UFC: Rodriguez and Morono among the big winners on Fight Night

Las Vegas, Nevada - Martha Rodriguez came out on top against Michelle Waterson in the Women's flyweight main event, while Alex Morono also punched his way to a win during Saturday's UFC Fight Night.

Flyweight Marina Rodriguez (r) won by unanimous decision over Michelle Waterson on Saturday night
Flyweight Marina Rodriguez (r) won by unanimous decision over Michelle Waterson on Saturday night  © IMAGO / photo arena

Flyweight Marina Rodriguez (34) got the upper hand over Waterson in a worthy main event for Saturday's card.

Rodriguez seemed to be in control through much of the fight, but Waterson did manage to hold her own. It wasn't enough in the end though, as Rodriguez proved she was the better fighter in the last round, and secured the unanimous decision.

Rodriguez had the obvious advantage in the official UFC stats with nearly 50% more total strikes, the majority of which were punches to Waterson's head. It was her second-straight win, improving her record to 14-1-2. Waterson now sits at 18-9-0.

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In the welterweight co-main event, Alex Morono got his 19th UFC win, knocking out Donald Cerrone with under a minute to go in the opening round. From the start of the fight, Morono went right for the knockout, taking a few minutes to work on Cerrone's face and body and ultimately taking the win with his fists. Cerrone is now winless over his last six bouts and falls to 36-16-0, while Morono rises to 19-7-0.

Neil Magny held firm against Geoff Neal in the other welterweight bout. Over the course of the whole fight, Magny was on a tear, trying to connect with everything he was throwing at his opponent, throwing three times as many strikes as Neal. The two men scrapped back and forth and ended up going the distance, to the final bell.

All that work was enough for the judges to see fit to give Magny the unanimous decision for his 25th UFC win to improve to 25-9-0, while Neal's record is now 13-4-0.

More from the main event card

Gregor Gillespie had an impressive knockout win over Diego Ferreira for his 14th UFC win on Saturday night
Gregor Gillespie had an impressive knockout win over Diego Ferreira for his 14th UFC win on Saturday night  © IMAGO / ZUMA Wire

In the heavyweight match, Marcos Rogerio de Lima took an easy unanimous decision over Maurice Greene to improve to 18-8-1. The fight was all de Lima's as he roughed up Greene with a nearly 3-to-1 advantage in total strikes, complemented by a few takedowns for the impressive win. Greene now falls to 9-7-0.

Gregor Gillespie got his KO win over Diego Ferreira, with a flurry of fists in the closing seconds of round two of their lightweight bout. Ferreira was no pushover, surviving through the first round, but he just couldn't take the barrage of punches from Gillespie at the end of the second. Gillespie improves to 14-1-0, while Ferreira has fallen to 17-4-0.

Two middleweights threw down as Phil Hawes handed Kyle Daukaus his second loss by way of a unanimous decision. With a steady dose of body and head blows, Hawes had all three judges seeing the fight in his favor for his eleventh win. Hawes is now 11-2-0 and Daukaus sits at 10-2-0.

Next Saturday, UFC 262 is up next with Oliveira vs. Chandler headlining the night from Houston, Texas.

Cover photo: IMAGO / photo arena

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