Even though they didn't gain "main event" status, the middleweight division saw a lot of progression at Saturday night's UFC 241 in Anaheim.
That was only ONE. ROUND.#UFC241 pic.twitter.com/dooUv7j274
— UFC (@ufc) August 18, 2019
After both facing layoffs of over a year, Paulo Costa and Yoel Romero returned to the cage against one another. The two looked to make up for that lost time, and slugged it out. Both were dropped in the first round, before Costa recovered better and opened up on Romero over the first two rounds.
IT'S CHAOS JUST LIKE WE THOUGHT!#UFC241 pic.twitter.com/4q8gtD2Y8u
— UFC (@ufc) August 18, 2019
Costa would wind up taking a decision victory, much to the crowd's dismay. After the bout, Costa declared his intent to challenge the winner of Interim Champion Israel Adesanya and Champion Robert Whittaker for the title.
This fight is everything!#UFCf241 pic.twitter.com/BELkKIViCC
— UFC (@ufc) August 18, 2019
In the pay-per-view opener, #8 Derek Brunson continued his career resurgence since actually starting to train with a coach, but outlasting #10 Ian Heinish. The latter landed a huge head kick to open the fight and displayed some impressive balance, but wasn't able to get anything else going consistently, and Brunson ended up taking a unanimous decision win.
Well OK then @IanHeinischMMA!! #UFC241 pic.twitter.com/rEM9kEgKEW
— UFC (@ufc) August 18, 2019
You can see our live coverage of UFC 241 at this link, and our post-show podcast at this link. We will also cover the happenings on the Fightful MMA Podcast, Tuesday at 2 PM EST.
