Joe Pyfer (16-3 MMA) sent former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya (24-6 MMA) back to the drawing board in Saturday night’s UFC Fight Night headliner in Seattle, stopping Adesanya at 4:18 of the second round to cap the night.

Before the TKO finish, both fighters exchanged their best punches in a stand-up battle until a Pyfer takedown signaled the beginning of the end.

“I just have this mentality where I don’t care, I’m going to search and destroy,” Pyfer said following the stoppage, securing the finish in top control.

Adesanya, fighting out of New Zealand, hasn’t won a bout since regaining middleweight gold in April 2023 at UFC 287, and confirmed he has no plans to retire.

“I’m just going to keep going and going and going,” Adesanya said.

A rematch five years in the making commenced at flyweight as former champion Alexa Grasso made short work of Maycee Barber with a TKO stoppage at 2:42 of the opening round. The Mexican used a left hook to down Barber before jumping on top of her immediately as the referee stepped in.

The two first met in Feb. 2021, with Grasso earning a decision. Grasso (17-5-1 MMA) snapped a two-fight losing skid, whereas Barber (15-3 MMA) had not lost since the first meeting with Grasso, having won her previous seven fights.

In his final MMA fight, welterweight Michael Chiesa (20-7 MMA) had a hometown send-off as he submitted Niko Price (16-11 MMA) with a first-round rear-naked choke. Chiesa needed just 63 seconds to put a bow on his UFC career, one that spanned a decade-plus and included winning the 15th season of The Ultimate Fighter in June 2012.

Chiesa ended his UFC career at 15-7, while Price, who has been in the promotion for over a decade himself, now sits at 8-11, with two no contests in the Octagon and has dropped four straight fights.

The finishes were a theme on the night, as featherweight Lerryan Douglas (14-5 MMA) of Brazil needed 3:33 of the opening round to deliver a devastating TKO against Julian Erosa (31-13 MMA). Douglas has now won his last six in a row while Erosa continues to struggle at 9-9 in the UFC.

At middleweight, Yousri Belgaroui of the Netherlands scored a third-round TKO stoppage against Mansur Abdul-Malik by landing a perfectly timed knee to end the fight in a back-and-forth battle. Belgaroui (10-3 MMA) has won five straight and remains undefeated in the UFC. Conversely, it was Abdul-Malik’s (9-1-1 MMA) first professional loss, as he had won seven of his 11 outings by KO/TKO.

The main card got underway in emphatic fashion in the opener, with lightweight Terrance McKinney needing just 24 seconds to dispatch Canadian Kyle Nelson with a series of punches following a head kick. McKinney (18-8 MMA) has won three of his last four, while Nelson (17-7-1 MMA) has lost two of his last three.

–Field Level Media

Alexander Kerfoot and Logan Cooley each scored twice as the visiting Utah Mammoth thumped the Los Angeles Kings 6-2 on Saturday night.

With the win, Utah (38-30-6, 82 points), currently in the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference, holds a five-point lead over the Nashville Predators, owners of the second wild-card position.

Los Angeles (29-25-18, 76 points) remains on the outside looking in, a point back of Nashville in the wild-card race.

Nick Schmaltz and Jack McBain also scored for Utah, while Mikhail Sergachev had four assists and Clayton Keller chipped in a pair of helpers for the Mammoth, who won for just the second time in five games (2-3-0).

Karel Vejmelka made 29 saves for Utah.

Adrian Kempe had a goal and an assist, and Anze Kopitar also scored for the Kings, who have dropped five of six (1-2-3).

Darcy Kuemper stopped 11 shots through two periods and was replaced by Anton Forsberg to start the third. Forsberg made 11 saves.

The Mammoth outshot the Kings 12-9 in the first period and led 3-1 after 20 minutes.

Utah opened the scoring 2:31 into the period as Kerfoot redirected a John Marino cross-ice feed past Kuemper.

Cooley doubled the Mammoth lead at 16:33, beating out the icing call and snapping a shot five-hole past Kuemper.

Los Angeles cut the lead in half 1:18 later as Kopitar tipped a Kempe shot from the point past Vejmelka.

Utah restored the two-goal lead on the power play at 19:51 as Cooley dangled around Mikey Anderson and snapped a shot high blocker-side past Kuemper.

The Mammoth took a 4-1 lead at 12:37 of the middle frame as Kerfoot showed patience, outwaited Kuemper, and put a shot over the shoulder of the Kings’ goaltender. Kerfoot has points in four straight games (three goals, two assists).

Schmaltz made it 5-1 at 16:17 of the second on a power play, taking a Keller pass, skate-to-stick and snapping a shot past Kuemper.

Kempe pulled the Kings to 5-2, putting a shot past a screened Vejmelka at 4:34 of the third.

McBain added an empty-netter at 13:53.

–Field Level Media

Will Smith hit a go-ahead two-run home run in the eighth inning as the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers posted a three-game, season-opening sweep with a 3-2 victory over the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday.

Freddie Freeman had three hits, including an RBI double, starter Tyler Glasnow went six strong innings and new Dodgers closer Edwin Diaz picked up his second save in two nights.

Smith’s second home run of the season came one batter after Mookie Betts worked a two-out walk in the eighth against Juan Morillo (0-1). Smith lined a 2-2 fastball over the wall in center for the lead on a night when all fans in attendance received a bobblehead representing his go-ahead home run in the 11th inning of Game 7 in last season’s World Series.

Corbin Carroll had a hit, an RBI and a run scored and Venezuela’s World Baseball Classic hero Eduardo Rodriguez gave up an unearned run over five-plus innings in a no-decision for the Diamondbacks. Rodriguez held Team USA scoreless over 4 1/3 innings in Venezuela’s WBC title-game victory earlier this month.

For the third consecutive game, the Diamondbacks took an early 2-0 lead. Carroll beat out an infield single in the first inning, on a play that was overruled to a hit on replay. Carroll went to second on a Geraldo Perdomo groundout and scored on a single by Pavin Smith.

Arizona added a second run in the third when Jorge Barrosa doubled, went to third on a Ketel Marte groundout and scored on a Carroll sacrifice fly.

The Diamondbacks also led 2-0 in the season opener against the Dodgers on Thursday and 2-0 in the third inning of Friday’s game.

Rodriguez was removed by Arizona manager Torey Lovullo after Kyle Tucker reached base on an error by first baseman Carlos Santana to lead off the sixth. Tucker stole second base with one out and scored on a two-out Freeman double against right-hander Jonathan Loaisiga.

Alex Vesia pitched a scoreless seventh for the Dodgers before Will Klein (1-0) tossed a scoreless eighth. Diaz entered in the ninth to his regular greeting of trumpets and ended the game on a perfect ninth inning.

–Field Level Media