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Heavyweights Clash In Croatia: UFC Fight Night Zagreb

By Caitlin Johnstone
Published on: 12:51 PST, Apr 10, 2016

Junior “Cigano” Dos Santos succeeded in out-pointing “Big Ben” Rothwell in a five-round heavyweight main event that went to the judges’ scorecards in Zagreb, Croatia, Sunday night.

Rothwell (36-10) came into the match with a lot of momentum, riding a four-fight win streak and coming off the most impressive victory of his career after handing the dangerous grappling veteran Josh Barnett the first submission loss of his career, via modified guillotine choke in January. Former heavyweight champion Dos Santos (18-4) restored his hope in securing another successful title run by halting Rothwell’s rising star and putting himself back in the win column after a disappointing knockout loss to former K-1 champion Alistair Overeem in December.

The first round of the five-round contest was a back and forth feeling-out process wherein both fighters landed some solid shots, with Rothwell capitalizing on the confusion ensuing from his unorthodox stance and striking style. Dos Santos’ boxing prowess began to shift the momentum in the second round, however, as he split open the bridge of his opponent’s nose with a left hook and began landing many shots to his foe’s body with straight punches and straight kicks.

By round three Cigano appeared to have Rothwell’s number and began outlanding him by a wider and wider margin, securing combinations both upstairs and downstairs while using superior footwork to avoid Rothwell’s charging counters. Dos Santos showed himself to be both the faster fighter and the better boxer as both athletes’ conditioning carried them successfully to the final bell, which all three judges seeing every single round in his favor, 45-50, 45-50, and 45-50.

This victory spells exciting things for the UFC heavyweight title picture, as Dos Santos was already a top five fighter in that division and already holds a first-round knockout victory over the division’s current undisputed king, Fabrício Werdum (25-5-1). Werdum is expected to defend his title against No. 2 ranked contender Stipe Miocic next month, and Dos Santos’ performance has made a strong case for a shot at either of those fighters after that matchup has taken place.

The co-main event of the evening was much less a display of technical prowess than the main event, but no less impressive. Derrick Lewis (15-4-1) secured his third victory in a row and his second this year with a brutal knockout of the respected veteran, Gabriel Gonzaga (17-11), in the final seconds of the very first round.

Gonzaga came into the arena something of a celebrity, still well-known in Croatia as the man to stop Croatian martial arts superstar and former member of Parliament Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovi?, via stunning head-kick knockout in 2007. He began the fight as expected, immediately working for a takedown to avoid Lewis’ renowned hand power and succeeded in dragging him to the mat and securing side control in the opening frame. Lewis remained calm and was able to survive the feared ground game of the dominant Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt and use the cage to get back to his feet, where Gonzaga spent most of the match fighting to keep him pinned and suffocate his cardio with control and short knees to the body.

As soon as he was able to create space, however, Lewis was able to do what he’s known for and land a terrifyingly powerful combination which left Gonzaga out cold with only seconds left to go in the round. This was both Lewis’ sixth win in the UFC and his sixth UFC knockout. He was awarded a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus for his trouble.

Other Performance of the Night bonuses that night went to Alejandro Perez, who successfully fended off a nonstop onslaught of leglock combinations from feared leglock practitioner Ian Entwistle to secure a TKO stoppage via ground-and-pound, Mairbek Taisumov, who looked ferocious in his first-round knockout of Damir Hadzovic, and to Jared Cannonier, who dropped his opponent Cyril Asker with a left hook and poured on punches and elbows with exceptional killer instinct to secure the TKO victory.

All Performance of the Night winners won by KO or TKO in the first round. No Fight of the Night bonuses were awarded this event.

[Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images]

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