Zaleski dos Santos, Oliveira, Anders win big on UFC Long Island prelims

Welterweight Bout: Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos def. Lyman Good via split decision

Zaleski dos Santos and Good brought out the best in each other.

In a thrilling three-round bout, it was Zaleski dos Santos who out-landed Good to eke out a split-decision win in the preliminary main event of UFC on FOX 25 in Long Island on Saturday.

The scorecards were varied, with two judges scoring the fight 30-27 in Zaleski dos Santos' favor and the third scoring it 29-28 for Good. It wasn't an easy call given the furious action that preceded the verdict.

Good did fine work with his hands, but appeared to be vulnerable to the leg and body kicks of his Brazilian counterpart.

Zaleski dos Santos finished Round 2 strong with a jumping knee that Good was amazingly able to shrug off.

With his face bloodied, Good continued to wade forward, throwing heavy leather in Round 3.

Both fighters slugged it out to the final bell, much to the excitement of the rabid crowd at the Nassau Coliseum.

With the split decision victory, Zaleski dos Santos has now won three straight fights since dropping his UFC debut to Nicolas Dalby. He is 17-5 with wins in seven of his last eight contests.

Good was competing for the first time since July 15, 2015, a span of 738 days. He falls to 1-1 inside the Octagon and 19-4 overall (with one no-contest).

Middleweight Bout: Eryk Anders def. Rafael Natal via 1st-round KO

Only nine days to prepare? No problem.

Channeling his previous life as a smash mouth linebacker at the University of Alabama, Anders made an impact in his UFC debut with a first-round KO of middleweight stalwart Natal:

Anders was stepping in on short notice for an injured Alessio di Chirico and it looked like he couldn't wait to get things started as he hurt Natal early with a left hand and a knee that had Natal stumbling across the Octagon.

Giving chase, Anders upped the intensity with Natal backed up against the cage, and after a few more thunderous left hands, that was all she wrote for Natal.

Anders improves to 8-0 as a professional, while Natal sees his record fall to 21-9-1.

Welterweight Bout: Alex Oliveira def. Ryan LaFlare via 2nd-round KO

You can't keep a good cowboy down.

"Cowboy" Oliveira shrugged off a poor opening round to stop LaFlare in Round 2 with a thudding uppercut that put a definitive end to their match:

It was the third straight win for Oliveira by knockout or submission (excluding a December 2016 no-contest) and his fourth overall. The 29-year-old Brazilian improved to 5-1 as a UFC welterweight.

At first, it looked like it was LaFlare who would add to his own impressive record. He grounded Oliveira in Round 1 and spent almost the entire period working from side control.

But the standup discrepancy proved to be too much and instead of getting his seventh UFC win, LaFlare was finished for the first time in his career.

Heavyweight Bout: Chase Sherman def. Damian Grabowski via unanimous decision

"The Vanilla Gorilla" has his first UFC winning streak.

Showing off improved striking, Sherman got off to a quick start against Grabowski before cruising to a win on the scorecards. Though Sherman's output slowed in Round 3, he did enough for the judges to award him all three frames.

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

Sherman has now won two straight and unlike his last fight, a hellacious brawl with Rashad Coulter, the 27-year-old heavyweight looked much more thoughtful in battling Grabowski. He peppered the Pole with leg kicks and clipped him with a knee in Round 1.

It looked like Grabowski might not even make it to Round 2, as Sherman finished the opening period with a wicked combination of strikes.

Though Grabowski avoided significant damage for the rest of the fight, he was never able to establish any sort of rhythm and Sherman soundly outpointed him in the standup department.

Grabowski has now lost three straight and four of his last five, putting his UFC future in doubt.