‘The Korean Zombie’ Lays Waste to ‘Moicano’ in Under a Minute at UFC Fight Night 154

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC on ESPN+ live on your computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

The “Korean Zombie” continued to shuffle up the Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight rankings, as Chan Sung Jung destroyed Renato Carneiro with first-round strikes in the UFC Fight Night 154 main event.

It was never a fight: Jung stunned Carneiro with a picture perfect right hook-left hook combination in the opening seconds. “Moicano” dropped in a heap and Jung swarmed, hopping on the Brazilian’s back and assaulting him with punches. Carneiro recovered somewhat and struggled to weather the storm, but Jung was relentless, pelting him with punches while staying heavy on top. Referee Blake Grice had seen enough, pulling the South Korean off and awarding the TKO victory at a mere 58 seconds of the first round.

The electrifying knockout rights the ship for Jung, who lost to Yair Rodriguez via Sherdog’s 2018 “Knockout of the Year” in his last outing and runs his record to 15-5 overall, 5-2 in the UFC and 2-1 since his return from compulsory military service in 2017.

Carneiro goes to 13-3 (5-3 UFC) and has lost back-to-back fights for the first time in his career.

Brown Melts Barberena in Third Round

For two rounds and change, Randy Brown and Bryan Barberena bit down on their mouthpieces and swung on each other, but in the end it was the Jamaican by way of Queens, New York, who had his hand raised.

For two difficult-to-score rounds, the welterweights exchanged punches and kicks, with neither man inclined to try and bring the fight to the ground. In the third stanza, however, Brown caught Barberena with a front kick to the body, then followed up with punching combinations against the fence until a hurt and exhausted “Bam Bam” wilted, prompting the stoppage from referee Dan Miragliotta at 2:54.

The win runs Brown’s UFC ledger to 5-3 (11-3 overall), while the loss drops Barberena to 5-5 in the UFC (14-7 overall) and has him staring down the first losing streak of his career.

Related » UFC Greenville Round-by-Round Scoring

Ewell Outstrikes, Outlasts dos Santos

Andre Ewell carved up Anderson dos Santos in a bantamweight fight promoted to the main card the day before the fight. Ewell brought a marked advantage in both hand speed and reach, which he used to win the first two rounds decisively, marking the Brazilian’s face up badly. Dos Santos had his moments in both rounds, finding surprising success navigating the taller man’s reach and landing his own strikes, but was clearly behind 2-0 going into the final round.

In that frame, dos Santos secured a takedown and passed to mount near the fence, threatening with punches and looking for an arm-triangle choke, but Ewell weathered the storm and escaped to his feet. The judges gave the fight to Ewell via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27), moving him to 15-5 in his career and 2-1 in the UFC.

Dos Santos goes to 0-2 in the UFC, 20-8 overall.

Lee Bloodies, Bruises De La Rosa

In a match to which the competitors brought dueling six- and four-fight winning streaks, Andrea Lee busted up Montana De La Rosa on the feet and turned aside her submission attempts on the ground for three fast-paced rounds. Lee was clearly the sharper striker, and was largely able to deny De La Rosa’s takedown attempts for the first two rounds, bloodying De La Rosa’s nose badly in the process.

In the final round, De La Rosa finally secured the takedown, but Lee defended a variety of submission attempts while feeding the Texan a steady diet of punches and elbows. In the end, the judges saw the fight 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 for Lee (11-2), who extended her personal win streak to seven fights, the last three in the UFC, and established herself as a rising contender in the flyweight division. De La Rosa’s first UFC loss drops her overall record to 10-5 (3-1 UFC).

Related » UFC Greenville Prelims: Rosenstruik Needs Only 9 Seconds to Dispatch of Crowder

Holland Edges Di Chirico Despite Injury

In the middleweight opener, Kevin Holland took a close unanimous decision over Alessio Di Chirico despite suffering an apparent shoulder injury during the second round.

Di Chirico had significant success in the first round, landing hard punch combinations and kicks on the taller Holland. The second round was a closer affair, with Holland using the clinch to control Di Chirico against the fence and mug the Italian with short strikes to the legs and body. It was during a takedown late in the period when Holland injured his shoulder, but he successfully downplayed it to the doctor and referee, and the fight went on.

A very sparse final round was punctuated by a late takedown by the Italian, but in the end it was not enough to sway the judges, all of whom scored the fight 29-28 for Holland. The win runs Holland’s (15-4, 3-1 UFC) modest two-fight win streak to three, while ending the similar streak of Di Chirico, who falls to 12-3 (3-3 UFC).

Continue Reading » UFC Greenville Prelims: McCann Tames ‘Violence’ Queen