UFC Fight Night 41 results: Peter Sobotta tops Pawel Pawlak, gets first UFC win

BERLIN – On his fourth attempt, Peter Sobotta finally accomplished a long-awaited goal: He picked up his first UFC win, and it had the added bonus of coming in his home country.

Sobotta (14-4-1 MMA, 1-3 UFC), who went 0-3 in his first UFC stint, subsequently went 5-0-1 on the regional circuit and continued the unbeaten streak with a unanimous-decision victory over Polish newcomer and previously unbeaten Pawel Pawlak (10-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC).

The welterweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC Fight Night 41 event at O2 World Berlin in Germany. It streamed on UFC Fight Pass.

The fighters traded blows early in the fight, and Sobotta looked like he was about to pull ahead after a series of crisp punches and a hard kick to the head. Pawlak, though, fought back and made it a close opening frame.

In the second round, Sobotta got the takedown and took the fight to the place where he’s most comfortable. The submission specialist looked to pass guard, but Pawlak initially proved adept at halting his opponent’s progress. Sobotta mixed in some punches from the top, but Pawlak stymied much of his production despite spending the majority of the round on his back.

Sobotta again got a takedown after changing levels in the final round. Pawlak quickly fought his way back to his feet, but Sobotta forced the fight back to the mat, moved to half guard, and did just enough to avoid a standup for inaction until the final seconds of the fight. By then, though, Sobotta had already wrapped up the win.

In the end, he picked up the unanimous-decision victory, though scores weren’t announced.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 41 results include:

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 41, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(Steven Marrocco contributed to this report on-site in Berlin.)