UFC 301 full results: Alexandre Pantoja outlasts Steve Erceg to retain flyweight belt

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Alexandre Pantoja (right) punches Steve Erceg in a UFC flyweight championship bout during the UFC 301 event at Farmasi Arena on Saturday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Alexandre Loureiro/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Alexandre Pantoja (right) punches Steve Erceg in a UFC flyweight title bout during UFC 301 at Farmasi Arena on Saturday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Alexandre Loureiro/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Alexandre Pantoja’s face was covered in blood by the end of UFC 301, but he’s still champion.

Fighting in his home country of Brazil, Pantoja held off challenger Steve Erceg to retain the UFC flyweight belt with a unanimous decision win (48-47, 48-47, 49-46). Before that, José Aldo energized the crowd in the co-main event with a dominant win over Jonathan Martinez in his return from retirement.

Here’s how the entire card played out.

LIVE COVERAGE IS OVER91 updates

  • RESULT: Alexandre Pantoja def. Steve Erceg by unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46)

  • This fight will go to a decision. It looked like Pantoja pulled it out in the fifth round, but we’ll now go to the cards.

  • Pantoja’s got another cut by his right eye.

  • Erceg just got away with a fence grab as Pantoja tries to take him down.

  • Round 4 should go for Erceg, with Pantoja still bleeding badly from his forehead. We’re in an interesting situation where Pantoja’s corner is telling him he’s won three rounds, but this fifth round seems likely to be the decider. Erceg’s corner is telling him not to sell out here.

  • Both Pantoja and Erceg’s corners are telling their fighters that Pantoja has won all three rounds so far.

  • Pantoja has a huge cut on his forehead from an elbow by Erceg. He’s bleeding all over the place.

  • Erceg landed some big shots on Pantoja in the second round, enough to tie it up entering the third. He’s looking pretty legit.

  • Alexandre Pantoja time. The UFC flyweight champion (-185) is taking on the 10th-ranked Steve Erceg (+150), an Australian who signed with the UFC less than a year ago. The little-known challenger is 3-0 with the promotion so far.

  • Aldo, whose UFC contract is up, says he doesn’t want this to be his last fight, but needs to sit down with Dana White and figure out where to go from here.

  • RESULT: Jose Aldo def. Jonathan Martinez by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

  • Round 3 ends with both Aldo and Martinez on the mat and wailing away at each other. They embrace after the bell.

  • That was a pretty even first round, not a ton of action but Aldo looks pretty fast for a retiree

  • Aldo, the King of Rio, is coming out wearing a crown.

  • And now comes the man many people in this Rio crowd paid to see, Jose Aldo (+135). He’s coming out of retirement to face Jonathan Martinez (-165), who’s on a six-fight win streak.

  • RESULT: Anthony Smith def. Vitor Petrino (R1, 2:00)

    Petrino was aggressive, got in trouble when Smith got his neck while standing, then made it so much worse by taking him to the ground. Bruce Buffer was so surprised that he announced the decision with “And still undefeated, Vitor —”

  • Anthony Smith stuns the arena with a guillotine to sub Petrino in the first round, wow.

  • Now comes Vitor Petrino (-550) against Anthony Smith (+400) in a classic “rising star trying to use a veteran as a stepping stone” fight.

  • Here’s what Paul Felder had to say about Pereira’s potentially illegal knee: “I still think he’s got to learn his lesson from doing backflips and trying to land illegal knees, but looking at the one angle, a lot of it did land on the chest — thank god for him — and I think that’s what stopped him from potentially getting DQed right here.”

  • RESULT: Michel Pereira def. Ihor Potieria by submission (R1, 54 seconds)

    Pereira gets away with the knee for one of the most entertaining wins of his career.

  • There’s some discussion between Bruce Buffer and officials, that illegal knee might bite Pereira.

  • WHOA WHOA WHOA. Michel Pereira gets a submission in less than a minute, but Potieria still goes lights out after Pereira lets him go. Seconds before that, Pereira knocked him over, did a backflip and got him with a knee, which might have been of questionable legality.

  • Next up is Michel Pereira (-600) against Ihor Potieria (+425). Pereira’s won seven straight and has been pushing for a bout with a contender recently.

  • Borralho says he wants the $50K bonus, then calls for a top-10 or a top-5 middleweight. His suggestion: Jared Cannonier.

  • That was a really nasty combo by Borralho, who stunned Craig earlier in the round with a knee, then got him off-balance and leveled him with a left against the cage.

  • RESULT: Caio Borralho def. Paul Craig by KO (R2, 2:10)

    Borralho notches his 15th straight win and moves to 6-0 with the UFC. You have to imagine he’ll be getting a real chance to show he’s a middleweight contender very soon.

  • Borralho knocks Craig out cold in the second round and that’ll do it.

  • It’s time for the main card, where Caio Borralho (-600) kick things off against Paul Craig (+425). Borralho (No. 14 in the middleweight rankings) is 5-0 since joining the UFC and is facing a veteran in Craig (No. 13) who has lost three of his last four.

  • RESULT: Joanderson Brito def. Jack Shore by TKO in the second round

    Doctor calls the fight and Brito get his fifth straight win, in gruesome fashion.

• Flyweight championship: Alexandre Pantoja def. Steve Erceg by unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46)
• Bantamweight: Jose Aldo def. Jonathan Martinez by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Light heavyweight: Anthony Smith def. Vitor Petrino by submission at 2:00 of R1:

• Middleweight: Michel Pereira def. Ihor Potieria by submission at 0:54 of R1

• Middleweight: Caio Borralho def. Paul Craig by KO at 2:10 of R2

• Featherweight: Joanderson Brito def. Jack Shore by TKO at 3:35 of R2:

• Women’s strawweight: Iasmin Lucindo def. Karolina Kowalkiewicz by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Lightweight: Myktybek Orolbai def. Elves Brener by unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)
• Lightweight: Drakkar Klose def. Joaquim Silva by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

• Lightweight: Mauricio Ruffy def. Jamie Mullarkey by TKO (punches) at 4:42 of R1:

• Women’s flyweight: Dione Barbosa def. Ernesta Kareckaite by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Lightweight: Ismael Bonfim def. Vinc Pachel by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Flyweight: Alessandro Costa def. Kevin Borjas by TKO (strikes) at 1:35 of R2:

This article was originally published by Yahoo.com. Read the original article here.
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