Anymore, it seems as if holding onto UFC gold is more difficult than becoming the champion in the first place. Stipe Miocic and Joanna Jedrzejczyk bucked that trend Saturday night, as both retained their titles at UFC 211.
Miocic headlined the card and sent the crowd inside Dallas’ American Airlines Center with a thrilling finish, stopping former champion Junior dos Santos. The win marked his second title defense – tying the UFC record – and his fifth first round finish.
Jedrzejczyk wasn’t able to finish Jessica Andrade, but she dominated her for 25 minutes in remaining UFC strawweight champion. The champion connected on the second-most significant strikes in a UFC fight and earned her fifth title defense.
Demian Maia scored a split decision over Jorge Masvidal, former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar stopped Yair Rodriguez and David Branch earned a split decision over Krzysztof Jotko.
Complete results are below:
* Stipe Miocic def. Junior dos Santos via TKO (strikes) at 2:22 of Round 1 to remain UFC heavyweight champion
* Joanna Jedrzejczyk def. Jessica Andrade via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-44, 50-45) to remain UFC strawweight champion
* Demian Maia def. Jorge Masvidal via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
* Frankie Edgar def. Yair Rodriguez via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) at 5:00 of Round 2
* David Branch def. Krzysztof Jotko split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
* Eddie Alvarez vs. Dustin Poirier declared no-contest due to accidental strike
* Jason Knight def. Chas Skelly via TKO (strikes) at :39 of Round 3
* Chase Sherman def. Rashad Coulter via TKO (strikes) at 3:36 of Round 2
* James Vick def. Polo Reyes via TKO (strikes) at 2:39 of Round 1
* Cortney Casey def. Jessica Aguilar via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
* Enrique Barzola def. Gabriel Benitez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
* Gadzhimurad Antigulov def. Joachim Christensen via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:21 of Round 1
