Gregor Gillespie won’t call out big-name fighters to get his next marquee bout. If he keeps this up, he’ll never have to. Gillespie looked every bit a title contender in his TKO victory over Yancy Medeiros at UFC Fight Night at Barclays Center on Saturday. The LIer dominated the fight on the ground, stifling Medeiros throughout and clinching the victory at 4:59 of the second round. “I knew I would soften him up, I knew he couldn’t take that pace for three rounds,” Gillespie said. “I did it in two.” Gillespie went for a single leg early and scrambled to Medeiros’ back, working hard to get him to the canvas, but struggling to keep him there. He mixed in some knees as Medeiros tried to stay on his feet, leading to some wild scrambles, but each ended with Gillespie maintaining his body lock and controlling the action with his suffocating grappling. As a “Let’s go Gregor!” chant emanated from a corner of Barclays Center, Gillespie opened the second round with a few big punches before again springing forward and pushing Medeiros into the cage. Medeiros tried to control his opponent’s wrists, but Gillespie had little issue escaping and reestablishing the dominant position. He appeared to look for his own submission soon after, prioritizing positioning over striking on the ground. Medeiros managed to return to his feet near the end of the round, but couldn’t escape Gillespie’s grasp and ate a few knees before falling back to the canvas. Gillespie mounted Medeiros and started letting his hands go, throwing punch after punch before Medeiros stopped being able to defend. With just one second left in the round, the referee ended the fight, giving Gillespie his fifth straight finish.<doc-sep>Watching Gregor Gillespie fight is like watching a snake chase after a victim on a nature show. It’s only a matter of time once Gillespie gets a hold of his opponent, no matter how long the opponent tries to hold off the inevitable. Yancy Medeiros was the latest victim of the undefeated lightweight’s smothering grappling on Saturday night at UFC Brooklyn. Gillespie completely shut his Hawaiian foe down before finishing the job via TKO at 4:59 of the second round at Barclays Center. Gillespie set the tone early by landing the first of his nine takedowns on the fight. Medeiros was feisty in shaking his opponent off, but he found himself back on the mat over and over in a rinse-and-repeat performance. In the second, Gillespie did more of the same, and this time, he slowly wore his opponent down and tired him out. Gillespie improved his position late in the round until he got into a dominant position and rained down punches until the fight was waved off. “I knew I was softening him up,” Gillespie said. “I knew I could finish him within two rounds, and I did it in two.” Medeiros, who was coming down from welterweight, landed all of one strike over the course of the fight. Gillespie landed 55. With the victory, Gillespie improved to 13-0, 6-0 in the UFC. Five of those UFC wins have come by way of stoppage. Medeiros (15-6, 1 NC) has dropped two in a row.<doc-sep>Undefeated lightweight prospect Gregor Gillespie faced off with the ever-violent Yancy Medeiros tonight (Saturday, January 19th, 2019) inside Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., live on ESPN+ (free trial here). Gregor came out with his hands high, shot in, grabbing a single-leg. Yancy scrambled but Gregor hung on, scrambling with him, trying to lock him down from the wrestler’s ride. This was Gillespie’s bread and butter, relentless grappling scrambles until he wears opponents down. He landed knees to the legs and body of Medeiros, standing partly behind him with a bodylock. He dragged Yancy down, and for a second Yancy reversed him with a Granby roll. Gregor grabbed a single-leg from the bottom and instantly re-asserted the initiative. Yancy held him off against the cage, until Gregor got behind him, picked him up and tossed him. Yancy popped right back up, got thrown again, rolled straight to his feet. Gregor just wouldn’t come unstuck from Medeiros, and though Yancy stayed scrambling, the takedowns were slowly beginning to come a little easier for Gregor. The crowd began to boo, but there were only 30 seconds left in the round and Gregor held on for all of them. Gregor came out and landed a solid right hand on Yancy, walking him down until he decided to shoot again, bundling Medeiros against the cage. He dragged Medeiros’ leg out and got him to the mat. Yancy stood, Gillespie took him down again and again. Gillespie threw and re-threw relentlessly until he was able to take top position. He tried to advance to mount, Yancy narrowly avoiding that fate. He took the back and then got full mount while looking for an arm-triangle. He began landing short elbows from the top. Paired with his suffocating control, the ground-and-pound was proving a problem for Yancy. Finally, Medeiros got to his hands and knees, but Gregor hung on doggedly, trying to tip him back to the mat. He landed knees to Yancy’s arms until he was able to take him down again, flattened him out and began teeing off, until with seconds to go the referee stepped in! Incredible stoppage from Gregor Gillespie, who looks like a force to be reckoned with at 155 lbs. Now 13-0, Gregor Gillespie said that he used Yancy’s coaches’ time count against him, deciding he could pound Yancy out in 20 seconds. He began lecturing the crowd for booing him, which didn’t go over well, but later got a big cheer for Long Island, where he apparently lives. The best fisherman in MMA continues his upward rise. Official result: Gregor Gillespie def. Yancy Medeiros via TKO at 4:59 of Round 2 Fight Night 143 results, including play-by-play, click here<doc-sep>The UFC Brooklyn main card is in progress. The company’s #15 ranked lightweight Gregor Gillespie hit a buzzer-beating TKO on UFC veteran Yancy Medeiros with just one second remaining in the second round. This is Gillespie’s sixth straight UFC victory and fifth straight finish as the undefeated 13-0 fighter continues to move up the ladder. The UFC’s #2 flyweight Joseph Benavidez fought a gritty decision with the #8 ranked Dustin Ortiz. Benavidez was able to come up with a big punch that dropped Ortiz at the end of the second round, which aided him in securing the unanimous decision. Before that, Paige VanZant moved herself back into the win column when she picked up a second round submission on Rachael Ostovich. Opening up the UFC Brooklyn main card, the #12 ranked light heavyweight Glover Teixeira overcame some early adversity to rally and realize a first-round submission of Karl Roberson. Teixeira has alternated wins and losses in his last seven bouts. Main card: Gregor Gillespie def. Yancy Medeiros by TKO at 4:59 of round 2: Lightweight Gillespie quickly shot in on his opponent and started making Medeiros carry his weight. Several knees to the body scored for Gillespie as Medeiros struggled to find any separation. Gillespie continued to rag-doll Medeiros and own the opening round. It didn’t take very long before Gillespie shot in and claimed a takedown. Rinse and repeat. Medeiros gave up the full mount and Gillespie began to land some damaging punches. Gillespie continued to remain glued to his opponent, not giving Medeiros any room to breathe. Towards the end of the round, Gillespie went hard with the strikes as time was running out, and was able to get the TKO stoppage. Joseph Benavidez def. Dustin Ortiz by unanimous decision (29-28 x3): Flyweight Benavidez attacked the leg of his opponent to open up the fight. Ortiz shot in but was met with a guillotine attempt from Benavidez. The scramble ensued. Benavidez caught Ortiz with an overhand left that dropped Ortiz with about one minute remaining in the round. Benavidez took top position for the remainder of the round. Benavidez was on the hunt for the takedown in the second act. Ortiz worked his takedown defense and moved forward behind his strikes, until Benavidez engaged in a prolonged grappling exchange. The flyweights took turns taking each other’s back before the bout returned to its feet. Ortiz hit a Rock Bottom-esque takedown in the final minute of the round and then took the back before time ran out. Benavidez scored himself a takedown in the third and worked vigorously for the back, but gave up his back in the process. The scramble continued and Benavidez made his way to the back of Ortiz where he was able to control for some time. They scrambled it out for the remaining minute of the round and traded on the feet for the final seconds. Ortiz tries to sink in the RNC, but Benavidez survives until the end of the round! #UFCBrooklyn pic.twitter.com/IApDnDXfpR — UFC (@ufc) January 20, 2019 Round 1 in the books and @JoeJitsu is flowing. #UFCBrooklyn Round 2 coming up on ESPN+: https://t.co/cgQXSwjAGX pic.twitter.com/JTH9PQL3Ao — ESPN MMA (@espnmma) January 20, 2019 Paige VanZant def. Rachael Ostovich by submission (Armbar) at 1:50 of round 2: (W) Flyweight PVZ came out setting up her head kick, before Ostovich manifested a takedown in the middle of the Octagon. Ostovich was unable to do anything with the takedown thanks to PVZ being able to tie up her opponent. PVZ instantly gave up another takedown, but this time attacked a guillotine from the half guard. PVZ attacked a leg but Ostovich defended well and scrambled up to her feet where she picked up another takedown. Ostovich scored an early takedown in the second round off the strength of an overhand right. PVZ responded by flipping the script and taking the back of Ostovich and scoring with strikes. Just when it looked as if PVZ was going to slip off the back, she attacked an armbar and Ostovich was forced to tap. Ground game Nice scrambles from Vanzant & Ostovich here in round 1! #UFCBrooklyn pic.twitter.com/8QfWQbxEL2 — UFC (@ufc) January 20, 2019 Overhand right by Ostovich lands, and then immediately gets the take down! #UFCBrooklyn pic.twitter.com/tPx1uIMXiZ — UFC (@ufc) January 20, 2019 Glover Teixeira def. Karl Roberson by submission (Arm Triangle) at 3:21 of round 1: Light Heavyweight Teixeira shot in on his opponent but Roberson met him with a set of Travis Browne elbows that dropped him. Several more clean ground strikes landed for Roberson, but Teixeira somehow recovered and escaped back to his feet. Teixeira went back to the takedown, but this time got it and worked his way into full mount. Teixeira attacked an arm triangle and was able to force the tap.<doc-sep>
Gregor Gillespie kept his spotless record intact, thoroughly thrashing Yancy Medeiros at UFC Fight Night: Cejudo vs. Dillashaw on Saturday in Brooklyn, N.Y. Gillespie has set the UFC lightweight division on fire by putting his wrestling pedigree to work, having been a four-time All-American in the NCAA Division I, as well as a national champion. Gillespie didn’t try to go against what was expected. He came out from the opening bell shooting the takedown and was immediately successful. Though Medeiros continuously scrambled and regained his feet, he couldn’t break free of Gillespie’s clutches. When the NCAA Division I wrestling champion wasn’t riding Medeiros on the ground, he was pressing him up against the cage and driving knees into his thighs and ribs. Gillespie had to stand for a few moments again at the beginning of round two, but quickly returned to his bread and butter, putting Medeiros back on the canvas. When he did, it was really the beginning of the end for the Hawaiian. “I hate to talk about Yancy like that because he’s such a nice guy, but he was softening up,” Gillespie said after the fight. “I knew I would soften him up. I knew he couldn’t do that pace for three rounds. And I did it in two.” After putting him down at the beginning of round two, Gillespie got better positioning than he did in round one and worked his way to full mount. He worked Medeiros over with ground and pound, the Hawaiian flipping to his stomach and eventually regaining his feet, but unable to shirk Gillespie’s grip. TRENDING > Cowboy Cerrone Calls Out Conor McGregor Following TKO Win, McGregor Quickly Responds Again Gillespie rocked Medeiros with driving knees to the body before dragging him back to the canvas and moving to back mount. Gillespie unloaded with shot after shot, eventually forcing the referee to step in and stop the fight with one tick left on the clock. The TKO stoppage at 4:59 of the second frame was Gillespie’s most impressive MMA victory to date, but he plans to continue moving up the UFC lightweight ranks. “I promise, we’ll work our way up the ladder on the next one. That’s the best I can do on a callout.” Gillespie’s MMA record is mirroring his success in collegiate wrestling, as he improved to 13-0 with the victory over Medeiros, who slipped to 15-7 with one no contest.