By Josh Sanchez

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) took center stage on Saturday night with UFC 224: Nunes vs. Pennington at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes entered the cage to defend her title in the main event against Raquel Pennington. In the co-main event, Kelvin Gastelum took on Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. 

Also on the main card was John Lineker vs. Brian Kelleher, Amanda Bobby Cooper vs. jiu jitsu ace Mackenzie Dern, who was the only fighter to miss weight for the event, and a bout between Brazilian mixed martial arts legends Vitor Belfort and Lyoto Machida to kick off the pay-per-view. 

Pennington was returning from a one and a half year lay-off and appeared gunshy out of the gate. Nunes crushed Pennington with a leg kick that dropped the title challenger and sent her retreating against the cage. Nunes continued to pepper away at Pennington while unloading with her power to the body and head. Despite the heavy leg kicks, Pennington was remaining in the pocket. Nunes was not threatened by her opponent and had all of the momentum entering the first break.

The second round was much of the same, with Pennington struggling to find her offensive rhythm. Pennington was able to up her output, but the champion continued to land the most significant strikes. Pennington threatened with a takedown attempt as she took Nunes’ back against the cage, and wa able to get the fight to the mat. 

Pennington worked from side control and rained down some elbows in the closing seconds of the round. Nunes returned to the leg kick in the third frame and went back to mixing up her combinations, before landing a takedown of her own less than two minutes into the round. After little action on the ground, the two women were separated and the fight restarted in the standing position, but the champion remained in control.

The championship rounds continued with Nunes having her way in the standup. Nunes was brutalizing Pennington in between rounds, and Pennington told her corner in between the fourth and fifth frame that she wanted to “be done.” 

Ultimately, her corner convinced her to get off the stool for the final round. Round 5 did not last long, with Nunes taking down the challenger and busting up her nose. Blood was pouring from Pennington’s face before the referee stepped in to stop the fight. 

If you missed out on Saturday night’s action, we have you covered. The full results for UFC 224: Nunes vs. Pennington can be seen below:

MAIN CARD 

• Champ Amanda Nunes (135) def. Raquel Pennington (135) via TKO, Round 5 – retains women’s bantamweight title

• Kelvin Gastelum def. Jacare Souza via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

• Mackenzie Dern def. Amanda Bobby Cooper via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 1, 2:27

• John Lineker def. Brian Kelleher via knockout (punch) – Round 3, 3:43

• Lyoto Machida def. Vitor Belfort via knockout (kick) – Round 2, 1:00

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Cezar Ferreira def. Karl Roberson via technical submission (arm triangle) - Round 1, 4:45

• Aleksei Oleinik def. Junior Albini via submission (Ezekiel choke) - Round 1, 1:45

• Davi Ramos def. Nick Hein via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 1, 4:15

• Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos def. Sean Strickland via knockout (kick, punches) – Round 1, 3:12

• Warlley Alves def. Sultan Aliev via TKO (doctor's stoppage) - Round 2, 5:00

• Jack Hermansson def. Thales Leites via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 2:10

• Ramazan Emeev def. Alberto Mina via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

• Markus Perez def. James Bochnovic via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:28