Bantamweights Michael McDonald and Brad Pickett put on a show at the UFC prelims Saturday with McDonald picking up an impressive second-round submission win.
McDonald and Pickett went toe-to-toe in a wild first round that saw the 22-year-old rock his opponent several times, though Pickett was able to recover.
In the second round, following a Pickett takedown, McDonald defended a ground-and-pound attack and attempted a triangle-armbar from off his back. Pickett defended for a while before McDonald adjusted and transitioned to a tight triangle choke that led to Pickett tapping.
McDonald (15-2) bounced back from a loss to interim 135-pound champion Renan Barao in February.
Rising Irish star Conor McGregor thrilled the boisterous crowd at the TD Garden in Boston as he improved to 2-0 in the UFC with a dominant unanimous decision win over Max Holloway.
McGregor (14-2) is one of the most popular UFC newcomers and has now won 10 fights in a row.
Rising 145-pounder Steven Siler improved to 5-1 in the UFC after knocking out former WEC champ Mike Brown in a mere 50 seconds. It was the fifth fastest knockout in UFC featherweight history.
Diego Brandao earned a unanimous decision over Daniel Pineda in a very fun featherweight fight. Brandao, the 145-pound winner of TUF 14, has now won three in a row inside the Octagon.
In the first bout on the sportsnet.ca prelims, Manny Gamburyan picked up a unanimous decision win over Cole Miller. Gamburyan and Miller were teammates on the fifth season of The Ultimate Fighter back in 2007.
Strikeforce veteran Ovince St. Preux stopped Cody Donovan with punches from inside his opponent’s guard at 2:07 of the first round to pick up his second straight win in the UFC.
The first bout of the night saw lightweight James Vick uses a power guillotine to submit Ramsey Nijem in just 58 seconds. The win improved Vick to 5-0 as a pro; Nijem dropped to 7-4 and is now on a two-fight losing streak.
