UFC Fight Night 44 results: Kelvin Gastelum comes on strong to top Nicholas Musoke

SAN ANTONIO – After getting off to a rough start in the opening round, Kelvin Gastelum (9-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) rallied to win the next two rounds in order to edge out a unanimous decision victory (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) over Nicholas Musoke (12-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC), thanks largely to his aggression on the feet and non-stop pressure in a bloody, fast-paced fight.

The catchweight bout (Gastelum came in overweight) was the co-main event of today’s UFC Fight Night 44 event at AT&T Center in San Antonio. It aired on FOX Sports 1 following prelim on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Musoke got off to a great start in round one. He seized Gastelum’s back early in the round and controlled him on the ground for almost the entire first round, easily winning the first frame on the scorecards. That fact wasn’t lost on Gastelum, who said after the bout that he knew he was down a round going into the second.

Gastelum turned up the pressure to start round two and kept it there for the next 10 minutes, using a diverse striking game and an unrelenting attack to keep Musoke on the defensive, battering him en route to a decision win that was evident all over Musoke’s face by the end of the third.

With the win, Gastelum has now won four straight in the UFC. Musoke loses for the first time in his UFC tenure, making it his first loss since 2011.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 44 results include:

• Kelvin Gastelum def. Nicholas Musoke via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Cezar Ferreira def. Andrew Craig via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Ricardo Lamas def. Hacran Dias via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Clint Hester def. Antonio Braga Neto via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Joe Ellenberger def. James Moontasri via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Carlos Diego Ferreira def. Colton Smith via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 0:38
• Cody Gibson def. Johnny Bedford via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:38
• Marcelo Guimaraes def. Andy Enz via split decision (27-30, 29-29, 29-28)
• Ray Borg def. Shane Howell via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:17
• Oleksiy Oliynyk def. Anthony Hamilton via submission (neck crank) – Round 1, 2:18

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 44, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.

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