UFC London prelims results: Henry stuns Dawodu, Craig wins at the buzzer

Check out the full results from the six-fight UFC London preliminary card.

After a slow start on the UFC Fight Night: Werdum vs. Volkov preliminary card, action picked up fast and fans were treated to some incredible finishes. The night kicked off with Dmitry Sosnovskiy winning his UFC debut over Mark Godbeer, followed by Kajan Johnson eking past Steven Ray by split decision. From there, the card really took off with Paul Craig’s unbelievable last-second win over Magomed Ankalaev, as well as Danny Henry’s 39-second stoppage of Hakeem Dawodu, Danny Roberts’ violent KO of Oliver Enkamp, and the prelims wrapped up with Charles Byrd just completely outclassing and ultimately choking out John Phillips. Here’s how the fights played out.

Note: Nad Narimani vs. Nasrat Haqparast was cancelled just before the card began, as Haqparast was not cleared to compete due to an eye infection.

Charles Byrd def. John Phillips by submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:58 of round 1 - Middleweights

Byrd wasted no time taking Phillips down and mounting him in roughly 15 seconds. “Kid Dynamite” slammed home some brutal elbows as Phillips tried to wriggle his way into a better position. Working from half-guard, Byrd kept up the ground-and-pound, and as the Welshman sought to escape to his feet, Byrd took his back then nearly mounted him again. The elbows dropped down again from Byrd, who tried again to take the back and lock in a rear-naked choke. Arm underneath the chin, Byrd squeezed and Phillips tapped. A truly dominant and thoroughly impressive performance from Charles Byrd in this battle of UFC newcomers.

Danny Roberts def. Oliver Enkamp by KO (punch) at 2:12 of round 1 - Welterweights

Roberts started brightly by connecting on a sharp straight left, forcing Enkamp to tie-up and initiate the clinch against the fence. Enkamp exited the clinch with a nice knee to the midsection of the Englishman. Roberts crumpled Enkamp with a monstrous left hand that led to an immediate stoppage. His body just collapsed in a heap. Roberts improves to 3-2 inside the Octagon, while Enkamp drops to 0-2.

Danny Henry def. Hakeem Dawodu by submission (guillotine choke) at :39 of round 1 - Featherweights

Dawodu was dropped by a right hand just seconds into the fight, and Henry latched onto a choke as soon as he was hurt. The guillotine was so tight that Dawodu essentially went to sleep right as he tapped. A crazy upset and a stunning win for Henry over the touted Canadian striker.

Paul Craig def. Magomed Ankalaev by submission (triangle choke) at 4:59 of round 3 - Light Heavyweights

Ankalaev stunned Craig with a hard body kick. Craig got time to recovered because he threw a knee right into Ankalaev’s groin. Upon restart, Ankalaev connected on a stiff jab. A takedown from Craig was stuffed. Ankalaev drilled the Scotsman with a left hand, which led to a reactive takedown from Craig, and he was able to gain top position in the scramble. Craig was reversed by the Russian, leaving him in danger of the brutal ground-and-pound Ankalaev is known for. Punches rained down from mount to end round one.

Locked in a clinch, Ankalaev broke out of it with a four-punch combination that got Craig’s attention. Craig connected on a right hand, one of his few successful moments of offense all fight. A deep shot off a level change led to a successful takedown for Craig. The good work would amount to nothing, as Ankalaev lifted Craig from his knees and dumped him on his back, right into side control. Nothing too damaging landed for Ankalaev, but he was in control through two rounds.

Craig was blasted by an Ankalaev head kick, which forced a panic takedown. Ankalaev sensed his opponent was in danger and decided to let Craig stand up. The pace didn’t really pick up from there, and Craig effectively survived the onslaught. A spinning backfist by Craig wound up making himself fall to the floor, and Ankalaev smashed home a knee to the face when he got back up. Ankalev threw some punches to Craig while he was down, and referee Marc Goddard warned Craig about throwing back of the head shots, so he switches up to knees to the body, then went to work from Craig’s guard. Craig needed a miracle to win, and he got it. He slapped on a triangle choke in the dying seconds and got Ankalaev with literally one second left. It’s one of the most amazing comeback wins you’ll ever see. It’s a massive upset by Craig, who was in the final fight of his UFC contract, and Ankalaev’s debut ends in stunning defeat.

Kajan Johnson def. Stevie Ray by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) - Lightweights

The first round was contested from range and wasn’t set at a high pace. Johnson had the early advantage with fast body and leg kicks. A straight right hand staggered Ray in round two, then Johnson threw a head kick and completed a takedown. Ray had a headlock and was able to scramble this way to front headlock, but Johnson moved himself out of danger and he had control of Ray, firing off knees to the ribs before taking Ray down again. Ray scrambled to his feet, briefly took Johnson down, then Johnson quickly got himself vertical again. Johnson’s right leg was noticeably unsteady, and Ray attacked with a leg kick that made is more noticeable. Ray took top position in the final 30 seconds of the second frame, then some tough back-and-forth grappling ensued before the horn sounded.

Ray cracked Johnson with two big left hands in round three, then a third one that hurt Johnson, who level changed and desperately worked for a takedown. A failed trip soon turned into a leglock opportunity for Ray, but Johnson did well to stifle the submission attempt and gain top position. The referee stood them up with just under 90 seconds remaining, A Superman punch clipped Johnson, whose balance was still a problem. Ray closed out the fight with a double leg takedown, ground-and-pound, but no finish. He won the round but not the fight, as Johnson takes his fourth in a row.

Dmitriy Sosnovskiy def. Mark Godbeer by submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:29 of round 2 - Heavyweights

After some early clinch work initiated by Godbeer, Russia’s Sosnovskiy scored the fight’s first takedown. Sosnovskiy took his time and passed to side control,but Godbeer countered and got himself back to butterfly guard. With not much offense materializing, the referee stood them up. They exchanged some power punches in close quarters, then Godbeer stuffed a Sosnovskiy takedown and took the back. The Brit ended the opening round on top and with some ground-and-pound.

Sosnovskiy threw Godbeer down to start round two, then curiously went for a heel hook and nearly gave up his back. Godbeer lost the position and Sosnovskiy wound up in side control. Sosnovskiy was then reversed to his back, where he attacked with a kimura. Godbeer got out of it and tried remaining active from guard. The referee stood them up, but Godbeer got rocked with a punch and Sosnovskiy immediately took it to the ground and gained full mount. He switched to back mount and rained down punches, then sunk in the rear-naked choke. It’s a debut victory for Sosnovskiy, while Godbeer drops to 2-2 in the UFC.