UFC 226 results: Mike Perry outslugs Paul Felder for decision win

When the announcement was made that Paul Felder would step in as a late replacement and meetMike Perry at UFC 226, it was easy to picture an action-filled fight.

Indeed, that’s what the fight was. But unfortunately for Felder, a lightweight who was fighting up at welterweight, he got the worst of it against a much-improved fighter.

Perry, who recently moved his operations to the famed JacksonWink wink camp in New Mexico, got the best of things on Saturday night in a brutal bout at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Perry got the right end of two out of three 29-28 scores for a split-decision victory.

“I feel great,” Perry said. “I’ve just gotten back to the basics and I saw my first diecision victory.”

The opening round saw crisp action, as both competitors landed a wide variety of shots. Felder, however, suffered an apparent arm break throwing a spinning back elbow, something Felder confirmed to his corner after the second round.

That limited Felder’s weapons going forward, and Perry picked things up in the second round. Perry used sheer strength to bull Felder up off the mat and slam him, and scored a second slam later in the round. In between, he landed a left hand which opened a nasty gash over Felder’s right eye.

In the third, Felder made the best out of his bad situation, as he landed with a variety of kicks to mostly keep Perry at bay, but it wasn’t enough to get the nod.

Perry (12-3) broke a two-fight losing streak and won via decision for the first time in his career. Felder (15-4) had a three-fight win streak snapped.