‘You can’t teach heart’ – Duncan earns memorable win

Chris Duncan earned another memorable win as he submitted Terrance McKinney amid a tense first round of their lightweight bout at UFC 323 in Las Vegas.

After being stunned multiple times by McKinney’s strikes, Scotland’s Duncan dropped the American with an elbow before taking control on the ground.

With noise levels inside the T-Mobile Arena rising, Duncan submitted McKinney with an anaconda choke for his fourth straight UFC win.

It comes just four months after Duncan’s brutal back-and-forth victory over Poland’s Mateusz Rebecki in a fight-of-the-year contender.

After beating McKinney, Duncan referenced his late mother in his post-fight interview.

In 2014, a day before Duncan’s amateur debut, his mother Elaine was murdered by her boyfriend James Morley, who was jailed for life for the crime.

“I lost my mother on the first ever MMA fight I had, on the day of the weigh-ins she died. And I still went ahead and fought,” said Duncan.

“That is heart. You cannot teach heart.”

Duncan’s triumph was his sixth in seven UFC fights since his debut in 2023 – and could see him break into the top 15 of the lightweight rankings for the first time.

Dvalishvili was aiming to become the first fighter in UFC history to defend his title four times in a calendar year with victory over Yan.

The 34-year-old has earned wins over Umar Nurmagomedov, Sean O’Malley and Cory Sandhagen this year, but he could not assert his dominance in Las Vegas.

The pair met in 2023, where Dvalishvili won by unanimous decision after securing 11 takedowns during the bout, but Yan’s defence was stoic during the rematch.

In 29 attempts, Dvalishvili, who has built a formidable reputation by overwhelming opponents with his wrestling and intensity, recorded only two takedowns.

Multiple times throughout the fight Dvalishvili screamed out as Yan attacked with body kicks, while his brisk combos left the Georgian with a heavily bloodied face.

The judges scored it 49-46 49-46 and 48-47 as Yan won by unanimous decision to reclaim the belt he lost to Aljamain Sterling – Dvalishvili’s training partner – in 2022.

“I’m very happy to stand here with the championship belt, thanks so much to all the fans,” said Yan.

The flyweight title fight suffered an anti-climatic finish as Van was declared the winner only 26 seconds into the fight after Pantoja seriously injured his arm.

Pantoja landed awkwardly in falling to the canvas, before instantly gripping his arm in pain.

When Pantoja signalled he was was injured, referee Herb Dean stepped in to wave off the contest – awarding the win to Van.

Van, 24 becomes the second-youngest champion in UFC history – behind Jon Jones who triumphed aged 23 in 2011.