UFC provided a new interim featherweight champion on Saturday night as Toronto played host to UFC 206.
The PPV, which was hindered by controversy surrounding its main event, was headlined by Jordan Pettis vs Max Holloway with Holloway, and not Pettis, competing for the interim featherweight title.
Elsewhere on the card was the return of Jordan Mein, the 185lb debut of Kelvin Gastelum, and a classic between Cub Swanson and Dooho Choi, as well as a great fight between Brown and Cerrone in the co-main event.
Jordan Mein vs Emile Meek:
Emil Mein unleashes a left hand on his way to victory over Jordan Mein at UFC 206 in Toronto on Saturday
Emile Meek spoiled the return of Jordan Mein by winning their contest by unanimous decision after a dominating and aggressive performance.
Meek, who went into the fight as the younger upstart, overcame an apparent rib injury from a takedown in the first round, to defeat Mein, who was returning after almost 2 years.
It was a story of a hungry, aggressive Emile Meek pounding a tame Mein with powerful kicks, and punches in the first and third round, with a ground-and-pound in the second round in between. All of this resulting in a deserved win for the Norwegian.
Tim Kennedy vs Kelvin Gastelum:
Kelvin Gastelum put on one of the performances of the night in his TKO victory over Tim Kennedy.
Gastelum spent the fight tagging Kennedy with punch after punch as Kennedy found himself unable to cope with the pace of his younger opponent.
Kennedy made attempts to ground Gastelum but he was unable to and, after trying to simply survive the 3rd round, the fight was eventually stopped with Gastelum winning by TKO.
After the fight, Gastelum announced his intention to drop back down to 170lb, despite impressing at 185lb.
Cub Swanson vs Dooho Choi:
Cub Swanson defeated Doo Ho Choi at UFC 206 in what many are calling a fight of the year candidate
Cub Swanson overcame the impressive Dooho Choi in an instant classic on Saturday night by unanimous decision after an absolute war between the two men.
Both men pummelled eachother with massive punching flurries, with the crowd in attendance hanging on every strike.
Early in the second round, after enduring a relentless combination of punches from Cub, Choi bounced back with similarly intense punches in what became the round of the night.
The intensity would continue into the 3rd round as both men laid everything on the line. Choi demonstrated immense heart in enduring intense punches and kicks from Swanson. Unfortunately for the South Korean, when all was said and done, it was Swanson who came away with the unanimous decision victory.
Matt Brown vs Donald Cerrone:
Donald Cerrone overcame Matt Brown in the co-main event of UFC 206 on Saturday night. Going into the fight, Brown had lost his last 7 fights and was very much out for something to prove.
Unfortunately for Brown, Cerrone utilised a strong kick game, tagging Brown with several high kicks, cutting his right eye, a target which Cerrone would continue to go after.
Finally, 34 seconds into the 3rd round, a well-timed kick to the face of Brown brought the fight to an end, with Cerrone picking up the KO win.
Mark Holloway vs Anthony Pettis:
Max Holloway defeated Anthony Pettis to become the interim featherweight champion at UFC 206 on Saturday
Following a main event with one of the most bizarre build ups in recent memory, Mark Holloway is the new interim UFC featherweight champion after defeating Anthony Pettis by TKO.
Despite a decent first round for Pettis, a broken right hand would prove decisive to the rest of the fight as Pettis had to rely on kick-based offence.
This allowed Holloway to edge his opponent in the 2nd round, before forcing a stoppage in the 3rd after a flurry of punches followed some well-timed kicks to the body.
Holloway will now go on to face José Aldo for the UFC featherweight title, while Pettis has vowed to go back to 155lb after his struggles in dropping weight to 145lb resulting in him being unable to fight for the interim featherweight title and losing 20% of his purse.
Andrew Ryan