UFC 272 early prelims results & video: Nurmagomedov subs Kelleher, Elliott holds off Ulanbekov

The UFC 272 card is underway, and the early prelims just wrapped up with one finish and three decisions. The lone finish came when Umar Nurmagomedov stopped Brian Kelleher with a first-round rear-naked choke. Once Nurmagomedov entered the clinch, it was only a matter of time before he found a way to get to the back and sink the choke. This is Umar’s third RNC in a row, he extended his unbeaten record to 14-0, and under the tutelage of Khabib Nurmagomedov he is proving to be quite the prospect.

Before that, the flyweight division got a grueling war between the #13 ranked, Tim Elliott, and the #15 ranked, Tagir Ulanbekov. Elliot used every trick in his salty veteran playbook, and even scored a big knockdown in the opening round, to win a tough unanimous decision. Elliot got away with several glove grabs, but nonetheless he came away with the dub.

L’udovit Klein went the full 15-minutes tonight with Devonte Smith, pulling out the split decision with one score of 30-27, and one of 29-28. Douglas Crosby scored the match 29-28 for Smith. After a short-notice victory, Klein is now back in the win column.

Opening up the event, Dustin Jacoby earned himself a unanimous decision over Michal Oleksiejczuk. The bulk of this bout took place on the feet, with the fighters exchanging plenty of punches back and forth. Don’t look now, but Jacoby has now gone unbeaten in his last eight outings.

**See complete results below

Early prelims:

Umar Nurmagomedov def. Brian Kelleher by submission (RNC) at 3:15 of round 1 : Bantamweight

Kelleher took the center of the Octagon, but Nurmagomedov was keeping him at bay with some speedy head kicks. In the clinch, Nurmagomedov achieved double unders and pressed Kelleher against the fence. Kelleher defended the takedown, but had to do so over and over again. During the rinse and repeat process, Kelleher exposed his neck and Nurmagomedov wrapped up a rear-naked choke. Kelleher tapped.

Tim Elliott def. Tagir Ulanbekov by unanimous decision (29-28 x3): Flyweight

Elliott started the fight with his usual funk, and managed to hit a takedown early in the fight. Ulanbekov stood to his feet, but had to eat a knee for his troubles. Elliott kept going to his takedown, catching Ulanbekov off guard. The referee stopped the action to warn Elliott about outstretching his fingers, but Tim protested. The fight resumed and Elliott dropped Ulanbekov with a massive overhand right. As Ulanbekov went to stand up, Elliott blasted him with another knee.

Ulanbekov was looking for the takedown to begin the second act, Elliott just refused to allow the fight to take place on the ground. Ulanbekov complained to the ref that Elliott was grabbing the glove, because Tim did several times, but the fight went on. Elliott continued to out-scramble Ulanbekov, neutralizing his advances for the rest of the round.

The fighters stood in front of one another to begin the third frame, with both men landing their hands. Elliott was sneaking in elbows over the top, while Ulanbekov was sticking with his boxing. Ulanbekov switched to his takedown game, clinching up with Elliott against the cage. He wasn’t able to get Tim down, but he was chipping away with knees to the legs. Ulanbekov worked his way to the back, and dragged Tim to the ground that way. Elliott held on to escape the round.

Ludovít Klein def. Devonte Smith by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29): Lightweight

Klein took the center right away, steadily pressuring Smith backwards. There was a lot of feints and measuring going on, with the occasional naked kick coming out. One man would kick the body, then the other had a go. One fighter would kick at the head, and then the other combatant would have a turn. Klein did get through with a straight left hand to the kisser that staggered Smith, and then also landed with a head kick towards the end of the round that registered.

Smith started the second round with an angry series of hard rear kicks. Klein was forced to brace for the impact, and then entered into the clinch to slow things down. Smith did land some sneaky knees on the inside, while Klein scored with a clever elbow to the face. Smith tried to hit a couple of takedowns, and had beautiful entries, but just couldn’t finish them.

Smith went back to his head kick attack to begin the final round, but Klein caught him with a front kick to the body that stung him. Smith started to retreat, and was able to drag Klein into the clinch to recover. As the round grew on, Smith started to come alive. He was landing his right hand and pressing forward, causing Klein to shoot in and clinch up.

Dustin Jacoby def. Michal Oleksiejczuk by unanimous decision (29-28 x3): Light heavyweight

The light heavyweights went right at it, exchanging combinations back and forth. Oleksiejczuk was gettin through with his southpaw cross, but was accidentally poked in the eye. After the pause, Oleksiejczuk briefly switched to his wrestling, but Jacoby was quick to stand right back up. Oleksiejczuk returned to landing his rear hand, doing a great job of cutting angles and moving his head.

Jacoby came out like a man possessed in the second round. He poured on a ton of volume, hurting Oleksiejczuk with a violent outburst of punches. He also swarmed with some nasty standing elbows. Dustin event hit a takedown at one point, but allowed Oleksiejczuk to get up. Jacoby used a bunch of his gas tank to pull off that sort of aggression, but Oleksiejczuk wasn’t able to capitalized on that depletion of energy.

The final frame started at a much slower pace than the first-two rounds, and understandably so. Another eye poke happened to Oleksiejczuk, causing a harsh warning to Jacoby. After that, the fighters exchanged hands, focusing more on their boxing than anything else. Jacoby was the one who switched gears and entered the clinch. From there, he pressed Oleksiejczuk against the cage and chipped away with short shots.