UFC 236 took place Saturday, April 13, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. The card was headlined by an interim lightweight title fight between featherweight champion Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier.
Closing odds are courtesy of Several Bookmakers. Here’s a quick recap of each of those fights.
Favorites that Won
In what was the best MMA bout of the year thus far, Israel Adesanya turned it on in the fifth round to drop Kelvin Gastelum multiple times for a big 10-8 round to take control of the fight and earn the middleweight interim title. Adesanya closed -182 with the return on Gastelum +158
Dwight Grant landed more significant strikes in all three rounds than Alan Jouban to win a split decision in what was a low output fight. Grant closed -122 while Jouban closed +103
Nikita Krylov choked out a fatigued Ovince St. Preux midway through the second round to earn his biggest win to date. Krylov closed -128 with the return on St. Preux +109
Alexandre Pantoja earned perhaps the biggest win of his career as he rocked Wilson Reis in the opening round and followed up with strikes on the ground to win by knockout. Pantoja closed -164 while Reis closed +145
Belal Muhammad was able to take control in round three to win a hard-fought fight against Curtis Millender. Muhammad closed -156. Millender closed +136
Montell Jackson dominated his fight with Andre Soukhamthath out landing him on the feet to win a dominant decision. Jackson closed -588 while Soukhamthath closed +441
In the only women’s bout of the night, Poliana Botelho snuck out a decision victory over Lauren Mueller. Botelho closed -164 with the return on Mueller +143
After a poor opening round, Brandon Davis turned the tables on Randy Costa to win by second round submission. Davis closed -185 while Costa closed +158
Underdogs that Won
The power advantage was evident as Dustin Poirier landed the bigger punches and inflicted more damage to upset Max Holloway and win the interim lightweight championship. Poirier closed +210 while Holloway closed -256
Khalil Rountree dominated his bout with Eryk Anders out landing him 79 to 16 to win a wide decision over the former collegiate football player. Rountree closed +164. Anders closed -189
Matt Frevola earned takedowns throughout the bout and threatened with submissions to beat rangy striker Jalin Turner by decision. Frevola closed +142 while Turner closed -164
Max Griffin slowed down throughout the fight, but landed some timely knees in the third round to slow down Zelim Imadaev to win a majority decision. Griffin closed +115 with the return on Imadaev -130
Khalid Taha earned a 25 second finish as he quickly disposed of Boston Salmon in the opening bout of the televised preliminary card. Taha closed +138 while Salmon closed -161
