UFC Fight Night 98 results: Marco Polo Reyes takes split call from Jason Novelli

MEXICO CITY – Marco Polo Reyes survived a late push and a near finish at the hands of Jason Novelli to nab a victory by the narrowest of margins.

After three spirited rounds Polo Reyes (7-3 MMA, 3-0 UFC) just barely edged out Novelli (11-3 MMA, 0-2 UFC) with a split-decision victory, taking the fight with scores of 29-28, 28-29, and 29-28.

The lightweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC Fight Night 98 event at Mexico City Arena in Mexico City. It streamed on UFC Fight Pass ahead of the rest of the card on FS1.

What may have made the difference for Polo Reyes in this very close fight was his aggression throughout. From the first round to the last, he was the one moving forward and initiating exchanges, while Novelli looked to stick and move before trying for takedowns to help him solidify the round in his favor.

That strategy backfired on Novelli in the second, when his attempt at a takedown got him reversed by Polo Reyes, who spent the rest of that round on top, suffocating Novelli with short strikes.

Polo Reyes began to take over in the striking department early in the third, at one point sending Novelli’s mouthpiece flying with a straight right. Novelli managed to make it interesting in the final minute, however, after he moved immediately from a takedown to full mount and then back control, mixing up strikes with an attempted rear-naked choke.

Novelli would run out of time in that late assault, sending the fight to the scorecards. With two of the three judges handing it to Polo Reyes, he managed to escape with the win.

The victory makes it four in a row for Polo Reyes. Novelli has now lost two straight.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 98 results include:

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 98, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan and Fernanda Prates contributed to this report on site in Mexico City.)