Boston’s TD Garden is the place where two UFC titles could change hands.
Light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier will defend his title against Volkan Oezdemir while UFC heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic defends his strap vs. Francis Ngannou.
Here’s a look at all of the results and analysis just below the chart. Once the event is over, I’ll have the bonus winners as well as attendance and gate figures.
| Matchup | Weight Class | Results | Bonus | FIGHT SCORE |
| Islam Makhachev vs. Gleison Tibau | Lightweight | Makhachev by First-Round TKO | 19 | |
| Matt Bessette vs. Enrique Barzola | Men’s Featherweight | Barzola by UD (30-27, 29-28×2) | 18.53 | |
| Dan Ige vs. Julio Arce | Men’s Featherweight | Arce by UD (30-27×2, 29-28) | 17.56 | |
| Dustin Ortiz vs. Alexandre Pantoja | Men’s Flyweight | Ortiz by UD 929-28×3) | 26.6 | |
| Sabah Homasi vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan | Welterweight | Razak Alhassan by First-Round KO | 24.25 | |
| Kyle Bochniak vs. Brandon Davis | Men’s Featherweight | Bochniak by UD (30-27, 29-28×2) | ||
| Thomas Almeida vs. Rob Font | Men’s Bantamweight | |||
| Gian Villante vs. Francimar Barroso | Light Heavyweight | |||
| Calvin Kattar vs. Shane Burgos | Men’s Featherweight | |||
| (c) Daniel Cormier vs. Volkan Oezdemir | Light Heavyweight Championship | |||
| (c) Stipe Miocic vs. Francis Ngannou | Heavyweight Championship |
Makhachev Deletes Tibau
It came in the first fight of the evening, but Islam Makhachev made an early statement with this one-punch KO of veteran Gleison Tibau.
Islam Makachev starts the night off strong with a wicked 1 punch KO of Gleison Tibau. #UFC220 pic.twitter.com/Xt9d4A0klm
— Ahmar Khan (@AhmarSKhan) January 21, 2018
This was a potentially definitive loss for Tibau in his career. He hadn’t fought in more than two years and he’d lost his last two fights.
A three-fight losing streak after more than 50 professional bouts isn’t a good look.
Barzola Imposes His Will on Bessette
Matt Bessette came out determined to make good on his opportunity after showing heart on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender. Unfortunately for him, he ran into Enrique Barzola who simply had too many layers for Bessette.
Barzola’s wrestling, leg kicks and pace broke Bessette down and led to a unanimous-decision victory.
Arce’s Dismantles Ige
Putting his Golden Glove boxing skills on display, Julio Arce took Dan Ige apart with surgical striking and spectacular takedown defense. This was a battle of styles and Arce’s stand-up game clearly won out. Ige was stunned on a couple of occasions and had all but one of his 13 takedown attempts stuffed.
Arce is an interesting prospect that bears watching moving forward.
Ortiz Outlasts Pantoja
Cardio was king in this fight. After selling out in an effort to submit Dustin Ortiz in the first round, Alexandre Pantoja didn’t have the necessary energy to keep pace with his uber-active opponent. Ortiz outworked an exhausted Pantoja and eeked out the close decision.
Razak Alhassan Plasters Homasi in Rematch
Abdul Razak Alhassan and Sabah Homasi met in December and the fight ended controversially. Razak Alhassan was the winner, but a bad call from the referee is what created his victory. On Saturday, Razak Alhassan left no doubt.
In the very first round, Razak Alhassan smashed Homasi with a hard uppercut that knocked the latter out cold.
Sleepy time https://t.co/WsFVPeCHUM
— Seán Sheehan (@SeanSheehanBA) January 21, 2018
It was an even more impressive finish than the one we saw in the initial fight. It’ll be hard for anyone to top Alhassan’s finish.
Bochniak Dances and Pokes Away at Davis
Kyle Bochniak’s excellent stamina, movement, and striking led to a pretty decisive, but less-than-thrilling win over Brandon Davis. There wasn’t much to expound on here, but Bochniak pulled out a nice win.
