UFC 188 results: Mexico's Gabriel Benitez batters Clay Collard for unanimous decision

Gabriel Benitez

MEXICO CITY – Gabriel Benitez dropped Clay Collard in the first and stunned him in the second.

But even with a crowd of his countrymen behind him, Benitez (18-4 MMA, 2-0 UFC) just couldn’t put Collard (14-6 MMA, 1-2 UFC) away. Instead, he had to settle for a unanimous decision win (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) after a dominant performance to start the night.

The featherweight bout opened up the preliminary card of today’s UFC 188 event at Mexico City Arena in Mexico City. It streamed on UFC Fight Pass ahead of additional prelims on FX and a main card on pay-per-view.

Benitez got off to a quick start that seemed to foretell a quick finish, which never quite materialized. A left hand to Collard’s chin in the opening seconds put Collard down briefly, and a follow up kick that grazed his head seemed to have him reeling in the first minute.

Collard would soon collect his wits and fire back, however, using his takedowns to halt Benitez’s momentum in the striking game. But even that was not without some risk for Collard, as Benitez threatened with a guillotine choke that resulted in a few tense moments as Collard struggled to escape.

Though Collard managed to survive that difficult first round, he didn’t find much more offensive success in the two frames that followed. Benitez battered him with kicks, occasionally unleashing that dangerous straight left, and though Collard hung tough, he never managed to turn the tide and get Benitez on the run.

In the end, he had to settle for the moral victory of making it the distance in a fight where he was in trouble from the first minute to the last. Benitez, on the other hand, got a win in a one-sided effort that made things easy on the judges, all three of whom saw the fight for him.

With the win, Benitez has now won four in a row, the last two of those coming in the UFC. Collard has lost two of his last three.

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

• 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.)