Results of UFC 120, Oct. 16 at London’s O2 Arena:
• Michael Bisping (21-3) def. Yoshihiro Akiyama (13-3 with 2 noncontested) by unanimous decision.Bisping won each round, but Akiyama landed a first-round punch that left the Brit’s vision blurred. The second and third rounds saw Bisping take advantage of a tiring Akiyama, who collapsed after the final bell due to exhaustion. Bisping is considered by many to be one of Britain’s most successful MMA fighters.
• Carlos Condit (26-5) def. Dan Hardy (23-8 with 1 noncontested) by TKO in the first round.Leading up to this fight, multiple videos of Hardy declaring a victory were shown at the UFC Fan Expo and fighting event at the O2 Arena. That all went out the window when American fighter Condit dropped Hardy with a left hook in the first round. It also earned Condit a nice $60,000 cash prize. When asked after the fight by commentator Joe Rogan what happened, Hardy bluntly replied, “I got punched in the face.”
• Mike Pyle (20-7-1) def. John Hathaway (14-1) by unanimous decision.Pyle is a veteran fighter with a decade of experience while Hathaway is one of Britain’s up-and-comers. That fact was obvious in this fight. Pyle controlled Hathaway on the ground for most of the fight. For the final two minutes of the second round, Pyle pulled off a triangle choke hold with his legs and was still able to punch a helpless Hathaway in the face repeatedly. It looked brutal.
• Travis Browne (10-0-1) vs. Cheick Kongo (25-6-2) finished in a draw.
• Claude Patrick (13-1) def. James Wilks (8-4) by unanimous decision.
• Alexander Gustafsson (10-1) def. Cyrille Diabate (17-7-1) by submission with a rear-naked choke in the second round.
• Rob Broughton (15-5-1) def. Vinicius Queiroz (5-2) by submission by rear-naked choke in the third round.
• Paul Sass (11-0) def. Mark Holst (8-3) by submission by triangle choke in the first round.
• Spencer Fisher (25-6) def. Curt Warburton (6-2) by unanimous decision.
• Fabio Maldonado (18-3) def. James McSweeney (13-7) by TKO in the third round.