UFC Fight Night 205 Prelims: Sergey Khandozhko Unloads on Dwight Grant

Khandozhko delivers a brutal blow 💥 #UFCVegas52 pic.twitter.com/xqDkI4DGMS

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) April 24, 2022

The featured UFC Fight Night 205 prelim bout saw Sergey Khandozhko make a statement against Dwight Grant.

Grant (11-5) opened the fight aggressively and swung wildly at Khandozhko (27-6-1). However, it would be Khandozhko that would floor Grant with a nasty left hook early in Round 1. Despite the adversity, Grant would battle back into the fight and managed to crack the Russian as well. Grant would be the busier fighter in Round 2, but Khandozhko would clip the American with a left hook that clearly hurt. Khandozhko would then unload with punches until the fight was stopped at 4:15 of Round 2.

Khandozhko improves to 2-1 inside the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Pedro Demolishes Villanueva

The second light heavyweight bout of the evening saw Tyson Pedro make his comeback against Octagon veteran Isaac Villanueva.

Pedro (8-3) started slowly against Villanueva (18-14) and needed time to shake off the ring rust after being out for over three years. The first round would see Pedro knee Villanueva in the groin right after landing a clean right hand. Pedro would begin hurting his opponent with leg kicks and one would sweep Villanueva off his feet. A few punches later and the fight was stopped with just five seconds left in Round 1.

This marks the first win for Pedro since 2018.

Related » UFC Fight Night 205 Round-by-Round Scoring

Aori Batters Else

The night's lone bantamweight bout saw Qileng Aori go up against Cameron Else.

Aori (23-11) wasted no time as a left hook to the body hurt Else (10-6). Aori followed his opponent to the ground and began throwing damaging punches from the back of his opponent. Else had little defense and the fight was stopped after Aori continued to batter his opponent. The stoppage officially came at 2:48 of Round 1.

Aori picks up his first UFC win in three appearances.


Parsons Steamrolls Debuting Elder
Short-notice replacement Evan Elder made his UFC debut against Preston Parsons but wasn't able to keep his undefeated record intact.

Both welterweights came out swinging with Parsons (10-3) landing the harder punches and then landing a takedown to end the round in mount position. Parsons would take the debuting fighter down several times in Round 2, and locked in a tight arm-triangle choke that put Elder in serious danger. Despite largely dominating the fight, Parsons was the more tired fighter in Round 3, which allowed Elder to find more success on the feet. However, Parsons took the fight to the ground and was able to ride it out to a unanimous decision win with scorecards of 30-26, 30-27 and 30-27 in his favor.

After suffering his first career defeat, Elder is now 7-1.

Lins Successful in Move to Light Heavyweight

Philipe Lins moved down to light heavyweight for a bout against Marcin Prachnio.

The first round was largely contested on the feet, where Prachnio (15-6) had an advantage by landing damaging kicks. Lins (15-5) occasionally mixed in takedown attempts but couldn't keep his foe on his back. Lins would find a lot more success on the feet in Round 2 as he started to land heavy hooks and hurt an increasingly tired Prachnio. The final frame also started well for the Brazilian as he immediately landed a takedown and kept an advantage once the fight went back to the feet. Ultimately, Lins was awarded a unanimous decision with scores of 29-28 from all three judges.

The loss for Prachnio snaps a two-fight win streak.

Barry DQ'd for Eye Gouging

The prelims kicked off with a foul-filled welterweight bout between Mike Jackson and Dean Barry.

The Irish fighter quickly showed an advantage on the feet, repeatedly clipping Jackson (1-1, 1 NC) with well-timed hooks. A spinning low blow would pause the action, but Barry (4-2) picked right back where he was after the fight was restarted. However, a blatant eye poke that saw Barry stick two fingers into Jackson's right eye would stop the assault and end the fight after the American was unable to continue. The fight was stopped at 3:52 and Jackson was awarded the winner by disqualification.

Jackson advances to 1-1 with one no-contest inside the Octagon.