This is the UFC 173 undercard live blog for the UFC 173 event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
There will be seven fights on the UFC 173 undercard. Michael Chiesa vs. Francisco Trinaldo, Tony Ferguson vs. Katsunori Kikuno, Chris Holdsworth vs. Chico Camus, Al Iaquinta vs. Mitch Clarke, Anthony Njokuani vs. Vinc Pichel, Sam Sicilia vs. Aaron Phillips. and
David Michaud vs. Li JingLiang will be featured on the prelims.
Check out the UFC 173 undercard live blog below.
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David Michaud vs. Li JingLiang
Round 1: Mark Smith is the ref. Michaud comes forward right off. They have quick exchange, and Michaud caught him with a couple of punches. Leg kick from JingLiang just as Michaud counters with a short pinch to the chin. They are swinging pretty good in the middle, right now Michaud landing the better shots, but it’s his face showing the strain (swelling). Again a good exchange, and JingLiang slams home a nice right. Wow, both guys standing in the pocket and swinging, both landing shots. Brave moment for both. Now JingLiang goes for a takedown, and gets it momentarily. Michaud gets back to his feet, but he has Li on his back. They roll along fence, and Li loses it. Back to center. Good right hand from JingLiang, and he gets it with an uppercut counter. Another takedown attempt from JingLiang, this time nothing doing, and he relents, rolls back out. Now JingLiang comes in for a takedown, and instead gets blasted and slammed down himself by Michaud. That roused the crowd. Can’t hold Li there, and is reversed. Now Michaud on back, and JingLiang stands, looks for opening. Upkicks coming in from Michaud, and JingLiang finally jumps into his guard. Michaud flirts with armbar, but couldn’t get it. Michaud limps back to corner as round ends. MMA Fighting scores R1 for Li, 10-9
Round 2: We’ll see if Michaud’s leg is okay. He lands a nice knee to the body, and here Michaud tries to take Li down. Can’t. They come together and swing in each other’s wheelhouses, and Li took the worst of it. Nice jab from Li, and another. He’s snapping them off right down the boulevard, and Michaud isn’t picking them up. Michaud presses in to fence, but with nothing there he peels off and eats a couple of punches on the retreat. Good kick to body from Michaud. Li is sticking and moving right now, gets in quick with a couple of combos. Jab, and then an exchange as Michaud fires back. Michaud is the aggressor in most situations, but he’s been eating counters. The angles Li is taking have been good. Isolated shots here at center, Li with a leg kick and then over top with a left. Michaud clinches, and takes Li to fence, looking to trip Li to canvas. After some toil and set-up, he drags Li to the canvas, and he quickly goes for Michaud’s back, and as he goes about that Michaud reverses, and now he has Li’s back! Wow. Half a minute to go, and he’s trying to sink the rear naked. Li grabs his wrists and clings to his arms close to his chest. Looks like he’ll survive the round. MMA Fighting scores R2 for Michaud, 10-9 (19-19 overall)
Round 3: Michaud to center, and he gets his knee kicked as he comes in. Jab by Li. Good combination as Michaud comes in from Li, and he landed an uppercut flush in the heat of it. Michaud still ties him up and pushed to the fence. Can’t get it, at least initially, but as they go to center he does. Working from Li’s guard. Elbows from the top, and that opens a cut on Li’s head just above the eye. Now Michaud is posturing and teeing off, with hammerfists. Li looking to get a switch, but they cancel each other out. Michaud maintains the dominant position. Li gets up after gradual escape, and he then takes Michaud down! Now Li in half guard, and he’s landing punches of his own. Nice set of left hands, as Michaud looks tired. He tries to get up, but Li stays on him, stretching him out. Ref asks for more work. And just then, Michaud able to nearly reverse, and he snatches Li’s neck. Goes for a choke, and for a tense moment looks like he has it, but he doesn’t. Slips out. And Li is on top still, landing shots. He stands up one last time as Michaud is on his back, but the round ends before he jumps back into guard. MMA Fighting scores R3, 10-9 (29-28)
UFC 173 official results: Li Jingliang def. David Michaud via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
Sam Sicilia vs. Aaron Phillips
Round 1: Jason Herzog the referee. Arianny blows her kiss, and here we go. Phillips with a wide stands takes center, and keeps range — might be a good idea, given Sicilia’s power. Sicilia comes in and wings a couple of punches, but Phillips gets out of the way. He comes in again, and momentarily gets him to the fence and in a clinch. They exchange, and Sicilia lands a nice shot that makes Phillips smile. Phillips lands a couple of very nice body kicks that may have done some damage to Sicilia, as he slightly crouches. Sicilia comes in, ties up Phillips on fence, and dirty boxes before taking him down. Half guard, and posturing up, he drops an elbow in on Phillips. He is throwing some big shots on the ground. Phillips ate them gamely, and now he scrambles back up to his feet. Sicilia smothers him on fence, and goes for the same thing again, but this time they break and roll out to center. High kick from Phillips lands. He’s still smiling, enjoying himself capitally. Now it’s Phillips moving forward, and Sicilia is forces to answer with counters. Knee to the body from Phillips, who is brutalizing Sicilia there, and he goes for a guillotine — can’t get it. Now Sicilia is back on top, and raining punches down. He buries his head into Phillips’ chest, and wails away. As he comes up, he gets caught with an upkick, but he ends up back in the guard as the round ends. MMA Fighting socrs R1 for Phillips, 10-9
Round 2: Sicilia to center. Phillips wide and light on his feet, ready to spring that leg for a kick. But Sicilia lands a nice left hand, and now he jumps in to Phillps’ guard. Two nice right hands, and he’s trying to posture. He’s staying busy with there with punches. Sicilia continues to swim through and throw punches, and Phillips goes for armbar and ends up reversing. Nice! Now he has Sicilia scrambling, but Sicilia able to reverse. Back and forth. Now Sicilia going for the rear naked choke, can’t get it. They toil. Phillips able to get back on top, and now he has Sicilia’s back for the briefest moment. Sicilia reverses again and is in guard, landing shots. He had side control for a moment, and he gets a neck crank, ugly looking angle, but can’t get the tap. Sicilia in the brawl mentality now. He’s throwing punches in the guard, and that’s how the round ends. MMA Fighting scores R2 for Sicilia, 10-9 (19-19 overall)
Round 3: Sicilia moving forward, and Phillips wheels around the cage. Phillips gets tossed down pretty easily by Sicilia, and immediately Sicilia goes into side control. Phillips looks very tired. Sicilia can’t advance, and ends up back in guard. But he postures and starts bringing heat — punches and hammerfists. He’s landing the right. He passes the guard, and once again into side control. Short elbows into Phillips’ chin. He keeps dropping them as he keeps the suffocation. Now Sicilia stands up and lands a series of body punches to the prone Phillips before jumping back on top of him. Into side control, and then back to guard. There is a repetitiveness to these sequences. But it’s all Sicilia at this point, and he is keeping the pressure on Phillips, and staying on top. More elbows from Sicilia. Finally Phillips able to stand at a minute to go, but that lasts about a second as Sicilia dumps him back down. Phillips is exhausted, can’t get anything going. At the very end, as Sicilia goes for takedown, Phillips grabs his beck for a guillotine attempt…he has it pretty tight, but with the slipperiness of Sicilia’s head, it pops out. Fight ends with Sicilia in familiar position on top, throwing punches. MMA Fighting scores R3 for Sicilia, 10-9 (29-28 overall to Sicilia)
UFC 173 offiial results: Sam Sicilia def. Aaron Phillips via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Anthony Njokuani vs. Vinc Pichel
Round 1: Mark Smith is the third man. Pichel is quick to center. Nice combo from Njokuani, who comes in with a left-right-head kick combo, but he gets poked in the eye as he does. And now we have a break in action to check on his eye. Referee conferring with him. After a few moments, he’s ready to go. Back in there. Leg kick from Pichel, and Njokuani is wheeling around. His movement is deft, as he changes levels, but Pichel comes in quick and tries for a takedown along fence. It takes a moment, but he spins him off the cage and slams Njokuani down in the center. Njokuani able to scoot himself to the cage, and sit up along fence. Pichel keeps the double-leg intact. Njokuani able to get up, but Pichel stays on him. Smart play here from Pichel to keep explosive Njokuani wrangled, but the ref has seen enough and separates them. Immediately, though, Pichel moves back in and nullifies. On fence, he toils there for takedown, and ohhh…groin shot to Njokuani. A bad knee. Now we have a break again. Referee tells Njokuani he has five minutes to recover. They are back though within a minute. Pichel is bringing it right now, throwing kicks and trying to land a shot — and he does to the top of Njokuani’s head. Push kick from Njokuani lands, and Pichel comes in and clinches, shoving Njokuani into the fence. Njokuani makes a complaint to referee, but Pichel is landing knees in clinch, and landing short punches to the kidney area. They separate and roll to center. Left hook from Njokuani. Round ends. MMA Fighting scores R1 for Pichel, 10-9
Round 2: Bad round there for Njokuani, who was poked in the eye and kicked in the groin. But he’s back out for second, and Pichel eats a shot to the body (kick). Superman punch from Pichel, and he flails wildly on the heels of it. Nice counter right uppercut from Njokuani that time as Pichel tries an overhand. At distance, Njokuani looks comfortable and dangerous, but Pichel smart enough to cancel that out. And he does so again, shooting in and grabbing him on fence. Knees to body, and he takes him down. Big shots from Pichel with the right hand. Njokuani is in trouble. Pichel bringing the fight to him. Lands another, and as Njokuani gets up, slams him down again. Njokuani able to get up on fence, but immediately Pichel grabs his legs and literally drags him by the legs to the center, where he lays him back down. All Pichel here. Big knees from Pichel. Nice set of left hands from Pichel while down, those hurt, but Njokuani able to stand once again. Immediately he is fending off a takedown, and this time they break. But not a second later Pichel comes in and takes Njokuani down again. Wow. Fifth time in this fight so far. This time he advances right into mount. Njokuani spins, but now Pichel has his back. Njokuani spins again, gets to his knees, and back up. He has no room, though, and Pichel, who is always on him, dumps him back down again. He sits up and lands some big shots into back mount, and the round ends there. MMA Fighting scores R2 for Pichel, 10-9 (20-18 overall)
Round 3: Pichel ducks in and goes for Njokuani’s legs, and Njokuani able to land a couple of punches as they come together. Pichel with a leg kick. Jab by Njokuani. If he could keep that distance, he might get something going, but he looks fatigued. They are both slower. High kick from Pichel. Njokuani comes forward, throwing a high-low combo, but not a lot of zip behind them. Another jab by Njokuani, and there it is, Pichel with a takedown. Njokuani is gulping air, and Pichel keeping pressure on him. With his back, he slams Njokuani back down and advances to back mount almost instantaneously. But, once again, he can’t do anything with it, and Njokuani stands back up. Pichel stays on his back, though, and lands a series of big knees to his thighs, setting up yet another takedown. Njokuani is on his back. Pichel doing work, and he momentarily grabs Njokuani’s back, but Njokuani rolls. Pichel, ever-persistent, back into mount, and he’s landing little punches to the ribcage. They sit along fence at the end, Pichel still with Njokuani’s back. They stand, and Pichel tries for one last takedown, but the round ends. MMA Fighting scores R3 for Pichel, 10-9 (30-27 overall)
UFC 173 official results: Vinc Pichel def. Anthony Njokuani via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Al Iaquinta vs. Mitch Clarke
Round 1: Jason Herzog the referee. Clarke to center, and he tries to size up Iaquinta with a couple of jabs. Clarke changing levels early, going high and low. Iaquinta lowers a big right hand on him that sent Clarke reeling, and he’s on his back. Immediately the wrestler Iaquinta moves in, and has Clarke’s arm pinned behind his back. Half guard by Clarke, and he is landing sharp elbows from his back. Staying busy. Meanwhile Iaquinta trying to free his leg to gain side control, so far nothing doing. As Iaquinta opens up for a sally of attack, Clarke recovers full guard, but Iaquinta has space and is landing shots. He has the right hand coming in steadily; he sits up and drops a big right hand on him. Clarke, not liking that, ties him up and grabs him close. Herzog pleading for more work from Iaquinta, who is slowly bursting through the limbs of Clarke. He sits up and drops a couple of big shots, before going back into the guard. Scramble there, and Clarke able to stand up, via his own single-leg attempt as he does. Iaquinta quickly snatches him back up and dumps him on canvas. All Iaquinta in that round, as it ends with him dropping his left hand into Clarke’s grill from a sitting position. MMA Fighting scores R1 for Iaquinta, 10-9
Round 2: Iaquinta looks comfortable. Clarke, though, initiates action to get second rolling. He gets Iaquinta on his heels for a moment, but Iaquinta able to end up back on top. But whoa, now Clarke, using his legs on fence and rolling as Iaquinta tries to pass guard, grabs the D’arce, and he has it tight! There’s the tap. That was a beautiful sequence. Iaquinta was out. Wow!
UFC 173 official results: Mitch Clarke def. Al Iaquinta via submission (D’arce choke) at :57 or R2
Chris Holdsworth vs. Chico Camus
Round 1: Mark Smith is the ref for this bantamweight fight. Holdsworth the much taller man. Camus with a quick right hand. Camus is standing ground the center, and Holdsworth circling. Holdsworth keeping range. Wow, a wild exchange ends with a left hand from Holdsworth landing and staggering Camus. He was momentarily stung there. But he’s back up. Caught him off guard. Now Holdsworth comes in, throws a punch en-route to the clinch, but Camus slips out. Another clinch effort from Holdsworth, and he moves Camus to the fence trying to take him down. And after they rotate along, he gets that takedown — exactly where the jiu-jitsu blackbelt Holdsworth wants to be. He advances into mount immediately, dropping short punches. Camus bucks, but can’t shake Holdsworth. He does it again, and gets to half-guard. Holdsworth able to get some space on the side, and unloads with his right hand. Good sequence there. From midpoint on in that first round, it was all Holdsworth, who kept Camus on the floor. MMA Fighting scores R1 for Holdsworth, 10-9
Round 2: Flying knee from Holdsworth after brief exchange; he’s using his range well. Camus trying to advance forward, looking to set up a jab-to-overhand combo. Camus moves in, and as he does Holdsworth finds a natural clinch and tries to knee his chin. Holdsworth has Camus on fence, and he turns, takes him down. Back into his realm. Once again, Holdsworth goes right into mount and is fishing for an arm triangle. He leaps to his side, and as he does Camus able to scramble up. Not for long, as Holdsworth takes him right back down. Again, he advances to mount with the greatest ease. He’s landing shots from that position, rangy strikes to the ears. Camus doing a good job staying out of the bigger trouble, but Holdsworth is relentless. Camus cannot do anything. Holdsworth working to get the arm, but Camus doing just enough. Now he has Camus back, and he is landing shots, getting the body lock. Trying to get the rear naked choke. Camus is crafty enough to roll, and keep the danger at bay, but he is eating punches he can’t see from the man on his back. MMA Fighting scores R2 for Holdsworth, 10-9 (20-18 overall)
Round 3: Big looping right hand from Camus, but it whizzes by the target. Camus having a hard time with Holdsworth’s length. Camus lands a nice shot there though, and then another. Those hurt. But Holdsworth is nonplussed; he’s still moving forward. He waits for Camus to throw there, and shoots in for a takedown. He’s in guard, and he steps over into half-guard. He pries himself out and into side control. Holdsworth postures up and lands a big punch down, eating a backfist from Camus en-route. Camus scoots his back to fence, and is trying to get up. Holdsworth has his legs tied up, and now transitions to his back. Nothing Camus can do to shake the lank Holdsworth who is setting up a rear naked choke attempt. He has the body lock, but can’t weave his arms through. Camus trying to roll. As he does, Holdsworth ends up back in mount on top, and he’s trying for an arm triangle. Camus defends it, and Holdsworth continues the assault. He ends in side control, just blasting away at Camus. MMA Fighting scores R3 for Holdsworth, 10-9 (30-27 overall)
UFC 173 official results: Chris Holdsworth def. Chico Camus via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Tony Ferguson vs. Katsunori Kikuno
Round 1: Kikuno out in very unorthodox stance, and Ferguson moves in. Ferguson eating punches right off, getting punished for early aggression. They exchange again, and that time Ferguson got better of it. Good kick from Ferguson, and now a beautiful punch that backs him up. Ferguson moving forward, lunging forward throwing bombs, and he lands a couple as they crash in the fence. Kikuno is hurt. Kikuno is hurt. Kikuno with his arms down at his side, bleeding out of his nose. Ferguson pushes him to the fence, and tries to throw inside, but they separate. Ferguson landing range shots, strafing from distance and Kikuno has nothing for it. He eats a small succession of those, and now Ferguson dumps him to the ground. They are rolling, and Ferguson tries to peel off his arm for an armbar, and gives it up for the D’arce. He locks it in, and walks his feet on wall for leverage, but can’t get it. Back to the feet. Boom! Ferguson lands a huge right hand right to the black spot, and Kikuno goes straight backwards. It’s over. Yves Lavigne comes in and waves the fight off.
UFC 173 official results: Tony Ferguson def. Katsunori Kikuno via TKO (punches) at 4:06 of R1
Michael Chiesa vs. Francisco Trinaldo
Round 1: Herb Dean is the ref. Chiesa in southpaw stance, bounces to center. They are doing the patty-cake that happens when a righty goes against a lefty. Neither eager to pull the trigger. Trinaldo stoops low and comes in, and Chiesa tries to time out a flying knee. Nothing there, but Chiesa tries for takedown. Gets it for a second, but they bounce back up and Chiesa takes a huge knee to the body from Trinaldo. That hurt him, as he retreats. Another shot from Trinaldo. Chiesa seems like he’s alright, though, as he shoots in for a double, and down they go along fence. He has his right arm trapped under him, and Chiesa is landing big right hands the whole time, a mile of open real estate to his chin. Trinaldo able to get his arm unpinned, but now he’s eating elbows as Chiesa moves into full mount. Chiesa is postured and just throwing bombs on the flailing Trinaldo. Huge, rangy elbows coming own, and they are coming own furiously. Some are hitting forearms, but some are getting through. This is a an assault by Chiesa here. He looks at the clock, and then begins dropping more on Trinaldo. Looks like Trinaldo is going to survive the round, but that was pretty one-sided for Chiesa. MMA Fighting scores R1 for Chiesa, 10-9.
Round 2: As Chiesa ducks in for a takedown, Trinaldo lands a nice left hand. Trinaldo with a knee to Chiesa’s body. He tries for a huge uppercut, but whiffs. Now Trinaldo goes for a guillotine, drops to the ground and squeezes. It looks tight for a minute, but Chiesa adjusts and pops out. Elbows from the bottom from Trinaldo, but Cheisa is posturing up and trying to swing into mount. Trinaldo now rolls and threatens for kneebar, and Chiesa transitioning into heel hook. They both lose it, and Trinaldo is back on bottom, with Chiesa in side control. Chiesa looks up, and then drops some elbows at an acute angle on Trinaldo’s forehead. They are coming in a series now, as Trinaldo’s arms are pinned. They move around, and Chiesa keeping Trinaldo in a helpless position off his back. Chiesa dominating this round towards its end like he did the first. MMA Fighting scores R2 for Chiesa, 10-9 (20-18 overall)
Round 3: Trinaldo’s corner told him he needed a finish, which is absolutely right. It could be 20-17, as the first round was completely one-sided. Trinaldo moves in with an overhand, but comes up bunk. They clinch, and Trinaldo throws a knee into Chiesa’s midsection, but it hits the groin. Quick break in action to check on Chiesa, who says he’s okay (not wanting Trinaldo to recover his strength). Back at it. Chiesa circles, trying to throw from range, and gets blitzed with a counter that crashes home. Didn’t hurt Chiesa, who dances around and lands another jab. Now he takes Trinaldo back down, and here we go again. This time he’s in Trinaldo’s guard, but he is already leaning his elbows into Trinaldo’s chest and posturing up. Small punches to the side, but he’s finding room in the full-guard to connect. Whenever they’ve been in this position, it’s been all Chiesa, who is dominating this fight. More elbows from Chiesa. But wait, Trinaldo rolls and goes for an arm bar! Chiesa is defending, defending…and he’s out. That was some drama for a moment there, and the crowd roared back to life. Chiesa is right back into his impaling, but he’s not overly concerned with going for a finish here. This one’s going to end, and it was all Chiesa. MMA Fighting scores R3 for Chiesa, 10-9 (30-27 for Chiesa overall)
UFC 173 official results: Michael Chiesa def. Francisco Trinadlo via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)