UFC Raleigh: Curtis Blaydes Put His Hands to Work, Stops Junior dos Santos

Junior dos Santos did a fantastic job of squashing multiple takedown attempts from Curtis Blaydes tonight at UFC Raleigh. But, the powerful wrestler showed the MMA world he’s far from just a ground specialist.

Round one

JDS came out with his left arm low in anticipation of a Blaydes’ takedown. JDS tagged Blaydes with a quick right and the latter shot in, but was unable to score the TD. Blaydes started mixing in some strikes and feints and continued to move forward. Mid-round, Blaydes was able to clinch up and push JDS to the fence. But, Blaydes hit JDS low with a punch and the action was momentarily stopped. JDS stepped nicely out of the way of Blaydes’ advance but he ate a right moments later. Blaydes scored with a couple more punches but failed to secure another TD. Right before the round ended dos Santos just missed a massive uppercut.

Round two

Blaydes continued to press forward in round two and “Cigano” looked to counter. A bout a minute in, Blaydes decked JDS with a massive right that rocked the former champ badly. Blaydes followed up with more shots along the cage, and the fight was stopped. A massive, massive win for Blaydes.

With tonight’s win, Blaydes record now stands at 13-2, with 1 no-contest. “Razor” has gone 8-2, with 1 no-contest.

UFC Raleigh results

Here are the complete results for UFC Raleigh, which was hosted by the PNC Arena.

Curtis Blaydes def. Junior Dos Santos via TKO (punches) R2, 1:06

Michael Chiesa def. Rafael Dos Anjos via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Alex Perez def. Jordan Espinosa via technical submission (arm-triangle-choke) R1, 2:33

Angela Hill def. Hannah Cifers via TKO (strikes) R2, 4:26

Jamahal Hill def. Darko Stosic via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)

Bevon Lewis def. Dequan Townsend via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Arnold Allen def. Nik Lentz via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

Justine Kish def. Lucie Pudilova via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Montel Jackson def. Felipe Colares via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-25)

Sara McMann def. Lina Lansberg via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-25)

Brett Johns def. Tony Gravely via submission (rear-naked choke) – R3, 2:53

Herbert Burns def. Nate Landwehr via knockout (knee and punches) – R1, 2:43