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Following an emotional farewell to the legendary Anderson Silva in the aftermath of last weekend's UFC Vegas 12 event, the promotion remains at the APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada for tonight's UFC Vegas 13 event.
The headliner of tonight's UFC Vegas 13 event features a highly combustible light heavyweight encounter between fight game veteran Glover Teixeira and knockout artist Thiago Santos. Santos returns to the Octagon for the first time since UFC 239 back in July 2019 where he suffered a narrow split-decision loss against former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
Before the loss to Jones, Santos was on an impressive four-fight winning streak and he also beat the reigning light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz via TKO during the run of wins. Santos is considered one of the most dangerous fighters in the division.
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Glover Teixeira enters tonight’s contest on the back of a swashbuckling performance against Anthony Smith back in May. Teixeira won the contest via TKO, absolutely destroying Smith in the process. Teixeira is now on a four-fight winning streak and looks to make it five against Santos tonight.
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The co-headliner of the night features a heavyweight clash between former division champion Andrei Arlovski and surging contender Tanner Boser. Arlovski enter's tonight's contest on the back of a unanimous decision win over Philipe Lins in May while his counterpart Boser is coming off back-to-back stoppage wins over opponents Philipe Lins and Raphael Pessoa respectively.
Without further ado, let's take a look at all the results and highlights from tonight’s UFC Vegas 13: Santos vs. Teixeira event.
UFC Vegas 13 Main Card
Thiago Santos vs. Glover Teixeira – Teixeira def. Santos via submission in Round 3
We expected firecrackers for this one and the main event of tonight's UFC Vegas 13 card lived up to our expectations and then some.
In a thrilling encounter, it was fight game veteran Glover Teixeira who picked up the win via rear-naked choke submission in the third round of what was a riveting contest. Santos cannoned off the gates, dropping bombs on Teixeira from the get-go, managing to drop the latter. However, that's when Teixeira managed to grab the double leg takedown and established top mount.
On the ground, it was all Teixeira. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner established control easily, punishing Santos with some nasty ground and pound. Teixeira baited Santos with an overhand early on in the second round to score another takedown and dominated the next four odd minutes. Teixeira even got the rear-naked choke at the end of the second round but Santos was saved by the bell.
Santos came out for the third with his coach telling him to stop the takedown, and he kept that in mind as he landed a perfectly timed left hook that dropped Teixeira immediately. Santos then landed some nasty elbows from the top but Teixeira showed superior grappling skills to escape and turn things around as he locked in another rear-naked choke, and this time, that was all she wrote.
Teixeira is now on a five-fight winning streak inside the Octagon.
Andrei Arlovski vs. Tanner Boser – Arlovski def. Boser by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
In a battle between two heavyweight counter strikers, it was the former heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski who emerged victorious via unanimous decision. All judges scored the fight 29-28 in favor of Arlovski.
Both fighters adopted a cautious, counter-striking approach to the fight, with neither man willing to get within punching range of each other, and understandably so. Both fighters tried to use their kicks to maintain distance as well as cause damage but Boser was more successful with it, landing 20 odd kicks compared to just 9 by Arlovski.
However, the few times that Arlovski managed to connect with his hands, he hurt his opponent and backed him up visibly. In the end, with just 34 significant strikes compared to Boser's 68, Arlovski still managed to win the fight, probably because he caused more damage.
Raoni Barcelos vs. Khalid Taha – Barcelos def. Taha by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
Raoni Barcelos and Khalid Taha went to war during their bantamweight encounter at tonight's UFC vegas 13 event.
Barcelos displayed an amazing array of skills inside the cage, lighting up Taha like a Christmas tree with punches, elbow strikes, calf kicks, and flying knees throughout the fight.
Barcelos even attempted a few submissions and almost got the tap with a neck crank in the third round but Taha kept calm and showed unbelievable resilience even while taking relentless punishment throughout the fight. The Lebanese fighter stood in the telephone booth and traded with a much superior striker fearlessly till the end.
At the end of the three scheduled rounds, it was Barcelos who saw his hand raised via a lopsided unanimous decision with all the judges scoring the fight 30-27 in favor of the Brazilian.
Barcelos is a surging contender in the 135lbs division and this was his fifth straight win in the UFC.
Giga Chikadze vs. Jamey Simmons – Chikadze def. Simmons via TKO (head kick and punches) at 3:51 of Round 1
Georgian fighter Giga Chikadze should soon emerge as a legitimate title contender in the featherweight division. Chikadze took his Octagon record to 5-0 with a first-round TKO victory over Jamey Simmons tonight. Chikadze absolutely scorched Simmons with a precise head kick before finishing him with ground and pound.
The fight started with Simmons trying to take his opponent down but being unable to do so due to Chikadze's improved takedown defense. Once the pair separated, Chikadze set up a nigh perfect finish. The Georgian landed a perfectly timed body kick that hurt Simmons and brought his guard down.
Once the guard was down, Chikadze landed a head kick flush on the temple, knocking his opponent down and following it up with some nasty ground and pound to pick up the win.
Claudia Gadelha vs. Yan Xiaonan – Xiaonan def. Gadelha by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
The main card of tonight's UFC Vegas 13 was kicked off by a women's strawweight fight between Claudia Gadelha and Yan Xiaonan.
In a back and forth encounter, Gadelha and Xiaonan went the full distance but it was Yan who picked up a unanimous decision victory with all three judges scoring the fight 29-28 in favor of the Chinese fighter.
In the end, it was about who wanted it more and the Chinese fighter showed a lot of heart, character, and grit to lead the dance in the second and third rounds after being taken down and dominated by Gadelha in the opening round. Yan took complete control of the fight on her feet, displaying impeccable mastery of range and stinging Gadelha with hard jabs from the outside.
Yan also displayed good takedown defense as Gadelha failed to take her down even once after the first round. It was evident that Yan had caused more damage with her strikes at the end of the three scheduled rounds. This win takes Yan's record to 6-0 and another step closer to a potential title shot against Weili Zhang.
UFC Vegas 13 Preliminary Card
Trevin Giles vs. Bevon Lewis – Giles def. Lewis via TKO at 1:26 of Round 3
Marcos Rogerio De Lima vs. Alexandr Romanov – Romanov def. De Lima via submission (forearm choke) at 4:48 of Round 1
Darren Elkins vs. Eduardo Garagorri – Elkins def. Garagorri via Sub (rear-naked choke) at 2:22 of Round 3
Ramiz Brahimaj vs. Max Griffin – Griffin def. Brahimaj via TKO (ear injury) in Round 3
Anthony Birchak vs. Gustavo Lopez – Lopez def. Birchak via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:43 of Round 1
Brendan Allen vs. Ian Heinisch – Scratched after Heinisch tested positive for Covid-19
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