Elias Theodorou Wins, Thiago Santos, Gunnar Nelson Get Ranked UFC 231 Finishes
Even though Saturday night’s UFC 231 had two big title fights taking the spotlight, this wasn’t a thin card by any stretch.
— — — —@TMarretaMMA #UFC231 pic.twitter.com/SoVr4v2WO0
— UFC (@ufc) December 9, 2018
Thiago Santos hit an incredible milestone, as the #15 light heavyweight fought for his fifth time in 2018 (and since February specifically), but #7 Jimi Manuwa wasn’t hoping to have that milestone come at his expense. Unfortunately for him it was, but also likely netted him $50,000 as a bonus. The two brawlers stepped in, chucked and ducked on their way to an all-time classic light heavyweight slugfest. In round two, Santos was able to connect on the button and put Manuwa to sleep before he met the same fate.
Thiago Santos is a BAD MAN!
WHAT A FIGHT!!! #UFC231 pic.twitter.com/bgloPCncRs
— UFC (@ufc) December 9, 2018
Vicious ground and pound! #UFC231 pic.twitter.com/0ZDTfnQKxH
— UFC (@ufc) December 9, 2018
#13 Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira took on the highly hyped #14 Gunnar Nelson in a welterweight clash on the pay-per-view main card. After a back and forth first round, Gunnar Nelson was able to do what he does best — drag Oliveira down, crack him open and submit him with a rear naked choke in round 2.
Vicious ground and pound! #UFC231 pic.twitter.com/0ZDTfnQKxH
— UFC (@ufc) December 9, 2018
Fightful alumni and #14 Middleweight Elias Theodorou gave the fast-rising Eryk Anders his crack at breaking through in the division after a wild year. While no one will accuse their split decision bout of being a fight of the year candidate, Theodorou was able to slightly outstrike Anders and pick up the win.
Fightful has full, live coverage of UFC 231 at this link, as well as a live post-show podcast covering the event. We’ll also cover the happenings on our MMA & Boxing Youtube channel Tuesday at 2 PM EST for the FightfulMMA.com Podcast with Sean Ross Sapp and MMA insiders James Lynch and “Showdown” Joe Ferraro.
