Join us today on Bloody Elbow for live results, discussion, round scoring, and play-by-play as UFC 228 goes down in Dallas
The main event will see UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley putting his belt on the line against gigantic English striker Darren Till. The co-main was supposed to be a women’s flyweight title fight, but that was scrapped when Nicco Montano was hospitalized. So instead, a women’s strawweight contender fight between Jessica Andrade and Karolina Kowalkiewicz will serve as the co-main event of the night.
The prelims featured fight will see Tatiana Suarez taking on her toughest test to date, Carla Esparza.
This post will cover the preliminary card.
The show kicks off on Fight Pass at approximately 6:15pm ET with four fights. The card then moves to FS1 at 8pm ET for four more bouts, then onto the main PPV card. The full lineup and schedule follows. The main card will be covered in a separate post.
Check out this week’s MMA Vivisection for predictions, analysis and betting odds on the each matchup.
Carla Esparza vs. Tatiana Suarez
Round 1 - Side kick from Suarez. Suarez ducks under and looks for a takedown. Esparza initially fought it off but Suarez persevered and put her on her back. Punches form the top. Hard elbow. Esparza is trying to tie her up but Suarez just slammed her. Two more huge elbows. Suarez tries to trap an arm. She can’t though. More elbows. Total domination by Suarez so far. More hammerfists. Esparza is still trapped. She’s trying to get up with 1:15 to go but Suarez is controlling her legs. She moves to side and lands more shots. 10-8 Suarez.
Round 2 - Suarez immediately gets Esparza down again. Esparza gets up a minute in but Suarez still has a hold of her. Boom, back to the floor in side. Esparza up, but back down again. Suarez isn’t landing as much this round but her control is incredible. And then right as I said that, Esparza reverses position. They separate with 50 seconds to go. Suarez shoots in and takes her down again. Elbow. 10-9 Suarez.
Round 3 - Leg kick from Suarez. Esparza shoots but doesn’t get anywhere. Suarez shoots now and they scramble. Suarez is just holding Esparza down in an awkward position. Now she moves to side. Basically full mount. Landing punches. Esparza hip escapes and gets back to full guard. More elbows from Suarez. Back to side and she’s landing more punches. One minute to go and she’s back to mount. Huge elbows. Suarez is just brutalizing her and the fight is stopped. That was complete domination.
Tatiana Suarez defeated Carla Esparza via TKO (punches), 4:33 of round 3
Aljamain Sterling vs. Cody Stamann
Round 1 - Both throw early head kicks. Stamann pressing the action and lands to the body. Sterling dives on a leg but can’t do anything with it. Body shot from Sterling. Stamman with a slapping left. Body kick from Sterling, and he looks for a takedown again. No dice. Stamann reverses against the cage. Stamann lands a big shot. Sterling tries for a takedown but Stamann ends up on his back. Sterling spins around and looks for a guillotine. Stamann takes him down. Sterling looking for a triangle now. He has it secured. Stamann spins out of it and they return to the feet. Stamann with another takedown. Tough call, but I’ll go 10-9 Sterling.
Round 2 - AlJo with a slapping head kick. He gets a takedown. Stamann is in a seated position against the cage. Matt Serra is screaming. Stamann is back up but Sterling is stuck to his back. Stamann spins away and gets his own takedown. Sterling up. Thy scramble and Sterling ends up on top. He’s in mount! That was slick. Almost half the round left. Stamann tries to give up his back. Sterling with big shots. Stamann stands and tries to dump him over the top, but he ends up in a full nelson! That was wild! More big shots. Sterling switches to a leg lock from his back and gets the finsh! Wow, Stamann’s leg looks messed up. That was an extremely unique finish - a Suloev stretch!
Aljamain Sterling defeated Cody Stamann via submission (leg lock), 3:42 of round 2
Round 1 - Neal with a hard 1-2. Camacho with a body jab. They brawl a bit on the inside. Camacho with a head kick. He throws a follow-up combo. Neal with a nice left over the top. Neal jabs, then lands a straight left. Neal with a high kick. Neal with a right and two straight lefts. Camacho pushes him against the cage, but not for long. Body kick from Camacho. Camacho’s face is bleeding. Another left from Neal. Looks like the cut is below Camacho’s left eye. Huge right over the top from Neal drops Camacho! But the round ends before he can get the finish! 10-9 Neal.
Round 2 - Neal not rushing thing.s Camacho looks for an early takedown but can’t get it. Neal opens up with a brutal combination. Camacho is against the cage eating shots, but he’s firing back. Jump knee connects and he’s still right there! Camacho continues to throw strikes and he actually seems to like it. They back off the cage and NEAL DEMOLISHES HIM WITH A LEFT HEAD KICK THAT KNOCKS CAMACHO OUT COLD! WALK OFF KO!
Geoffrey Neal defeated Frank Camacho via KO (punch), 1:23 of round 2
Charles Byrd vs. Darren Stewart
Round 1 - Stewart with a right that lands glancingly. Byrd with the overhand right that connects. Byrd clinches. Stewart lands a nice knee inside. They separate. Stewart with a jab. Byrd with two hard rights over the top and he clinches against the cage. Bryd jumps a guillotine but couldn’t clasp the hands. Short elbows from Byrd in close. A left jab and a right cross land for Byrd. Head kick from Byrd. He’s taking it to Stewart. Another short elbow in the clinch. And another. 10-9 Byrd.
Round 2 - Outside leg kick from Byrd. They clinch briefly. Byrd with a right hook. Big shots against the cage! Stewart is hurt! He clinches and gets his wits about him. Now Stewart hurts Byrd! He chases him and continues to pressure. Bryd goes down! Big elbows and Byrd is down again! It’s over. What a comeback!
Darren Stewart defeated Charles Byrd via KO (elbows), 2:17 of round 2
Round 1 - Sanchez charges forward right away and misses with a right. White with a guillotine as Sanchez looks for a takedown. He just powers out of it and dumps White to the mat. Sanchez backs out and eats an upkick. He jumps back in. White tries to push off but Sanchez continues to smother him. Diego trying to work to side but he can’t. He backs out and lands a couple of big shots as he re-enters the guard. He almost had mount but settled for side. He initially looked to be setting up an arm-triangle choke, but gave it up. White landed a shot from the bottom. Sanchez stacks him and eats an upkick. Sanchez dropping big shots still though. White is bleeding. Sanchez all over him to end the round. 10-8 Sanchez.
Round 2 - White comes forward throwing haymakers. Sanchez looking for a takedown but eats a big knee. He gets White to the floor though. White with another big upkick as Diego backs out. So he jumps right back in. Sanchez is controlling position more this round and throwing less punches. He gets caught with yet another upkick. Nice elbow from Sanchez. He works his way out to side and lands a hard knee to the body. Now he’s stacking him, and he basically teabags him. Hard shot from Diego, still with the teabag. White finally fights him off...until he sits on his face again. It’s childish but amusing. Even Daniel Cormier is lauughing. 10-9 Sanchez.
Round 3 - White with a hard body kick. He hurts Sanchez with a shot but Diego gets the takedown. Two hard elbows from Sanchez. White trying to get a triangle but Sanchez just pushes his legs away. White misses with upkicks this time. Sanchez lands a knee to what looks like the head, but the ref said it was the shoulder. Nice elbows again from Sanchez. Shoulder check. Old school. White trying to strike from the bottom but he hasn’t attempted to get up once in the entire fight. Sanchez lands some more elbows for good measure. 10-9 and 30-26 Sanchez.
Diego Sanchez defeated Craig White via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Round 1 - Miller with a nice leg kick. He lands a left over the top. Miller drops White with a two hard lefts! He jumps on him and looks for the finish with his hands. He switches to a choke and get it! Huge finish in his 30th UFC fight! That was awesome.
Jim Miller defeated Alex White via submission (rear naked choke), 1:29 of round 1
Irene Aldana vs. Lucie Pudilova
Round 1 - Pudilova lands an early counter. Aldana cracks her with a shot. Pudilova pressing and lands a right behind the jab. Aldana lands a right, and another. She’s landing the harder shots. Pudilova lands her own right. They trade jabs. Pudilova presses but eats an elbow. Low kicks from Pudilova. Head kick lands for Pudilova and she’s throwing a bevy of kicks. She lands a hard front kick. Aldana lands a spinning back fist. Nice finish to the round. 10-9 Pudilova.
Round 2 - They trade in the center and both land rights. High kick from Pudilova lands on Aldana’s neck. Aldana gets fired up and responds with her hands. Superwoman punch from Pudilova, but she eats a counter right. Pudilova with a leg kick and a winging right. Aldana with a leg kick. Aldana continues with the leg kicks and digs to the body with a right. Pudilova with a counter left. They trade low kicks. Pudilova goes back to the jab. Aldana looks for a takedown but there’s nothing there. Nice elbow by Pudilova. 10-9 Pudilova.
Round 3 - Aldana is back to the leg kicks and she’s giving Pudilova trouble with them. They both stand in the center and trade hard shots. Pudilova’s nose is bleeding. They’re engaging in a technical brawl, which is always fun. A Pudilova uppercut busted up Aldana’s nose! They’re really going at it on the inside. Aldana pumping the jab and using head movement to evade the worst of Pudilova’s volume. They clinch and Aldana lands a nice knee. Pudilova with a hard shot on the break. This is a really good fight! Pudilova with a four-punch combo. Aldana responds with a hard jab. They trade again with 20 seconds to go. Pudilova with two big shots! That was outstanding. 10-9 Aldana but 29-28 Pudilova.
Irene Aldana defeated Lucie Pudilova via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Jarred Brooks vs. Roberto Sanchez
Round 1 - Brooks with a left. Sanchez responds with his own left. Sanchez attacks with a takedown attempt and gets Brooks to his butt. Brooks is grapevining a leg though. Sanchez takes his time and finally puts Brooks on his back. He’s trying to step over to mount. Brooks defends and attacks a leg. It’s actually pretty deep. But Sanchez defends and doesn’t let Brooks reverse position. They stall out there for a while. Sanchez finally pulls his leg out but Brooks just attacks the other leg. They get back up with a minute to go. They exchange knees in the clinch. 10-9 Sanchez.
Round 2 - They get right back into the clinch. Brooks looks for a takedown but can only get Sanchez off balance briefly. Eventually Sanchez basically pulls guard, which doesn’t seem that wise. Brooks is just controlling position on top and landing a few punches here and there. He is trying to pass but can’t get anywhere. He finally opens up a bit with some punches near the end of the round and lands effectively. 10-9 Brooks.
Round 3 - Spinning back fist lands for Brooks. Uppercut lands for Brooks as Sanchez charges in. Brooks is looking for a takedown again. He gets it and eventually works over to side control. Sanchez attemps to get up and Brooks lands a debatable knee. Seems like it landed to the shoulder though. Brooks gets him back down and grinds away. Nice right lands. 10-9 and 29-28 Brooks.
Jarred Brooks defeated Roberto Sanchez via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)