Ronaldo Souza vs. Kevin Holland

Round 1
In a potential middleweight passing of the torch match – see also the previous bout – Holland (20-5, 7-2 UFC) will look to earn his fifth UFC win of the year against “Jacare” Souza (26-8, 1 NC; 9-5, 1 NC UFC). Thirteen years separate these two contenders, and referee Mark Smith will keep charge of the cage in this one. They touch gloves, and Holland lets loose a huge overhand right and a leg kick. Souza grabs his leg and hits a takedown, where Holland pulls his leg up to trap Souza and elbow him in the head like Anderson Silva did to Travis Lutter. Souza turns to try to get out of this position, and Holland powers back to his feet. Souza grips hold of a double, and then a single as Holland elbows his way out of danger. Holland latches on to a guillotine choke, and Souza pulls his head out and drops his opponent down. Holland starts talking trash while on his back, and Souza laughs and punches him in the face. Holland from his back nails Souza in the face with a huge right hand, and Souza falls to his back and gets blasted with another big right hand. “Jacare” leans backward as he is incredibly hurt while on his knees, and Holland springs up and drills Souza in the face with three lethal punches to completely shut Souza’s lights out. A few moments later, Souza manages to slump to his stool, and he nearly passes out again from the massive damage he received. Incredible! Holland has now won five fights this year, and done so in just seven impressive months. In his post-fight interview, Holland calls out Khamzat Chimaev to come up to greet him at 185 pounds next week.

The Official Result
Kevin Holland def. Ronaldo Souza R1 1:45 via KO (Punches)

Jan Blachowicz vs. Ronaldo Souza

Round 1
We have reached our main event of the evening, as Blachowicz (24-8, 7-5 UFC) looks to spoil the light heavyweight debut of Souza (26-7, 1 NC; 9-4 UFC) like he did to Luke Rockhold in his last bout. With Brazilian fighters 3-3-1 throughout the night against foreign opponents, this one is for all the proverbial marbles. The headlining bout is under the watchful eye of referee Kevin MacDonald, and with two sportsmanlike shakes of the hands and glove touch to boot, we are underway! Souza starts out feinting and ducking down, but Blachowicz is the one who strikes first with a low leg kick. As he goes after another, Souza shoots in for an early takedown, and Blachowicz stuffs it and stands up with his back against the cage. Souza looks for a trip when they are clinched, but the Pole keeps his balance and defends from persistent attacks. Souza lands a couple foot stops, and a short body shot as he leans heavy on his man. Blachowicz pushes off and they get back to the center of the cage, where "Jacare" throws a long punch to the body and a leg kick as he circles around in herky-jerky fashion. Another low kick finds its home from Blachowicz, but he is largely throwing single strikes as to not overcommit and risk getting planted on his back. A quick head kick comes up from Blachowicz, but the Brazilian is able to block it in time. Souza leaps forward with a right hand to close the distance, and is clipped with an uppercut coming in but gets back to grinding Blachowicz against the cage wall. Blachowicz slams in a solid knee to the midsection, and even briefly tries to hit a trip, before bailing on it and throwing an upward elbow. Blachowicz punches to the thigh and then brings up a short knee, and Souza cannot get him down as the time expires.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Souza
Mike Sloan scores the round: 10-9 Souza
Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Souza

Round 2
A touch of gloves clock in the second round, and Blachowicz starts out with a kick to his opponent's knee. He then lands a body kick, and as Souza rushes in, he tries to counter with an uppercut but the Brazilian backs off in time. A low kick from Blachowicz is followed by a few jabs, and they both clank solid right hands off each other’s' jaws and disengage. "Jacare" slaps Blachowicz with a heavy leg kick, so the Pole returns fire as the crowd grows increasingly restless. Souza comes at him from a great distance with a double leg takedown attempt, and Blachowicz sees it from a mile away and stuffs it, but he is stuck with his back against the cage wall like much of the opening frame. Souza changes levels to go after a takedown, and Blachowicz is wise to it and pulls him back up, and brings up a knee for good measure. If Mike Goldberg were calling this fight, he would have almost undoubtedly let his "embrace the grind" catchphrase fly by now. Blachowicz separates and takes the center of the Octagon, and Souza is quick to follow. They trade single body kicks, and Souza slowly walks his opponent down but Blachowicz throws a few jabs to back him off. A sweeping low kick comes from Souza, and this time Blachowicz retires with a right to the body and left to the head that makes "Jacare" dart away briefly. The low kick lands again from Souza, and he follows it with a crisp right hand that makes Blachowicz nearly bounce off the fence, but he comes back and throws a spinning wheel kick that is several feet away from his target. This slow round ends.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Souza
Mike Sloan scores the round: 10-9 Souza
Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Souza

Round 3
This round, like the first two, starts with a glove touch and then a leg kick from Blachowicz. "Jacare" returns fire with one that is much heavier, and Blachowicz tries to respond with one but the power difference in these kicks is substantial. Souza just misses with a right hand, and Blachowicz doubles up with a jab before charging in with a series of punches that only partially land. Souza counters with a right over the top, and barely misses with another right as he pushes in for the clinch. Souza leans heavy, and throws a few mild body shots while Blachowicz responds with some short knees. The Pole breaks free and then turns into a leg kick, and as he throws another, Souza checks it. The Brazilian throws one back and Blachowicz lifts his leg up. A jab comes from Blachowicz, and then a low kick, followed by a jab, and while they land, they are hardly showing an effect. Souza presses forward and wings a right hand, while changing levels to hit a double leg takedown. Souza nearly sweeps the leg but Blachowicz recovers underhooks and reverses the position, lands a shot and breaks free. The two stand in front of one another for a good 30 seconds, until Souza explodes with a right hand that lands, leading to a quick reply from Blachowicz that ends the round. Each of these three so far have been very uneventful and difficult to score.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Blachowicz
Mike Sloan scores the round: 10-9 Souza
Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Souza

Round 4
A half-hearted head kick comes from Souza to begin the round, and the pace has waned to a crawl. Blachowicz scores a few jabs, and "Jacare" looks to come back but it is nothing doing. As he lands a few more, Souza tries to fire back with heavy shots, and Blachowicz backs off. As Souza rushes in to engage the clinch, Blachowicz catches him on the way in with a few sharp punches, but the Brazilian ignores them to hang on to his opponent. The crowd groans, and lights start to appear in the darkness and begin waving back and forth, voicing and displaying their disapproval for this drag of a fight. Blachowicz separates with a left hand, and then snaps out a jab, but does not do more. A low kick nearly makes Blachowicz trip over, and then he throws one back that causes Souza to stumble. Another few kicks from Blachowicz land, and Souza has started to limp while Blachowicz grins at him. Blachowicz comes up high with a head kick and Souza blocks it, before throwing a low kick that the Brazilian attempts to check it. An inside kick comes up high and Souza complains about a groin shot, but Blachowicz cries foul and the referee says it was not a low blow. Blachowicz comes at him with a body kick and is walking Souza down, and the fourth period ends while we can see the visible damage and swelling of Blachowicz' left foot -- it is transforming into a "balewn."

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Blachowicz
Mike Sloan scores the round: 10-9 Blachowicz
Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Blachowicz

Round 5
The men touch gloves for one final time, and Blachowicz throws a jab and a low kick as he switches stances. Another kick from Blachowicz's back leg scores, and as Souza rushes in to land a takedown, like many times before, Blachowicz stuffs it and stands up him with his back pressed firmly against the fence. Souza tries to quickly change levels and hit a takedown and Blachowicz staves it off with a slew of punches. From a distance, "Jacare" races forward and goes after a double, but he cannot land it and we go back to the position from before. MacDonald finally separates the two, as he likely should have in the earlier rounds, halfway into Round 5. A head kick from Blachowicz comes up but it is short, and a low kick is also shy of the mark. Souza swings hard into a leg kick but misses, and Blachowicz tags him with a left hand. Souza storms in low for a takedown and gets blasted with an uppercut that makes him slip around like he is on ice skates. Whether a knockdown or a severe slip, Souza ate that on the chin and then took a few more punches along the way. "Jacare" regains his composure but has completely stopped throwing anything from any of his eight limbs. Blachowicz picks at him with a few leg kicks and jabs, misses with one last head kick, and this fight is mercifully over. Both men raise their arms in the air to celebrate their victory, but neither should be happy with that 25-minute display.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Blachowicz (48-47 Blachowicz)
Mike Sloan scores the round: 10-9 Blachowicz (48-47 Souza)
Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Blachowicz (48-47 Souza)

The Official Result
Jan Blachowicz def. Ronaldo Souza via Split Decision (47-48, 48-47, 48-47)

Ronaldo ”Jacare” Souza vs. Robert Whittaker

Round 1
Whittaker tests the range with some long left hands and denies the first attempt by "Jacare" to tie up near the fence. Ninety seconds in, Souza gets the clinch and pins Whittaker to the fence, hits the Australian with a few knees inside and then takes him down. Whittaker tries to roll into top position but Souza keeps hold of an ankle and maintains control on the ground. Whittaker gets back to his feet, gets taken down again and has to escape quickly as Souza tries to take the back. The middleweights are back to striking in the center of the cage with two minutes on the clock. A big left from Whittaker knocks an off-balance Jacare to the ground, but the Brazilian is back on his feet without absorbing damage. Whittaker is starting to find the range with his hands now, clipping Souza with another right hand, now an uppercut. Souza takes back some ground with a pair of blasting overhand rights of his own as they hit the final minute of round one. Whittaker counters a wild punch from Souza with a speedy left-handed counter, then backs up the BJJ black belt with a straight left at the horn.
Jordan Breen scores the round 10-9 Whittaker
Brian Knapp scores the round 10-9 Whittaker
Chris Nelson scores the round 10-9 Whittaker

Round 2
A massive right hand from Whittaker floors "Jacare" in the first 30 seconds of the round. Whittaker tries to pounce and pound out his wounded opponent, but Souza ties him up in guard and limits the space for striking. Whittaker backs off, stands and wants Souza to do the same. Now it's Souza circling around the edge of the cage, circling directly into a right high kick from Whittaker. The tables have turned as Whittaker stalks from the center, picking his shots as Souza tries to clear the cobwebs. Souza remains on unsteady feet through the middle of the round, and Whittaker does not let up on the pressure. Another right high kick to the face puts "Jacare" on wobbly legs; Whittaker hustles him to the floor and begins punching away, though Souza is avoiding many of the strikes by using his legs to push the standing Whittaker away. Souza rolls to his knees, and referee Mario Yamasaki picks a strange time to step in for the stoppage. Souza, who was clearly hurt from the head kick and ate several punches on the ground, appeared to be moving toward a better position. Nonetheless, the ref's decision stands, and Robert Whittaker has pulled off the upset.

The Official Result
Robert Whittaker def. Ronaldo Souza via TKO (Head Kick and Punches) R2 3:28