UFC Fight Night 127 results: Charles Byrd debuts with first-round submission of John Phillips

LONDON – After two submission wins in Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series, Charles Byrd repeated the result in his UFC debut, tapping out John Phillips in the first round.

The middleweight bout closed out the preliminary card of today’s UFC Fight Night 127 event at The O2 in London. It streamed on UFC Fight Pass.

Byrd slipped an early punch and immediately took the action to the floor, moving quickly to mount and looking to attack. Byrd punched the body and looked to control his opponent’s wrists, driving a few firm shoulders into the chin, as well. Phillips tried to tie things up as best he could, but Byrd stepped over the right leg and continued his attack.

At the halfway mark of the frame, Phillips tried to move to his knees, but Byrd quickly slipped around to his back. Phillips was forced to put his own back on the canvas, again giving Byrd top position. Phillips again moved to is knees with 90 seconds left, and Byrd immediately took the back. While Phillips kept his chin tucked, Byrd started to squeeze anyway, adjusting his grip until finally earning the tap from his trapped opponent at the 3:58 mark of the first round.

Byrd (10-4 MMA, 1-0 UFC) now owns four straight wins, all via stoppage. (21-7 MMA, 0-1 UFC) sees a four-fight winning streak snapped.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 127 results include:

• Charles Byrd def. John Phillips via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:58
• Danny Roberts def. Oliver Enkamp via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 2:12
• Danny Henry def. Hakeem Dawodu via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 0:39
• Paul Craig def. Magomed Ankalaev via submission (triangle choke) – Round 3, 4:59
• Kajan Johnson def. Stevie Ray via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Dmitriy Sosnovskiy def. Mark Godbeer via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:29

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 127, check out the UFC Events section of the site.