UFC Fight Night 160 Results: Cannonier defeats Hermansson by TKO

Denmark play hosts to the Octagon for first time

UFC Fight Night 160 was hosted in The Royal Arena, Copenhagen, with it being the first UFC event in history to be held in Denmark.

The main card featured a top middleweight fight between Jack "The Joker" Hermansson and Jared "The Killa Gorilla" Cannonier, as well as an exciting UFC debut for former Danish Olympian Mark Madsen and a return to the Octagon for Danish welterweight Nicholas Dalby.

UFC Fight Night 160 Card

Jared Cannonier defeats Hermansson by TKO

9th ranked middleweight Jared Cannonier defeated Jack Hermansson via technical knockout.

The former heavyweight and light heavyweight showed the world he has found his perfect weight class after calmly putting away the betting favourite who was ranked 4 places higher than him.

In the first round Hermansson attempted a couple takedowns, and even went looking for a possible rear naked choke, however Cannonier overpowered “The Joker” and was able to bring himself back up on his feet.

As the fight continued with the fighters striking, “The Killa Gorilla” was composed and calm with his striking. From clinical calf kicks to precise, powerful jabs, Cannonier’s stand up was superior to Hermansson’s as he started to unload on the Swedish fighter.

After preventing Hermansson to inflict little damage on the ground, and beginning to inflict damage of his own, Cannonier was going into the second round on a high.

Round 2 started and Cannonier’s composure remained. Hermansson went for another takedown, his usual strategy as he’s known for starching his opponents on the ground, however in doing so he ate a powerful uppercut from “The Killa Gorilla” and it was the beginning of the end for the main event of the night.

Cannonier rushed his flailing opponent and clinically picked his shots with a mixture of speed and power- 27 seconds into the round and referee Marc Goddard had to step in due to Hermansson being unable to protect himself.

After winning his first main event, Cannonier showed respect towards his opponent when talking to former UFC fighter Dan Hardy after the fight- “I want to thank Jack. He’s a warrior.” “I give him all the respect in the world and for making me a better fighter and man.”

Hermansson was questioned why he took the fight against a lower ranked opponent, with his response being, “I want to be the best in the world and Jared showed me that I’m not the best at the moment and I need to learn a lot.”

Following the main event, Cannonier will highly likely move above Hermansson in the rankings and will be looking for a title shot against the winner of UFC 243 Whittaker v Adesanya, however after his performance I believe a fight against Paulo Costa is on the cards for “The Killa Gorilla”.

As for Hermansson, the likes of Derek Brunson and Uriah Hall are on two fight win streaks look like suitable fights when looking at the rankings, but a possible second fight against Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza would be very appealing for fight fans.

Madsen shines in UFC debut with TKO against Belluardo

Octagon debutant Marco Madsen continued his undefeated MMA record with a first-round win over Italian opponent Belluardo.

The three-time Olympian in Greco-Roman wresting and Olympic silver medallist overwhelmed Belluardo as the ref stopped the fight at 1:12 into the opening round.

The Danish fighter had a huge ovation from his home nation when he walked out and they continued to roar him on throughout his dominating performance.

As soon as the natural wrestler brought Belluardo to the ground, you could tell Madsen wouldn’t take too long to end the bout.

“As my coach Martin said, get him to the ground and beat him up”, said Madsen jokingly.

With already a stacked lightweight roster, it appears another dominant fighter has entered the scene.

Burns triumphs over Nelson in unanimous decision

Gilbert Burns came out on top against Gunnar Nelson in a bout which saw two Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belts come together.

Brazilian fighter Burns unleashed a combination of high-level grappling and a much-improved striking ability to achieve the unanimous decision (29-28) over Nelson in what was a tight affair between the two fighters.

After only two weeks of preparation due to Burns replacing Thiago Alves to fight Nelson on short notice, it just put’s into perspective how hard the 33-year-old must’ve worked to achieve the win.

After his fourth straight win, Burns shouted in his post-fight interview, “with a full training camp, I want Neil Magny!”

Magny is currently ranked 14th in the UFC welterweight division to Burn’s 21st ranking,

however that will soon change due to his victory in Copenhagen.

Cutelaba beats Rountree by TKO

Moldovan mixed martial artist Cutelaba made quick work of Rountree by technical knockout in the first round. 11 of his 14 career wins were by knockouts and the light heavyweight showed his power.

Both men attempted to knock the other out into next week, but Cutelaba’s clever takedown on the American enabled him to essentially ‘ground and pound’ Rountree.

It was clear “The Hulk” meant business as when UFC announcer Bruce Buffer called out the fighter’s names before the opening round. Cutelaba marched towards Rountree and drew his thumb across his neck whilst staring at his opponent.

With his destructive performance making his record 15-4 with 1 no contest, experienced 25-year-old Cutelaba has a lot of potential in the light heavyweight division.

Saint Preux submits Oleksiejczuk

MMA veteran Ovince Saint Preux ended his two-fight losing streak with a superb submission victory against Polish fighter Oleksiejczuk.

It was evident Oleksiejczuk had 7 first round finishes as he came out of the opening round extremely energetic-he kept the first round at a very high pace and even dropped the eventual winner.

However, Saint Preux’s experience was apparent in the second round. He unloaded a wider variety of strikes on what appeared to be an exhausted Oleksiejczuk, and then brought the fight to the ground using his clear size advantage-from there the Haitian-American fighter submitted his opponent via Von Flue choke.

It’s his fourth win using the shoulder choke and UFC commentator John Gooden joked that the choke should be renamed the “Von Preux choke.”

Saint Preux praised his fight camp by saying, “couple fights ago I wouldn’t have stayed through his rush” and proclaimed that this was the best shape he’s ever been in.

Dalby wins unanimous decision over Oliveira

Danish fighter Nicolas Dalby defeated Alex Oliveira by unanimous decision in his return to the octagon.

Dalby controlled most of the fight, especially in the second round, and the stats supported this as his strike total was more than double Oliveira’s (64 to 31).

With Dalby dominating the striking, Alex “The Cowboy” Oliveira brought the fight to the ground multiple times, however even then he inflicted little damage to his opponent.

“I appreciate the support from each and every one of you”, said the victor, in his post-fight interview with Dan Hardy, who had the backing from the crowd as they chanted “Dalby, Dalby” throughout the fight.

After his excellent performance, Dalby exclaimed that he wanted to get back into the octagon very soon by calling out American MMA fighter Mike Perry as his favoured opponent.