Covington's victory, Chimaev's triumph in 17 seconds and Cerrone's first draw: what is UFC Vegas 11 memorable for

In Las Vegas, the next tournament of the Ultimate Fighting Championship of the Fight Nights series has ended.

The main event of the evening featured a duel between former welterweight title holders and American Top Team partners Colby Covington and Tyrone Woodley.

The favorite fighter of US President Donald Trump won a landslide victory and was rehabilitated for the defeat from Kamaru Usman in December 2019.

At the same time, for Russian fans one of the most anticipated events was the return to the octagon of a native of Chechnya, Khamzat Chimaev, representing Sweden.

The first rivals in Chimaev's career in the UFC turned out to be passing ones, so it was not possible to get a real idea of ​​the level of his skill.

In this regard, fans and experts were looking forward to his meeting with Gerald Meerschart.

Although he was never considered a star, he had 11 fights under the auspices of the largest promotion on the planet, in six of which he won.

True, the last six fights were not very successful for the American.

He suffered four defeats in them, and two of them were early.

Nevertheless, it was Chimaev who approached the battle as a favorite, which was facilitated not only by his bright performances, but also by the attention from the head of the championship, Dana White.

It was worthwhile to assume that Khamzat would try to use his wrestling skills - to transfer the opponent to the flooring and beat him on the ground, but the outcome of the fight was a real shock for many.

Khamzatu decided to demonstrate his skills in boxing and after 17 seconds celebrated his success.

He only had one punctuated strike to win his third victory in 66 days and set the organization's record.

“(I thought. -

) about the need to 'kill' this guy.

Knock him out and that's it.

I did it ... The coach told me to box a little with him in the first round.

To work in a rack, to feel your boxing, "Chimayev admitted and said that he deserves a cash bonus for a knockout.

It is not surprising that at the end of the tournament it was Borz who became one of those who received an additional $ 50 thousand. Chimaev was awarded the award for "Performance of the Evening" in the third fight in the UFC in a row.

It is noteworthy that on this evening, the UFC management decided not to determine the best fight on the show, instead naming three more winners of the "Performance of the Night" bonus.

One of them went to Mackenzie Durn.

The American caught Randa Marcos in a spectacular armbar and won her ninth career victory.

Damon Jackson sensationally defeated Mirsad Bektic with the help of a guillotine, and Randy Costa knocked out Jurney Newson with a high-kick.

Light heavyweight Johnny Walker also performed well.

He managed to recover from two consecutive defeats and won an early victory over the strong Ryan Spann, interrupting his unbeaten streak of three fights.

The American confidently took the start of the round and almost sent his opponent to the floor, but in one of the episodes he threw himself too recklessly at his feet.

The Brazilian caught him with a counterattack, and then finished off with his elbows.

In the second most important match of the tournament, Donald Cerrone and Nico Price met.

In recent years, Cowboy's career has declined sharply, as a result of which he has turned from a title applicant to a very famous, but middle peasant.

He approached this battle with four defeats in a row in the passive and hoped to correct his position a little, since the opponent was more than suitable.

Although Price managed to be remembered for his phenomenal knockout in the battle with James Vick, he was not famous for his stability.

Mindful of Cerrone's inability to immediately engage in the fray, Price rushed forward and began to throw one blow after another.

Most of them did not pose a serious threat, but they still exerted pressure.

The cowboy looked sluggish and had to constantly retreat, as a result of which he practically could not use the trademark high-kicks.

As a result, the first round was completely lost.

Nevertheless, even at the end of the first five-minute period, fatigue became noticeable in Price's actions.

The athlete spent too much energy on the starting spurt and subsequently only slowed down the pace.

This helped Cerrone to recover and begin to resist.

He played well on counterattacks and worked great with a jab, thanks to which he surpassed his opponent in the number of headshots.

True, Niko did not allow Donald to finally feel his rhythm, knocking him down with the help of dirty tricks.

The Cowboy had open cuts under his eyes, which seriously interfered with him during the duel.

The third round turned out to be more even, but Cerrone was able to remember two attempts at takedowns.

Both were not the most successful and were not even included in the statistics.

Price, although he gave up the initiative a little more, was confident of the final success.

However, the judges were surprised by their decision.

One unexpectedly gave his preference to Donald, and the other two declared a draw.

For both athletes, such a result was the first in their careers.

The main duel was expected to be an uncompromising battle between Woodley and Covington.

Over the past few years, the UFC has repeatedly tried to arrange a meeting between former teammates, but injuries have steadily intervened.

Because of one of them, the championship fight between the athletes who at that time owned the absolute and provisional titles broke down.

Two years have passed since that moment.

Woodley managed to both defend and lose the welterweight title, after which he lost to Gilbert Burns.

Covington, on the other hand, confirmed the status of the first contender, but was unable to prevail over the offender Tyrone.

His fight with Kamaru Usman ended with a brutal knockout in the fifth round.

This fight clearly demonstrated that 38-year-old Woodley is not in the best shape and can hardly compete with the stars of his category.

He looked extremely slow, passive and already in the second round was seriously tired.

Covington worked great both at distance and in the clinch, completely outplaying the ex-champion.

The first three rounds remained with Covington, and the fourth became his benefit at all.

The former holder of the temporary belt finally decided to use his main weapon and work thoroughly on the ground, for which Woodley was absolutely not ready.

As a result, 104 - 5 punches and a deep cut on the right eyebrow.

During the break, Tyrone seemed doomed and for a long time could not get up from the canvas.

The end came after 1 minute 20 seconds after the start of the final segment.

Covington again transferred Woodley to the ground, but got into the guillotine.

Although the capture was not tight, it could well have created problems for Colby.

Jlyfrj suddenly screamed Tyrone, which made the referee stop the fight.

As it turned out, the ex-champion was diagnosed with rib damage.

At the end of the battle, Covington was extremely eloquent.

First, he challenged Kamara Usman and Jorge Masvidal, and then called the famous Los Angeles Lakers basketball player LeBron James "a spineless coward".

He also said that after the end of the tournament, US President Donald Trump personally congratulated him.

“The President said that he is my main fan and supports me as much as I support him.

He said that he performed in front of 35 thousand people and almost ran away from there to watch my fight.

That I did an amazing job.

That he is happy for me and wants to see me again in the title fight.

For me to bring him a new belt to the oval office.

I am the only UFC fighter in history who has visited the White House ... I think it would be quite logical to do it a second time, ”admitted Covington.