UFC Fight Night 86 results: Zak Cummings hands Nicolas Dalby first loss with sweep

Nicolas Dalby and Zak Cummings

ZAGREB, Croatia – Zak Cummings almost put another quick knockout on his resume. But Nicolas Dalby proved more difficult to finish than expected.

Dalby (14-1-1 MMA, 1-1-1 UFC) dusted himself off after a first-round knockdown and waged a kick-heavy attack against Cummings (19-4 MMA, 4-1 UFC), who picked his shots and did greater damage en route to a unanimous decision.

The welterweight closed out today’s UFC Fight Night 86 preliminary card at Zagreb Arena in Zagreb, Croatia. Like the main card, it aired on FOX Sports 1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

The final scores were unanimously 30-27 for Cummings, whose left hand starred over 15 minutes with Dalby. Casually closing the distance, Cummings repeatedly tagged his opponent with a straight left, then surprised him with an uppercut and left hook that produced the first significant exchange of the bout.

Dalby resisted Cummings’ attempt to end the fight by submission, scrambling out of a D’Arce choke and guillotine. But the sequence would establish Cummings’ power, which he repeatedly put on display.

Rather than take the fight to the mat, Dalby attacked Cummings’ legs and tried to land flashy head kicks. At least two landed, with a hook kick smacking Cummings upside the head. But the strikes weren’t powerful enough to change the momentum of the fight.

Dalby tried to make up for the differential by outworking Cummings, upping his strike count in the final round. The strategy produced perhaps his best offense in the fight, as he caught the UFC vet with a series of knees in the clinch. In the end, however, Cummings saw no reason to change his approach and continued to land his jab and cross.

It was Cummings’ second straight win since a 43-second stoppage of Dominique Steele this past July, while Dalby remains on the hunt for a win since fighting back from a deficit to draw Darren Till this past October.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 86 results include:

• Zak Cummings def. Nicolas Dalby via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Alejandro Perez def. Ian Entwistle via verbal submission (punches) – Round 1, 4:04
• Mairbek Taisumov def. Damir Hadzovic via TKO (punch) – Round 1, 3:44
• Damian Stasiak def. Filip Pejic via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:16
• Lucas Martins def. Robert Whiteford via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
• Jared Cannonier def. Cyril Asker via knockout (punch, elbows) – Round 1, 2:40
• Bojan Velickovic def. Alessio Di Chirico via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

For more on UFC Fight Night 86, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan contributed to this report on site in Zagreb.)