UFC Fight Night 43 results: Gian Villante takes split call from Sean O'Connell

AUCKLAND, New Zealand – His cardio issues from earlier this year apparently in the past, Gian Villante picked up a split-decision win in a closely contested fight with Sean O’Connell.

The crowd seemed to disagree with the decision, but Villante (12-5 MMA, 2-2 UFC) took a pair of 29-28 scores to the one for O’Connell (15-6 MMA, 0-2 UFC) to get the victory.

The light heavyweight bout opened up the preliminary card of today’s UFC Fight Night 43 event at Vector Arena in Auckland, New Zealand. It streamed on UFC Fight Pass.

O’Connell threw a few early jabs and tried to crowd his way in to look for a takedown. But Villante easily defended. About a minute in, Villante landed a nice kick, but O’Connell landed with a flurry of punches and pushed the American to the cage. Villante landed knees to the body with his back against the fence, then pushed his way out. Two minutes in, the pair started swinging wildly, and both landed big punches that left Villante smiling.

After a minute of reasonably paced back-and-forth, O’Connell landed a big-time left hand that planted Villante on the canvas. But he popped quickly back to his feet and fired back. The two again clinched for a bit before Villante circled off and back to the middle. O’Connell landed a couple solid punches with a minute left in the round. And though Villante landed a good punch to the body late, O’Connell’s knockdown probably won him the frame.

In the third, Villante landed a solid uppercut, and another right hand after that was on the money, as well. But O’Connell appeared to be pushing forward, even with a cut over his right eye. O’Connell clinched up, but on the break, Villante landed a big kick that forced his opponent to clinch again.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 43 results include:

• Gian Villante def. Sean O’Connell via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 43, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.

(John Morgan contributed to this report on-site in Auckland.)