Headlined by two title fights, UFC 227 didn't offer much depth beyond those bouts. Of the 10 undercard fights, only three featured top 15 fighters.
No. 5 ranked featherweight Cub Swanson entered the night as the high ranked undercard fighter. No. 10 ranked Renato Moicano cared not for Swanson's ranking, finishing the bonus machine in the first round with a rear naked choke. Moicano dropped Swanson with a jab, showed off his patience on the ground, and eventually sunk in the choke for the biggest win of his career.
Opening up the pay-per-view portion of the card, No. 13 ranked middleweight Thiago Santos scored a unanimous decision win over the debuting Kevin Holland. Holland gave Santos everything he could handle, but the strength and power of Santos was too much for the 25-year-old. Despite losing, Holland turned in an exciting performance and showed that he has a bright future in the sport. Santos, who had little to gain by taking the fight, said after the bout he would like to fight at Madison Square Garden in November.
In the main event of the preliminary card, No. 9 ranked bantamweight picked up a unanimous decision victory over No. 14 ranked Brett Johns. Munhoz dominated the fight with kicks to the leg and body, but could not put Johns away. Munhoz not only had Johns walking on one leg by the end of the fight, he dropped him multiple times with body kicks. Had he not been adamant about going for a guillotine choke to finish the fight, he likely could have stopped Johns with more punishment to the lead leg and body.
To Johns' credit, he showed great survival instincts and defense on the ground. And when he was able to move forward on the feet, he never stopped throwing.
On the Fight Pass exclusive prelims, Alex Perez stopped Jose Torres with strikes in the first round. While neither fighter was ranked in the top 15, Torres entered the bout undefeated and was mentioned by Demetrious Johnson earlier this week as a potential title contender at flyweight.
If you missed any of the undercard or main card action, make sure to check Fightful's live results.
