UFC Fight Night 104 results: Felice Herrig's striking on point to shut down Alexa Grasso

HOUSTON – Felice Herrig came in as a heavy underdog, but you wouldn’t have known it from the way she fought against Alexa Grasso.

On the strength of her counter right hand and her near constant pressure, Herrig (12-6 MMA, 3-1 UFC) outpointed Grasso (9-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) for a unanimous decision victory with scores of 29-28, 29-28, and 30-27.

The women’s strawweight bout was the co-main event of today’s UFC Fight Night 104 event at Toyota Center in Houston. It aired on FS1 following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Herrig frustrated Grasso early on by staying just outside of Grasso’s range as she attacked with kicks, yet managing to stay close enough to land repeated counter rights. When Grasso fired off her punch combinations, they seemed to fall just short, leaving her looking like she was shadow boxing against a shadow whose fists were all too solid.

Things didn’t improve much for Grasso in the second round, when Herrig began to settle into her rhythm and seemed to only gain confidence in her striking as time wore on. While Grasso was at times the busier fighter, it was Herrig who landed the more significant strikes, and also Herrig who seemed stronger in those rare moments when the fighters tied up and hit the floor, with Herrig as the one who finished on top.

Grasso managed to rebound, perhaps in part through sheer desperation, in the latter half of the final round, but by then it was too late to turn the tide on the scorecards. All three judges gave the fight to Herrig, with one giving her every round, securing the upset victory for one of the main card’s biggest underdogs.

The win makes it two in a row for Herrig, who now has the first winning streak of her UFC career. Grasso’s loss is the first of her pro career.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 104 results include:

• Felice Herrig def. Alexa Grasso via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• James Vick def. Abel Trujillo via submission (D’Arce choke) – Round 3, 0:49
• Volkan Oezdemir def. Ovince Saint Preux via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Marcel Fortuna def. Anthony Hamilton via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 3:10
• Jessica Andrade def. Angela Hill via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Curtis Blaydes def. Adam Milstead via TKO (injury) – Round 2, 0:59
• Chas Skelly def. Chris Gruetzemacher via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:01
• Ricardo Lucas Ramos def. Michinori Tanaka via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
• Tecia Torres def. Bec Rawlings via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Niko Price def. Alex Morono via knockout (punches) – Round 2, 5:00
• Khalil Rountree def. Daniel Jolly via knockout (knee) – Round 1, 0:52

For complete coverage UFC Fight Night 104, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s Matt Erickson and John Morgan contributed to this report on site in Houston.)