Live, blow-by-blow updates for today’s UFC event in Vegas, which is headlined by a fight for the inaugural women’s flyweight title.
Join us today on Bloody Elbow for live results, discussion, round scoring and play-by-play as The Ultimate Fighter 26 Finale takes place in the Park Theater in Paradise, NV.
The headliner will crown the first women’s flyweight champion, with super-late replacement Roxanne Modafferi taking on Nicco Montano.
Live results and play-by-play will commence with the Fight Pass broadcast at 7:30pm ET/4:30pm for one fight. The event will then move to FS1 for the four-fight televised prelims at 8pm ET/5pm PT. It will stay there for the six-fight main card starting at 10pm ET/7pm PT.
The full lineup and schedule follows. Check out this week’s MMA Vivisection for predictions, analysis and betting odds on the each matchup.
Roxanne Modafferi vs. Nicco Montano
Round 1 – Montano with a leg kick. She lands a jab followed by a combination. Body and inside leg kick from Roxy. They trade kicks. Roxy can’t get a trip takedown. Montano gets her own takedown. Roxy briefly looked for an armbar. Montano used it to pass briefly, but Roxy regained full guard. Roxy gets up, then gets her own takedown. She’s in side. She can’t do much. 10-9 Montano.
Round 2 – Body kick from Montano. Roxy with a right that stuns Montano. She’s retreating. Roxy chases her down and they clinch up briefly. Inside leg kick from Montano. Modafferi with a right. Montano presses the action. Montano with two kicks and they trade punches. Montano lands two nice counter lefts. Body kick from Montano. They trade lefts. Roxy with pressure now, and she gets a takedown. Montano immediately secures a triangle. She lands some elbows and Roxy tries to wriggle free. The round ends first. 10-9 Montano.
Round 3 – Roxy charges in with punches. Montano applying more pressure and landing punches. Body kick from Montano. Roxy has some blood on her face. They trade rights. Body kick from Roxy. Stiff jab too. Another body kick. Inside leg kick from Montano. They trade punches in the pocket. Both are missing a lot. Counter right from Montano. Roxy with a hard right. Now Montano’s bleeding too. Jab and a big combo from Montano. Solid close. 10-9 Montano.
Round 4 – Montano with pressure. Leg kick from Montano. Montano with a left hook and another body kick. Big combo from Montano backs Roxy up. Roxy looked for a takedown but Montano got her down instead. Not for long though. Modafferi with a right halfway through the round. Roxy dragging her around with the Thai clinch but can’t land any strikes. Modafferi with two rights. She’s landing a bunch now. She went for a knee but Montano took her down. She lands some elbows to the body in half. Montano backs out of guard and Roxy stands up. 10-9 Modafferi.
Round 5 – They trade kicks. Roxy with a couple of rights. Montano with a leg kick. Roxy with a body kick. Roxy with a counter right. Montano with a big takedown. Montano moved to mount briefly and landed some elbows. Roxy gets guard back, so Montano stood up. Roxy went for a takedown but Montano ended up on top again. She moves to side. She gets to mount again but Roxy quickly escapes. Roxy with a hard combo and a body kick. She lands a knee. They scramble and Roxy looks for an armbar. But she ends up on her back. Montano taking a break in Modafferi’s full guard. Roxy throws her legs up for an armbar. She almost had it but Montano pulled her arm out. Montano lets her stand up. Roxy with a Superwoman punch. They go to the horn brawling. 10-9 and 49-46 Montano.
Nicco Montano defeated Roxanne Modafferi by unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46, 49-46)
Sean O’Malley vs. Terrion Ware
Round 1 – O’Malley with a leg kick. Two body kicks from O’Malley. Ware responds with his own. O’Malley spins. Ware clubs him with a right. Front kick from O’Malley. Ware with another right. Question mark kick from O’Malley. Straight left from O’Malley. Another. Ware with a leg kick. O’Malley with a counter left. Another hard left. Ware with a left. O’Malley hit a foot sweep that floored Ware. Ware pressuring now. Ware with a right. O’Malley looks for a late takedown. Nothing there. 10-9 O’Malley.
Round 2 – Body kick from O’Malley. They trade jabs. Big head kick from O’Malley. Uppercut. Ware with a hard right. Hard jab from O’Malley. They trade shots. Ware with three knees in a row. He’s pressuring. Nice combo from Ware. Body shot from O’Malley. O’Malley has slowed down. He’s bloodied up. Ware with two more big rights. Head kick from O’Malley but he slipped. O’Malley up and he lands a spinning back fist. They trade big shots. Good action. O’Malley with his hands down. Body shot from O’Malley. Ware slowing down now too. O’Malley goes for a flying triangle. Ware escapes. 10-9 Ware.
Round 3 – O’Malley with a couple of jabs and a spinning back kick. Ware ducks a big right. Leg kick from Ware. Hard combo from O’Malley. Ware goes to the body again. Ware with a nice right. Ware with another leg kick. Step-in side elbow from O’Malley, Anderson Silva style. They clinch up briefly. O’Malley with two lefts. He is avoiding Ware’s punches now. O’Malley spins again. Ware with a body lock. O’Malley spins around and gets a takedown. He lets Ware up and lands a huge head kick. Ware just eats it. Another takedown. He lands a clear 12-6 elbow that gets a warning. Ware up and has O’Malley’s back. O’Malley spins away and lands an elbow. He gets another takedown. 10-9 and 29-28 O’Malley.
Sean O’Malley defeated Terrion Ware by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Barb Honchak vs. Lauren Murphy
Round 1 – Honchak with a couple of jabs and a leg kick. Murphy with a left hook. Hard left again. Murphy pressuring. Hard right by Murphy. They’re exchanging in the pocket. Another stiff right from Murphy. Honchak with a right of her own. Murphy with a beauty counter right. They exchange rights. 10-9 Murphy.
Round 2 – Front kick from Honchak. Honchak with a hard right that hurt Murphy. Murphy with a right and a jab. Snap left hook from Honchak. body kick from Murphy. They’re both throwing a ton of strikes. Honchak lands hard again. Murphy with a right hook. Another right from Honchak. Murphy gets a brief takedown and looks for Honchak’s back. Honchak spins and takes top position. Murphy looking for an armbar. 10-9 Honchak, but close.
Round 3 – Jab from Honchak. Inside leg kick. Overhand right from Murphy. Murphy with a takedown. Body-body-head from Murphy. Honchak looks for an armbar. She leaned back and switched to a triangle. Now she has both! Murphy is defending well. She gives up on the triangle, and Murphy escapes. She takes Honchak’s back. She has both hooks, and now a body triangle. I’ll go 10-9 and 29-28 Honchak, but it could go either way. Good fight.
Lauren Murphy defeated Barb Honchak via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Gerald Meerschaert vs. Eric Spicely
Round 1 – A few lefts and a body kick from Meerschaert. He’s all over Spicely. Spicely shoots in and gets a taedown. He immediately takes the back and secures a body triangle. He’s looking for a choke but Meerschaert is defending. He’s trying to soften him up with punches now. He looks for an armbar but Meerschaert rolls into his guard. 10-9 Spicely.
Round 2 – Meerschaert lands two lefts to the head and one to the body. Goes to the body again. Meerschaert with a HUGE body kick and Spicely just crumples. It’s over.
Gerald Meerschaert defeated Eric Spicely via TKO (body kick), 2:18 of round 2
DeAnna Bennett vs. Melinda Fabian
Round 1 – Bennett looking for a takedown. For a long time. Few elbows from Bennett. They stayed there for three minutes before they’re finally separated. Fabian lands a right. And another. They clinch again. Bennett can’t get the takedown. She looks for a guillotine. They break and Fabian landed a huge head kick with a few seconds to go! Bennett goes down but the round is over. John McCarthy tells her to get up, and she can continue. 10-9 Fabian.
Round 2 – Two rights from Fabian. Bennett shoots in but gets stuffed. Bennett keeps at it and Fabian grabs the fence. McCarthy asks her to let go but she doesn’t, so Big John stops it and takes a point. He restarts them in the same spot. Nothing happens so McCarthy breaks them with 1:50 to go. Bennett immediately charges in and does the same thing. Ref separate. Bennett charges in for the takedown AGAIN. The crowd is booing now. At least Fabian was landing a few soft punches, so I’ll go 9-9.
Round 3 – Fabian with a left. Bennett caught a leg and marched Fabian over to the fence. They are stuck in the clinch again. McCarthy separates them. Bennett looks for the takedown again. The crowd boos again. This time Fabian actually escapes before the ref breaks them. Hard elbow from Fabian. Straight right too. Bennett with a late trip from a leg kick and she pounds away to the horn. 10-9 Bennett and I have it a 28-28 draw.
DeAnna Bennett and Melinda Fabian goes to a majority draw (29-27, 28-28, 28-28)
Round 1 – Johns with some early pressure. Soto drops for a takedown. They scramble into 50/50 and Johns grabs a leg. And he finishes the fight with a calf slicer! Holy hell that was crazy!
Brett Johns defeated Joe Soto via submission (calf slicer), :30 of round 1
Montana De La Rosa vs. Christina Marks
Round 1 – Marks lands a hard right that stuns De La Rosa. She clinches up. They’re back in the center. Marks catches a kick, lands a few punches, and takes her opponent to the floor. De La Rosa looking for an armbar. Marks tried to fight it off, but she couldn’t. De La Rosa stretches it out and Marks taps.
Montana De La Rosa defeated Christina Marks by submission (armbar), 2:00 of round 1
Round 1 – Sanchez with a right. Sanchez shoots in and gets a takedown, but only briefly. Two big punches from the TUF winner. Janes with a right. Sanchezslands two lefts and clinches. A right drops Janes. Sanchez pounds away, but Janes gets up. He’s dropped again. He’s up again. Janes is basically out of his feet. He managed to clear the cobwebs to a degree, but the fight could have been stopped. Sanchez whiffs on two shots. Another right lands. Janes with a right. Stiff jab from Sanchez. Janes goes to the body. Sanchez looks gassed. 10-8 Sanchez.
Round 2 – Sanchez with a right and a knee. Sanchez looks for a takedown but can’t get it. Janes bodies him against the cage. Sanchez spins him around. They stall out a bit. Body shot from Janes. He’s popping a tired Sanchez with jabs. Hard right from Janes, but Sanchez fires back. He gets a brief takedown. Janes gets up quick and lands a hard knee. Sanchez can barely keep his hands up. Hard left hook from Janes. Hard right from Sanchez, who looks totally exhausted. Janes with big shots. 10-9 Janes.
Round 3 – Sanchez with a right. He clinches up but eats a bevy of uppercuts in the clinch. Janes staggers his with a shot and he’s all over him. Janes gets the stoppage!
Ryan Janes defeated Andrew Sanchez by TKO (strikes), round 3
Karine Gevorgyan vs. Rachael Ostovich
Round 1 – Ostovich shoots in and gets a takedown. Gevorgyan looked for an armbar. Back on the feet. They scramble and Ostovich ends up on her back. She immediately secures an armbar and it’s over.
Rachael Ostovich defeated Karine Gevorgyan via submission (armbar), round 1
Round 1 – Beck with two hard body kicks. Dobson with a jab and two kicks of her own. Straight right and a kick from Beck. Head kick from Dobson. Inside leg kick from Dobson. Beck scores with a left in an exchange. Dobson with a head kick again. Beck clinches up and lands a knee. Dodson responds with an elbow and they break. More kicks. 10-9 Beck.
Round 2 – Leg kick from Beck. Combo from Dodson, but Beck responds. She clinches and lands a knee, but eats a left hook on the break. Head kick from Dobson. Beck with a body shot. Dobson drops Beck with a right hook and it’s over just like that!
Shana Dobson defeated Ariel Beck by TKO (strikes), 2:53 of round 2
Gillian Robertson vs. Emily Whitmire
Round 1 – Robertson with an early right. They clinch up briefly. Whitmire with a thigh kick. Robertson gets a takedown. She takes the back and sinks one hook. Now she gets both but Whitmire spins into top position. Nice right. Robertson transitions for an armbar from the bottom and it’s over just like that! Wow.
Gillian Robertson defeated Emily Whitmire by submission (armbar), 2:12 of round 1