UFC Vegas 42 results and recap: Holloway decisions Rodriguez as Rogerio de Lima finishes Rothwell

Las Vegas, November 14: Max Holloway outworked Yair Rodriguez to claim a decision win in UFC Vegas 42: Holloway vs. Rodriguez (also known as UFC on ESPN+ 55 or UFC Fight Night 197) at the Apex Facility in Las Vegas on Saturday (November 13).

The 11-bout card saw an incredible nine fights end in stoppages as Max Holloway vs Yair Rodriguez was the fight of the night with the Performances of the Night bonuses going to Khaos Williams and Andrea Lee.

In the main event, two of the best featherweights in the world, former champion and No. 1 ranked contender Holloway and No. 3 ranked Rodriguez, put on an incredible fight with brilliant striking exchanges and peppered with takedowns and grappling.

Endurance, toughness and talent of the pair was on display through five rounds, but Holloway edged out superiority in the rounds to win out on the scorecards.

Following the win Holloway said, "Yair's a dangerous man. If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best, and the best is Blessed. I've got a win over the 155-pound champion, we've got Alex (Volkanovski, UFC featherweight champion), I'm on the shortlist for Conor McGregor... we're ready whenever."

In the co-main event, Marcos Rogerio de Lima deprived Ben Rothwell of his 40th victory when he launched an attack from the opening bell that resulted in a TKO in just 32 seconds.

After making light work of Rothwell, Rogerio said, "I knew it would be a tough fight, all respect to Ben, but I've been training hard... I know my speed, I know I can strike, and I did what I came to do."

Also on the main card, Felicia Spencer and Khaos Williams earned third round stoppage wins over Leah Letson and Miguel Baeza in their respective women's featherweight bout and welterweight bout.

Opening the main card, China's Song Yadong and Julio Arce showed off good striking exchanges through a fun first round. In the second, Song wobbled Arce with a highlight reel-worthy head kick and his killer instincts got him a TKO victory.

Earlier in the preliminary card, South Korea's surging light heavyweight Jung Da-Un set the tone of the event with a first round KO. Jung and Kennedy Nzechukwu fought at a measured pace until Jung landed an elbow, smelled blood, and went in for the finish with more elbows.

Also in the prelims, while Cortney Casey earned the lone decision win, Joel Alvarez, Rafael Alves, Andrea Lee and Sean Woodson claimed stoppage wins in their respective bouts.

UFC Vegas 42 Final Results

Main Card

1. Featherweight bout: Max Holloway defeated Yair Rodriguez via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47)

2. Heavyweight bout: Marcos Rogerio de Lima defeated Ben Rothwell via TKO (strikes) at :32 of round one

3. Women's Featherweight bout: Felicia Spencer defeated Leah Letson via TKO (strikes) at 4:25 of round three

4. Welterweight bout: Khaos Williams defeated Miguel Baeza via TKO (strikes) at 1:02 of round three

5. Bantamweight bout: Song Yadong defeated Julio Arce via TKO (strikes) at 1:35 of round two

Preliminary Card

1. Catchweight (157.5 lb) bout: Joel Alvarez defeated Thiago Moises via TKO (strikes) at 3:01 of round one

2. Women's Flyweight bout: Andrea Lee defeated Cynthia Calvillo via TKO (corner retirement) at 5:00 of round two

3. Featherweight bout: Sean Woodson defeated Collin Anglin via TKO (strikes) at 4:30 of round one

4. Catchweight (128.5 lb) bout: Cortney Casey defeated Liana Jojua via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

5. Lightweight bout: Rafael Alves defeated Marc Diakiese via submission (guillotine choke) at 1:48 of round one

6. Light Heavyweight bout: Da-un Jung defeated Kennedy Nzechukwu via KO (strikes) at 3:04 of round one