Kicking off the UFC 248 main card is a welterweight bout between Alex Oliveira and Max Griffin.
Round 1: Griffin opens with a right that misses. He is clearly the aggressor early on. Oliveira lands a right of his own. They clinch up against the fence. They separate and return to striking. Griffin lands a big strike that seems to have hurt Oliveira. They clinch before Griffin trips him and is on top. Griffin lands strikes but doesn’t do anything effective as Oliveira eventually gets up. Griffin still has his back and takes him down. Oliveira reverses with a partial kimura before they scramble up. The round comes to an end.
Round 2: Griffin opens with a jab. Oliveira responds with a body kick followed by two leg kicks. Griffin is bleeding from his face but appears fine as he lands a stinging jab. Griffin clinches and tries to take Oliveira down but the latter reverses and is now going for his own takedown. Griffin is bleeding a lot more and the fight is temporarily stopped. It appears it was a result of an uppercut from Oliveira. The fight continues. Oliveira lands a leg kick. Oliveira continues to land leg kicks and follows it up with a right hand. The two start to exchange more. Griffin looks for a takedown but Oliveira defends and reverses him onto the cage. He attempts a spinning elbow on Griffin. Oliveira defends another takedown attempt and has Griffin clinched up against the fence. Oliveira is looking for a takedown. Griffin defends it and they separate. Oliveira is landing some big kicks to the body. Oliveira attempts a takedown but it’s defended by Griffin as the round ends.
Round 3: The duo return to striking before they clinch up again. Griffin attempts a takedown as Oliveira lands a couple of elbows to his head. They separate and Oliveira takes him down and has Griffin mounted. Griffin does well to get out of it but Oliveira still has the half guard position. Griffin is struggling with the blood pouring into his eyes. Oliveira gets the mount and lands strikes. Griffin tries to scramble and reverses the position and is now on top. He’s not landing many strikes but remains on top. The fight comes to an end.
Official result: Alex Oliveira defeats Max Griffin via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).