UFC 188 results: Eddie Alvarez blows nose, blows up eye, takes split from Melendez

Eddie Alvarez

MEXICO CITY – Eddie Alvarez had to fight through a likely broken nose and a completely closed left eye, but somehow he found a way to outpoint Gilbert Melendez in a very close three-round affair.

After looking like he’d be lucky to make it off the stool to start the second frame, Alvarez (26-4 MMA, 1-1 UFC) resorted to his wrestling to stifle the attack of Melendez (22-5 MMA, 1-3 UFC), resulting in a split-decision victory (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) for Alvarez.

The lightweight bout was the co-main event of today’s UFC 188 event at Mexico City Arena in Mexico City. It aired on pay-per-view following prelims on FX and UFC Fight Pass.

Despite a lengthy feeling-out process, the first round was the easiest to score due to several damaging blows from Melendez. After rocking Alvarez with a right hand to the jaw early, he followed up with an elbow in close that appeared to break Alvarez’s nose. As Alvarez headed back to his corner, he attempted to blow some of the blood out of his nostrils, which caused his left eye to swell shut almost immediately.

At first it seemed like the eye might prove to be an insurmountable obstacle, but Alvarez adapted his game plan to meet his limitations over the next two rounds. Instead of standing and trading with Melendez, he looked for takedowns, or suffocated Melendez in the clinch against the fence, slowing the pace of the fight and wearing Melendez down.

By the third, a clearly exhausted Melendez could barely fire his punch combos, despite Alvarez looking vulnerable to attacks that he couldn’t completely see. For his part, Alvarez continued to commit himself to the takedown, with the occasional spinning back elbow to catch Melendez by surprise.

In the end, two of the three judges gave it to Alvarez, though by the slimmest of margins.

The victory is Alvarez’s first in the UFC, coming on the heels of his unanimous decision loss to Donald Cerrone in September. Melendez has now lost two straight and three of his past four.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 188 results include:

• Eddie Alvarez def. Gilbert Melendez via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Kelvin Gastelum def. Nate Marquardt via TKO (corner stoppage) – Round 2, 5:00
• Yair Rodriguez def. Charles Rosa via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Tecia Torres def. Angela Hill via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Henry Cejudo def. Chico Camus via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
• Efrain Escudero def. Drew Dober via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 0:54
• Patrick Williams def. Alejandro Perez via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 0:23
• Johnny Case def. Francisco Trevino via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Cathal Pendred def. Augusto Montano via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Gabriel Benitez def. Clay Collard via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

For complete coverage of UFC 188, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan contributed to this report on site in Mexico City.)