Live Now! UFC Fight Night 243 ‘Moicano vs. St. Denis’ Play-by-Play, Results & Round Scoring

The
Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to Paris Saturday at
noon ET with
UFC Fight Night 243.

Round 1

Paris is the place to be on Saturday if wanting to watch the
biggest fights of the weekend—no offense to PFL’s Glasgow
offering—because the UFC has made sure this event will be a violent
one. Practically the entire slate pits Europe against the world,
and it remains to be seen how the locals will fare. The first of
these pairings actually an all-Euro affair, as “The Zulu Warrior”
Oki (9-1, 1-0 UFC) comes into friendly territory having made his
bones in Belgium. Oki will take on Scotland’s Duncan (11-2, 2-1
UFC), and the crowd has firmly decided whose side it is on—and it’s
not Duncan. The lightweights will receive oversight from referee
Loic Pora on the card opener, and the bout begins with a sporting
glove touch. Duncan attacks first with a pair of low kicks, and Oki
counters a third with a right hand over the top. Duncan replies
with a front kick that grazes the jaw, and Oki is not about to let
him get away with it and tags him with a one-two. Oki connects with
another right hand, and Duncan chips at his front leg in responds.
Oki’s right hands are finding their home on the Scot early and
often, and he catches a body kick and dumps Duncan to the mat.
Duncan climbs back up and winds up with his own right hook, but Oki
is faster and a bit more elusive. Duncan’s naked leg kick gets him
smacked in the nose again, which is fast turning a shade of red.
Duncan decides to push in and pursue a takedown, but ultimately
pulls guard with a guillotine choke that falls short as soon as
they hit the mat. When both men muscle their way back upright,
chants for “Oki” boom in the arena. This fires him up, as he breaks
out of a clinch and starts brawling. Duncan meets him in the phone
booth, with both men slugging away until they realize maybe they
should take it down a notch. Oki advances with a right hand and a
step-in knee, and he chases Duncan around as fans are in full
support of his tactics. Oki drops down for an ill-advised takedown,
because Duncan counters immediately with a guillotine choke.

Oki sits up, and Duncan postures up and squeezes the neck with all
his might. Oki does not let himself get flat and he appears to pop
his head out, as Duncan re-adjusts to his side. Duncan connects
with a few short punches until he realizes that he actually put Oki
to sleep with the submission, and he signals to Pora
that his opponent is unconscious on top of him. Pora realizes that
the submission achieved what it was set to accomplish and
intervenes. The crowd is silenced immediately, as they realize
their fighter has lost in unexpected yet dramatic fashion. This is
one heck of a way to start the night.

The Official Result

Chris Duncan def. Bolaji Oki R1 3:34 via Technical Submission
(Guillotine Choke)

Round 1

It’s no time like the present to move to the next fight, which
comes at the 135-pound weight class in a wide-open division. A pair
of ladies with two wins in the promotion will aim for win no. 3,
with Cavalcanti (7-1, 2-0 UFC) returning from a quick turnaround
against home country Cornolle (8-1, 2-0 UFC). While the woman from
Portugal is currently riding a five-fight win streak, the local
Cornolle has not tasted defeat since her pro debut—which came
against Cavalcanti—and is flying high. Referee Christophe Chapuis
takes charge of the cage, and he starts the rematch as the two
women touch gloves. Cornolle stays on the outside while Cavalcanti
is in the middle, and she pecks at her foe with a few low kicks.
Cavalcanti responds in kind, and they dart in at one another with
single jabs. Cavalcanti looks for a right hand over the top when a
leg kick is aimed at her, and she continues to work the
Frenchwoman’s lead leg over with her shin. Another leg kick from
Cornolle is answered with an overhand right, but it is a bit too
slow to get to her. Cornolle ducks and reaches her way in, only to
find herself out of range. Cavalcanti jams a hard low kick on the
front wheel, and she checks a kick that comes back her way.
Cornolle reaches her foe with a winging right hand, using this
strike to close the distance and wrap her arms around Cavalcanti’s
waist. Cavalcanti leans her head against the cage as Cornolle hangs
on from behind her, with the woman from France pursuing a level
change. When Cavalcanti stands her up, Cornolle dings her with a
pair of sneaky elbows and two knees. The third knee from Cornolle
allows her to lift her opponent and chuck her to the floor, where
she is stuck in an odd position until she steps all the way over to
full mount. Cavalcanti rolls her over and finds herself in armbar
danger, so she stands back up and stars slapping Cornolle’s legs
with kicks. Cornolle responds with axe kicks, so Cavalcanti does
the same. When “Wonder” works her way back up, Cavalcanti walks her
down and beans her with a pair of punches. Cornolle tosses out a
naked leg kick, and two more fists fly at her mug. Cavalcanti
chains several punches together as a head kick brushes past her
shoulder, and Cornolle tries a second high kick from up close.
Cavalcanti pays it no mind, walking through a high knee to put her
hands on her opponent until the bell sounds.

Sherdog Scores

Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Cavalcanti
Ben Duffy scores the round: 10-9 Cornolle
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Cavalcanti

Round 2

Cavalcanti deploys her same game plan to start the second round,
claiming the center of the cage while slowly advancing. Cavalcanti
picks at her adversary with kicks, avoiding a wheel kick and
landing a right hand over the top. Cornolle connects with a left
hand, and she has a head kick come up short of the mark. Cavalcanti
keeps crowding her, and they trade low kicks. A high kick from
Cornolle gets closer than before, whipping it up in close
proximity. She appears to celebrate her work a little too long, as
Cavalcanti rings her bell with a right hand down the middle. The
power punches from the woman born in Brazil but now a Portuguese
local do serious damage, and Cornolle wobbles and bounces off the
fence. Cavalcanti stays composed as she traps Cornolle against the
wire, ringing her bell with another big right, and Cornolle bends
over and has to shake it off. To save her composure, the
Frenchwoman changes levels and succeeds in tripping Cavalcanti’s
legs out. Cavalcanti climbs back up, and she grabs the fence to
keep herself from getting mat returned as Chapuis slaps her hand.
Cornolle stays tightly pressed to her opponent, chipping away with
knees and dirty boxing until Cavalcanti spins her about. Cornolle
uses a knee to get a bit of space, and she fires off a head kick
from up close to break away. Cavalcanti shrugs it off and keeps the
pressure fully on “Wonder,” and she stuffs a takedown but cannot
stop Cornolle from grabbing her. Cornolle opens up with a number of
knees from up close as she clinches, continuing this until the
round ends.

Sherdog Scores

Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Cavalcanti
Ben Duffy scores the round: 10-9 Cavalcanti
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Cavalcanti

Round 3

The bantamweights are lathered up for five more minutes of combat,
and Cavalcanti leads off the round where she prefers, in the center
slowly spreading her way towards the cage to back her opponent up.
Cavalcanti uses her jabs to keep a safe range, but Cornolle steps
in to break that up momentarily with a hard right elbow. Cavalcanti
no-sells it and hammers Cornolle’s front leg with a kick, and she
leans back to dodge a head kick. Cavalcanti checks a kick as
Cornolle staggers back, and she avoids a high kick and a spinning
back fist while sneaking in an overhand right. Cornolle shoots in
but cannot get to the hips, settling for a clinch and a knee to the
breadbasket. Cavalcanti frames off with an elbow to split up, and
she shakes her arms out. Cavalcanti tries to pin a one-two on the
chin, and a follow-up right reaches its intended target. Cornolle
responds with a head kick that slaps off the guard, and she gets
marked up with a right hand that shakes up her balance.
Cavalcanti’s right finds its home once more, not letting the head
kick counter get to her, and she pushes off another clinch setup.
Cavalcanti stalks the Frenchwoman down, ignoring a high kick to
stretch out with three punches. The crowd attempts to inspire their
fighter with two minutes left, and she channels their energy to
explode into a slugfest. Cavalcanti stands her ground and knocks
her back, and Cornolle shrugs at her as if to say that Cavalcanti’s
blows do not hurt her. When Cavalcanti connects hard, Cornolle
turns around and shouts something at her own team, which allows
Cavalcanti to hit her again. Cornolle gathers herself, and
Cavalcanti reaches a right hand that misses the mark when “Wonder”
attacks the hips. Cornolle hangs on and mashes her elbow on
Cavalcanti’s face, and Cavalcanti bursts out of the tie-up and
boots Cornolle in the belly. Cornolle again waves her own, and
Cavalcanti obliges, lobbing punches, elbows and kicks at her until
the final bell rings.

Sherdog Scores

Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Cavalcanti (30-27 Cavalcanti)
Ben Duffy scores the round: 10-9 Cavalcanti (29-28 Cavalcanti)
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Cavalcanti (30-27
Cavalcanti)