UFC on FOX 22 results: Mizuto Hirota finishes strong in decision win over Cole Miller

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Despite being dropped early, Mizuto Hirota dominated Cole Miller with takedowns and top control in a victorious effort.

While it wasn’t a thrilling fight, Hirota (18-7-2 MMA, 1-2-1 UFC) rode to a clear win, defeating Miller (21-11 MMA, 10-9 UFC) via unanimous decision with scores of 30-26, 30-27 and 30-27.

The featherweight bout was part of today’s UFC on FOX 22 preliminary card at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Calif. It aired on FS1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass and ahead of the FOX-televised main card.

As lopsided as the scores make it seem, it wasn’t an entirely easy night of work for Hirota. When he found himself on the end of Miller’s long right cross early on in the fight, he soon found himself on the mat with his opponent looking for a choke.

But after regaining his bearings, Hirota found his rhythm and quickly took control of the fight, scoring multiple takedowns from the clinch and suffocating Miller from top position.

That became the story of the fight as Miller proved unable to get up off his back, or even to keep Hirota on his in those brief moments when the tables were turned. Whether he was getting taken down or swept from the bottom, once Miller’s back hit the mat he seemed glued there, with Hirota doing just enough to avoid a referee stand-up.

After three rounds of that pattern repeating itself, all three judges gave Hirota the win with a clean sweep on the scorecards.

The win is Hirota’s first in the UFC, with his last attempt resulting in a draw against Teruto Ishihara in September. Miller has now lost three of his past four.

Up-to-the-minute UFC on FOX 22 results include:

• Mizuto Hirota def. Cole Miller via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
• Colby Covington def. Bryan Barberena via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Alex Morono def. James Moontasri via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Josh Emmett def. Scott Holtzman via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Leslie Smith def. Irene Aldana via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Eddie Wineland def. Takeya Mizugaki via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:04
• Hector Sandoval def. Fredy Serrano via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
• Sultan Aliev def. Bojan Velickovic via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 30-27)

For complete coverage of UFC on FOX 22, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

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