UFC Vegas 5 Results

Jonathan Martinez was impressive in victory against bantamweight veteran Frankie Saenz, stopping the Arizonan in the third round.

Saenz was aggressive from the start, using his strikes to set up a takedown in the first 30 seconds of the fight. Martinez rose quickly, but Saenz wasn’t letting go as he pinned his foe to the fence. Once Martinez got free, though, he used his striking to put Saenz on the defensive and keep him from getting the fight back to the canvas.

Martinez kept the pressure on Saenz in the second, and after ripping his opponent to the body, a kick upstairs rattled him in the second minute. Saenz tried to shake off the blows, but another head kick dropped him midway through the frame. A follow-up attack appeared to be the beginning of the end, but the now bloodied Saenz gamely rose and got back into the fray. Martinez remained patient, with a third left head kick scoring a second knockdown in the closing minute of the round. Martinez paused, expecting a stoppage from referee Chris Tognoni, but the bout made it to the end of the frame.

Saenz, refusing to back down, tried to make a late charge, but as he rushed forward, Martinez landed a flush left knee to the head, dropping the Arizonan. This time, the follow-up brought Tognoni in to stop the fight 57 seconds into round three.

With the win, Martinez, who came in overweight for the bout at 140 ½ pounds, moves to 12-3. Saenz falls to 13-7.

Welterweight contender Vicente Luque kept the impressive performances coming, as he delivered a second-round knockout of Randy Brown.

There was good back-and-forth action in the early going, but Luque separated himself with a right hand that put Brown on the canvas with a little under three minutes to go in the opening round. Brown recovered quickly and the two rose, the New Yorker getting back down to business in an attempt to even the score, but he got tagged hard late by the Brazilian.

A calf kick from Luque put Brown down again in the second minute of round two, and Luque was slowly walking his foe down despite getting cut over the right eye by Brown. Brown was able to goad Luque into some exchanges late in the frame and scored a takedown with a minute left, but once the two stood, Luque ended the rally with a knee in the clinch that dropped Brown, with the follow-up strikes bringing in referee Mark Smith to call the fight at 4:56 of the second stanza.

With the win, the No. 11-ranked Luque moves to 19-7-1. Brown falls to 12-4.

Scotland’s Joanne Calderwood admirably rolled the dice on a world title shot with flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko in order to stay active while Shevchenko recovered from an injury, but it was Jennifer Maia who cashed in, as she submitted “Jojo” in the first round.

After having success on her feet in the early going, Calderwood caught a kick and put the fight on the mat with 2:40 left and she surprisingly kept it there, giving Maia the opportunity to work for a submission from her back, and with under a minute left, she got it, producing a tap out via armbar at 4:29 of round one.

With the win, the No. 6-ranked Maia moves to 18-6-1. The No. 3-ranked Calderwood falls to 14-5.

While the talk on fight week centered on unbeaten 22-year-old phenom Edmen Shahbazyan, veteran contender Derek Brunson waited for his chance to respond in the Octagon, and respond he did, as he issued Shahbazyan his first pro loss via third-round TKO.

Brunson fought a patient fight in the opening stages of the fight, landing some solid kicks before scoring a takedown two minutes in. Shahbazyan didn’t stay grounded long, and when he got up, he started throwing big right hands at Brunson, who got a little wild in response. After the exchange, Brunson settled back into a rhythm with his striking and grappling, using a knee to set up another quick takedown. Shahbazyan had earned his respect with his power, though, setting up an interesting second frame.

The rights from Shahbazyan kept coming in round two, but Brunson either took them well or dodged them as he continued to mix up his attacks nicely. A hard body kick hit its mark, though, prompting Shahbazyan to go on the attack, but it was Brunson firing back with the more effective blows. With 1:16 left, it was another Brunson takedown, and the North Carolina native kept his foe grounded until the end of the stanza, throwing hard strikes the whole way as referee Herb Dean nearly stopped the bout.

After a visit from the Octagonside physician, Shahbazyan was cleared to continue and Brunson went on the attack, taking his foe down and dealing out the final blows that brought Dean in to stop the bout 26 seconds into the third round.

With the win, the No. 8-ranked Brunson moves to 21-7 as he extends his current winning streak to three. The No. 9-ranked Shahbazyan falls to 11-1.