UFC Fight Night 49 main card results and recap

UFC-Fight-Night-49

The UFC Fight Night 49 prelims are over, and it is now time to switch over to Fox Sports 1 as the main card gets underway.

In the first bout on the main card, Chas Skelly pulled off the upset as he submitted Tom Niinimaki with a modified rear naked choke/neck crank early on in the first round. It was an uber impressive performance from Skelly as he earns his first UFC victory as Niinimaki drops his second straight submission loss in the UFC. 

The second bout of the main card was a wild and sloppy bout between lightweights James Vick and Valmir Lazaro. Throwing technique and defense out of the window, both men threw caution to the wind as they threw wild haymakers throughout the entirety of the three round fight. In the end, James Vick took home the deserved unanimous decision victory.

In the third bout, Max Holloway and late replacement Clay Collard put on a fight of the night worthy performance as the two men engaged in a wildly exciting bout. Although Collard had no training camp for the fight as he took the bout on 10 days notice, he impressed the MMA world by giving Holloway all he could handle. Holloway began to heat up in the second round as he continued to batter Collard with an impressive flurry of strikes. Collard hung tough for as long as he could, but once Holloway got the fight to the mat in the third, he soon finished the bout via TKO with brutal ground and pound.

In the next fight, middleweights Thales Leites and Francis Carmont threw down in an integral matchup for the division. After a slow paced first round, Leites opened up on the feet and finished Carmont with a sensational flurry. With the win Leites improves his winning streak to four straight inside the Octagon and could potentially fight a top 10 opponent next. It has been an incredible run for Leites who has completely reinvented himself since his first UFC run back in 2006-2009.

In the co-main event, Jordan Mein starched Mike Pyle with a violent left hook that knocked out the savvy veteran early on in round one. With the win, Mein improves to 3-1 in the UFC and stakes a claim as a contender in the ultra stacked welterweight division. Expect Mein to make his way into the rankings and get a big name fight his next time out.

In the main event of the evening, Rafael Dos Anjos pulled off the massive upset by knocking out former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson in the first round. Dos Anjos hurt Henderson with a flurry and followed up with a flying knee and left hook to finish the fight.

Here are the UFC Fight Night 49 results:

Main Card:

Rafael Dos Anjos defeats Benson Henderson via TKO (Punches) Round 1, 2:31

Jordan Mein defeats Mike Pyle via KO (Left Hook) Round 1, 1:12

Thales Leites defeats Francis Carmont via KO (Punches) Round 2, 0:20

Max Holloway defeats Clay Collard via TKO (Punches) Round 3, 3:47

James Vick defeats Valmir Lazaro via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)

Chas Skelly defeats Tom Niinimaki via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) Round 1, 2:35

Preliminary Card:

Neil Magny defeats Alex Garcia via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Beneil Dariush defeats Tony Martin via Submission (Arm-Triangle choke) Round 2, 3:38

Matt Hobar defeats Aaron Phillips via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Ben Saunders defeats Chris Heatherly via Submission (Omoplata) Round 1, 2:18

Wilson Reis def. Joby Sanchez via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)