Just four days after UFC 249, the UFC is back in Jacksonville, Florida for UFC Fight Night 171. There will be high stakes in the UFC’s light heavyweight division during the night’s main event. Looking to work back to a title shot Anthony Smith and Glover Teixeira will face off against one another. Smith’s shot against the champion, Jon Jones, came last March when he took him on at UFC 235. In Jones’ first defense since recapturing the 205-pound title, he defeated Smith by unanimous decision. Just a few months later, Smith would face former title challenger Alexander Gustafsson in the main event of UFC Fight Night 153. In the fourth round of that fight, Smith submitted Gustafsson by rear-naked choke.
Standing in his way of another title shot will be another former challenger and UFC veteran Glover Teixeira. Teixeira’s title fight with Jones happened way back in 2014 when they faced off at UFC 172. In Jones’ seventh title defense, he defeated Teixeira by unanimous decision. Fast forward five years later to UFC Fight Night 143, Teixeira is taking on Karl Roberson. Just over three minutes into round one, Teixeira would finish Roberson by submission due to an arm-triangle choke. Three months later he faced off against Ion Cutelaba and picked up his second straight submission win, defeating him by rear-naked choke. Finally, in his most recent outing at UFC Fight Night 158 in September, he picked up his third straight win as he defeated Nikita Krylov by split decision. Picking up a big win over Smith could put him just one win away from another title shot.
In the night’s co-main event, Ovince Saint Preux makes the jump to the UFC heavyweight division. Greeting him will be 13-time UFC vet Ben Rothwell. In his last five, OSP has put together a record of 2-3. That includes losses to Ilir Latifi, Nikita Krylov and at the time, future undefeated title challenger Dominick Reyes. But along the way he picked up submission wins over Tyson Pedro and, more recently, Michal Oleksiejczuk by his patented “Von Preux” choke. He will be looking for his first heavyweight win in the UFC when he takes on Rothwell.
Rothwell enters the contest with the same record of 2-3 in his last five. During that span he was however suspended from 2016-19. He would return at UFC Fight Night 146 as he took on former WSOF heavyweight champion Blagoy Ivanov. After three rounds it was announced that Ivanov had won the fight by unanimous decision. Following that loss, he took on former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski and would lose again by unanimous decision. His most recent outing resulted in a win as he defeated Stefan Struve via second-round TKO at UFC on ESPN 7 in a controversial finish that included one too many groin strikes. He looks to put together two in a row against a tough opponent in OSP.
UFC Fight Night 171 Results
Kicking off the main card will be a lightweight fight between Michael Johnson and Thiago Moises. Johnson enters the fight losing his last two straight while Moises also enters off a loss. Next up will be a heavyweight fight between former champion Andrei Arlovski and Philipe Lins. Arlovski’s last fight resulted in a loss while Lins enters the fight on a four-fight win streak.
Following that fight will be a bantamweight fight between Ray Borg and Ricky Simon. Borg enters the fight off two straight wins as he has recently defeated Gabriel Silva and Rogerio Bontorin. Simon enters the contest coming off two straight losses to Urijah Faber and Rob Font. Finally, before the co-main event will be a lightweight fight between heavy-hitters Alexander Hernandez and Drew Dober. Hernandez is coming off a unanimous decision win over Francisco Trinaldo. Meanwhile, Dober has put together two straight KO/TKO victories, finishing Marco Polo Reyes and Nasrat Haqparast.
Follow along with MMASucka as we provide you with the results throughout UFC Fight Night 171.
MAIN CARD (ESPN+ – 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT)
Glover Teixeira def. Anthony Smith via TKO (Punches) at 1:04 of Round Five
Ben Rothwell def. Ovince Saint Preux via Split Decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Drew Dober def. Alexander Hernandez via TKO (Punches) at 4:25 of Round Two
Ricky Simon def. Ray Borg via Split Decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Andrei Arlovski def. Philipe Lins via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Thiago Moises def. Michael Johnson via Submission (Heel Hook) at 0:25 of Round Two
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+ – 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT)
Sijara Eubanks def. Sarah Moras via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Omar Morales def. Gabriel Benitez via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Brian Kelleher def. Hunter Azure via Knockout (Punches) at 3:40 of Round Two
Chase Sherman def. Isaac Villanueva via TKO (Strikes) at 0:49 of Round Two
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