Kelvin Gastelum didn’t see it coming. Neither did the UFC’s commentary team of Michael Bisping and Paul Felder. But Jack Hermansson (21-5) had promised to bring something spectacular to Fight Island 2 on Sunday. And there it was, a heel hook from the Swedish middleweight that had Gastelum (15-5, one no contest) tapping at 1:18 of the first round, and had those commentary boys shaking their heads. “I believed that he would disengage and stand up, actually,” said the 32-year-old in his post-fight interview with Felder. “So I tried to be aggressive from the bottom. I’m not so much on my back in my fights, almost never, so people don’t know how dangerous of a game I have from there. Now they have a clue, they don’t know everything.” There were two kicks thrown – both by “The Joker” – before he took hold of Gastelum, took him to the canvas, and went to work. He was on the bottom, he saw the leg, and he made his move. Game over. “Every time I step in there it’s so much pressure,” Hermansson said. “Everything I do in my life is working to this goal – to become the best in the world. And when you get the victory there is no feeling like it. I love it, man.” Ranked sixth coming into Abu Dhabi, Hermansson can now watch next week’s match-up between former middleweight champ Robert Whittaker (21-5), ranked one, and the fifth-ranked Darren Till (18-2-1) with even more interest. Figueiredo destroys Benavidez to claim UFC flyweight belt Given news overnight that reigning champ Israel Adesanya (19-0) and his second-ranked bête noire Paulo Costa (13-0) will clash at UFC 253 on September 19 – though UFC president Dana White denied the fight was a done deal – anything can happen ahead. The sense in his post-fight chat with Felder was that Hermansson thinks his time might soon be at hand. “I should fight the winner of that fight – between Robert Whittaker and Darren Till,” said Hermansson. “And the winner between Whittaker and Till will fight me for the next title shot.” Before Hermansson heroics, the question posed by the main card’s lightweight bout was “Can this division get any tougher?” Kyrgyzstani Rafael Fiziev (8-1) thinks it can – and will. The 27-year-old went to work on Englishman Marc Diakiese (14-4) – with his array of body kicks sounding out through the near-empty arena. They just kept cracking away as Fiziev took the unanimous decision (30-27, 29-27, 29-7) and sounded out a warning to the division at the same time. Last week, as Petr Yan (15-1) took the UFC bantamweight crown, we saw what Fiziev has in his arsenal, given he’s the Russian’s striking coach when they’re together at Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket – and what a run that gym is having. Sunday it was time for Fiziev to step into the cage, and he worked Diakiese over with those kicks, and some Tiger-style elbows when the action got close. It was later declared a fitting Fight of the Night. “I got a perfect lucky kick in my first fight in the UFC,” said Fiziev, of the spinning foot from Russian Magomed Mustafaev (14-3) that caught him and finished him early back at UFC Fight Night 149 last April, spoiling the Kyrgyzstani’s debut. “But OK, I’ve already eaten this, and I am ready.” Brazil’s “Queen of Violence” Ariane Lipski (13-5) was up to her tricks with a knee bar that looked brutal, and must have felt much worse for compatriot Luana Carolina (6-2) who tapped out, and screamed, at just 1:28 of the first in their flyweight clash. “I wanted the KO but I am very confident of my jiu-jitsu,” said Lipski afterwards. “She was trying to take my neck but I was thinking, ‘Ok, maybe I have trained for this position before’. Then I pushed her leg and I knew it was working. I love to work. I love to fight and entertain people at home. I have much more to show.” She asked UFC boss Dana White for a bonus – and he later delivered with a Performance of the Night payday. While the main event decided who is now the reigning flyweight king, the main card opened with a relentless display of the grappling arts from the seventh-ranked Russian Askar Askarov (12-0-1) – the man, perhaps, who would be king. There was only really one way this was going to go – to the ground – against fourth-ranked Brazilian Alexandre Pantoja (22-5), and they were at it from the bell, with four submission attempts in the first minute alone. But the 27-year-old Askarov just kept grinding and grinding and he took the unanimous decision (all 29-28s) – and no doubt a move up into the top-five. “I will take everyone down in my way and I will get the belt,” was Askarov’s post-fight summary. Georgian light heavyweight prospect Roman Dolidze (7-0) had earlier taken to the Octagon on debut like he was born to the big stage, chipping away at his Russian opponent Khadis Ibragimov (8-3), then closing down all chance of further conversation at 4:15 of the first with a highlight reel head-kick that actually saw his knee meet Ibragimov’s chin. Flush. The light heavyweight division is wide open and Dolidze remains unbeaten, with five first-round finishes. The 32-year-old one-time BJJ stand-out could be one to watch. Dolidze certainly thinks so. “This is my job,” he said. “And I just do it.”