UFC 236 Results: Holloway vs. Poirier / Gastelum vs. Adesanya
With two interim title fights topping the card, Dustin Poirier and Israel Adesanya emerged victorious in what will go down as two of the fights of the year.
In the final fight of the night, Dustin Poirier’s power proved too much for Max Holloway as he put the featherweight champion in trouble early with stinging hooks. Holloway, who moved up in weight class for this fight, rallied back in the middle rounds but Poirier’s heavy blows simply provided too much damage as a knee up the middle opened a cut on Holloway’s brow. Poirier and Holloway would continue to go toe-to-toe throughout the fight but it was ‘The Diamond’ who had his hand raised via unanimous decision to set up a unification bout with Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Meanwhile in the co-main event, Israel Adesanya’s pinpoint striking allowed him to peel away in the final round after ‘The Last Stylebender’ and Kelvin Gastelum exchanged the first four rounds. Gastelum’s power, speed and pressure continually gave Adesanya trouble but his counterpart’s accuracy routinely allowed Adesanya to land at any distance.
With the fight all square heading into the final round, Adesanya found it inside himself to reach another gear as he scored three knockdowns on Gastelum only for his incredible heart to allow him to hear the final klaxon.
Main Card
Dustin Poirier def. Max Holloway via unanimous decision (49-46, 49–46, 49-46) – to win interim lightweight title
Israel Adesanya def. Kelvin Gastelum via unanimous decision (48-46, 48-46, 48-46) – to win interim middleweight title
Khalil Rountree def. Eryk Anders via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
Dwight Grant def. Alan Jouban via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)
Nikita Krylov def. Ovince Saint Preux via submission (rear-naked choke) (Round 2, 2:30)
Preliminary Card
Matt Frevola def. Jalin Turner via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Alexandre Pantoja def. Wilson Reis via TKO (Round 1, 2:58)
Max Griffin def. Zelim Imadaev via majority decision (29-27, 29-27, 28-28)
Khalid Taha def. Boston Salmon via TKO (Round 1, 0:25)
FightPass Undercard
Belal Muhammad def. Curtis Millender via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 30-26)
Montel Jackson def. Andre Soukhamthath via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 29-27)
Poliana Botelho def. Lauren Mueller via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Brandon Davis def. Randy Costa via submission (rear-naked choke) (Round 2, 1:12)