Beating the Odds: UFC Fight Night 99, UFC Fight Night 100

Krzysztof Jotko should now have the attention of the Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight division.

The American Top Team-trained Pole improved his eye-popping record to 19-1 with a unanimous decision over Thales Leites at UFC Fight Night “Bader vs. Nogueira 2” on Saturday at Ibirapuera Gymnasium in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Jotko entered the cage as a +115 underdog, per BetDSI.com, and walked away with 29-27, 30-27 and 30-27 marks from the judges.

Jotko overcame something of a slow start and seized control in the second round. He denied all but one of Leites’ eight takedown attempts, according to FightMetric data, and outperformed the Brazilian grappler by a staggering 92-4 margin in the total strikes landed department. Jotko, 27, was ferocious over the final five minutes, as he advanced to the mounted crucifix position at one point, assaulted Leites (-135) with ground-and-pound throughout and cruised to a fifth consecutive victory.

Leites was not the only favorite to be victimized, with the UFC holding two events and staging 25 total fights in two countries.

Former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder Jack Marshman (+210) made a successful Octagon debut, as he dispatched Magnus Cedenblad with second-round punches on the UFC Fight Night “Mousasi vs. Hall 2” undercard at the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Cedenblad (-250) wilted 3:32 into Round 2, as he tasted defeat for the first time since April 2012.

Early returns were not promising for Marshman. Cedenblad executed a takedown inside the first round and maintained top position for more than four minutes, opening a cut near the Welshman’s eye with ground-and-pound. However, Marshman stayed upright in the second and hunted for weaknesses in the Swedish grappler’s defenses. An overhand right dazed Cedenblad, put him in shaky footing and left him susceptible to subsequent attacks. Marshman later dropped him with a three-punch volley, pushed him to the ground after he stood and cut loose with punches to force the stoppage and book his seventh straight win.

Seven other underdogs were victorious as part of the UFC twin bill. Former Bellator MMA champion Alexander Volkov (+127) took a split decision from Timothy Johnson (-150) in a three-round heavyweight battle; onetime Resurrection Fighting Alliance titleholder Pedro Munhoz (+130) submitted Justin Scoggins (-150) with a guillotine choke in the second round of their bantamweight pairing; SBG Ireland mainstay Artem Lobov (+225) captured a unanimous verdict over Teruto Ishihara (-270) in a 15-minute clash at 145 pounds; Darren Stewart (+131) delivered an accidental head butt and then cut down Nova Uniao rep Francimar Barroso (-156) with punches in the first round of their light heavyweight encounter; “The Ultimate Fighter 23” finalist Amanda Bobby Cooper (+120) claimed a unanimous decision against Anna Elmose (-140) in a three-round women’s strawweight matchup; MMA Masters standout Cezar Ferreira (+106) submitted Jack Hermansson (-130) with an arm-triangle choke in the second round of their middleweight tilt; and former Absolute Championship Berkut titleholder Gadzhimurad Antigulov tapped Marcos Rogerio de Lima with a guillotine in the first round of their showdown at 205 pounds.