UFC Fight Night 96 results: Andre Fili upsets Hacran Dias for biggest win of MMA career

PORTLAND, Ore. – Andre Fili put Hacran Dias down early and nearly put him away.

But as Dias (23-5-1 MMA, 3-4 UFC) rebounded to bring the fight into the later rounds, Fili (16-4 MMA, 4-3 UFC) met him step for step, eventually claiming the victory via unanimous decision victory after three hard fought rounds.

The catchweight bout (Dias missed weight for the featherweight limit) was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC Fight Night 96 event at Moda Center in Portland, Ore. It aired on FS2 following additional prelims on UFC Fight Pass and ahead of a main card on FS1.

Thanks to a Fili left hand that clipped Dias on the chin in the opening round, this one seemed like it might end early. The punch dropped Dias, and Fili jumped on him with hammerfists in an attempt to close the deal, but Dias rebounded well and got the takedown when he needed it to halt Fili’s momentum.

Still, Fili remained dangerous on the feet throughout the fight. He hurt Dias on the way in multiple times, only to find himself fending off takedowns once Dias got close enough to lay hands on him.

And when Dias got those takedowns, he proved adept at moving to side control and establishing a dominating presence on the mat. What he couldn’t do was put Fili in any real trouble, or even keep him pinned down for long, as Fili managed again and again to reverse the position and bring the offense to Dias.

After a third round that seemed more Dias than Fili right up until the final 30 seconds, the result seemed somewhat in doubt. But all three judges gave Fili the fight with scores of 29-28 across the board, handing him the unanimous decision victory in a close fight with a ranked opponent.

With the victory, Fili gets back in the win column after his knockout loss to Yair Rodriguez in April. Dias has lost two in a row.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 96 results include:

• Andre Fili def. Hacran Dias via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Shamil Abdurakhimov def. Walt Harris via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos def. Keita Nakamura via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Nate Marquardt def. Tamdan McCrory via knockout (head kick) – Round 2, 4:44
• Ion Cutelaba def. Jonathan Wilson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Curtis Blaydes def. Cody East via TKO (elbows) – Round 2, 2:02
• Ketlen Vieira def. Kelly Faszholz via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 96, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

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