UFC Fight Night 86 results: Ex-champ Junior Dos Santos routs Ben Rothwell for shutout

Junior Dos Santos

ZAGREB, Croatia – There were doubts Junior dos Santos would recover form after a knockout loss five months ago against Alistair Overeem.

But Dos Santos (18-4 MMA, 12-3 UFC) showed in his return he is still one of the UFC’s best heavyweights. The former champion shut out Ben Rothwell (36-10 MMA, 6-4 UFC) with a masterful striking attack on the way to a unanimous decision.

The heavyweight bout headlined today’s UFC Fight Night 86 event at Zagreb Arena in Zagreb, Croatia. It aired on FOX Sports 1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

Dos Santos, the No. 8 ranked heavyweight in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA heavyweight rankings, denied Rothwell a single round over 25 minutes, earning unanimous scores of 50-45 and halting the No. 4 fighter’s title run in emphatic fashion.

Dos Santos hardly looked like a fighter who’s hopscotched between wins and losses since losing the title to Cain Velasquez in 2012. Brutal subsequent losses to the now ex-champ and current contender Stipe Miocic further hurt his stock. But the Brazilian was on point tonight.

“You guys made this experience here in Croatia for me amazing, so that you very much for that,” an ebullient Dos Santos told the crowd, which repeatedly chanted his name over the headliner. “I am very glad I could win tonight for you guys.”

Rothwell had earned four straight wins in the UFC’s octagon by confusing opponents with unorthodox movement and sudden charges in offense. But Dos Santos refused to fight on his opponent’s terms, making him pay for his advance with hard right hands and persistent shots to the body.

“I think we did the right strategy, because you can’t go against a guy that size,” Dos Santos said. He’s too big, so I used my footwork to move a lot and throw hard punches, and use my boxing skills. Guys, forget about jiu-jitsu and wrestling, I’m a boxing guy.”

Rothwell never got a chance to display the submission skills – namely his famed “gogo choke” – that caught his previous two opponents, Matt Mitrione and Josh Barnett. Dos Santos shrugged off clinch attempts and circled away. The punches he take, he shrugged off, as he was moving away from Rothwell’s power.

Meanwhile, Dos Santos attacked the body, over and over again, until Rothwell’s movement began to slow. That emboldened him to throw more combinations and further tenderize the body. By the end of the second round, a front kick from Dos Santos plated Rothwell on the floor, signaling a definitive shift in momentum.

As the fight went into the championship rounds, Rothwell looked increasingly lost as Dos Santos danced and put together combinations. There would be no late-fight surge from Rothwell, who once famously lost his cool before stopping Brandon Vera at UFC 164. Instead, Dos Santos stuck with the gameplan and scored points, leaving his opponent’s face swollen and bloodied.

With Rothwell now defeated, the No. 2 contender position remains up for grabs in the UFC’s big-man division. Miocic next month challenges champ Fabricio Werdum for the belt at UFC 198, while Overeem next meets ex-champ Andrei Arlovski, and Velasquez faces Travis Browne.

As he showed tonight, Dos Santos is very much still in the hunt for the title.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 86 results include:

• Junior Dos Santos def. Ben Rothwell via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)
• Derrick Lewis def. Gabriel Gonzaga via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 4:48
• Francis Ngannou def. Curtis Blaydes via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) – Round 2, 5:00
• Timothy Johnson def. Marcin Tybura via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Jan Blachowicz def. Igor Pokrajac via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Maryna Moroz def. Cristina Stanciu via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Zak Cummings def. Nicolas Dalby via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Alejandro Perez def. Ian Entwistle via verbal submission (punches) – Round 1, 4:04
• Mairbek Taisumov def. Damir Hadzovic via TKO (punch) – Round 1, 3:44
• Damian Stasiak def. Filip Pejic via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:16
• Lucas Martins def. Robert Whiteford via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
• Jared Cannonier def. Cyril Asker via knockout (punch, elbows) – Round 1, 2:40
• Bojan Velickovic def. Alessio Di Chirico via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

For more on UFC Fight Night 86, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan contributed to this report on site in Zagreb.)