UFC 170 results, photos: Zach Makovsky tops a game Josh Sampo via decision

LAS VEGAS – Zach Makovsky controlled Josh Sampo from start to finish, using takedowns and top control to ride to a unanimous-decision victory on Saturday night.

The flyweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC 170 event at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. It aired on FOX Sports 1 following additional prelims on UFC Fight Pass and ahead of a main card on pay-per-view.

For Makovsky, the recipe was simple. He snapped Sampo to the mat, did just enough the top to keep Sampo’s tricky submissions game in check, then controlled the distance with kicks when the action returned to the feet. With the exception of a slip that put him on his back in Round 3, there was hardly a moment where Makovsky wasn’t in total control, and the judges’ scores rewarded him for it.

The final tallies were 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.

“I think that Josh and I are very similar in terms of body type, skills and training background, so it was just going to be a matter of who can implement their game better,” Makovsky said. “I felt coming in that it would be a wrestling match, and I was pretty confident that I would get the better of that aspect of the fight. I was making him miss throughout the fight, but I wasn’t able to counter as effectively as I should’ve.

“I know I could’ve done a lot better out there, but it just gives me more to improve on for the next time I step into that octagon.”

Makovsky (18-4 MMA, 2-0 UFC) remains unbeaten in the UFC with the win and extends his current win streak to four fights. Sampo (11-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) suffers his first UFC defeat and snaps a five-fight winning streak.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 170 results include:

• Zach Makovsky def. Josh Sampo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Erik Koch def. Rafaello Oliveira via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 1:24
• Ernest Chavez def. Yosdenis Cedeno via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)

For complete coverage of UFC 170, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.

John Morgan and Matt Erickson contributed to this report on-site in Las Vegas.