UFC 138: Munoz Stops Leben, Barao Submits Pickett In Thrilling Card

Live results and recap for UFC 138

BIRMINGHAM, England – HeavyMMA.com is reporting live from the LG Arena for today’s “UFC 138: Leben vs. Munoz” event.

The card is headlined by a five-round middleweight contender bout between Chris Leben and Mark Munoz.

We’ll have quick results for all of the preliminary card bouts and post-fight recaps for each main card fight in this post beginning at 1:50 p.m. ET.

PRELIMINARY CARD

Chris Cariaso d. Vaughn Lee by split decision: There is no hometown fairytale to open the night as Birmingham’s Vaughan Lee wins the first round, before losing two and three to drop a split decision to Chris Cariaso.

The Briton controlled the clinch in the first stanza, but appeared to tire the longer the bout went on and his opponent took advantage on the feet and in the grappling department. The third round was the most dominant of all with Cariaso switching from mount to back control before ending the fight in position to lock in a rear naked choke. The announcement of the split was somewhat surprising as it looked an open and shut 29-28 from ringside.

Che Mills d. Chris Cope by KO, round 1: It proves to be a short night for the surprisingly popular Cope, whose appearance on the big screen is greeted by the sections of the audience shouting his trademark ‘woo’, as Mills walks him down from the first bell. After an exchange of leg kicks, the Brit lands a big knee which drops his opponents and nearly forces referee Marc Goddard to stop the bout. While he lets it go on, it
proves academic as Mills lands another knee and strong punches to force a stoppage after just 40 seconds.

Michihiro Omigawa d. Jason Young via unanimous decision: Michihiro Omigawa finally scored his first win in the UFC by scoring a unanimous decision over London’s Jason Young. The British fighter boasted aggression and fast strikes, but the experienced Judo player used a succession of trips and ground control proved the difference. The Japanese fighter bloodied the nose of his opponent in the first round and attempted a heel hook in the final five minutes, but neither man came close to finishing the other. A highlight for Young was a head kick which stunned Omigawa when rushing in early on, but he struggled to land meaningful offense against a clever foe.

Philip de Fries d. Rob Broughton via unanimous decision: Philip De Fries weathered a storm in the second round to record a decision victory in his UFC debut. The battle between the two big British heavyweights was never likely to be a crowd pleaser and the undefeated fighter from Sunderland – who has won all of his fights by submission – controlled the first and third periods on top with superior grappling. Broughton enjoyed success in the second when he had De Fries in a crucifix position and landed elbows but he was second best for the most part.

John Maguire d. Justin Edwards by unanimous decision: John Maguire became the third victorious British UFC fighter of the evening at UFC 138 by winning a unanimous decision over Justin Edwards. He was stunned in the opening exchanges when the American landed a spinning back kick and followed it with an overhand right which dropped him. However Maguire put in one of the most impressive displays of his career to recover instantly, control the grappling from then on and could have finished the fight with an armbar had the bell not interrupted him at the end of round two.