UFC Vegas 78 Results and Recap: Vicente Luque defends top ten rank with decisive win over Rafael Dos Anjos

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Las Vegas, August 13: Vincente Luque cemented his top 10 ranking in the welterweight division following a decisive win over Rafael Dos Anjos in the main event of UFC Vegas 78: Luque vs. Dos Anjos at the UFC Apex Facility in Las Vegas on Saturday (August 12).

The 13-fight card saw an incredible nine fights end in stoppages, including all the preliminary card bouts, and four go the distance for the decision on the main card. Among the 9 stoppage wins, 6 were knockouts or technical knockouts, while three were submission wins.

There was no fight of the night bonus awarded on the night, but four fighters pocketed an extra USD50K for their respective stoppage wins on the card as Khalil Rountree Jr., Iasmin Lucindo, Marcus McGhee, and Da'Mon Blackshear were awarded performance bonuses.

In the main event, Luque put his No. 10 welterweight rank on the line against former UFC lightweight champion Dos Anjos and the well-matched bout showed off the high level skills from both.

The two traded combinations standing, and Luque more than met the attempts of Dos Anjos to grapple. As the fight rolled into the fifth round, Luque's solid wrestling proved to be the decisive factor.

Luque won the decision victory and said, "I'm a cold guy, but I'm really emotional now. For me, it's a miracle to be here. A lot of people know what happened to me a year ago.

"I never feared anything, but I feared never being able to do this again. For all of you out there watching who don't believe in miracles anymore, I am proof of that. I came back stronger and beat a champ at his game."

In the featherweight co-main event, fan favorite Hall of Famer Cub Swanson squared off against surging KO artist Hakeem Dawodu and went a full three rounds of brilliant striking action. Dawodu had the most significant strikes, while Swanson had some success on the canvas, to earn the scores.

Following the decision win, Swanson said, "I felt like I was in the moment, I was having fun, but I thought I took more shots. I always beat myself up so I'll have to watch it again. As I've gotten older, it's getting harder. I've got a name now, and people expect greatness."

Also on the main card, Rountree Jr. registered his fourth consecutive victory, stopping former Top 10 heavyweight Chris Daukaus with a clean left hand to earn a first-round stoppage in a light heavyweight bout.

Plus, Lucindo got the better of Polyana Viana in an All-Brazilian women's strawweight battle, securing her first UFC finish via an arm triangle choke in the second round. The opening two middleweight bouts saw AJ Dobson and Josh Fremd earn decision wins.

Earlier in the preliminary card, all the seven bouts ended in stoppages as Marcus McGhee, Terrance McKinney, Jaqueline Amorim, Isaac Dulgarian and Luana Santos claimed knock outs in their respective bouts.

Meanwhile, Martin Buday and Da'Mon Blackshear earned submission wins over their respective opponents at the UFC Apex. Here is a look at the final results of UFC Vegas 78:

UFC Vegas 78 Results

Main Card

1. Welterweight Bout: Vicente Luque defeated Rafael Dos Anjos by unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47)

2. Featherweight Bout: Cub Swanson defeated Hakeem Dawodu by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

3. Light Heavyweight Bout: Khalil Rountree Jr. defeated Chris Daukaus by TKO (strikes) at 2:40 of Round 1

4. Women's Strawweight Bout: Iasmin Lucindo defeated Polyana Viana by submission (arm-triangle choke) at 3:42 of Round 2

5. Catchweight (189.5 lb) Bout: AJ Dobson defeated Tafon Nchukwi by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

6. Catchweight (189 lb) Bout: Josh Fremd defeated Jamie Pickett by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Preliminary Card

1. Bantamweight Bout: Marcus McGhee defeated JP Buys by KO (right hand) at 2:19 of Round 1

2. Lightweight Bout: Terrance McKinney defeated Mike Breeden by TKO (strikes) at 1:25 of Round 1

3. Featherweight Bout: Isaac Dulgarian defeated Francis Marshall by TKO (strikes) at 4:48 of Round 1

4. Heavyweight Bout: Martin Buday defeated Josh Parisian by submission (kimura) at 4:11 of Round 1

5. Women's Strawweight Bout: Jaqueline Amorim defeated Montserrat Conejo Ruiz by TKO (strikes) at 3:41 of Round 3

6. Bantamweight Bout: Da'Mon Blackshear defeated Jose Johnson by submission (twister) at 3:47 of Round 1

7. Women's Flyweight Bout: Luana Santos defeated Juliana Miller by TKO (strikes) at 3:41 of Round 1