You can do far worse for substitute co-main event matchups than the lightweight throwdown between Lando Vannata and David Teymur.
The duo, who were elevated into the second-billed role at Saturday night’s UFC 209 in Las Vegas after Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson was canceled on Friday, put on a well-contested, back-and-forth display of varied striking and not a heck of a lot of defense.
It was an entertaining 15 minutes for the fans at T-Mobile Arena, who oohed and ahhed with each shot. In the end, Teymur got the nod, getting across-the-board 30-27s in a fight that was closer than the scores would seem to indicate.
JacksonWink’s Vannata came into the bout with a reputation for exciting fights and immediately showed off his flashy style, throwing spinning strikes early and often. The opening round was Vannata’s best of the fight.
Sweden’s Teymur, though, proved both resilient and adaptable. He took everything Vannata could dish out and found his rhythm in the second, as he stymied Vannata with big knees in the clinch and punctuated his effort with a Superman punch that landed flush.
In the final round, both fighters scored with nice strikes. But Teymur scored four takedowns over the course of the round, leaving no doubt he’d get the nod.
“This is like a dream come true,” said Teymur (6-1), who is now 3-0 in the UFC. “I can’t believe I’m here now, with the whole world watching me. I hope I made some new fans tonight. I didn’t come to the UFC to hide, I came here for the belt.”
Vannata dropped to 9-2, with losses in two out of his past three fights.