UFC 236 results and highlights: Muhammad decisions Millender, Davis subs Costa

Check out the results and highlights from the UFC 236 Fight Pass prelims, including Belal Muhammad picking up a decision win over Curtis Millender.

The UFC 236 card is underway and the Fight Pass portion of the prelims just wrapped up with Belal Muhammad earning the unanimous nod over Curtis Millender. Muhammad leaned on his wrestling, putting Millender on his back and out of his comfort zone to secure the win. Millender has now dropped back to back fights, while Muhammad has won five of his last six. Before that, Montel Jackson earned a unanimous decision win over Andre Soukhamthath. Jackson and his unusually large hands are now the owner of back to back wins in the UFC. Also on the Fight Pass prelims, Poliana Botelho picked up a unanimous decision over Lauren Mueller to move to 3-1 in her UFC career. Opening up the event, Brandon Davis overcame being stung several times to realize a second round submission of Randy Costa. Davis made good on his bantamweight debut and moved himself back into the win column.

**See the complete results below.

Fight Pass prelims:

Belal Muhammad def. Curtis Millender by unanimous decision (29-27 x2, 30-26): Welterweight

The welterweights got to work right away, firing combos back and forth. Millender fought long, cutting Muhammad around the eye as he tried to work his way on the inside. Muhammad clinched up with his foe up against the cage, but Millender did a great job of remaining vertical. Several hard punches scored for Millender before the bell sounded, putting an exclamation point on the round.

Muhammad closed the distance right away to open up the second act, pressing Millender up agains the fence. Back in open space, Muhammad found a takedown with plenty of time on the clock. Muhammad stayed busy with short shots, remaining in control from the top for the remainder of the round. Millender stuffed the initial takedown attempt from Muhammad to stay on his feet. Muhammad began to press forward behind his punches, and eventually pulled off a takedown. Muhammad controlled his foe on the ground for pretty much the rest of the round.

Montel Jackson def. Andre Soukhamthath by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 29-27): Bantamweight

The bantamweights stood in front of one another right away, methodically exchanging technique for technique. Jackson was the one coming forward. After connecting with the hands, Jackson clinched up and snagged a short-lived takedown. Jackson scored another takedown to finish up the opening round on top.

Soukhamthath attacked the legs of his opponent early in the second round. Jackson began to score as Soukhamthath struggled a bit with his length. Jackson started throwing haymakers like crazy, chasing down Soukhamthath all over the Octagon! Soukhamthath held on and weathered the storm, but ended up getting taken down. Soukhamthath did not return to his feet until the round ended.

An accidental groin strike put Soukhamthath on the canvas just as the final round got underway. The bout resumed, and Soukhamthath flipped the script and scored a takedown, but Jackson used the momentum to roll and sweep right into the full mount. The ground game continued to be dominated by Jackson as Soukhamthath was unable to get up off of his back.

Poliana Botelho def. Lauren Mueller by unanimous decision (29-28 x3): Strawweight

Mueller took the center of the Octagon to kick off the action. Botelho landed a clean body kick to the liver that visibly hurt Mueller. She used the moment to clinch Mueller up against the cage where she scored a takedown. Mueller got back to her feet, but didn’t returned to open space until the bell sounded. Mueller started the second round aggressively, but a couple of leg kicks from Botelho slowed down that pressure. A grueling clinch war ensued with a lot of jockeying for position, until Botelho pulled off a takedown. Back on the feet, more clinching against the cage went on until the referee broke them apart.

Mueller pressured again in the final round, but ended up back in the clinch. When the fight did return to open space, it didn’t take very long for it to go back into the clinching realm. The referee broke the fighters up, and that’s when Mueller came alive and started pouring it on. Botelho fell over as she threw a kick, resulting in Mueller taking top position to wind down the clock.

Brandon Davis def. Randy Costa by submission (RNC) at 1:12 of round 2: Bantamweight

Costa wobbled Davis right out of the gate. It didn’t take very long for Davis to recover and start returning fire. Costa threw another powerful flurry but Davis ate it without issue. Davis began to score with his combos, catching Costa coming forward. Costa seemed to be wobbled, and Joe Rogan was stating that he believed wit was because Costa’s leg was compromised. Costa again stung his foe right out of the gate. Davis again recovered quickly, but this returned a flurry that hurt Costa. Davis stuffed a desperation takedown, took the back, and found the choke.