Daniil Donchencko is going to the finals after battering Matt Dixon, but it wasn’t without some controversy.
As promised, the welterweights got after it, quickly entering the pocket and trading in close quarters, throwing everything with vicious intent. Donchenko shifted to throwing elbows in tight and cut Dixon before landing a couple blows to the back of the head when the Team Sonnen fighter close the distance along the fence.
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The fight was paused, Dixon got time to recover and elected to continue, with Donchenkoclipping him in the midst of a back-and-forth exchange, causing him to retreat to the fence. From there, the Ukrainian picked his spots, pounding the body before putting him on the deck and swarming for the finish.
Official Result: Daniil Donchenko def. Matt Dixon by TKO (strikes) in Round 1
Cormier begins the recap of the fight, saying the two men did exactly as expected, with White acknowledging that Dixon was game out of the gates against a fighter that was clearly trying to knock him out with every shot he threw. Sonnen joins into the recap, noting that Dixon landing was getting Donchenko fired up, while Cormier points out that his charge was initially missing by a hair with his elbow strikes.
The slicing blow that landed is shown in slow motion, as are the illegal blows to the back of the head. Sonnen explains that if Dixon opted not to continue as a result of the illegal blows, traditionally speaking, that fighter that was fouled ends up winning. Cormier echoes those sentiments, wondering, “What if Matt doesn’t get up?”
