TORONTO — Misha Cirkunov leaped atop of the cage, arms stretched wide and let out a scream as the boisterous fans at Air Canada Centre reacted with deafening cheers.
Seconds earlier Cirkunov felt Nikita Krylov’s left hand tap five times on his right knee as he squeezed an arm-in guillotine choke in the featured preliminary bout at UFC 206 to improve to 4-0 in the UFC.
The Latvian-born Cirkunov, who moved to the Toronto area when he was 12, will move into the top 10 at light-heavyweight seeing as Krylov was ranked as the division’s No. 8 contender.
“I’m just happy. MMA is my religion. It means the whole world to me. I’m on the verge of crying,” Cirkunov said after the fight. “I’m the only one who knew this was going to happen. I gambled the world on myself and my career and I did it. If I have half the work ethic of my grandmother, I know I can accomplish anything. I definitely belong in the top 10. I’m on an eight-fight win streak since I dropped my coach. I’d like to fight Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua. If I fight a big name like that, more than just Toronto will see my potential. The whole world will see my potential.”
The UFC hadn’t held an event in Toronto in more than three years so there was a palpable energy inside the building. Cirkunov’s performance, however, wasn’t the most exhilarating moment of the preliminary card.
That moment went to Lando Vannata when the rising lightweight landed a spinning heel kick to the jaw of Canadian John Makdessi that turned out the lights. It was one of the best knockouts in UFC history, conjuring up images of when Edson Barboza did the same thing to Terry Etim in 2012.
“I practised that kick about 2,000 times in camp and I knew it was going to work,” Vannata said. “I was planning on using it and I knew he couldn’t stop it. I expected it to be successful. I’m ready for whoever they want to give me next.”
This was Vannata’s first win in the UFC. He made an impressive debut in July against top contender Tony Ferguson but came out on the losing end. Vannata pushed Ferguson to the brink in a fight he took on short notice. Vannata is just 24 and has received praise from those at the famous Jackson Wink MMA Academy
Olivier Aubin-Mercier set the home crowd ablaze in the penultimate preliminary bout. The Montreal native bloodied Drew Dober early, establishing a stiff jab and cracking him with a series of left crosses and right hooks. Momentum shifted at the start of the second round, though, when Dober dropped him with a left. After composing himself, Aubin-Mercier used a kneebar attempt to craftily sweep Dober and gain top position. From there he worked into back control and sunk in a rear-naked choke that forced the tap.
Aubin-Mercier has gone 5-1 in the UFC since losing in the TUF Nations finale 2 1/2 years ago. The 27-year-old is slowly climbing the ladder in the 155-pound division.
“I’m still at the point where I can improve,” Aubin-Mercier. “He was a really tough opponent, my toughest opponent so far, so I got a little emotional after the win.”
Canadians Jason Saggo, Mitch Gagnon and Valerie Letourneau did not fare as well as their countrymen Cirkunov and Aubin-Mercier.
Montreal’s Letourneau bullied UFC newcomer Viviane Pereira early but lost a split decision. Boos rained down from the stands when Bruce Buffer read out the scorecards, but Pereira was the fighter doing more work in the final two rounds.
Letourneau was relatively upbeat after the fight despite feeling that she did enough to earn the victory.
“I was happy after the fight because there are a lot of things I wanted to work on that I did in this fight, being more patient, smarter. I really thought I won the fight,” she said. “It’s hard to judge when you are fighting. When I watch the fight I will be able to judge. But I thought I won the fight and I’m still happy with what I did because there were a lot of little victories that I’ve been working on and I believe you can see it but I’m disappointed.”
Rustam Khabilov out-powered Saggo both on the feet and on the mat to win a unanimous decision.
“I didn’t expect an easy fight , he’s a tough guy. I wanted the finish, but I couldn’t get the finish I’m happy with the win. I was focused more on my striking in this camp with my coach, Roberto Flamingo, and it really helped.”
“Rustam was a tough opponent,” Saggo said. “His wrestling, he did well taking me down and I just wasn’t able to get back up off my back. He won the fight and deserved the win.”
Gagnon dropped Matthew Lopez early in their bantamweight contest but wasn’t able to put his opponent away and Lopez took control in the last 10 minutes of the fight.
“I started off good and kinda faded in the last couple of rounds,” Gagnon said. “I thought I was going to be the one putting the pressure on but he’s the one that turned it on. That’s just the way it goes.”
The card opened with an evenly-matched bout between top-15 flyweights Dustin Ortiz and Zach Makovsky. The two 125-pounders were more or less mirror images of one another — well rounded with crisp boxing and strong wrestling bases, knowing what to do in all situations standing or on the ground. The No. 11-ranked Ortiz had a crimson face by the end of the second round due to a small cut but he prevailed over the No. 7-ranked Makovsky via split decision. The win snapped a two-fight losing skid for Ortiz.
“The key was to out-hustle him, out-move him and break him,” Ortiz said. “I knew I had to keep moving and keep busy. He didn’t surprise me with anything, I thought I could have even done better. This fight meant everything for me to stay in the UFC. I was thankful for the opportunity. It was a chance for me to start again.”
The fight left a bad taste in the mouth of Makovsky, who has now dropped three straight and four of five, albeit to top-level competition.
“I was a little hesitant more than I wanted to be,” he said. “Sloppy transitions, I gave him the top position. I think most of the time he ended up on top of me was because of my mistakes. I felt like I was doing the right things just a little sloppy.”
Video provided by Sportsnet.ca MMA contributor James Lynch. You can follow James on Twitter @LynchOnSports and subscribe to his YouTube page.
