UFC Fight Night 26 Main Card Play-By-Play And Live Results

Check out the UFC Fight Night 26 Main Card Live Results and Play-by-Play as the action unfolds from the TD Garden in Boston, Mass.:

UFC Fight Night 26 Main Card results:

Chael Sonnen def. Mauricio Rua via R1 submission (guillotine)

Travis Browne def. Alistair Overeem via R1 KO (front kick and punches)

Urijah Faber def. Yuri Alcantara via unanimous decision

Matt Brown def. Mike Pyle via R1 KO (knee and punches)

John Howard def. Uriah Hall via split decision

Michael Johnson def. Joe Lauzon via unanimous decision

Joe Lauzon vs. Michael Johnson:

Round 1: The two fighters started out tentative, with neither landing too much early. Johnson scored a decent inside leg kick and jab. Johnson looked to throw to the body, but Lauzon backed him up a bit. Johnson rocked Lauzon with a straight left and continued with pressure, wobbling his opponent. Johnson landed some brutal uppercuts and a knee to floor Lauzon as the round closed, signifying a clear 10-9 round for the Blackzilian.

Round 2: Lauzon looked to press the action up against the cage early on, suppressing Johnson’s speed advantage for the moment. Lauzon pressed forward as Johnson seemed to slow down slightly. Lauzon landed a left hook only to be answered by some uppercuts from Johnson, but noticeably containing less power. “J-Lau” landed a knee from the clinch, and continued to maintain Octagon control. Johnson scored a quick double leg as the round closed out, perhaps signifying him the round. Very close one though, tough to call.

Round 3: Both fighters appeared to slow as the final stanza kicked off. The exchanges became less crisp and frequent, but Johnson continued to maintain an ever-so-slight advantage. Johnson began to pick up the pace with varied combinations, swelling up Lauzon’s face. Johnson’s speed rang true, and his boxing was always ahead of Lauzon with a diverse array of strikes. A late takedown put a seal on the deal. It was a great performance by Johnson in an upset of a tough fighter, as he won a unanimous decision, strangely with a 30-25 score thrown into the mix.

Uriah Hall vs. John Howard:

Round 1: Hall immediately shot for a takedown and got Howard to the ground. Hall failed to do much with the positional advantage, and the fight went back to the feet. Howard landed a leaping left hook to Hall, and the fight went up against the cage. Hall pulled off a nice reversal to press the advantage. Howard continued to land leg kicks, and Hall landed a knee and some punches later on. A close round, perhaps going to Hall 10-9.

Round 2: Hall landed a front kick as the second round began, but Howard answered with a flurry of his own. Hall looked for another takedown, only to be answered by a guillotine attempt from Howard. Howard went for his own takedown against the cage, eventually settling to land some dirty boxing shots against the cage. Another spin came from Hall before Mario Yamasaki restarted the fight in the center of the Octagon. Hall completed a slick reversal to Howard’s back off of a kimura attempt. Howard went back to leg kick as a lead-in to his boxing, and landed a good takedown to land in Hall’s guard. Howard landed ground-and-pound and controlled the position as it ended, appearing to win the round 10-9.

Round 3:  Hall landed a leg kick as Howard looked to go to the body early on in the last round. Hall pressed the action up against the cage, kneeing Howard’s legs. Another restart saw Hall look for a high kick to no avail, but hit Howard with a knee. “Doomsday” scored another takedown. Hall got up but was tied up by Howard against the cage. Hall eventually gained his second takedown of the fight. The bout closed with some theatrics as Hall spun on the ground while Howard attempted a flying punch to land in full mount. It was a very close bout, but Howard took home the split decision victory.

Mike Pyle vs. Matt Brown:

Round 1: Uriah Hall and John Howard may have put on a close back-and-forth battle, but that was not the case when streaking Welterweights Matt Brown and Mike Pyle met in the center of the Octagon. Brown pressed forward with his vastly improved striking early, hitting Pyle with a body shot and then a hard right hand followed by a brutal knee. A few ground shots later, and “The Immortal” had locked up his sixth straight win in the incredibly tough UFC Welterweight division. 

Urijah Faber vs. Yuri Alcantara:

Round 1: Alcantara came out and threw the former WEC champion Faber to the ground early, achieving a full mount. Alcantara looked for a submission but couldn’t lock it up. Alcantara scrambled to land some hammerfists before transitioning to Faber’s back. More punches and elbows landed from the Brazilian. Faber turned the tables with a strong takedown of his own to land some big elbows. Faber continued his ground-and-pound assault, gaining the advantage in strikes landed. “The California Kid” ended the round on top, marking a good comeback that most likely on him the round 10-9.

Round 2: Alcantara came out looking for a kimura early on, but Faber countered nicely by spinning his opponent back to the ground. He landed more shots to Alcantara, and then stood up to land a knee. The fight went back to the ground and Faber scored more points. Alcantara couldn’t get out from underneath Faber, who looked to grab ahold of a choke. Elbows rained down from Faber then punches. The fight went back to the feet, but Faber took Alcantara down again and swarmed as a dominant round for the Team Alpha Male leader came to a close.

Round 3: Faber landed a good right hand as the last round began, looking to have a ton of energy still left. Alcantara sprawled to avoid a takedown and was successful, but Faber eventually dragged him to the mat. Faber continued to smother his overmatched opponent on the ground as Alcantara attempted some ill-fated submission attempts.  Faber ended up on top to earn a well-deserved unanimous decision victory. 

Alistair Overeem vs. Travis Browne:

Round 1: The hulking Overeem pressed the action up against the cage early on, scoring some knees. Looking to score to the body, Overeem began to land some vicious Muay Thai knees and ground punches. Browne was nearly finished, but somehow remained in the one-sided fight. The bout continued on against the cage wall until Overeem grabbed a single leg. Overeem landed some good punches while Browne hit home with a couple of kicks. Overeem looked to have expended all of his energy, and in a split second, Browne came back with a wicked front kick followed by a hammerfist to finish “The Reem.” It was an incredible win for the Hawaiian-born “Hapa.”

Chael Sonnen vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua:

Round 1: Sonnen immediately rushed forward and secured his trademark double leg, but Rua scrambled to regain his footing. He even fought back by taking Sonnen down, where Sonnen went for a guillotine choke. The two fighters clinched, and Sonnen gained the advantage with a throw. Sonnen landed insignificant shots from the top and passed to side control. Sonnen continued to smother ‘Shogun,’ eventually jumping into a guillotine choke. ‘Shogun’ struggled to get his neck out of the hold, but ultimately had to tap, netting a huge win for Sonnen.