Brad Tavares
Preliminary Card Results from Nottingham
The preliminary card of “UFC on FUEL TV 5” is in the books.
The night kicked off in Nottingham, England with Robert Peralta vs. Jason Young, and the fight didn’t last long. Peralta sent his opponent down early and finished the fight at 0:23 of the first round.
The night’s second fight didn’t last much longer, as Gunnar Nelson made DaMarques Johnson pay for missing weight. Nelson worked the fight down early and was able to control it from there, taking Johnson’s back and sinking in a choke to finish the fight at 3:34 of the opening frame.
The third frame, unlike the previous two, required the full time, though Brad Tavares nearly managed to earn the finish over Tom Watson in the second round.
After a close first round, followed by a close first half to the second round, Tavares earned a big takedown and worked his way to back mount. However, the bell rang and Watson walked away with one more round to regain momentum.
But the third did not offer much of a momentum change, as Tavares likely did enough to take the round.
Bruce Buffer came out to the cage to read off the winner of the fight, and Tavares’ name was the one that was read, though split-decision was the result.
In the fourth fight of the evening, “Ultimate Fighter” veteran Andy Ogle debuted against Akira Corassani in a closely contested match.
Ogle started out strong in the opening frame, but Corassani answered and dramatically changed the momentum. From there, the pace slowed and the fight went to the scorecards.
Corassani was given the split-decision nod, as the scores read 28-29, 30-27, 29-28.
The final fight of the preliminary card featured light heavyweights Kyle Kingsbury and Jimi Manuwa.
Kingsbury looked sharp early, landing and looking for the finish when the fight hit the floor. However, Manuwa recovered and battled his way back, turning the tide.
The two fought for the full five minutes of round one, then the full five of round two, but there would not be a third. A hematoma over Kingsbury’s left eye forced the cage side doctor to stop the fight prior to the third frame.
Quick Results
Robert Peralta def. Jason Young via knockout at 0:23 of Round 1
Gunnar Nelson def. DaMarques Johnson via submission (rear naked choke) at 3:34 of Round 1
Brad Tavares def. Tom Watson via split-decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
Akira Corassani def. Andy Ogle via split-decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
Jimi Manuwa def. Kyle Kingsbury via technical knockout at 5:00 of Round 2