Jeremy Stephens survived a fire-fight against Josh Emmett and earned his third consecutive win with a second-round KO victory in the main event of UFC Orlando. Stephens was knocked down towards the end of the first round on a counter right hook by Emmett but he survived and made it to the end of the round. In the second frame, Stephens landed a hard left hook that floored Emmett and he shut the lights out with some vicious elbows on the ground at the 1:35 mark.
The win wasn’t without controversy, however. When Stephens had Emmett hurt, it looked like at least one of his elbows landed to the back of Emmett’s head. Stephens also threw an illegal knee to a grounded opponent, but it didn’t look like it landed cleanly and the referee didn’t step in. Stephens was obviously throwing wild in an attempt to finish the fight, and it’s up to the referee to step in when something like that happens.
Stephens improved to 28-14 while Emmett fell to 13-2. After the fight, Stephens pleaded for a title shot. He lost a decision to current UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway in December 2015. He also lost a decision to top contender Frankie Edgar in November 2016. His No. 8 ranking in the featherweight division will likely improve, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if he needs to fight one more time before getting a crack at the title.
In the co-main event, Jessica Andrade used her strength and grappling skills to earn a unanimous decision win over Tecia Torres. Torres had some early success with her movement and quickness. She was able to score with some quick strikes from the outside. But Andrade turned up the pressure in the second round and was able to slam Torres to the ground on multiple occasions. She was able to get the fight to the ground again in the third round and earn the victory. Andrade is now 5-1 in the strawweight division and will likely be in line for another title shot.
Full results from the event can be found below:
– Jeremy Stephens def. Josh Emmett via knockout (strikes) at 1:35 of Round 2
– Jessica Andrade def. Tecia Torres via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-28, 29-28)
– Ilir Latifi def. Ovince Saint Preux via technical submission (guillotine choke) at 3:48 of Round 1
– Max Griffin def. Mike Perry via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 30-27)
– Brian Kelleher def. Renan Barao via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
– Marion Reneau def. Sara McMann via submission (triangle choke) at 3:40 of Round 2
– Angela Hill def. Maryna Moroz via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
– Alan Jouban def. Ben Saunders via knockout (punch) at 2:38 of Round 2
– Sam Alvey def. Marcin Prachnio via TKO (punch) at 4:23 of Round 1
– Rani Yahya def. Russell Doane via submission (arm-triangle choke) at 2:32 of Round 3
– Alex Perez def. Eric Shelton via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
– Manny Bermudez def. Albert Morales via submission (guillotine choke) at 2:33 of Round 2
