UFC 175 Fight Pass Prelims: Zachrich and Casey kick things off with dominant performances
The UFC looked to whet your appetite with a pair of middleweight preliminary fights on UFC Fight Pass on Saturday in advance of UFC 175 on pay per view. The four combatants entered the night with a combined total of two fights inside the octagon (and just 41 in total), but the greenhorns did not disappoint.
Kevin Casey stings Bubba Bush with 1st-round TKO
The son-in-law of Muhammad Ali stung harder than any bee against Bubba Bush, with "King" Kevin Casey working quickly for a TKO victory at 1:01 of round one.
Right out of the gate, Casey landed a vicious left-hook right-cross combo, flooring the debuting Bush (8-3, 0-1 in UFC). Bush managed to pull guard but Casey wasted no time moving into ground-and-pound, ironing Bush out with short elbows and earning a quick stoppage.
"You guys are getting to see the storm," Casey said in the cage following the fight.
After a three-fight stint in RFA following his lone previous UFC fight, a loss to John Samman on the TUF 17 finale, the 33-year-old Casey (9-3, 1-1 in UFC) looks like he could be a late-bloomer in the middleweight division.
He could also serve as an omen on a night when the champions are heavily favored to defend their titles, as he entered the fight as a near two-to-one underdog.
Luke Zachrich puts on a striking clinic
Luke Zachrich may not have furthered his reputation as a first-round stoppage threat, but he looked every bit the part of dangerous middleweight competitor on Saturday in picking apart Guilherme Vasconcelos for a unanimous decision victory.
Zachrich put on a striking clinic, varying levels, angles and cadence on an array of jab-oriented combinations throughout the fight and leaving his Brazilian opponent with little in the way of answers. Vasconcelos largely abandoned his BJJ background, attempting just three takedown attempts, all of them stuffed, and instead accepting a stand-up fight.
That played right into the strategy of Zachrich (14-3, 1-1 in UFC), who out-struck the TUF Brazil contestant by nearly two-to-one. Vasconcelos (3-2, 0-1 in UFC) will surely learn from the 30-27, 30-27, 29-28 defeat, but it was even bigger for Zachrich, who was extremely emotional in the cage following his first career UFC victory.
What's more, like Casey, Zachrich was a relative underdog at +155. Are the early prelims portending doom for the champs?
The next round of preliminary fights will take place on Fox Sports 1 at 8 p.m. and are headlined by a bantamweight showdown between heavy favorite Urijah Faber and the always-boisterous Alex Caceres.