MMA: UFC On ESPN 3 From Minneapolis Live Results

Saint Cloud, Minnesota’s Maurice Greene (now 8-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) kicked off UFC Minneapolis with a bang moments ago at the Target Center in Minneapolis. Green battered and stopped tough Brazilian heavyweight Junior Albini (now 14-6) at 3:38 of round one.

Greene began the fight throwing high and low kicks followed by punches. Albini walked through the shots however and didn’t appear to care about taking a few to land a big shot of his own. A short elbow from the Minnesotan caught Albini on the jaw and which left him stunned. Green followed back moments later with a punch to the head that dropped Albini. Albini was able to make it to his feet to be met with another thudding right to the head before landing his own chin shot which stumbled Greene.

“The Crochet Boss” stayed composed and began to land body kicks before another right to Albini’s jaw put him on the canvas again. This time Greene pounced, moving to side control where he rained punches down forcing an end to the fight.

Afterward, Greene thanked Minnesota fans for showing up early to see him fight. “I love you!” Greene exclaimed on the mic. He then took the opportunity to call out former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski to a future fight.

Maurice Greene finishes Junior Albini at the Target Center in Minneapolis. (Photo credit David Berding, USA TODAY Sports)

Mankato, Minnesota’s Dan “The Hitman” Moret (now 13-6) lost a unanimous decision to Jared Gordon (15-3) in the fourth preliminary bout of the night. Scores read 30-27, 30-27, 29-28. Moret had the fight within his grasps after he seemed to win the first in convincing fashion despite only one judge seeing it that way. He also appeared to be in a good position to win rounds two and three but submission attempts put Moret on his back in each of those rounds which did not play to his favor. Gordon ground and pounded those rounds into his bank to win the fight. The fight turned out to be competitive and entertaining for the supportive Minnesota crowd.

Moret began the fight by landing heavy punches early to the head out of the southpaw stance. He was having success but also ate a hard left-right-left from Gordon in return. Gordon was able to take Moret down to the canvas but Moret fought his way back up to his feet and went right on the attack. Gordon looked a little winded and Moret pour on the offense before taking Gordon to the canvas near the end of the opening round. It was a nice comeback for Moret and looked like enough to win the round.
The second round showed both fighters throwing a high number of punches. Moret then scored with another great takedown where he ended up in mount. Moret slid to take Gordon’s back before eventually going for an arm bar from guard. Gordon defended well and spent the rest of the round raining down punches while Moret sought a fight-ending submission from his back.

Moret was getting the better of things while standing in the first two rounds so viewers and ESPN announcers assumed he’d keep it that way. Yet Moret could not resist Gordon’s exposed neck after a scramble and tried to lock in a guillotine from guard position as the fighters hit the canvas. Gordon stayed calm and ended up free and on top. Moret rallied with a late surge to get to his feet but couldn’t keep it there. Gordon held top position while both fighters were on the canvas until the end of the fight.

Dan Moret lands one of many punches on Saturday night against Jared Gordon at UFC on ESPN 3 in Minneapolis. (Photo credit David Berding, USA TODAY Sports)

Saint Cloud, Minnesota’s Tony Martin (now 16-5) lost a three round decision to Demian Maia (now 27-9) in a featured fight. The fight wasn’t eventful through two rounds as Maia did exactly what he wanted for the most part. After scoring takedowns in the first two rounds, Maia held Martin down along the cage, landed soft punches and controlled position. Martin did well to stay out of trouble and escaped potentially bad spots, but he wasn’t able to work his offense enough.

Martin rallied in round three as he spoiled Maia’s takedown attempts with his own attacks before stalking Maia with kicks and punches into the later round. Martin unleashed a nice head punch that staggered the Brazilian but was not able to finish the job before time ran out. Final scores read 29-28, 29-28 for Maia and 28-28.

Anthony Rocco Martin runs out of time after hurting Maia late in their fight. (Photo credit David Berding, USA TODAY Sports)