UFC Denver produced some stand out performances last night, including hometown hero Rose Namajunas making a solid case for a title shot.
The event, which took place inside the Ball Arena, had fans on the edge of their seats, with over half of the bouts ended within the distance.
Rose Namajunas showed that there are levels to the game in her main event contest against Tracy Cortez. 'Thug' remained in control of the contest throughout the five rounds, proving to be too much for Cortez on both the feet and on the floor. All three judges saw the bout in favour of Namajunas, who collect the unanimous decision win.
In the co-main event, Muslim Salikhov picked up his first win since 2022, with a split decision victory over Santiago Ponzinibbio.
Ever since singing with the UFC, Drew Dober has delivered exciting performances and last night was no different. Himself and Jean Silva, who fought just two weeks ago, went to war in what was a thoroughly entertaining bout.
The bout was called to an end less than 90 seconds into the third round, when a cut above Dober's eye, which had initially inflicted in the second round, widen even more. The doctor had no choice other than to stop the bout, with the cut being one of the most gruesome seen inside the cage in recent memory, handing Silva his second win in as many weeks.
Other notable performances of the night included Charles Johnson's third round finish against Joshua Van. Johnson, who took the bout on 11 days notice uncorked a huge uppercut on the chin of Van 20 seconds into the third round, to pick up his third win of 2024.
Montel Jackson earned a performance of the night bonus for his 18 second knockout of Da'mon Blackshear in the preliminary portion of the card.
There were also big stoppage wins for Julian Erosa, Luana Santos and Evan Elder.
You can find the full UFC Denver results, below:
- Rose Namajunas defeats Tracy Cortez by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47)
- Muslim Salikhov defeats Santiago Ponzinibbio by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
- Jean Silva defeats Drew Dober by TKO (doctor’s stoppage) at 1:28 of Round 3
- Gabriel Bonfim defeats Ange Loosa by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Julian Erosa defeats Christian Rodriguez by submission (guillotine choke) at 4:49 of Round 1
- Abdul Razak Alhassan and Cody Brundage ruled a No Contest (accidental blows) at 0:37 of Round 1
- Charles Johnson defeats Joshua Van by knockout (right uppercut) at 0:20 of Round 3
- Jasmine Jasudavicus defeats Fatima Kline by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Montel Jackson defeats Da’Mon Blackshear by knockout (left hand) at 0:18 of Round 1
- Luana Santos defeats Mariya Agapova by submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:27 of Round 1
- Andre Petroski defeats Josh Fremd by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Evan Elder defeats Darrius Flowers by submission (arm-triangle choke) at 1:46 of Round 2
Below, you can find Drew Dober's full in-cage post-fight interview, in which you can see the horrendous cut that brought an end to his contest.
