UFC 222: Cris Cyborg blasts through Yana Kunitskaya to retain title

Steven Muehlhausen

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UFC 222: Cris Cyborg blasts through Yana Kunitskaya to retain title image

Many thought Cris Cyborg was crazy for taking a fight on three-and-half weeks notice against Yana Kunitskaya in the main event of UFC 222. 

MORE: WATCH: Brian Ortega hands Frankie Edgar the first knockout of his career at UFC 222

Cyborg (20-1, 1 NC) silenced those people and showed why she's the greatest female fighter of all-time, beating Kunitskaya by TKO at 3:25 of the first round to retain her women's featherweight title. 

"I took this fight, old chute box style," Cyborg told Joe Rogan in her post-fight interview. "Three weeks notice. Anybody, any time, anywhere." 

Early on in the fight, things got dicey when Cyborg landed a powerful right hand but Kunitskaya secured a single legtakedown. Kunitskaya (10-4) kept Cyborg down for a moment. But Kunitskaya was relentless and stayed on top of Cyborg and had her back against the cage in the clinch. Cyborg bounced right back and just connected on a series of right hands until she dropped Kunitskaya to the mat. A couple hammerfists later and the referee stepped in to put a halt to the action and continue her reign of terror.

Rogan asked what could be next and help grow Cyborg's legacy as she really has no one to face at this point. Cyborg made it abundantly clear in wanting bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes who recently challenged her.

"Now, I wait for Amanda Nunes," Cyborg told Rogan. "She called me out. When you call Cyborg out, you have to handle it."

Nunes competed at 145 pounds for the first seven fights of her career, so a move back up to that weight shouldn't be a problem for her. She's been working on adding more weight to make sure she's properly prepared to face Cyborg later this year. First though, Nunes has a rumored title defense against Raquel Pennington at UFC 224 on May 12. Will be interesting to see if the UFC doesn't make the fight and instead makes Cyborg and Nunes for UFC 226 on July 7.

UFC 222 results

11:20: Now it is time for the main event of UFC 222, for the women's featherweight championship, Cris Cyborg defends her title against Yana Kunitskaya. The main event was made when men's featherweight titleholder Max Holloway had to bow out against Frankie Edgar to Holloway suffering a leg injury. 

Cyborg just fought 63 days ago, defeating Holly Holm at UFC 219. Kunitskaya, the former Invicta FC bantamweight champion hasn't fought since winning the title against Raquel Pa'aluhi in August. 

Cyborg and Kunitskaya have a common opponent in Tonya Evinger. Cyborg blasted thru Evinger at UFC 214 to become the champion while Kunitskaya lost to her by seoncd-round submission in March. 

Will the quick turnaround be too much for Cyborg? Can Kunitskaya spring the upset? We are about to find out.

Brian Ortega knocks out Frankie Edgar to become No. 1 contender for featherweight title

12:13: Ortega def. Edgar by knockout at 4:44 of the first round. Ortega told Sporting News he would be the one to stop Edgar and he did just that. Edgar was controlling the majority of the round until Ortega found his groove with about 90 seconds left in the round. 

The end came when Ortega connected on a vicious elbow which staggered Edgar. Smelling trouble, Ortega landed a knee, a left hand and uppercut for the ages to become the first man to ever stop Edgar. There's a new number one contender for the featherweight championship. Really excited to see Holloway vs, Ortega later on this year. 

UN - BE - LIEV - ABLE#UFC222 @BrianTCity pic.twitter.com/xb3DaB7ssD

— UFC (@ufc) March 4, 2018

11:57: It's time for the co-main event of UFC 222, in featherweight action, former lightweight champion and No. 2 ranked Frankie Edgar takes on No. 3 ranked Brian Ortega. Since a title loss to Jose Aldo, Edgar who was supposed to face champion Max Holloway in the main event of this show has won back-to-back fights. Ortega, unbeaten in 14 fights is coming off a second-round submission victory over Cub Swanson in December replaced Holloway.

This fight is the old lion vs. the young lion. Really looking forward seeing this in what has been dubbed by MMA pundits as the fight of the night.

Sean O'Malley turns in gusty performance in win over Andre Soukhamthath

11:49: O'Malley def. Soukhamthath by unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-28). What a gutsy performance by O'Malley in the third round. He threw a head kick which hit Soukhamthath in the elbow and appeared to break his foot. He kept trying to get up to his feet. Somehow he did by connecting. on a right hand and a spinning back fist. And when the fight was on the ground, O'Malley was trying for submission. Then in something I have never seen, Joe Rogan interview O'Malley while he was in tremendous pain. 

A star was born tonight. Such and heart and desire which you don't see in young fighters. Most would have quit and called it a day. Not this kid. Like he told Rogan, 'Welcome to the Sugar show'.

A recap of that post-fight interview ⬇️#UFC222 @JoeRogan @SugaSeanMMA pic.twitter.com/J2t4niunb2

— UFC (@ufc) March 4, 2018

11:34: O'Malley is very fun to watch. Connected on a beautful spinning back fist, head kick combination near the end of the first round. Didn't like seeing Souhamthath stumbling and not knowing where he was going at the end of the first round. 

11:29: Coming up next at UFC 222, in bantamweight action, Sean O’Malley faces Andre Soukhamthath. O'Malley is undefeated in nine fights and made a name for himself on Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Show, notching a highlight-reel KO over Alfred Khashakyan. Soukhamthath's lost two of his last three but is coming off a victory in his last fight over Luke Sanders by second-round TKO at UFC Fight Night 123. The UFC is very high on O'Malley. Can have all the hype you want but he has to deliver.

Andrei Arlovski goes to new trick, beats Stefan Struve

11:25: Arlovski def. Struve by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28). Amazing to see Arlovski keep on making adjustments considering he made his octagon debut at UFC 28 in Nov. 2000. Never seen Arlovski secure so many takedowns in one fight. Shows he much he still loves the game. He told Joe Rogan in his post-fight interview that he's wants to make another run to once again become the heavyweight champion. Would love to see Struve switch training camps and learn to just use the jab and let everything come after that. No reason Struve can be a top contender. He beat current heavyweight champion. Change in training would do him good.

11:15: Don't like the fact Dean didn't give a hard warning to Arlovski for the eye poke like he did for Struve. Have to be consistent.

11:10: Struve given a hard warning by Herb Dean in the latter half of the second round for an eye poke. Like what Struve said to Dean though about not giving Arlovski a warning about grabbing the top of the cage when Struve tried to take him down. Looks like even fight heading into the final round.

11:04: Mind boggling to see someone as tall and with the reach of Struve that he doesn't utilize the jab whatsoever. He could win every fight using it. Yet, he is content throwing kicks and getting taken down by Arlovski.

10:54: Up next at UFC 222, in heavyweight action, No. 10 ranked Stefan Struve goes up against former UFC heavyweight champion and No. 12 ranked Andrei Arlovksi. even though his lost his last fight against surging contender Alexander Volkov at UFC Fight Night 115 in September, Struve finally appears to getting into groove, winning of two of his last three. Arlovski got back into the winners circle, beating Junior Albini to snap a five-fight losing streak. A must-win for Arlovksi to keep his job and for Struve, this is the biggest fight of his career. 

Don't go to the bathroom. You will miss a knockout.

10:48: Really like the video game simulation of UFC 223 main event fight for the lightweight title as champion Tony Ferguson finally faces Khabib Nurmagomedov. Is it April 7 yet?

Ketlen Vieira outgrapples Cat Zingano to remain undefeated

10:45: Vieira def. Zingano by split-decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28). What is going on with these judges tonight? Good first round for Vieira. Her striking has improved drastically while Zingano kept her head up, hands down every time she threw a kick and Vieira made her pay for it. The strikes helped setup a takedown to secure the round. The second round began and Zingano went right at Vieira, who secured a beautiful takedown. Zingano had no answer to getting up. Every time she got Vieira back to her feet, Vieira would find a way to get back to the ground and maintained position.

Zingano started the third round aggressively with a head kick and a flush right hand. Vieira checked a Zingano kick and something with Zingano's leg gave out. Vieira seized the opportunity to get a takedown. Disappointed Vieira didn't try to take advantage of Zingano's injury when she had the chance as somehow Zingano popped up to land two flush knees. Zingano let it all hangout in the final 40 seconds, throwing everything but the kitchen sink but it didn't prove to be enough. Interesting to see Joe Rogan mention a Bellator fighter on the show as he mentioned former lightweight champion Michael Chandler when comparing what happened to Zingano earlier in the third.

I don't know what the judges are looking at it. The fight wasn't even close. Vieira dominated 14 of the 15 minutes of the fight. Zingano didn't do much at all. Shows you can't fight once every 20 months and expect to win. Have to be active especially in a deep division like the women's bantamweights. Vieira's now 10-0 and looks to be one fight away from fighting for the title currently held by fellow Brazilian Amanda Nunes.

10:16: Kicking off the main card of UFC 222, in women's bantamweight action, former title challenger and No. 6 ranked Cat Zingano battles No. 5 ranked Ketlen Vieira. Zingano returns after a 603 day layoff, losing to Julianna Pena at UFC 200 in July 2016. Viera has quickly risen through the ranks in the division, going undefeated in nine career fights with three of those in the UFC. Great way to begin the pay-per-view.

10:01: Beautiful tribute by the UFC to Bruce Connal to kickoff the pay-per-view. Connal was the lead producer for the UFC for over two decades starting at UFC 17, passed away yesterday. Hard to see Joe Rogan cry which shows how much he meant to the UFC broadcasts.

9:55: Dern def. Yoder by split-decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28). Once again Adalaide Byrd with a head scratching. Dern clearly won the first and third while Yoder captured the second. Dern showed she has some ways to go but was impressed by her striking and willing to keep it on the fight. Dern finally secured a takedown with 1:45 left to bring him the victory. The UFC needs to let Dern grow slowly and feed her good opposition but not against world beaters. If they do, she could be a star. 

 

 

9:30: In the featured preliminary bout at UFC 222, in women's strawweight action, Mackenzie Dern makes her highly anticipated debut when she squares off with Ashley Yoder. Dern is the premiere female jji-jitsu practioner in the world and is undefeated in five career fights. Yoder comes in on a two-fight losing skid. Can Dern live up the hype? Or, does Yoder derail the train?

9:15: Hernandez def. Dariush by knockout at 0:42 of the first round. What an upset. Hernandez had a great game plan. He started out fast and Dariush couldn't recover. A beautiful straight left hand sent Dariush's knee buckling and it was all over. Couldn't ask for a better UFC debut. Interested to see how the UFC brings him along now since he beat a ranked opponent. That's seven straight wins for the native of Texas. 

 

 

9:08: Coming up at UFC 222, in lightweight action, No. 12 ranked Beneil Dariush faces off against Alexander Hernandez. Dariush is coming off a great fight in a draw against Evan Dunham at UFC 216 back in October. Hernandez steps in on eight days notice replacing Bobby Green is making his UFC debut. He earned the opportunity, winning six consecutive fights. This is a win-win situation for Hernandez. He made weight and is fighting in the UFC. It's a lose-lose for Dariush. He wins, it's expected. Has to win and do it impressively.

8:58: Dodson def. Munhoz by split-decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28). Fight came down to the third round as Dodson had won the first and Munhoz the second. The former winner of 'The Ultimate Fighter' controlled the third round using his speed, lateral movement and straight left hand. Once again, Adalaide Byrd putting in a horrific card, giving Dodson the second round when he obviously lost the round. Great win for Dodson. His next fight though is make-or-break. Can't keep trading wins. Have to become more consistent if he wants to get into the title picture at 135 pounds.

8:34: Up next at UFC 222, in bantamweight action, No. 8 ranked John Dodson battles No. 10 ranked Pedro Munhoz. This fight was originally scheduled for UFC Fight Night 125 at the beginning of February. But, Munhoz missed weight by an inexcusable four pounds. Dodson refused to fight him and the bout got pulled and rescheduled for this card. A great fight between two guys ranked inside the top ten. Dodson's gone 2-2 since his return to 135 pounds. Munhoz is on a good run, winning four consecutive bouts. Let's hope we don't get a repeat of the last fight.

8:20: Dollaway def. Lombard by disqualification. At the end of the round, Dollway threw a body kick which Lombard caught it. The bell sounded and Lombard still connected on a right hand and straight left hand which sent Dollaway packing to the canvas. The right call was made the officials. No reason for Lombard to do that when the bell already sounded. Dollaway had no idea where he was at and you could see him continuously saying, 'What happened?' 

 

 

Nice to see the safety of fighters being put first instead of wanting the fight to continue.

8:05: The UFC 222 preliminary card continues, in middleweight action, CB Dollaway battles Hector Lombard. In his last fight, Dolloway snapped a three-fight losing streak, defeating Ed Herman at The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale in July. Lombard is in desperate need of a win, losing four in a row. Lombard is a guy who starts quick and fades down the stretch. If Dollaway can weather the early storm, it's his to win.

7:49: Ottow def. Pyle by TKO at 2:34 of the first round. Was a slugfest to begin the fight as Pyle and Ottow were trading heavy leather. With his back against the cage, Ottow blasted Pyle with a vicious right hand. A couple ground and pound punches later and it was all she wrote. Great way for Ottow to get back on track and a disappointing way for Pyle to end his career. Pyle was a former WEC welterweight champion ends his career going 27-13-1. 

7:40: Closing out the prelims on UFC Fight Pass, in welterweight action, Mike Pyle takes on Zak Ottow. Pyle announced before the fight this will be the final bout of his career. Ottow's lost two of his last three fights. Expect Pyle to put it all on the line and leave everything he has in the octagon.

7:35: Stamann def. Caraway by split-decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28). A close fight. Caraway won the first, Stamann won the second and the third was really close. Stamann controlled the first half of the final round and Caraway poured it on in the final half. Thought Caraway did more significant damage in his dominance. Stamann's a very impressive 17-1 and should now be in the UFC rankings. 

7:23: Salaries for UFC 222. Pretty disturbing Arlovski is getting paid more than three of the four fighters in the key two fights. This is way pay needs to be better across the board so things like this don't keep happening. No reason why Cyborg shouldn't be making one million dollars and Kunitskaya should be at $500k.

 

 

 

 

7:10: Coming up next at UFC 222, in bantamweight action, No. 7 ranked Brian Caraway faces Cody Stamann. Caraway's won four of his last five fights but hasn't competed since his win over Aljamain Sterling at UFC Fight Night 88 due to an undisclosed injury and unknown reasons. Stamann's on a tear, winning nine consecutive fights including his first two fights in the UFC. This is where I have a problem with UFC rankings. How could a guy still be ranked after only have one fight in the last 32 months. Interesting to see how the long hiatus affects Caraway since he hasn't been active while Stamann's been fighting.

7:00: Johnson garners the split-decision victory over Milstead 27-30, 29-28, 29-28). Would love to know which judge gave Milstead a round. Can see where a round would be given for him but all three rounds? A horrid scorecard. Hopefully, that person will not be scoring the rest of the card. The name of the game for Johnson was his wrestling and landed more shots than Milstead. Johnson remains undefeated in nine contests.

6:38: Kicking off UFC 222 on UFC Fight Pass, in light heavyweight action, Adam Milstead takes on Jordan Johnson. Milstead is making his debut at 205 pounds after a one-year layoff due to a torn ACL. Johnson comes in undefeated in eight fights including his first two inside the octagon. Johnson has a 100 perfect takedown defense rate. Great way to kickoff what should be a great night of action.

6:15: In about 15 minutes, UFC 222 will begin. Let's take a look back at Cyborg's last fight at UFC 219 against Holly Holm.

 

4:30: We are inching closer to fight time.

 

 

12:45: Hello, fight fans, I'm Steven Muehlhausen of Sporting News. In a few hours, UFC 222 will commence from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas featuring a women's featherweight title fight between champion Cris Cyborg and Yana Kunitskaya. Stay locked into SN all day long for news on UFC 222 as we approach bell time of 6:30.

UFC 222 fight card

Main Card

  • Cris Cyborg (c) vs. Yana Kunitskaya for the UFC Women's Featherweight title
  • Frankie Edgar vs. Brian Ortega; Featherweights
  • Sean O’Malley vs. Andre Soukhamthath; Bantamweights
  • Stefan Struve vs. Andrei Arlovski; Heavyweights
  • Cat Zingano vs. Ketlen Vieira; Women's Bantamweights

Preliminary Card 

  • Ashley Yoder vs. Mackenzie Dern; Women's Strawweights
  • Beneil Dariush vs. Alexander Hernandez; Lightweights
  • John Dodson vs. Pedro Munhoz; Bantamweights
  • C. B. Dollaway vs. Hector Lombard; Middleweights 
  • Mike Pyle vs. Zak Ottow; Welterweights
  • Bryan Caraway vs. Cody Stamann; Bantamweights
  • Jordan Johnson vs. Adam Milstead; Light Heavyweights

UFC 222 latest news 

- Think headliner Yana Kunitskaya cares about being the underdog? She gives a message to them.

- A lot is on the line at UFC 222. We breakdown what's at stake in the key fights.

- Don't know much about UFC 222? Here's everything you need to know.

- Who will emerge victorious at UFC 222? SN's MMA experts give their picks.

- Brian Ortega admits to SN he's surprised at his sudden rise in the featherweight division.

- Is Frankie Edgar an all-time great in the UFC? We rank where he's at.

- Mackenzie Dern makes her highly anticipated debut at UFC 222. We explore why patience will be the key to her success.

Steven Muehlhausen is an MMA and boxing writer and contributor for Sporting News. You can listen to his podcast, "The Fight Junkies" here . You can email him at [email protected] and can find him on Twitter @SMuehlhausenMMA .

Steven Muehlhausen

Steven Muehlhausen Photo

Steven Muehlhausen is a contributing writer for DAZN News. He writes features and news stories, and provides analysis relating to the world of boxing. Over the past five years, he has interviewed some of the biggest names in combat sports, including Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier, Terence Crawford, Vasiliy Lomachenko and Bill Goldberg.