UFC 206 results: Matthew Lopez rallies through rough first round to top Mitch Gagnon

TORONTO – Matthew Lopez survived a near finish to out-grapple the grappling specialist Mitch Gagnon.

Lopez (8-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) was dropped in the first round by a punch, but recovered and put takedowns on the board to secure a unanimous decision over Gagnon (12-3 MMA, 4-2 UFC).

The bantamweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC 206 event at Air Canada Centre in Toronto. It aired on FS1 following additional prelims on UFC Fight Pass and ahead of a main card on pay-per-view.

The final scores were 29-28 twice and 29-27 for Lopez, who picked up his first UFC win after a submission loss to Rani Yahya in his octagon debut in July. Gagnon, returning to action after a two-year injury layoff, now has dropped two straight bouts after a loss against former champ Renan Barao.

Lopez showed glimpses of his grappling prowess early on when he reversed Gagnon’s takedown attempt in the first round. Back on his feet, he landed a hard body kick and chased Gagnon down, only to get caught with a left hook that dropped him to the mat. For a few seconds, it looked as though Gagnon would get the stoppage. Lopez, though, managed to roll to relative safety.

Down a round, Lopez took the initiative and reversed another takedown to land in mount position. He fought off submission attempts and landed big shots from Gagnon’s back, and when the Canadian tried to escape, he took back control and nearly sunk a choke. Gagnon spent the end of the frame fending off ground and pound.

A low blow stopped Lopez dead in his tracks to open the final frame. When Gagnon tried to seize back momentum, he again completed a takedown and took back control, landing ground and pound when Gagnon managed to get free. A final takedown and flurry of punches sealed Lopez’s come from behind performance.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 206 results include:

For complete coverage of UFC 206, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s Dann Stupp and Mike Bohn contributed to this report on site in Toronto.)