Welcome to F4WOnline.com’s live coverage of UFC 231: Holloway vs. Ortega, emanating from the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The Octagon heads back to Toronto for the first time in two years with two title fights that are among the best match-ups of the year.
UFC Featherweight Champion Max Holloway walks to the Octagon for the first time in a year to make his second title defense as he takes on the undefeated challenger Brian Ortega. Holloway has amassed an impressive 12-fight win streak and is coming off back-to-back wins over future Hall Of Famer Jose Aldo, while Ortega has won all 15 of his professional fights, and is also coming off a win over a future Hall Of Famer, Frankie Edgar.
In the co-main event, the vacant UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship is up for grabs as Valentina Shevchenko finally gets her shot at that belt as she takes on former UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Shevchenko was scheduled to fight for this title in September before former champion Nicco Montano was forced out of their fight on weigh-in day and subsequently stripped of the title. Jedrzejczyk is moving up to 125 pounds for the first time in the UFC as she looks to become the first woman to win UFC gold in two weight classes.
Also on the main card is a welterweight bout between Alex Oliveira and Gunnar Nelson, and a light heavyweight bout between Jimi Manuwa and Eryk Anders. There are plenty of prelim fights with intrigue, including Claudia Gadelha and Nina Ansaroff in a women’s strawweight bout, a potential title eliminator in the women’s flyweight division between Katlyn Chookagian and Jessica Eye, and a middleweight bout pitting Elias Theodorou against Eryk Anders.
Follow along with our live coverage of the event beginning at 6:15 p.m. Eastern time with preliminary action all the way through the main card.
We are looking for your thoughts on tonight’s event, so send a thumbs up, a thumbs down or a thumbs in the middle along with a best fight and a worst fight to Dave at [email protected].
UFC FIGHT PASS PRELIMS | 6:15 PM ET/3:15 PM PT
> Devin Clark (9-2, 3-2 UFC) vs. Aleksander Rakic (10-1, 2-0 UFC)
Light Heavyweights
Clark lands a right hand into a takedown right away. They clinch against the fence and Clark has the body lock. Rakic reverses and they break. Rakic landed a right hand to the body on the break and then a leg kick. They trade leg kicks. Rakic with a high kick. Clark then drops Rakic with a right hand. Rakic gets up but is eating knees from Clark. Clark landed a lot of knees but may have tired himself out. Some of those knees were illegal. Rakic reverses position. Rakic now lands a few knees. They break. They trade kicks. Rakic now lands some big punches on Clark and he finishes him off. Big win for Rakic as those were heavy punches he was landing.
Official Result- Aleksander Rakic def. Devin Clark by TKO (punches) at 4:05 of Round 1
> Carlos Diego Ferreira (13-2, 4-2 UFC) vs. Kyle Nelson (12-1, 0-0 UFC)
Lightweights
Ferreira with a heavy leg kick but Nelson counters with a left. They exchange in close range. Nelson with a left hook. Ferreira with a leg kick. Nelson with a body punch. Ferreira shoots but it is stuffed and Nelson lands some punches. Ferreira shoots again but it is stuffed. Nelson lands some punches and Ferreira takes some time to get to his feet. Ferreira with a couple of body kicks. Nelson lands a straight right hand. They throw big punches in close range and Ferreira gets a takedown. Ferreira working for an arm but Nelson defending. Ferreira lands some punches on top and gets mount late and is landing big punches as Nelson gives up his back. Ferreira with big punches but Nelson survives the round. 10-9 Ferreira.
Ferreira lands some punches to start the second round and gets a takedown. Ferreira with some short elbows. Ferreira gets the mount and is landing punches as Nelson is covering up. Ferreira mixing some elbows in and Nelson is in big trouble. This is finally stopped as Ferreira gets the win after surviving some early trouble.
Official Result- Diego Ferreira def. Kyle Nelson by TKO (strikes) at 1:23 of Round 2
> Chad Laprise (13-3, 6-3 UFC) vs. Dhiego Lima (12-7, 1-5 UFC)
Welterweights
Laprise landing some leg kicks early. They trade some punches as Laprise has Lima’s back to the fence. Lima drops Laprise with a left hook and the referee quickly steps in and stops the fight. Wow. The fans aren’t happy but that was a hard punch and Laprise went right down. Big win for Lima.
Official Result- Dhiego Lima def. Chad Laprise by knockout (punch) at 1:37 of Round 1
> Brad Katona (7-0, 1-0 UFC) vs. Matthew Lopez (10-3, 2-3 UFC)
Bantamweights
Lopez lands some punches early. Katona with a head kick. They trade and Lopez lands a nice right hand. Katona goes for a takedown but Lopez defends. Katona with a body kick. Lopez with a high kick. Lopez lands a left hand. Katona with a straight right hand followed with a left hook. Lopez counters with a left hand and then an overhand right. Katona lands a right. Lopez lands a combo. They trade punches and Lopez is getting the better of it. Lopez gets a takedown and into the guard. Katona lands a couple elbows from the bottom. 10-9 Lopez.
Lopez lands a left hand and gets a takedown. Katona gets to his feet and lands some short lefts in the clinch before breaking. Katona lands a right hand. Katona with a short uppercut. Lopez with a body kick. Katona with another short uppercut. Lopez with a leg kick. Katona lands a left hand. Lopez gets a takedown and into side control. Katona able to get to his feet. They trade punches. Katona lands a right hand. They trade lefts to end the round. 10-9 Katona, 19-19.
Lopez with a high kick. Katona with a leg kick and a short uppercut. Katona with a short leg kick and they exchange punches in close range. Lopez lands a right hand. Katona with a right hand to the body. Katona lands a right hand. They exchange in close. Lopez looks to shoot but Katona snuffs it out. Katona with a body kick. Katona grabs a single leg but doesn’t get the takedown. He grabs the back and Lopez tries to roll out. Katona had a choke locked in but time ran out. That might have gotten him the fight. 10-9 Katona, 29-28 Katona.
Official Result- Brad Katona def. Matthew Lopez by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28. 29-28)
FOX SPORTS 1 PRELIMS | 8 PM ET/5 PM PT
> Elias Theodorou (#14, 15-2, 7-2 UFC) vs. Eryk Anders (11-2, 3-2 UFC)
Middleweights
Theodorou throwing some kicks and Anders presses him against the fence but they break away. Theodorou with some leg kicks. Theodorou lands a right hand but eats a left from Anders. Anders lands a left as Theodorou comes inside but they break. Theodorou with a body kick. They clinch and Theodorou has the back and lands some knees. They break. Theodorou lands some inside punches and a body kick. Anders has been unable to do much. Theodorou with a leg kick. Anders lands a left hand late. 10-9 Theodorou.
Anders comes out strong and lands a knee in a brief clinch. They clinch and Anders lands a good punch. Theodorou works to the body as Anders is looking for a takedown. They break. Anders lands a left hand and a kick. Anders lands two left hands. Anders with the jab. Anders with a left hand. Anders lands some good punches and rocks Theodorou. Anders with a flurry. Anders with some more left hands. Anders with some big punches and Theodorou is hurt as he stumbles but gets to his feet and circles away. Anders drops him with a left hand and then hits another left. 10-9 Anders, 19-19.
They circle around the first minute of the third with neither able to find an opening to land. Eye poke from Anders and we have a timeout. Back to action and Theodorou lands some kicks. Theodorou with a body kick. Anders with a left hand. Anders with some short punches in a clinch. Theodorou with a leg kick. They trade punches. Anders lands a combo. Theodorou with a body kick. They trade close. Anders lands a left hand late. Close fight. 10-9 Anders, 29-28 Anders.
Official Result- Elias Theodorou def. Eryk Anders by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
> Katlyn Chookagian (#3, 11-1, 4-1 UFC) vs. Jessica Eye (#9, 13-6 1 NC, 3-5 1 NC UFC)
Women’s Flyweights
Ryan lost internet connection at the Scotiabank Centre so Paul Fontaine here taking over for the time being.
All three rounds were similar and very close. Eye was moving forward for almost the entire fight. Strike counts were very close with a slight advantage to Eye in each of the first two rounds and Chookagian had a slightly larger advantage in the third. There was one takedown, also in the 3rd, by Chookagian. I scored it 29-28 Eye.
Official result – Jessa Eye (14-6) by split decision (29-28 x 2; 28-29)
Eye requested a title shot in her post-fight interview. She’s won 3 straight since moving to the division and just beat the #3 fighter so probably earned it.
> Olivier Aubin-Mercier (11-3, 7-3 UFC) vs. Gilbert Burns (14-3, 6-3 UFC)
Lightweights
Aubin-Mercier was pushing the pace early. Burns got a takedown but didn’t do any damage and Aubin-Mercier got to his feet without taking a single shot. Burns knocked him down and was all over him with punches and elbows and it was close to being stopped. Aubin-Mercier gave up his back and Burns had a couple submission attempts and did some ground and pound but Aubin-Mercier survived the round. 10-8 Burns
Much closer 2nd round. Strike count with 90 seconds left was 12-10 Burns and Aubin-Mercier may have been slightly more active after that point. But Burns scored a late takedown and obtained side control and that may have stolen a close round but he could’ve already have been winning the round. 10-9 Burns, 20-17 overall
Burns got a takedown 2 minutes in. He did a lot of damage on the ground but Aubin-Mercier managed to get to his feet. Burns took his back standing and dragged him to the canvas. Burns quickly locked on a body lock and was landing a lot of punches while setting up a choke. Aubin-Mercier managed to avoid the choke and somehow escaped to his feet with 20 seconds left. Both guys were landing bombs as the fight ended. 10-9 Burns, 30-26 overall
Offiicial result – Gilbert Burns (15-3) by unanimous decision (30-27 x 2; 29-28)
> Claudia Gadelha (#3, 16-3, 5-3 UFC) vs. Nina Ansaroff (#11, 9-5, 3-2 UFC)
Women’s Strawweights
Gadelha came out strong, throwing all kind of punches and Ansaroff was reeling early. Gadelha got a takedown and was landing punches and elbows on the ground while trying to advance position. Gedelha was on her back for a couple minutes but eventually escaped. Ansaroff was doing better on her feet late, landing a nice head kick and really good punch combo. She also defended a couple of takedown attempts. 10-9 Gadelha
Round 3 was mostly Gadelha advancing and eating punches and leg kicks from distance by Ansaroff. Significant strikes count for the fight was 94-38 for Ansaroff. Gadelha defended several takedown atttempts in the 3rd round as well. Gadelha was landing more in the last minute but her face was all bloodied up by the end of the fight. 10-9 Ansaroff, 29-28 overall
Official result – Nina Ansaroff (10-5) by unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
PPV MAIN CARD | 10 PM ET/7 PM PT
> Jimi Manuwa (#7, 17-4, 6-4 UFC) vs. Thiago Santos (#15 MW, 19-6, 11-5 UFC)
Light Heavyweights
Crazy first round. Seconds in, Santos dropped Manuwa twice with punches but Manuwa recovered and clinched up. The rest of the round was basically clinch work separated by wild flurries where one or both guys would land and also get hurt. They took turns going to the cage clinch. Santos was also throwing wild kicks, sometimes connecting, sometimes missing badly. He missed a jumping spin kick late in the round and ended up on his back. Manuwa took the back and was working for a sub at the end of the round. 10-9 Santos
This didn’t go long. Santos rocked Manuwa early. Manuwa fought back with punches of his own. Santos backed up Manuwa to the cage and landed an uppercut that almost took Manuwa’s head off and then landed a clean left hook that dropped him instantly.
Official result – Thiago Santos (20-6) by KO (punch) at 41 seconds of round 2
> Hakeem Dawodu (8-1-1, 1-1 UFC) vs. Kyle Bochniak (8-3, 2-3 UFC)
Featherweights
Dawodu was more active on the feet, throwing punches in spurts. Bochniak was mostly throwing a single strike at a time, mixing in leg kicks and punches. Dawodu caused some swelling under Bochniak’s left eye with a nice combo and then Bochniak almost immediately secured a takedown. Dawodu was up right away but Bochniak controlled his back the rest of the round. 10-9 Dawodu
Very boring 2nd round. Bochniak got a takedown but Dawodu was up immediately. Dawodu was probably throwing 4 times as much as Bochniak and even though he was landing at only 31%, he was landing more as well. Bochniak was acting like he may have hurt his left hand as he wasn’t using it much. Bochniak’s corner told him he was down two rounds and I agree. 20-18 Dawodu
Very similar to the 2nd round. Bochniak got a takedown in the middle of the round and did manage to hold Dawodu down for about 30 seconds but did no damage. On the feet, Dawodu was constantly moving forward and landing punches and kicks. He had some particulary nice combos in the last minute and landed a hard body kick late in the round. He had 34 body strikes in total. 10-9 Dawodu, 30-27 overall
Official result – Hakeem Dawodu (9-1-1) by split decision (30-27 x 2; 28-29)
> Alex Oliveira (#13, 20-4-1 2 NC, 9-3 1 NC UFC) vs. Gunnar Nelson (#14, 16-3-1, 7-3 UFC)
Welterweights
As Jon Anik put it, a little bit of everything in round 1. Oliveira was landing solidly on the feet early. Nelson managed to get a takedown and quickly took the back. He had a solid body lock on but Oliveira was throwing punches behind his head. Nelson never really got close to a submission. Eventually Oliveira reversed and ended up on top, landing hard shots. He postured up and was landing hammer fists to the head and body. Nelson eventually captured a leg and they were in 50/50 for awhile. Oliveira did manage to escape before the round ended. 10-9 Oliveira
Oliveira was landing more on the feet early and the significant strike count was 28-1 for Oliveira. Then Nelson got a takedown and fairly quickly gained mount. Nelson was just lying there in mount and not doing anything and, twice, the ref warned him to work. Then Nelson just started landing elbows and opened a nasty cut on Oliviera’s face and it started bleeding like a faucet. The ref moved in to look at it but Oliveira was tapping, likely from the blood loss. Nelson did have a choke on at the end, which was the official result.
Official result – Gunnar Nelson (17-3-1) by submission (rear naked choke) at 4:17 of Round 2
> Valentina Shevchenko (#1, 15-3, 4-2 UFC) vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk (#1 WSW, 15-2, 9-2 UFC)
UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship
Joanna throwing a lot of punches early but missing most of them. Shevchenko got a takedown and moved right into side control. Shevchenko landed elbows and punches to the face but Joanna eventually got to her feet. Shevchenko controlled her in a clinch for most of the rest of the round. 10-9 Shevchenko
Shevchenko controlled Joanna almost the whole round, taking her down a few times and doing damage on the ground when they were there. On the feet, Shevchenko was generally controlling the clinch and dominating her. 10-9 Shevchenko, 20-18
Joanna was much more aggressive in round 3 and managed to stay on her feet the entire round, blocking several takedown attempts. Shevchenko didn’t land a lot but when she did, she landed hard. Joanna likely won the round due to her volume but she took more damage as she was bleeding from her nose as well as a cut on the bridge of her nose. 10-9 Joanna, 29-28 Shevchenko overall
Joanna came out strong in round 4 as well but Shevchenko was able to get a power takedown and move right into side control. Joanna quickly worked her into half guard and didn’t take a lot of damage. Joanna eventually worked to her feet and they spent a long time in the clinch with both landing shots that did damage. After separating, Joanna seemed to be coming on stronger at the end of the round. 10-9 Shevchenko, 39-37 overall
Shevchenko took it to a cage clinch early but did nothing from the clinch. Joanna was landing light punches to the body and head. Ref eventually broke it up. Joanna was more aggressive on the feet. Total strikes landed in the round were exactly 96 each but Shevchenko had the takedowns. Shevchenko did land some nice combos in the last minute but Joanna was very active as well. 10-9 Joanna, 48-47 Shevchenko overall
Offiicial result – Valentina Shevchenko (16-3) by unanimous decision (49-46 x 3)
> Max Holloway (C, 19-3, 15-3 UFC) vs. Brian Ortega (#1, 14-0 1 NC, 6-0 1 NC UFC)
UFC Featherweight Championship
Holloway set a furious pace early, landing punches from all sorts of angles. Ortega was landing hard and did open a cut under Holloway’s left eye, but not often. Ortega got a takedown in the middle of the round but did no damage and Holloway was up quickly. Holloway was taunting him any time he landed anything and Ortega seemed to be slowing down at the end of the round. Crowd was really loud with chants for Holloway throughout. 10-9 Holloway
Holloway came out strong and actually picked up the pace from the first round. Early on, Holloway opened up cuts on the face of Ortega and somewhere must have broken his nose because it was bleeding heavily and he was having trouble breathing. But as he should’ve been getting more tired, Ortega actually picked up his output. He was still getting beaten, as signfiicant strike count at one point was 94-31, but he was getting his shots in. Holloway was landing hard jabs throughout, which was his best weapon. 10-9 Holloway, 20-18
Ortega came out firing and hurt Holloway with a punch combo. He followed up with another and Holloway was on wobbly legs. Ortega briefly took him down but Holloway managed to get up quickly. Holloway looked confused for a little while and was eating more shots. Significant strike count midway through the round was 15-12 for Ortega. Holloway was cut several times on his face but started coming on in the last minute but Ortega was giving it back just as well. Duelling chants for both guys throughout the round. 10-9 Ortega, 29-28 Holloway overall
Holloway told Joe Rogan on his way out for the 4th that he was going to finish him in this round and came out like he was going to do it. Holloway was relentless, with a constant barrage of punches elbows and kicks throughout the round. Ortega stayed on his feet almost the entire time, except for when he’d go to the ground voluntarily but he never stopped taking shots. His face was a bloody mess by the end of the round and he had swelling under his left eye at the end of the round. The doctor’s looked it and stopped the fight. I had it scored 10-8 Holloway but it didn’t matter as the fight was stopped.
Official result – Max Holloway (20-3) by doctor’s stoppage due to injury (eye) at 5:00 of Round 4
Holloway landed 296 total strikes in the fight and over 100 in the fourth round. He threw almost 500. Holloway said that he’d probably see Ortega in a higher weight class, maybe at heavyweight since they both like to eat. As he always does, he asked Dana White to book a show in Hawaii so they could escape the cold weather.
He asked for a fight at lightweight and said he’d even fight Daniel Cormier. That was his 13th win in a row and he’s easily the best featherweight of all time and fast becoming one of the all-time greats in any weight class. And he’s only 27 years old.
