100 seconds left in the round, Suarez got a headlock and tried to work for a standing guillotine. On the fence, she threw heavy knees until Andrade finally broke away.
In the second round, though, once Suarez got Andrade to the canvas early, she was all over her until she locked in the choke from her back on the canvas. Soon after, the Brazilian had to tap.
STILL UNDEFEATED!!!!!!@TatianaUFC is a problem for everyone in the division 😳 #UFCNashville pic.twitter.com/rf7jFTKDr8
— UFC (@ufc) August 6, 2023
Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN 49 results include:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 50.
Check out the best photos from Dustin Jacoby’s first-round TKO win over Kennedy Nzechukwu at UFC on ESPN 50 in Nashville.
Check out the best photos from [autotag]Dustin Jacoby[/autotag]’s first-round TKO win over [autotag]Kennedy Nzechukwu[/autotag] at UFC on ESPN 50 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. (Photos by Christopher Hanewinckel, USA TODAY Sports)
Dustin Jacoby had been brought back down to earth his past two fights, but is back in the win column with a fast finish in Nashville.
After a crazy 8-0-1 run that included his return to the UFC through Dana White’s Contender Series, [autotag]Dustin Jacoby[/autotag] had been brought back down to earth his past two fights.
Jacoby (19-7-1 MMA, 7-4-1 UFC might be back in the mix at light heavyweight after a brutal finish of Kennedy Nzechukwu (12-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) at UFC on ESPN 50 in Nashville, Tenn. Jacoby took a shot, but drilled Nzechukwu with one of his own and sent him to the canvas.
Jacoby pounced on the slight favorite quickly and soon after had his first win in more than a year. He needed just 82 seconds for the TKO. After the win, he called out former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir.
Check out Jacoby’s stoppage of Nzechukwu below.
👊 @TheHanyakDJ’s world class striking on display at #UFCNashville! pic.twitter.com/splmN0vYYC
— UFC (@ufc) August 6, 2023
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 50.
