UFC Norfolk will have a title on the line in the main event. The circumstances just won’t be what was expected when the fight was booked.
Joseph Benavidez and Deiveson Figueiredo were supposed to fight for the vacant UFC flyweight title Saturday night at Chartway Arena in Norfolk, Virginia. That fight will go on as scheduled but only Benavidez will be able to win the belt. On Friday morning, Figueiredo missed weight, coming in at 127.5 pounds. He needed to hit 125 pounds — the flyweight title limit — in order to compete for the belt.
If Benavidez wins Saturday, he’s the champ. If Figureirdo wins, the belt will remain vacated. Henry Cejudo, the bantamweight champion, relinquished the flyweight title in December.
Benavidez (28-5) has a great story. He competed in the UFC’s first-ever flyweight title fight in 2012, losing a close split decision to Demetrious Johnson. Benavidez earned another shot against Johnson a year later, but he was knocked out in the first round.
Johnson held the flyweight title until Cejudo dethroned him in August 2018. Benavidez, meanwhile, has lost to only one man other than Johnson — Sergio Pettis — in the past 10 years. The Las Vegas resident has beaten Cejudo and put together one of the most successful UFC runs in any division while trying to fight back to a title shot. The 35-year-old is tied for the most UFC flyweight wins (13) with Johnson and has the most UFC flyweight knockouts (5).
Figueiredo (17-1) has been one of the most dynamic, exciting fighters in the division over the past two years. The Brazilian has won six of his seven UFC fights and four have come via finish. The 32-year-old is coming off a first-round submission win over Tim Elliott at UFC Tampa in October. His only career loss came against Jussier Formiga in March 2019.
In the co-main event, Felicia Spencer will attempt to earn a shot at Amanda Nunes and the women’s featherweight title with a win against Zarah Fairn dos Santos. Megan Anderson also has a chance to throw her name in the hat to fight Nunes next for the women’s 145-pound belt at UFC Norfolk. She faces Norma Dumont Viana.
Also on the card, young light heavyweights Ion Cutelaba and Magomed Ankalaev clash.
Fight in progress:
Women’s featherweight: Megan Anderson (10-4, -230) vs. Norma Dumont (4-0, +185)
Results:
Men’s featherweight: Grant Dawson (15-1) defeats Darrick Minner (24-11) by first-round rear-naked choke
Recap to come.
Men’s bantamweight: Kyler Phillips (7-1) defeats Gabriel Silva (8-2) by unanimous decision
Phillips won in his UFC debut with the third decision win of his career. It was back-to-back wins after suffering his only loss in Oct. 2018.
Middleweight: Brendan Allen (14-3) defeats Tom Breese (11-2) by TKO in the first round
Much of the anticipation for this middleweight prelim dwelled on Breese, a one-time prospect from Great Britain who was returning to the Octagon after an absence of nearly two years. But his return did not last very long as Allen took charge on the canvas and beat up Breese on his way to a ground-and-pound TKO finish at 4:47 of Round 1.
Allen won his sixth straight fight, the past two in the UFC. He was not expecting Breese to try to take him down.
“I was really surprised,” he said. “I thought we’d be out here for a war, especially in the first round.
— Dana White (@danawhite) March 1, 2020
“I hit him with the body kick, and that made him move back a little and he shot from there. If he wants to go to the ground, that’s fine with me. When I was on top, I just kept hitting him and found the openings. I took my time, but he wasn’t moving, so I just unloaded until they stopped me.”
Allen wants to get back into the Octagon during the International Fight Week card in Las Vegas in July, preferably against Trevin Giles, who won earlier in the month.
“Please,” he said. “Let me get this fight.”
“Hopefully I have a lot of fans tune in now, hopefully I get a big boost in my following, and hopefully the bosses realize that I’m someone who can make an impact in this division.”
— Jeff Wagenheim
Heavyweight: Marcin Tybura (18-6) defeats Serghei Spivac (10-2) by unanimous decision
Tybura snapped a two-fight losing streak and picked up his first win since July 22, 2018. He cashed in as a slight underdog at -110 as Spivac was -120.
Spivac fell to 1-2 in the UFC after starting his MMA career 9-0.
Lightweight: Luis Pena (8-2-0) defeats Steve Garcia (11-4-0) by unanimous decision
He’s not just a fun nickname. Peña is known as “Violent Bob Ross,” but he was more patient and technical than violent in taking apart his short-notice opponent, a bantamweight making his UFC debut at lightweight on five days notice.
Garcia had his moments in the opening minute, landing some crisp punches, then taking down Peña. But once the fighters were on the mat, Peña took over. He secured back control and a body triangle, then fished for a submission for the rest of the round.
After a win at #UFCNorfolk, @violentbobross embraced his younger brother, who he met for the first time on Tuesday (via @ufc) pic.twitter.com/9hLZj6LlnL
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 1, 2020
Peña, who recently shifted his training affiliation from American Kickboxing Academy in California to American Top Team in Florida, used the body triangle in Rounds 2 and 3 as well, but Garcia fended off all of his submission tries and even landed some backward elbows. But the result was clear: 30-27 on all three scorecards.
“I’m happy with the win, but that’s not the way that I like to do it,” Peña said. “This is my job, this is my career, and I want to put on a show for the fans. Sometimes, when you are in that situation, you have to do what you have to do, but I’m an entertainer. I like when people tell me that they like watching me fight, and I wouldn’t want to watch that fight, you know?
“As much as I’d like to say that the last-minute change in opponents messed with me, once I got in there it was just a fight. It was a big stylistic change and we had to redo the game plan on the fly, but I can’t use that as an excuse. There was definitely a time when I had his back that I thought, ‘Forget this, let me push off and stand this thing up and bang,’ but then I got back in myself and focused on winning. As much as I want to entertain, I want to win and I need to make that money.”
— Jeff Wagenheim
Men’s featherweight: Jordan Griffin (18-7) defeats TJ Brown (11-7) by guillotine choke
Griffin couldn’t get the submission with two choke attempts in the first round, and it wasn’t necessarily looking good in the second as Brown had side control. But Griffin impressively was able to cinch in a guillotine from his back to end the fight.
If you put the opponent asleep should it be a KO rather than a submission? The opponent didn’t ‘submit’ he was knocked out 🤷♂️ #UFCNorfolk
— Coach Kavanagh (@John_Kavanagh) February 29, 2020
“He kept giving me his neck, because he kept dipping down for that double-leg,” Griffin said. “I love that choke, that’s one of my go-to submissions. As soon as I locked it in, I knew it was over and that he was out. That’s my black-belt killer right there.”
It was the 14th finish in 18 wins for Griffin, and it snaps a two-fight losing streak.
Brown’s three-fight win streak was snapped.
Men’s featherweight: Spike Carlyle (9-1) defeats Aalon Cruz (8-3) by first-round TKO
Cruz had a seven-inch reach advantage, but Carlyle landed a left head kick that wobbled Cruz. Carlyle added a left elbow and then a flurry of strikes to end the bout. Cruz’s manager Daniel Rubenstein tweeted after the fight there will be an appeal because of what he viewed as an illegal 12-to-6 elbow to the back of Cruz’s head.
Appeal gets sent in Monday. 100% back of the head and also 12 to 6. There’s no question about it, this will be overturned to a no contest. https://t.co/5NacwK8gLh
— Daniel Rubenstein (@dannyrube) February 29, 2020
Carlyle was a +150 underdog and extended his win streak to five in his UFC debut.
Cruz had a four-fight win streak snapped with his first KO/TKO loss.
“The finish came early, but I’m known for that, I’m a fast starter and I ended it with an exclamation point,” Carlyle said. “I’m happy about that and hopefully I get rewarded for it.
“I really enjoyed walking out and seeing all the fans. That was a great experience, and I can’t wait to fight on a main card and really get the full force and enjoy that energy.”
Welterweight: Sean Brady (12-0) defeats Ismail Naurdiev (19-4) by unanimous decision
Brady makes an eye-catching first impression with a huge back tattoo he says is an image of a Japanese hunting mask, and he made an even stronger impression in the cage with a dominant win.
Naurdiev, 23, was voted one of the top 25 MMA fighters under the age of 25, but Brady, 27, used his wrestling to gain control in the second round and he had Naurdiev’s back in the third. Brady nearly finished the fight with a late guillotine, but Naurdiev was able to survive the submission attempt.
Brady, who cashed in as a +100 underdog, remains undefeated overall, including a 2-0 record in the UFC.
“Strategy going in was definitely to use my grappling,” Brady said. “I was trying to feel him out a bit at the beginning, he came out hot, I didn’t come out as fast as I wanted to and didn’t get the take down. I knew he would start to slow down because he throws a lot of big, explosive stuff, so I knew I’d be able to take over in the second and third rounds and impose my grappling.
“I’m a way better grappler than I am a striker, and I’m a pretty good striker. I’m looking forward to improving and showing off new skills each time. A couple hundred people drove down from Philly, so it was nice to hear that crowd so early on in the night. If the UFC wants to keep fighting me on the East coast, I’ll bring crowds in all day long. I’d like a bigger name now.”
Still to come:
• Flyweight: Joseph Benavidez (28-5, -135) vs. Deiveson Figueiredo (17-1, +105)
• Women’s featherweight: Felicia Spencer (7-1, -850) vs. Zarah Fairn (6-3, +550)
• Light heavyweight: Ion Cutelaba (15-4, +175) vs. Magomed Ankalaev (12-1, -210)