UFC Vegas 94 Prelims: Cody Gibson Schools Brian Kelleher

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Cody Gibson may have placed his job as a history teacher on hold for now, but he clearly isn’t done schooling people.

In the top prelim of UFC on ESPN 60 on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Gibson (20-10) overwhelmed Brian Kelleher (24-16) on the feet as well as on the canvas on his way to a first-round submission win. Gibson jumped on “Boom” right away, rocking him with a right hand in the opening seconds of the fight, and never let up. Kelleher tried valiantly to rally, but Gibson never gave him a moment’s peace, hurting him with punches and long kicks at range and mugging him up close with knees. Kelleher jumped on a guillotine attempt late in the round, but Gibson kicked out of it immediately, moved to half guard and locked up an arm-triangle choke. Kelleher tapped out in seconds, putting the stamp on a dominant performance for Gibson. The win brought Gibson’s record in the organization to 2-5 across multiple stints dating back over a decade, and vindicated his decision to quit his job teaching school in California and move to Las Vegas to focus on fighting. Kelleher’s fourth straight loss dropped him to 8-9 in the UFC.

Related » UFC Vegas 94 Round-by-Round Scoring

Maverick Outduels Barbosa

Miranda Maverick (14-5) made the most of her consolation prize, outstriking and outwrestling Dione Barbosa (7-3) in their flyweight preliminary bout. Maverick, who had been scheduled to take on Tracy Cortez on Saturday until Cortez was drafted into the main event of UFC Denver, instead took on relative newcomer and unknown Barbosa. Barbosa, the former Olympic judoka, was unable to show much of her top skill outside of a beautiful scarf hold throw in Round 2. Outside of that highlight, Maverick was the more effective fighter at determining where the contest took place, grounding Barbosa and doing sturdy work from top position. Maverick closed out the fight as she spent much of it, dropping elbows and punches from the Brazilian’s guard, and picked up a well-deserved unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28). The win was Maverick’s third straight and fifth in her last six fights, bringing her Octagon record to 7-3 overall; Barbosa fell to 1-1 in the promotion.

Ogden Dominates Radzhabov with Wrestling, Grappling

The third of three upsets to open “UFC Vegas 94” saw Trey Ogden (18-6, 1 NC) exploit the takedown defense of Loik Radzhabov (18-6-1) en route to a largely one-sided decision in a lightweight affair. Ogden racked up eight minutes of control time in the first two rounds, thanks to a couple of easy-looking takedowns. It was no “lay and pray” special, either, as Ogden took Radzhabov’s back and worked for rear-naked chokes and face cranks amid sporadic but stinging strikes from back mount. After landing little offense of note in the first two rounds, Radzhabov came alive in the final frame, sweeping Ogden in the second half of the round and dropping heavy punches from top position. It was not enough to make up the gap, and Ogden carried the day via 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28 scores. The win brought Ogden’s record in the UFC to 3-2 with one no contest, while Radzhabov fell to 2-2.

Carolina Bloodies, Bruises Pudilova

Luana Carolina (11-4) continued her quiet ascent up the flyweight ranks, beating Lucie Pudilova (14-10) to the punch—and elbow—for most of their 15-minute fight. “Dread” was the faster and sharper woman on the feet, keeping Pudilova at bay with an array of kicks to the legs and head, including a Round 1 high kick that was intercepted, but arrived with enough zip to hurt the blocking arm. Carolina also scored in the first frame with a close-quarters elbow strike that opened a cut on the Czech fighter’s forehead. Pudilova was never out of the fight, and had moments of offense in Rounds 2 and 3 that swayed at least some of the cageside judges, but Carolina ultimately prevailed by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28). With the win, her third in a row, Carolina moved to 6-3 in the UFC and a likely matchup with a ranked fighter in her next fight; Pudilova fell to 3-8 across two separate stints in the promotion, 1-3 since being re-signed out of Oktagon MMA.

Petersen Touches Up Usman

In the heavyweight opener, Thomas Petersen (9-2) stayed a step ahead of Mohammed Usman (10-4) for three dreary rounds. While Peterson won all three rounds on all three judges’ scorecards, neither man came close to finishing the fight. Former junior college wrestling champ Petersen had mixed results against Usman’s sturdy takedown defense, but got the better of the striking exchanges, with Usman mostly reduced to throwing single punches and kicks. While Petersen never truly put his stamp on the fight, he came closest in the final moments, as he flung his opponent to the canvas, pounced and chained submission attempts and ground-and-pound until the horn. With 30-27 scores across the board, Petersen elevated his UFC tally to 1-1; Usman fell to 3-2.