UFC 206 delivered an event for the ages as the fighters on show produced some of the most thrilling action ever seen in the Octagon on a night to remember in Toronto.
The main event saw Max Holloway crowned the UFC interim featherweight champion with a blistering finish of former lightweight champion Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis.
The Hawaiian started steadily, then gradually upped the intensity as the fight approached the middle rounds.
And in the third round, with Pettis nursing a broken right hand, Holloway struck, hurting Pettis to the body, then finishing him against the cage with a furious flurry of punches to claim the interim UFC featherweight title.
Holloway’s stoppage win extended his remarkable win streak to 10 in a row, and he capped off a night to remember by calling out newly-installed undisputed champ Jose Aldo.
“We’re trying to find Aldo, so I thought I’d call him Waldo – Jose Waldo,” he yelled.
“Hashtag Jose Waldo, and tell him meet me in Brooklyn in February. Let’s get the real one!”
The co-main saw one of the most spectacular knockouts in recent memory as Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone planted a thumping head kick on the chin of Matt Brown to claim a stunning third-round knockout.
But amazingly even Cerrone’s high-kicking exploits had to take a back seat to arguably the greatest fight to ever grace the Octagon, as featherweights Cub Swanson and Doo Ho Choi battled to the scorecards in their main card bout.
Both men had the other hurt during a breathless back-and-forth contest that had the crowd on their feet from the first minute to the last.
And, despite shipping some huge punishment from Choi’s laser-sighted strikes, it was Swanson’s sheer heart and determination that proved the difference maker as the fight inexplicably made it all the way to the finish.
When the scorecards were totalled it was the American veteran who took the win, with scores of 30-27 (twice) and 29-28.
‘Killer Cub’ had a message for his detractors, as he declared: “Don’t ever question me again!” in his post fight interview.
And the crestfallen Choi vowed to return better than ever.
“This is what losing feels like,” he began.
“I’m gonna train even more, and I’m not gonna lose again.”
The main card also saw Kelvin Gastelum produce the best performance of his UFC career as he stopped the returning Tim Kennedy in the third round of their middleweight contest.
Gastelum was forced to move up to middleweight after failing to make weight for his scheduled welterweight contest at UFC 205.
But despite wowing the fans with his performance, the former winner of The Ultimate Fighter said he still has designs on moving back to 170lbs.
“If they give me a fight at middleweight that I want, I will stay at 185. If no fight interests me, I will drop to 170 and fight a No 1 contender. I want a No 1 contender and believe I deserve a No 1 contender.”
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