UFC Vegas 85 Results And Recap: Imavov jumps into middleweight top ten with gruelling win over Dolidze

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Las Vegas, February 4: Nassourdine Imavov jumped up the middleweight ranking with gruelling win over Roman Dolidze in the main event of UFC Vegas 85: Dolidze vs. Imavov at the UFC Apex Facility in Las Vegas on Saturday (February 3).

The 13-fight card saw 7 fights, including the main event, go the distance, while four fights ended in stoppages and one ended in No Contest. Among the 4 stoppage wins, 3 were either knockouts or technical knockouts and one was a submission finish.

A flyweight bout between Azat Maksum and Charles Johnson was awarded the fight of the night in UFC Vegas 85, also known as UFC Fight Night 235, while Molly McCann and Randy Brown pocketed performance bonuses for their respective stoppage wins. Here is the recap:

UFC Vegas 85 Recap

In the main event, a mauler of a middleweight bout saw No. 8 ranked Dolidze and No. 11 ranked Imavov go from start to finish with bad intentions. It was a chaotic five rounds in which each man stayed on the attack both standing, and at the end, on the canvas.

With significant rounds scored his way on all the judges' scorecard, Imavov took the majority decision and said, "I knew my striking was my best advantage going into this fight.

"I'm sorry to my coaches - they asked me to jab but my hand was hurting, but still, I'm happy with my striking. My fight camp was absolutely good. I want to thank all my coaches. Regarding my next fight, I want to fight against Sean Strickland."

When No. 13 lightweight contender Renato Moicano and No. 15 ranked Drew Dober met in the Octagon in the co-main event, it was an immediate collision of exciting strikers, but Moicano imposed his way to fight on the ground.

The strategy paid off, and after the win on the scorecards, Moicano said, "My father is 62 years old, and he just had a baby. If he can populate the world, so can Moicano. Renato Moicano 3 is coming! I love America.

"After my green card is over, I'm going to be an American, and I'm going to become a policeman. When I was at 145 (pounds) I saw that guy knocking people out and said I'm glad I'm not 155. And today, I just beat him. Mad respect for Drew Dober."

Also on the main card, Brown stopped Muslim Salikhov in the third round of a welterweight bout before birthday girl Natalia Silva turned in a tremendous showing to secure the biggest win of her career against compatriot Viviane Araujo in a women's flyweight bout.

Meanwhile, the anticipated middleweight contest between Aliaskhab Khizriev and Makhmud Muradov ended almost immediately as a result of an accidental eye poke by the former, resulting in a no contest result.

In the main card opener, Charles Radtke finished Gilbert Urbina in the closing stages of the first round of a welterweight bout, following up on another first-round submission finish in the dying moments of the round that saw McCann beat Diana Bebita to close the preliminary card.

Also, ROAD TO UFC delivered another excellent prospect as Season 1 featherweight winner JeongYeong Lee put on a masterful performance to get the unanimous decision over Blake Bilder in his UFC debut.

Lee showed that all aspects of his game are on point by defending takedowns, landing well-timed powerful combinations, and dominating on the canvas. Lee said, "I wasn't satisfied with that win, I've got a lot of holes to fill. There were a lot of moments I could have gotten the finish, but Bilder's very durable. That's one task off the list. Only the strong come to the UFC."

The prelims also saw Johnson, Jamal Pogues and MarQuel Mederos earn decision wins, while Themba Gorimbo and Luana Carolina claimed stoppage wins in their respective bouts. Here is a look at the final results of UFC on ESPN +93:

UFC Vegas 85 Results

• Middleweight Bout: Nassourdine Imavov defeated Roman Dolidze by majority decision (49-44, 47-47, 48-46)
• Lightweight Bout: Renato Moicano defeated Drew Dober by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Welterweight Bout: Randy Brown defeated Muslim Salikhov by TKO (strikes) at 3:17 of Round 1
• Women's Flyweight Bout: Natalia Silva defeated Viviane Araujo by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Middleweight Bout: Aliaskhab Khizriev and Makhmud Muradov declared a no contest (accidental eye poke) at 0:11 of Round 1
• Welterweight Bout: Charles Radtke defeated Gilbert Urbina by TKO (strikes) at 4:47 of Round 1
• Women's Strawweight Bout: Molly McCann defeated Diana Belbita by submission (armbar) at 4:59 of Round 1
• Flyweight Bout: Charles Johnson defeated Azat Maksum by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Welterweight Bout: Themba Gorimbo defeated Pete Rodriguez by TKO (strikes) at 0:32 of Round 1
• Featherweight Bout: JeongYeong Lee defeated Blake Bilder by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Women's Flyweight Bout: Luana Carolina defeated Julija Stoliarenko by TKO (strikes) at 4:52 of Round 3
• Lightweight Bout: MarQuel Mederos defeated Landon Quinones by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Heavyweight Bout: Jamal Pogues defeated Thomas Petersen by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)