UFC 247 prelims results & video: Giles edges out Krause, Williams KO’s Morono

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Check out the results and highlights from the UFC 247 prelims, including Trevin Giles narrowly getting past James Krause. 

The UFC 247 preliminary card is in the books, and wrapped up with Houston’s own Trevin Giles going to war with super-short notice replacement James Krause. Krause owned the opening act with Giles rallying in the second. The final round was gritty with both men pushing through fatigue. At the end of the day, it was Giles who walked away with the split decision victory. Giles finds himself back in the win column.

Before that, the promotion’s #7 ranked women’s flyweight, Lauren Murphy, and the #8 ranked, Andrea Lee, duked it out for the full 15-minutes. This was a joust-fest, with each fighter landing a bunch of straight strikes. Lee was the one who mixd things up by adding kicks, but Murphy was the one scoring late takedowns. After the dust had settled, it was Murphy who walked away with the split decision win. In her post-fight interview, Murphy called out the #5 ranked Roxanne Modafferi.

Making his UFC debut, Khaos Williams completely stormed the castle of Alex Morono, landing fists of fury to score a brutal 27-second knockout. Morono tried to slug it out, but the much more athletic fighter won out. The winning streak of Williams extends to seven. Opening up the ESPN prelims, Mario Bautista pulley did the d out a sensational flying knee on Miles Johns to pick up a second round TKO. The first round was lackluster, but boy did that finish make up for it. The MMA Lab product in Bautista has now won back to back UFC bouts.

ESPN+ prelims:

Trevin Giles def. James Krause by split decision (29-28 x2, 28-29): Middleweight

Giles came out landing some big punches, but Krause was able to get a takedown. Krause transitioned to the back as Giles stood up. He locked up an RNC, causing Giles to fall to the mat. Giles managed to escape the hold, but Krause was still attached to his back. Krause kept attacking the choke, but Giles kept defending well and managed to spin into top position. Giles landed a couple of strikes before the round ended.

Giles landed some heavy punches on his lighter opposition in the second round. Krause did his best to roll with the punches but Giles was landing. Krause tried to get a takedown but Giles used the momentum to roll back to his feet, and ultimately take top position. Giles landed a ton of ground strikes, almost getting Krause out of there. He then locked up an RNC of his own, but the bell sounded before he could finish.

Krause started to land early in the final round, attacking with a calf kick. Giles started to return fire and was landing. Both men were labored, but both still throwing. Krause was pushing the action, trying to stay in his opponent’s face. Giles kept finding a way to find open space. The bout ended with Krause stuffing a takedown.

Lauren Murphy def. Andrea Lee by split decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29): (W) Flyweight

The flyweights went toe to toe right away. The fighters were jousting straight punches back and forth. Lee lost her mouth piece twice in a row, resulting in a warning. Murphy started to pull away with the strikes, before securing a takedown at the end of the round. The second round picked up right where the first round started. Each fighter stood their ground and traded punches, with the difference being Lee using her kicks.. There wasn’t a ton of head movement, so they were both absorbing punches straight on. Lee did a sound job of thwarting the takedown attempts of Murphy, until the end of the round.

The final round saw Lee lock up an Anaconda choke, but Murphy used it to take top position. Lee had lost her mouthpiece again, but got it back after she stood to her feet. Lee started to kick to the body, finding success. Murphy was able to stall out her foe against the fence, but Lee freed herself into open space.

Khaos Williams def. Alex Morono by KO at :27 of round 1: Welterwewight

Williams did not come to play any games. He quickly blasted Morono with a violent flurry and did not let up. Morono got rocked and backpedalled to the cage, and Williams kept firing. Williams landed a savage uppercut that slumped Morono and dished out some ground strikes for the win. Eek!

Mario Bautista def. Miles Johns by TKO at 1:41 of round 2: Bantamweight

A lot of feeling out went on early in the first round. There was a lot of moving and feinting, but few strikes were landing. Johns did land a big right hand that knocked Bautista off balance. Bautista came out with a lot more urgency in the second round, bu the power punching of Johns quickly backed that off. Then almost out of nowhere, Bautista launched a jumping switch knee that dropped Johns. Bautista quickly blitzed with ground and pound to get the finish. Yes!