UFC Fight Night 41 results: Sean Strickland shocks Luke Barnatt with split decision

BERLIN – It wasn’t a classic knock-down, drag-out affair, but Luke Barnatt thought he stayed perfect thanks to a patient game plan.

Instead, Barnatt (8-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) found himself shocked when Sean Strickland (15-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) took a split decision in a fight that the German crowd certainly wasn’t in love with, but one Barnatt seemed to be winning.

The middleweight bout was part of the main card of today’s UFC Fight Night 41 event at O2 World Berlin in Germany. It streamed on UFC Fight Pass.

It was a slow start, but Barnatt looked calm as he continually pushed Strickland back with his jab and used his length to keep Strickland at bay with short kicks. Strickland stayed patient and with 90 seconds left, through a right hand that was just off the mark. He landed another with 15 seconds left, but the story of the round was the crowd’s impatience with the action, perhaps for the first time of the night.

Barnatt came forward a bit quicker to open the second, and tried a jumping kick. The two locked up for a quick flurry, but 30 seconds in Strickland took Barnatt to the canvas and tried to go to work with strikes while Barnatt looked for upkicks. Shortly thereafter, Barnatt used his length to push his way out and they went back to the center. With a minute left, Barnatt landed a nice right hand, then another for his best offense of the fight. A third with 25 seconds left, had Strickland taking notice and firing back.

Barnatt opened up a cut under Strickland’s right eye in the third, then backed him up with a kick and punch to the body. Barnatt continued to land the occasional big right hand, and with two minutes left he looked to tie Strickland up. Strickland worked to reverse and then went after a leg lock. Barnatt defended once they hit the ground, and it was mostly inconsequential for him as the fight returned to standing with 70 seconds left.

But when the scores were read, Strickland took a 30-27 from one judge and a 29-28, while Barnatt’s one 29-28 left him with the first official loss of his career.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 41 results include:

• Sean Strickland def. Luke Barnatt via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
• Niklas Backstrom def. Tom Niinimaki via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:15
• Nick Hein def. Drew Dober via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
• Magnus Cedenblad def. Krzysztof Jotko via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 4:59
• Iuri Alcantara def. Vaughan Lee via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:25
• Peter Sobotta def. Pawel Pawlak via unanimous decision
• Maximo Blanco def. Andy Ogle via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Ruslan Magomedov def. Viktor Pesta via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 41, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(Steven Marrocco contributed to this report on-site in Berlin.)