Yves Jabouin got everything but the finish on Tuesday night.
The Montreal-based fighter dominated his bantamweight bout against Jeff Hougland at UFC on Fuel TV 3 in Fairfax, Va., earning a unanimous decision on scores of 30-27, 30-26 and 30-27.
Round 1 was a one-sided affair. It looked to be finished when Jabouin connected with a spinning back kick to the midsection, which dropped Hougland. After initially hesitating, Jabouin began raining down punches and the fight appeared over, but referee Tom McGovern chose not to stop the bout as time ran out.
The next round was the only one in which Jabouin didn’t come close to finishing. But in round three, Jabouin nailed Hougland with a big left hand early and swarmed him. McGovern again chose to let the fighters keep fighting. To Hougland’s credit, he was game and toughed it out until the final bell.
Jabouin (18-7), who won for the fourth time in his past five UFC/WEC fights, said he wasn’t surprised Hougland survived the big first-round kick.
“Not really,” said Jabouin, who was cornered for his fight by UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre. “Once that back kick sinks in, not a lot of guys can withstand it. He took it like a man, my hat’s off to him.”
Hougland dropped to 10-5, ending a nine-fight win streak.