UFC 193 results: Richard Walsh controls Steven Kennedy to take decision

MELBOURNE, Australia ‚ Richard Walsh went from nearly knocking Steven Kennedy out on the feet to just barely surviving against him on the mat, and that was just the first round.

But after battering Kennedy (22-8 MMA, 0-2 UFC) enough early to diminish his offense in the later rounds, Walsh (9-3 MMA, 2-2 UFC) went on the dominate the fight until the final horn, eventually earning a unanimous decision victory (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) for his efforts.

The welterweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC 193 event at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia. It streamed on UFC Fight Pass ahead of additional prelims on FOX Sports 1 and a main card on pay-per-view.

Walsh’s early work came in the form of repeated kicks to Kennedy’s lead leg, followed by hard right hands that left Kennedy stumbling around the cage in the opening minutes. With Walsh mixing up attacks to the legs and the head, Kennedy seemed stunned and lost, and the fight looked to be headed for a quick finish.

But not only would Kennedy survive the first, he also managed to turn the tables, taking Walsh down, securing back mount, then beating him up from full mount near the end of the round. Unfortunately for Kennedy, that would prove to be the highlight of his night, and after Walsh survived that change of fortunes he got right back to dominating the stand-up in the next two rounds.

That’s not to say that Kennedy didn’t have some opportunities. Late in the second he got Walsh to the floor again, but languished inside his guard rather than passing and pressing his advantage in the grappling department. By the third round it was all Kennedy could do to stand up under his own power, so bruised and battered were his legs from Walsh’s kicks.

With Walsh finishing strong and Kennedy just barely finishing, it was an easy call for the judges, two of whom gave Walsh every round.

The win snaps a two-fight losing streak for Walsh, who was knocked out by Alan Jouban in February. Kennedy has now lost two straight.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 193 results include:

• Richard Walsh def. Steven Kennedy via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• James Moontasri def. Anton Zafir via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 4:36
• Ben Nguyen def. Ryan Benoit via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:35

For complete coverage of UFC 193, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan and Steven Marrocco contributed to this report on site in Melbourne.)