UFC Fight Night 44 results: Clint Hester gets past Antonio Braga Neto with split decision

SAN ANTONIO – For Clint Hester, it was all about taking Antonio Braga Neto into deep waters – as deep as the second round.

Hester (11-3 MMA, 4-0 UFC) stayed unbeaten in the UFC after taking a split decision from Neto (9-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC), largely thanks to better cardio down the stretch.

The middleweight bout was part of the main card of today’s UFC Fight Night 44 event at AT&T Center in San Antonio. It aired on FOX Sports 1 following prelim on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Neto worked hard for a takedown from the clinch almost from the outset. He finally got it 90 seconds into the fight and went to work, nearly from mount, and then from half-guard. Neto pushed Hester to the cage and had him playing constant defense. Hester got back to his feet just under the two-minute mark, but Neto dragged him right back to the canvas. Neto trapped Hester’s left arm for a time and landed elbows, and he jumped to mount with 10 seconds left in a dominant first round.

Hester landed a solid left to open the second, then kicked to the body. Hester looked to find his range as he landed a right hand, then a left. As Neto looked like he was fading, Hester kept on with the body shots, then peppered his jab. Midway through the round, Neto went after his first takedown of the round. But Hester held on and was the one who landed the throw. Unfortunately for him, Neto reversed quickly and jumped to full mount with two minutes to go in the round. Hester shrimped out to half-guard, which helped his cause. But it didn’t get him off his back as the round wound down.

Hester came out swinging in the final round. But Neto ducked under one and looked for a single. Hester survived it, then didn’t take the bait when Neto dropped to guard to invite him in. Moments later, though, Hester slipped while winging a punch, fell to the canvas, and Neto jumped on top of him with four minutes left in the round. Neto passed to full mount, but he was tired enough that Hester bucked his way out and into top position in Neto’s guard along the fence. The fight moved back to the feet with less than a minute left, and Hester again started slinging punches. Neto drove in for a takedown and got one with 10 seconds left in the fight – leaving another close round up to the judges’ call.

In the end, two of the three judges saw the fight for Hester with 29-28 scores, while a third gave it to Neto by the same.

Hester ran his winning streak to seven fights and hasn’t lost since October 2010. Neto, returning for the first time in more than a year, lost for the first time since March 2008.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 44 results include:

• Clint Hester def. Antonio Braga Neto via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Joe Ellenberger def. James Moontasri via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Carlos Diego Ferreira def. Colton Smith via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 0:38
• Cody Gibson def. Johnny Bedford via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:38
• Marcelo Guimaraes def. Andy Enz via split decision (27-30, 29-29, 29-28)
• Ray Borg def. Shane Howell via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:17
• Oleksiy Oliynyk def. Anthony Hamilton via submission (neck crank) – Round 1, 2:18

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 44, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.

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