UFC Fight Night 120 results: Dustin Poirier gets the better of Anthony Pettis after bizarre finish to bloody battle

Conor McGregor caused no end of controversy on Friday evening, but on Saturday night, a sense of normality returned to MMA as the UFC headed to Norfolk, Virginia for UFC Fight Night 120.

In the main event, two of the UFC's most exciting lightweight fighters went head-to-head as the #8 ranked Dustin Poirier and the #9 ranked Anthony Pettis went at it. Both Poirier and Pettis headed into the bout knowing that a win could catapult them into the title picture at 155-pounds. With no bad blood between the pair, the build-up to the fight somewhat lacked excitement. Thankfully, the fight itself was anything but dull.

Round one saw Poirier open aggressively and he took Pettis down to the mat after sucking up a pair of leg kicks as he closed the distance. Poirier then attempted to work his way through his guard, but it was Pettis who was looking more dangerous from the bottom and Poirier had to negotiate his way out of a dangerous looking kimura submission attempt. Pettis was then able to create a scramble to get the fight back to the feet and the two went toe-to-toe and exchanged crisp right hands.

Poirier then looked for another takedown, but this time Pettis was able to fend him off and the fight stayed on the feet. Just as the round was coming to an end, Poirier piled on the pressure and he landed a right hand that rocked Pettis to his boots. Poirier then landed a nice combination as Pettis attempted to cover up, but before the end of the round, Pettis landed a spinning backfist that appeared to stun Poirier.

After a breathless opening five minutes, Poirier kept the pressure in round two and he took Pettis down to the mat early on. Poirier then drew blood when he landed a series of elbows in the guard and he repeated this until a now bloodied and battered Pettis gave up his back.

With Pettis now looking in big trouble, he somehow reversed the position beautifully and found himself in top position following a scramble. It was then time for him to start landing shots from the top and he did so until Poirier managed to scramble free and back to his feet. With just a little over a minute left in the round, Pettis took Poirier down again, but this time Poirier easily worked his way out of the position and took the top position yet again just as the round closed.

The fierceness of the battle could be seen on the face of both men as round three began with both Poirier and Pettis battered and bloodied. Poirier looked for a takedown early on and after a brief struggle against the fence, he succeeded with taking his man down to the mat. Poirier then worked his way to Pettis' back and then transitioned beautifully into full mount where he was about to unload strikes.

However, before Poirier could lay down any further punishment, Pettis verbally submitted due to an apparent injury. Poirier was then handed the TKO victory in a somewhat bizarre end to a thrilling contest.

In the co-main event, Matt Brown and Diego Sanchez went at it in a thrilling welterweight contest. The fight had all the makings of a classic war, but with both men starting to get on in age, the fight was over in the first round.

Sanchez flew out the gates and sprinted across the cage from the opening bell looking for a takedown. Brown managed to fend him off though and the firefight everyone was expecting then started to take place in the centre of the cage as they traded big kicks and punches.

After both men had success landing crisp hooks, Sanchez hit Brown with a beautiful kick to the liver and looked to have him in a lot of trouble. For some bizarre reason though, Sanchez decided not to pressure Brown and it was a decision he would end up regretting just a minute later.

Brown closed the distance and landed a beautiful highlight reel knockout elbow that knocked Sanchez unconscious on impact. No further strikes were required and the fight was over at three minutes and 41-seconds. Brown had his first win July 2015 and speaking after the fight Brown didn't commit to retiring and said that he would fight again if the right opportunity came about.

Elsewhere on the card, Britain’s Darren Stewart featured in the first fight of the evening as he took on Karl Roberson in middleweight action. Stewart started out confidently using all manner of striking techniques, but midway through the round he found himself on the wrong end of grappling exchange and Roberson took his back. From there, the finish was academic and Roberson finished the fight with a rear-naked choke.

Suffice to say, it's back to the drawing board for Stewart who is still searching for his first win under the UFC banner.

There were also wins for Clay Guida, Sage Northcutt and Marlon Moraes who picked up his first win since moving across from World Series of Fighting.

UFC Norfolk Full Results:

Dustin Poirier def. Anthony Pettis via TKO (injury) at 2:08 of Round 3

Matt Brown def. Diego Sanchez via KO (elbow) at 3:44 of Round 1

Andrei Arlovski def. Junior Albini via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

Cezar Ferreira def. Nate Marquardt via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

Raphael Assuncao def. Matthew Lopez via KO (punch) at 1:50 of Round 3

Clay Guida def. Joe Lauzon via TKO (punches) at 1:07 of Round 1

Marlon Moraes def. John Dodson via split decision (30-27, 27-30, 30-27)

Tatiana Suarez def. Viviane Pereira via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)

Sage Northcutt def. Michel Quinones via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Nina Ansaroff def. Angela Hill via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Sean Strickland def. Court McGee via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Jake Collier def. Marcel Fortuna via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Karl Roberson def. Darren Stewart via submission at 3:41 of Round 1