UFC 170 Results: Erik Koch TKOs Rafaello Oliveira in Impressive Fashion

UFC 170 Results: Erik Koch TKOs Rafaello Oliveira in Impressive fashion
by Chris Houten - @mrhouts

Duke Roufus prodigy, Erik Koch returned to the 155lb division, and back to the win column with an impressive first round TKO victory over Rafaello Oliveira.

Fighting for the first time since his August loss to Dustin Poirier, Koch entered the bout hoping to bounce back with a win over BJJ black belt Rafaello Oliveira and make a name for himself in a new division. It's safe to say he did both.

The bout kicked off in surprising fashion with Oliveira coming out the aggressor, looking to land some hard, but wild shots. Oliveira went for a leaping knee which left the fghter open for a straight left from Koch which dropped the New Jersey based Brazilian lightweight. Koch followed the fight to the ground, getting in Oliveira's guard and began raining down, laser-beam accurate ground and pound which left referee Yves Lavigne with no choice but to stop the fight at the 1.24 mark, impoving Koch's record to 14-3, and earning the Cedar Rapids born fighter his 10th career stoppage.

Following the bout Koch told interviewing Joe Rogan it had become too difficult for his maturing frame to make 145lb, and fighting as a lightweight will allow him to show what his is really capable, as he did tonight.

Fighter vs Writer - UFC Fight Night 27 - Poirier vs Heather

Fighter vs Writer: Dustin Poirier - UFC Fight Night 27
by Ben Heather @benheather

Welcome to another Kingdom MMA fighter vs writer challenge.


For this challenge we challenge some of the biggest names from the world of MMA to give us their picks and fight outcomes for specific MMA events. Then they will be challenged by one of our writers, who will make their own predictions. Previously we have challenged the likes of Luke Barnatt, Jim Alers, Mike Wilkison, Phil Harris and Cathal Pendred. Last time out at UFC Fight Night 26, Cathal Pendred was defeated by Chris, which still leaves Jim Alers as the only fighter to beat one of our Kingdom MMA writers.

This weeks opponent needs no introduction. He is one of the biggest names in the Featherweight division and is currently ranked #6 in the UFC official rankings. He is also the star of the movie Fightville and holds impressive victories over Jonathan Brookings, Max Holloway and many more. He is of course Dustin Poirier and you can see him return to the Octagon on Saturday night against Erik Koch at UFC 164.

The Scoring
If you predict the correct winner of the fight you will get one point and if you predict the correct method of victory you will get an extra point. However, if the fight ends in a stoppage and you predict the round as well the method you could earn a third bonus point. If the fight goes the distance you can only earn a maximum of two points.

The Predictions
(Note: The fight card wasn't finalised when we spoke to Dustin so we will only be picking 5/6 main card fights)

Carlos Condit vs Martin Kampmann

Dustin's Prediction: Carlos Condit - Decision 

Heather: This is a big fight for both guys, a win could push both guys very close to getting the next title shot, however a loss could seriously damage that dream. I have to pick Condit here, I can't see a way which Condit loses. Yes he has lost his last two but against the champion and challenger for the belt. I think that's still respectable. That will be pushing Carlos to get back in the win column and he will come Saturday night.

Prediction: Carlos Condit - TKO Round 3

Donald Cerrone vs Rafael Dos Anjos

Dustin's Prediction: Donald Cerrone - TKO

Heather: Cerrone for me is in a similar group to Urijah Faber, he will beat almost anyone in the division other than the very elite guys and even then (Other than the Pettis fight) he will put up a bloody good fight. In my opinion he is also one of the most exciting fighters to watch. He always comes to fight and rarely disappoints the fans.

On the other hand Dos Anjos has improved so much over the past couple of years after starting his UFC career 4-4 he has gone on a 4 fight win streak and a win on Wednesday would certainly be the biggest of his career. Unfortunately for Rafael I don't see it happening and I see him being finished within the distance. I think Cerrone will be able to beat him a number of ways but I am picking a third round submission for this.

Prediction: Donald Cerrone - Sub Round 3

Kelvin Gastelum vs Brian Melancon

Dustin's Prediction: Brian Melancon - TKO 

Heather: As one of the few guys who predicted that Kelvin would defeat Uriah Hall in his last fight I am not going to pick against him today. Gastelum has a decent skill set and now with the drop down to welterweight he won't be one of the smaller guys.

Melancon has taken this fight on short notice after a very impressive debut in the octagon. That fight proved an upset as he defeated Seth Baczynski on the buzzer at the end of the first round and another win on Wednesday night would be just as big of an upset.

I think Gastelum will be able to grind out an early onslaught from Melancon but then control the fight to pick up a decision victory.

Prediction: Kelvin Gastelum - Decision

Court McGee vs Robert Whittaker

Dustin's Prediction: Court McGee - Decision 

Heather: Whittaker impressed me in the TUF Smashes and was definitely one of a couple of good fighters to come out of the house. At the same time in his last fight against Colton Smith I didn't expect to see the improvements I did and thought he would lose..... how wrong was I!! After that performance I am now expecting to see big things in this fight.

McGee on paper has faced greater competition than Whittaker and in his last fight looked very impressive in the first round before he looked like he was gassed and then just did enough to win the decision when really he should have finished the fight.

Against Whittaker he will not be given the ability to cruise and I think Whittaker will have enough to come away with the win in equally impressive style to his last fight.

Prediction: Robert Whittaker - TKO Round 1

Brad Tavares vs Robert McDaniel

Dustin's Prediction: Brad Tavares  - TKO

Heather: This is simple for me.... If Jon Jones wasn't his coach on TUF Bubba would not have been given a second chance and we wouldn't even have this fight. I really do not understand why this fight has even been made. Tavares has fought and beat a lot better fighters than McDaniel and I can see him cruising to another win come fight night.

Hopefully we will now see Tavares matched up with a big name fighter as he works towards the top 10 in the division. He certainly deserves a better opponent than Bubba McDaniels.

Prediction: Brad Tavares - TKO Round 2


So that's our predictions for the fights, we will be live tweeting on Wednesday night as always and we will keep you all informed as to how the challenge is going with latest scores throughout the main card.

Thanks again to Dustin for providing us with his picks for this weekends fights and it just leaves me to say.... May the best man win!!

Dustin Poirier talks to Kingdom MMA about UFC 164, fighting Cub Swanson in the UK, Conor McGregor and more

Kingdom MMA catch up with Dustin Poirier for a UK exclusive interview

by Ben Heather @benheather

Yesterday Kingdom MMA had the pleasure of catching up with Dustin Poirier to discuss his fights at UFC 164 as well as a lot of other topics. Dustin comes in to the fight off the back of a loss in the co-main event of UFC on FUEL 5 against Cub Swanson in Wembley Arena, London. Since then he has taken a bit of time out after two fights in the space of two months in December last year and then February of this year, but is now ready to get back to action.

Ben: Your last fight was in the UK, did you get chance to get out and see much of London while you was in the UK and what did you think of England?
Poirier: I was not able to see much but what I did get to see was beautiful, aside from it raining the entire time we were there.

Ben: Last time out you lost in a close battle to Cub Swanson, do you regret taking that fight on short notice?
Poirier: I don't regret taking the fight, it was a learning experience and I'm a stronger fighter because of it.

Ben: I caught up with you in the Hilton hotel a couple of hours after that fight against Cub and at that time you said that you thought you won the first and second rounds and did enough to win the fight. Did you watch the fight back and how do you think it should have been scored?
Poirier: I did watch the fight over and  I think the decision was right, we were one and one going into the third and I think he edged me out in the third.

Ben: Do you feel if you had the full camp before fighting Cub the result would have been different?
Poirier: I definitely think that if I had a full training camp it would have gone differently. I would've been in shape to push the third round.

Ben: Who do you think is now the number 1 contender at featherweight? It seems a lot of guys feel they deserve the title shot but who do you think should be next to get the shot?
Poirier: Ricardo Lamas deserves the next shot at the featherweight title.

Ben: If an opportunity arose and you were asked to step in on short notice for another fight like you did against Cub would you still take the fight?
Poirier: It depends on my weight at the time and if the fight is worth taking on short notice.

Ben: I believe in the past your weight fluctuates a lot when you are not preparing for a fight. How much weight do you normally have to lose during a fight camp? Also, on average how much do you have to cut for weigh ins?
Poirier: I lose an average of 15 pounds during camp and another 15 pounds for the weight cut.

Ben: You have now been training at American Top Team for coming up to a year, how do you feel this had improved your game and how different is it to where you previously trained?
Poirier: I feel like my game is more well rounded and I'm getting pushed by top level guys every day. I'm a completely different fighter than how I was a year ago.

Ben: It seems lately the name on everyone's lips in the UK is Conor McGregor, what is your opinion of him and would you be interested in a fight with him?
Poirier: Connor Mc who??

Ben: At UFC 164 you will finally fight Erik Koch. You were supposed to fight him back in Feb '12 at UFC 143 before he got injured. Has it been easier preparing for this fight due to the past preparation you put in for that first fight?
Poirier: No it's not easier because it's a different fight and we're both different fighters than we were a year ago.

Ben: You will be fighting Koch in what I believe is his hometown, does this add an exciting edge to the fight for you?
Poirier: For sure! I get to be the bad guy for the night and he's going to need a stadium full of fans to cheer him up after I beat him.

Ben: Have you been training on anything specific for your fight against Koch?
Poirier: I've been training and preparing for any way the fight could go but have been focusing on my kickboxing. Everyone looks at me as a jiu jitsu fighter but I started as a kickboxer before anything and you will see that in this fight.

Ben: How do you expect the fight to go at UFC 164?
Poirier: Me knocking Erik Koch out!!

Ben: Where do you think a win will put you in an already stacked division?
Poirier: Back where I belong...At The Top!

Ben: Would you say that putting on a show, entertaining the crowd with exciting fights and being known as an entertaining fighter is important to you? Or is it all about getting the win no matter if its a boring fight.
Poirier: It's all about getting the win for me but luckily, I don't know how to have a boring fight!

Ben: UK fighter and team mate of yours Brad Pickett is in action this weekend, how do you think he will get on against Michael Mcdonald?
Poirier: I think it will be a competitive fight first round and then Brad will pull ahead second and third.

Thank you for your time Dustin, we wish you all the best in your fight at UFC 164 and look forward to speaking with you again soon.

UFC 164 is headlined by the rematch between Benson Henderson vs Anthony Pettis for the UFC lightweight championship in a fight which the fans have been hoping to see ever since Anthony Pettis landed the showtime kick in the first fight between the two. UFC 164 takes place on 31st August and can be seen live on BT Sports in the UK.