Evan Elder finished Darrius Flowers on short notice in the twelfth fight added to UFC Denver, but the first one to take place on the night.
Despite Evan losing his first two UFC fights, one loss was up a weight class and the other was to a talented Nazim Sadykhov in a ‘Fight of the Night’ showing which Elder may have won if not for a cut that caused a doctor’s stoppage. He got his first UFC win just under a year ago, which is what Darrius Flowers sought coming in after his own 0-2 start in the promotion.
Though both men are usually lightweights, this bout was contested at 170-lbs due to being short notice as the UFC scrambled to find one last matchup to fill out the card.
The action got hot soon after the opening bell. Flowers stalked forward while Elder used movement to set up his boxing attacks, mixing up attacks from the head to the body. Darrius had some success, but he swung big at air too often early while Evan connected almost at will, especially to the body. After eating a particularly big right hand, Flowers began jabbering at him even as blood leaked from his lips. He continued to do so but found no more success. Halfway through the round both men level changed simultaneously; Elder almost got taken down but managed to toss his foe over and scramble out.
Soon after, Elder pushed Flowers who actually fell down and welcomed Elder into his guard. On the ground, Flowers initially had success by reversing position but Evan got back on top and landed a lot of ground strikes as Darrius worked to get up. He did so, but ended up on his back again after a tired-looking shot was utterly shut down. He fell over again and Elder spent the final half-minute of the round on top.
After seeming tired to end the first round, Flowers told his corner between rounds, “I can’t breathe.” However, he got a lucky break when a teep kick struck his groin incidentally. After a ninety second break he seemed somewhat more rested, and landed a well-timed reactive takedown on an Elder blitz. However, Elder scrambled to a leg lock and used it to sweep. Evan then got on top, where he rained down powerful ground and pound to the body. That softened up Flowers even more, and it was then a relatively small matter for Elder to pass his guard and submit him with an arm triangle choke.
With his first finish in the UFC coming in front of a big crowd, at age 27, Elder must be realizing that the world is his oyster. Now with a two-fight winning streak in hand, he can begin to carve his path towards the top.
Official Result: Evan Elder def. Darius Flowers by submission (arm-triangle choke), Round 2, 1:46
