UFC Fight Night: Bader vs. Saint Preux (main card) – live results, play by play, discussion

Join us tonight on Bloody Elbow for live fight results, detailed play by play and discussion for the UFC Fight Night: Bader vs. Saint Preux event from the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, Maine.

The six-fight main card is captained by a light-heavyweight clash pitting Ryan Bader vs. Ovince St. Preux. Also in action: former lightweight contender Gray Maynard looks to re-right his course against UK’er Ross Pearson, middleweights behemoth Tim Boetsch meets the rising Brad Tavares, lanky scrapper Seth Baczynski draws newcomer Alan Jouban in a welterweight match, heavyweights Shawn Jordan and Jack May collide, and Thiago Tavares makes his featherweight debut against Robert Peralta.

Play by play will commence with the main card on Fox Sports 1 at 10:00 p.m. ET. Feel free to peruse this week’s Vivisection, which contains in-depth analysis and predictions for the entire fight card.

Main Card (Fox Sports 1 at 10:00 p.m. ET)

Ryan Bader vs. Ovince Saint Preux

R1: Hard outside low kick for Bader. Saint Preux lands a retreating counter left. They collide and Bader attacks the hips, hitting a takedown and falling in side control and then moving to north-south. Saint Preux throws an elbow and rolls out to escape, throwing a huge kick after they reset. Saint Preux slips in a quick left hand. Bader slips Saint Preux’s left and lands his own.

Bader bursts forward with punches but gets tagged with a left hand. Another left from Saint Preux. Bader again charges and changes levels, getting in on Saint Preux’s hips for a late takedown. 10-9 Bader.

R2: Saint Preux side steps a takedown attempt and just misses with a mean left hand. Short counter left lands for
Saint Preux. They both land lefts simultaneously. Saint Preux connects on a heavy body kick and continues to pressure with measured bursts of punches. Bader’s one-two doesn’t conceal his takedown attempt and Saint Preux circles away from it.

Saint Preux now dictating with his left hand and the frequency and speed with which it lands. Bader shoots but an incoming elbow from Saint Preux forces him to pull up short and he ends up working his guard. Bader slips loose and narrowly avoids a monstrous left from Saint Preux. 10-9 Saint Preux.

R3: Heavy right body kick from Bader to start but then he’s forced to retreat when Saint Preux chucks double left hands his way. Bader fires a punch and gets in on a double, taking Saint Preux down but he’s unable to keep him there. He repeats the process from the rear waist lock as Saint Preux stands back up, landing in side mount. Saint Preux pushes off the cage with his feet and creates enough space to escape, but Bader puts him right back down.

Busy hips from Saint Preux. Bader crams an elbow in his face. Saint Preux goes two-on-one on Bader’s left hand but bails on it. Bader maintains position and lands a few strikes before Saint Preux stands up; he can’t hit the switch and Bader holds on in the rear waist cinch. 10- 9 Bader.

R4: Saint Preux opens with a lead left. Saint Preux comes forward swinging and Bader ducks under for a double leg, but Saint Preux scrambles back to his feet immediately. Saint Preux comes in a little wild but manages to stop the takedown after letting his hands go. Saint Preux connects downstairs and stuffs a Bader takedown momentarily, but he’s on his back when Bader persists.

Bader gets wrist control to keep Saint Preux from escaping and lands left hands from the back ride. Saint Preux stands and Bader holds the rear waist lock, hoisting Saint Preux for another takedown and using wrist control to keep him there. Left hand from Bader in back control. 10-9 Bader.

R5: Three kicks from Saint Preux early in the final frame. Then a left hand. Saint Preux’s left hand is sloppy but he does connect with a left kick. Surprisingly, Saint Preux catches Bader off guard with a level change and takes the All-American wrestler down. Bader gets to his knees but Saint Preux freezes him with the front headlock. Bader slips free and then hits a nice counter hip throw to put Saint Preux on his back.

Bader looks to isolate an arm but Saint Preux defends and creates a scramble, managing a few short elbows to the head. Saint Preux can’t hit the switch but it backs Bader off and Saint Preux gets him partially down with a double leg. Bader stands and shoots but eats more elbows to the temple, which have sprung a leak on the side of Bader’s head. Bader stays attached and shoots a takedown every time Saint Preux has space, landing none but succeeding in stifling Saint Preux’s offense. 10-9 Saint Preux. I have it 48-47 for Bader.

Gray Maynard vs. Ross Pearson

R1: Maynard starts out throwing straight shots while Pearson cuts sharp pivots and slices with counters. Maynard busy with a step-in lead right. Maynard changes levels on a Pearson combo and gets him down briefly but Pearson takes a knee and works back to his feet; Maynard thuds three rights to the body. Left hook glances for Pearson.

They square off and throw jabs with Pearson landing the cleanest of the bunch. Maynard switching stances in intervals. Maynard follows behind a right hand and completes a takedown but Pearson is again back to his feet quickly. Pearson slips a Maynard right but can’t find the counter. 10-10 for neither distinguishing themselves through effective offense.

R2: Maynard shoots but settles for some clinch control on the fence. Pearson circles off and lands a short knee and elbow before disengaging. They trade jabs. Maynard digs to the body with a right hook but Pearson pops him with a right hand on the way in and then finishes him off with a left hook.

• Ross Pearson defeats Gray Maynard by TKO (punches) at 1:35 of Round 2

Tim Boetsch vs. Brad Tavares

R1: Boetsch shoots for a single with no set up and Tavares easily stuffs it, pushing Boetsch on the fence with an underhook. Boetsch bangs two knees to the body and nearly hits an outer leg reap throw but Tavares keeps his balance. They separate and Boetsch locks up again to push Tavares on the fence but Tavares circles off with the same far-side underhook.

Tavares cleaves Boetsch with a horizontal elbow that literally leaves a dent in Boetsch’s forehead. He swings another but it doesn’t land with as much mustard. Tavares disconnects and they restart in the center. Tavares slips in an uppercut whilst barely missing Boetsch’s huge counter right. Boetsch throws a short right and gets in on Tavares’ hips but Tavares is slippery once again and gets back to his feet, moving into the rear waist cinch and throwing knees to the body and head. The knees keep coming and they’re partially blocked but thrown with big power. 10-9 Tavares.

R2: Tavares locks horns early and drives Boetsch into the fence with the right hand on his entry worsening the cut on Boetsch’s forehead. The overhand right isn’t disguising Boetsch’s takedown attempt as Tavares dodges it casually. Boetsch goes to the lunging left hook but the follow-up takedown attempt is too predictable. Tavares circles off the fence with an underhook and then keeps Boetsch there with a body lock.

The ref steps in with two minutes left and Boetsch crushes Tavares’ jaw with a lunging left hook, and stays on the trigger with a depth charge of a right hand that flattens Tavares.

Seth Baczynski vs. Alan Jouban

R1: Jouban catches a Baczynski kick but can’t convert it to offense. Baczynski pinching off the southpaw’s left cross with lead-foot jab steps. Jouban draws first blood by landing a sharp inside low kick. And another. Jouban follows it up with a high kick that thunders off Baczynski’s gloves but eats a beefy counter-shot from Baczynski that drives him back into the fence.

Baczynski stays connected and hits a takedown from the body lock. He can’t keep Jouban down and they both unload on the feet with Baczynski playing the aggressor. Jouban lands a stiff knee to the body from the clinch. Baczynski continues to pressure with punches but his defense is getting dangerously loose. Jouban lands a short right hook on the clinch break after whiffing on a spinning elbow and follows with a rugged knee to the chin, then finishes Baczynski off with a blistering left hand.

Shawn Jordan vs. Jack May

R1: May swings out a vicious lead right that misses, then switches to southpaw. Straight one-two for Jordan isn’t there but he lands a short left counter that snaps May’s head back. May switches stances again and throws a left kick to the body, then a high kick. Jordan throws a three-piece combo and lands the first two but the third is interrupted by a stinging counter from May.

Jordan clinches up halfway through the round in pursuit of the body lock but May circles off the fence and shoves him away. May comes high with a right but Jordan counters with two quick shots. May lands a right but Jordan follows with two short rights; May is throwing with big power here. Jordan just blocks a right high kick. May’s outside low kick lands with a crack. Jordan shoots and finishes a takedown with 40 seconds left. May stays slippery and Jordan doesn’t get off any meaningful blows. 10-9 May for landing the harder shots.

R2: Double jab/cross combo isn’t there for Jordan. May guesses correctly and snaps a fast left hook to Jordan’s temple as he’s circling out, and it opens up an oozing cut over his right eye. May throws a right and dents Jordan with the same left hook, inspiring a wild exchange of punches with Jordan’s back on the fence. Jordan, the worse for wear, wisely changes levels and puts May on his back halfway through the frame.

May sits up against the fence to avoid going flat but a hail of left hands dissuades his escape attempts and allow Jordan a brief perch in full mount. May scrambles out of mount but ends up in side control with little room to maneuver. May’s defense is slippery enough to prevent Jordan from posturing up and leveling heavy strikes, but he does get back to full mount. 10-9 May: May dominated the first half, Jordan the second half but May did more damage and his offense was significantly more threatening.

R3: Jordan gets an early takedown and moves to back control, firing left hands with both hooks in. Jordan gets some vice-like wrist control on one arm, which allows him to unbolt a succession of left hands until the ref’s seen enough.

• Shawn Jordan defeats Jack May by TKO (punches) at 2:03 of Round 3

R3:

Robbie Peralta vs. Thiago Tavares

R1: Tavares shoots 30 seconds in and works on a single with Peralta’s back on the fence, eventually getting it. Tavares falls into side mount and threatens to take the back. Peralta stands in the rear waist cinch but Tavares pulls him back down and sinks both hooks in. Peralta tries to roll out and Tavares gets on top and flattens him out, drubbing him with a prolonged volley of punches soon after.

Peralta rolls out but ends up mounted. Tavares pings away with punches as Peralta tries to squirm free. Tavares lands two rights to the body. Tavares is a step ahead on each of Peralta’s attempts while maintaining a stream of punches. He sees an opening and jumps on it, cinching on the mata leao and forcing Peralta to tap.

• Thiago Tavares defeats Robbie Peralta by submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:27 of Round 1