UFC Fight Night 86: Junior Dos Santos rolls back the years with Zagreb masterclass to beat Ben Rothwell

Former UFC heavyweight champion Dos Santos beat Rothwell in the first ever UFC show to be held in Croatia

Junior Dos Santos celebrates his victory over Ben Rothwell at UFC Fight Night 86 (Reuters)

The UFC's first show ever show in the Croatian capital provided an exciting night of fights with former UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos rolling back the years and defeating Ben Rothwell in the main event.

Unfortunately the night wasn't quite so fruitful for the British fighters in Zagreb as Ian Entwistle and Robert Whiteford both lost their fights on the undercard.

Dos Santos puts on a masterclass against Rothwell

Junior Dos Santos served up one of the best heavyweight performances of recent memory defeating Ben Rothwell via a unminous decision.

As expected, it was the American who played the part of the pursuer for the opening round as Rothwell walked Dos Santos down as the Brazilian used his impeccable footwork and boxing skills to out point the American in the open five minutes.

Round two saw one of the defining moments of the fight. The pattern of Dos Santos outboxing Dos Santos continued for the most part of the round and in the final few seconds the Brazilian landed a massive right hand and front kick that sent Rothwell onto his backside. Luckily for 'Big Ben', the klaxon went for the end of the round but he was noticeably groggy as he made his way back to his stool.

Rothwell lands a big left hand on Dos Santos (Reuters)

With his right eye and nose a bloody mess, Rothwell was understandably a little more hesitant coming forward in the third round but he continued to walk on to the Brazilian who peppered him with punches and kicks to the midsection to once again take the round.

In round four, the pace noticeably slowed and both men stood toe-to-toe trading power shots in the opening minute. As the minutes passed Dos Santos looked to have another round in the bag but Rothwell bravely fired back with a good jab and headkick that only just missed the target.

Dos Santos hits Rothwell with a right hook to the body (Reuters)

Round five began with the crowd showing big appeciation for both fighters as they rose to their feet. Rothwell knew his only hope was for a finish and he pushed forward attempting several times to land a big overhand right. the Brazilian though just continued to use his footwork, circling out of trouble and keeping the fight at a range he felt comfortable while working the jab. The Brazilian felt so comfortable closing the fight out he threw some incredible spinning back kick to the delight of the Croatian crowd.

It was a total masterclass and Dos Santos deservedly took the scorecards via a unanimous decision 50-45 from all three judges.

Lewis KO's Gonzaga with impressive impressive

In the co-main event, American Derrick Lewis faced Brazilian Gabriel Gonzaga in another clash of two heavyweight giants.

The fight started out slow paced as the Brazilian Gonzaga looked to clinch up to the American Lewis and deny him space. Gonzaga did briefly have Lewis down on the mat but the 'Black Beast' rallied to take the fight back to the feet. From there the two clinched up against the cage again and just when the round looked to be coming to an uneventful end, Lewis took matters into his own hands. The American broke free of the grasp of the Brazilian and then proceeded to land some devestating strikes to knock the Brazilian out cold and leave him face down on the canvas.

The fight was waved off shortly after and Lewis had his sixth win in the UFC with his fifth successive stoppage. The 'Black Beast' celebrated in typical fashion by pounding the mat with both fists and scaling the cage to wave to the raucous crowd.

Whiteford edged out in gritty affair with Martins

Scotsman Robert Whiteford had a frustrating evening as he dropped a split decision to Brazilian Lucas Martin on the UFC Fight Pass prelims main event. The Scot entered the arena in bizarre fashion as his signature 'Flower of Scotland' entrance song cut off after only 20 seconds leaving him without music as he walked to the Octagon.

The misfiring sound system foreshadowed the fight that transpired as both men kept their distance and through single shots at range. After 15 minutes of action where neither fighter really managed to establish any great dominance, the fight was inevitably destined for a split decision and that's exactly what happened. The judges’ scorecards read 29-28, 28-29, 30-27 in favour of the Brazilian who arguably landed the cleaner of the few strikes that both fighters landed.

Entwistle beaten in bizarre circumstances

On a night that wasn't short of talking points, Englishman Ian Entwistle was involved in a controversial fight that he lost by first round verbal submission. Entwistle, known for outstanding leg locks, went looking to catch Perez with one from the opening few seconds and had his Mexican opponent in difficult positions multiple times.

The controversy came when after a two minutes the referee called a stop to the action with the Englishman claiming that Perez had greased his legs. After a quick check the referee restarted the action and from there Entwistle continued to try to work the leg lock to no avail. In doing so, Entwistle was opening himself to some big ground and pound and after the Mexican landed some big shots, Entwistle verbally submitted.

Afterwards, the Englishman continued to argue that the Mexican had greased his legs but the claims fell on deaf ears and it was the Mexcian who had his hand raised by the referee.

Full Results:

April 10, 2016, Zagreb Arena, Zagreb, Croatia

MAIN CARD

Junior dos Santos def. Ben Rothwell via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)

Derrick Lewis def. Gabriel Gonzaga via knockout (punches) - Round 1, 4:48

Francis Ngannou def. Curtis Blaydes by TKO (doctor's stoppage). Round 2, 5:00

Timothy Johnson def. Marcin Tybura via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Jan Blachowicz def. Igor Pokrajac via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Maryna Moroz def. Cristina Stanciu via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

PRELIMINARY CARD

Zak Cummings def. Nicolas Dalby via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Mairbek Taisumov def. Damir Hadzovic via TKO (punches) at 3:44 of R1

Alejandro Perez def. Ian Entwistle by verbal submission (strikes). Round 1, 4:04

Damian Stasiak def. Filip Pejic by submission (rear-naked choke). Round 1, 2:16

EARLY PRELIMINARY CARD

Lucas Martins def. Robert Whiteford via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)

Jared Cannonier def. Cyril Asker via knockout (punches) - Round 1, 2:44

Bojan Velickovic def. Alessio Di Chirico by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)