UFC Fight Night Las Vegas: Johny Hendricks stopped by Stephen Thompson in main event upset

UFC Fight Night Las Vegas may have lacked the illustriousness that it had when it was first booked as a pay-per-view event with a UFC heavyweight title fight, but it still proved to be an entertaining night of action with big wins for both Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson and UFC debutant Mickey Gall.

Following the withdrawals of both Cain Velasquez and Fabricio Werdum, welterweights Johny 'Big Rig' Hendricks and Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson were promoted into the main event slot. They were both given just two weeks notice that their fight was scheduled to go five rounds but this was ultimately a non-factor. The bout didn't even make it out the first four minutes.

Thompson dominated from the outset and poured it on Hendricks early, landing crisp strikes to head and body at will with sharp, quick kicks and short powerful punches. 'Wonderboy' finished the fight after just 3 minutes and 31 seconds of the first round, landing an incredible flurry of headkicks, punches and body kicks which gave the referee no option but to stop the action before Hendricks took uncessary further damage.

It was an incredible performance by Thompson who took the microphone after the fight and asked the UFC bosses for a welterweight title fight with Robbie Lawler.

The fight between Mickey Gall and Mike Jackson may have been the second on the card, but it was arguably the fight with the biggest immediate consequences.

The story of the fight really started four weeks ago, when Gall was scouted by UFC boss Dana White on his new reality TV show 'Looking For A Fight'. On the show, Gall was seen winning a fight and then 'calling out' CM Punk whilst being watched by White at a local Ring of Champion event. White liked what he heard and gave Gall the opportunity to win a fight against Punk by proving himself against Mike Jackson who was also making his professional MMA debut.

Last night, Gall took his opportunity with both hands and put on an incredible display to finish Jackson in just 45-seconds. Gall dominated Jackson throughout and a sweet straight right dropped Jackson to the mat inside 30 seconds. From there, Gall took his back and worked in a slick rear-naked choke hold to get the submission victory and to set up his dream fight with CM Punk.

After the fight, Gall and Punk squared off in the centre of the Octagon and Dana White confirmed that the UFC are looking to place the fight on the undercard of UFC 199 which will be headlined by Luke Rockhold vs Chris Weidman II in June.

The co-main event of the evening saw Roy 'Big Country' Nelson attempt to snap his losing streak of two against gritty wrestler Jared Rosholt. In a fight that was fought entirely on the feet, both spent the entire duration tentativelly throwing strikes from range with very little success. After what seemed like an hour for most, the full 15-minutes passed and the fight went to the judges. The scorecards read 30-27, 30-27, 29-28, all in favour of Nelson who won the least entertaining fight of the night.

Third from the top of the card, Ovince Saint Preux took on Rafael Cavalcante in a light heavyweight fight that was bizarre to say the least. Saint Preux looked to have badly damaged his right foot early on in the first round but he ultimately faught through the pain barrier, dropping his Brazilian opponent just minutes later and then dominating him for the rest of the fight to take a unaminous decision.

In flyweight action, Joseph Benavidez took on Zach Makovsky and was looking to put together his fifth straight win and throw his name in the hat for a third fight with champion Demetrious 'Mighty Mouse' Johnson.

Predictably, the action was fast paced with both fighters using slick footwork to land combinations and then get out of range before the other could counter. After 15-minutes of breathless action, Benavidez deservedly got the nod from the judges having landed the more effective striking throughout the three rounds. The scorecards unaminsouly read 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 for Benavidez.

Opening up the card on UFC Fight Pass, Artem Lobov faced Alex White in a fight that neither could afford to really lose if they wished to remain in the organisation. Lobov, coming off his defeat in December to Ryan Hall in the final of the Ultimate Fighter 22 series, was looking for his first UFC win but he was ultimately outclassed for the entire three rounds.

White controlled the pace from the outset and used his superior range and reach to outstrike Lobov throughout. The American took the Irishman down in all three rounds and dominated him on the feet to take the fight 30-27 on all the judges scorecards.

UFC Fight Night Las Vegas
MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada

Main card

Stephen Thompson def. Johny Hendricks via knockout (strikes) - Round 1, 3:31

Roy Nelson def. Jared Rosholt via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Ovince Saint Preux def. Rafael Cavalcante via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Joseph Benavidez def. Zach Makovsky via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Misha Cirkunov def. Alex Nicholson via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 2, 1:28

Mike Pyle def. Sean Spencer via TKO (strikes) - Round 3, 4:25

Preliminary card

Josh Burkman def. K.J. Noons via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Derrick Lewis def. Damian Grabowski via TKO (punches) - Round 1, 2:17

Justin Scoggins def. Ray Borg via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)

Diego Rivas def. Noad Lahat via knockout (flying knee) - Round 2, 0:23

Fight Pass preliminary card

Mickey Gall def. Mike Jackson via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 1, 0:45

Alex White def. Artem Lobov via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)