Las Vegas, NV – The UFC middleweight picture continues to develop as two fan favorite middleweights threw down at UFC Vegas 60, Gregory Rodrigues faced Chidi Njokuani in the co-main event at the UFC APEX.
Rodrigues (12-4) was coming off a knockout win over Julian Marquez in June at UFC Austin. He looked to start another streak and climb his way up the rankings towards a title fight.
Njokuani (22-7) came into UFC Vegas 60 riding a two-fight win streak (3 if you count his win at DWCS). With two finishes in a row Njokuani looked to make it a third on Saturday night.
Round 1 Njokuani tested Rodrigues with front kicks early to keep him at bay, but Rodrigues fired back some leg kicks on the lead leg. Both men continued to trade kick attacks before Njokuani landed a knee on Rodrigues. Hurt, but not out, he went after Njokuani and landed some shots before taking him down.
Njokuani got back to his feet and attacked Rodrigues to the body with knees in the clinch on the fence. Rodrigues was badly bleeding from the face. Both men continued to trade power shots looking for an early finish. Rodrigues was able to land two straight right hands that hurt Njokuani and put him in survival mode. Another big right hand dropped Njokiani, but he remained on his feet somehow. The rest of the round was a clinch game on the fence with both men trying to recover from the shots they ate in that insane round.
Round 2 the doctor entered the cage to check on Rodrigues and a nasty cut between the eyes, but he allowed the fight to go on. He did tell referee Mark Smith that if the cut got any worse to call the fight.
With that in mind Rodrigues attacked like a madman knowing his fight could be called at any second. He blitzed Njokuani with strikes then took him down and landed damage from side control. Njokuani was hurt and Rodrigues landed a barrage of left hands that forced Smith to call the fight. Robocop survived a nasty cut to finish the bout in the second round.
Official Result: Gregory Rodrigues def. Chidi Njokuani via R2 1:27 TKO
