UFC 209 results: After getting destroyed in first, Iuri Alcantara taps Luke Sanders in second

LAS VEGAS – Luke Sanders had several opportunities to put Iuri Alcantara away, and he nearly succeeded.

Alcantara (35-7 MMA, 9-4 UFC) only had one good chance, but he made the most of it, rolling into a kneebar that forced Sanders (11-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) to tap at the 3:13 mark of Round 2.

The bantamweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC 209 event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It aired on FS1 following additional prelims on UFC Fight Pass and ahead of a main card on pay-per-view.

Sanders had Alcantara in trouble early on in this fight, thanks to a little help from his ground-and-pound. After using an Alcantara kick to put his opponent on the mat, Sanders unloaded with punches from the back as Alcantara turtled up and tried to defend. But Sanders’ aim was sound, and he soon found the soft spot behind Alcantara’s ear with his powerful left hand, and referee Marc Goddard warned Alcantara that the bout was close to being stopped.

Alcantara would move just enough to keep the referee at bay as he positioned himself against the fence, but his true savior came in the form of a mistake by Sanders. As Sanders cycled through punches and elbows in an attempt to stop the downed Alcantara, he launched a blatantly illegal knee to the head that forced Goddard to pause the bout and ask, “What are you doing?”

Goddard would take a point from Sanders, but more importantly he gave Alcantara time to rest and recover near the end of the round. Alcantara would survived the frame, though he soon found himself in the same spot in the second.

This time, however, Alcantara had a solution. Instead of remaining a motionless target for Sanders, he rolled for a leg and got it, extending Sanders’ right knee as he locked in the kneebar. Sanders, looking exhausted and disappointed, gave a half-hearted tap, solidifying a loss in a fight he came so close to winning.

The win makes it two in a row for Alcantara, who hasn’t lost in slightly over a year. Sanders’ loss is the first of his professional career.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 209 results include:

• Iuri Alcantara def. Luke Sanders via submission (kneebar) – Round 2, 3:13
• Mark Godbeer def. Daniel Spitz via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Tyson Pedro def. Paul Craig via TKO (elbows) – Round 1, 4:10
• Albert Morales def. Andre Soukhamthath via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

For complete coverage UFC 209, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan and Mike Bohn contributed to this report on site in Las Vegas.)