Alexander Hernandez Vs. Drew Dober
We move to the lightweight division with Hernandez chasing his fourth UFC victory in five tries. The 15th-ranked fighter is 11-2 overall with six finishes in his career.
Dober has picked up back-to-back wins to improve to 22-9 thanks to finishes of Nasrat Haqparast and Marco Polo Reyes. He is 8-5 with a no-contest since joining the UFC in 2013.
Hernandez using his kicks to keep Dober at bay in the early going, as he constantly is moving forward and applying the pressure. Dober gets in close and lands, including a huge right to the face.
Exchange of eye pokes at the end of the first and start of the second appears to have ignited a bit of an aggressive side to both of these men. Just like the opening round, Dober is walking him down, controlling the Octagon in most aspects of this fight.
Dober connects and drops Hernandez for a brief moment as he continues to work. Hernandez, eating some good shots, gets taken down to the canvas with 90 seconds left in the round.
A teammate of new interim UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje, Dober gets up and adds his name to the list of winners for the fight camp, earning a finish with some nasty, nasty shots as the ref steps in with Hernandez against the fence.
Drew Dober def. Alexander Hernandez via TKO (strikes) at 4:25 of Round 2
Ben Rothwell Vs. Ovince Saint Preux
After a run at light heavyweight that included a 2016 bout with Jon Jones for the interim title, Saint Preux makes the move up to heavyweight. The former college football player scored a victory last September over Michal Oleksiejczuk to improve to 24-13.
Greeting him in the division is veteran Rothwell, who owns 37 wins among his 49 career bouts. That includes a win this past December over Stefan Struve via TKO.
Despite this being his first heavyweight bout since competing as an amateur, OSP’s size makes him a perfect candidate to compete here as he does not look small compared to Rothwell at all.
Huge head-kick attempt by OSP results in Rothwell securing the choke with plenty of time to work. Rothwell owns a submission win over Josh Barnett among others, as OSP is defending well.
The power of Rothwell appears to be slowing OSP down considerably as he is caught against the fence and eating several big knees. To the body and a loud “pressure” chant by Rothwell’s corner.
In the final moments, OSP lands and drops Rothwell, who survives but could leave us tied at one round apiece heading to the third.
Aggressive start to the round for OSP but it is Rothwell who is doing damage. He connects, throws up some knees and Saint Preux answers back with shots of his own. While not pretty, Rothwell dominated the final moments and could have stole the fight thanks to that.
Ben Rothwell def. Ovince Saint Preux via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Anthony Smith Vs. Glover Teixeira
It’s time for the main event of the night as a pair of former challengers to Jon Jones’ reign atop the light heavyweight division meet.
Smith, who scored three consecutive finishes over Rashad Evans, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Volkan Oezdemir to earn a 2019 title shot vs. Jones, is coming off a submission over Alexander Gustafsson that improved his record to 33-14.
Teixeira has reeled off three consecutive wins over Nikita Krylov, Ion Cutelaba and Karl Roberson, faced Jones in 2014 after winning 22 of his first 24 pro bouts. The 40-year-old owns 17 knockout and eight submission victories.
While unable to score with a takedown, Teixeira dominates the first round with his striking. Smith was never able to get much offense going, relying on his defense to make it out of the first.
More of Octagon control out of Teixeira, but this time, Smith quickly works to the center. Better offensive output in the early stages of the second from “Lionheart.” Pretty big cut has opened up around the left eye of Teixeira from the attacks of Smith.
Strong third round by Teixeira, as he controls Smith with his exceptional strength. The Brazilian has been repeatedly working for the submission in the latter stages of the round, latching himself on Smith’s back.
With under a minute to go, Teixeira has opened up a cut on Smith’s face and is peppering him with short, quick shots while continuing to work for the submission. A completely dominant round by Teixeira, but Smith survives.
The doctor checked over Smith before the fourth, but we’ll continue. Immediately Teixeira is pressuring him, looking for the finish. Could be elementary from here, but Smith fires back, looking for an elbow before eating several uppercuts and shooting for a takedown.
An incredible effort by Smith to survive both the offensive onslaught and submissions attempts by Teixeira, but he is battered and bruised after four rounds of action.
For as much heart as Smith showed, Teixeira came out and ended this one quickly in the fifth, securing the victory and remaining on the edge of title contention.
Glover Teixeira def. Anthony Smith via TKO (strikes) at 1:05 of Round 5
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