UFC-Rotterdam results: Rustam Khabilov's aggression earns him win over Desmond Green

In a battle of two gifted wrestlers, Rustam Khabilov simply outworked Desmond Green en route to a unanimous-decision win.

The lightweight bout took place on the prelims of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 115 event, which streamed live on UFC Fight Pass from Ahoy Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

The two wrestlers opened with a few spirited striking exchanges, but the inevitable clinch followed, and the ensuing scrambles entertained. However, both men refused to settle for an inferior position and reset to the feet. From there, Khabilov moved inside and scored a few powerful takedowns, but Green always worked back to his feet and reset to safety. Both men kept a high pace until the bell.

Khabilov opened the second with a big overhand right before the two settled in the pocket and again looked to trade. Some light bruising was evident on Khabilov’s lead leg, but Green largely preferred punches in his attacks. A straight left landed clean for Green, who seemed to gain confidence with each passing second and seemed to somehow be picking up his pace. Khabilov did get deep on a takedown attempt, but again, Green shrugged him off and popped back to his feet.

Following two competitive rounds, both men seemed fresh to start the third. Green remained up to the challenge of Khabilov’s takedowns but struggled to set the tone with much offense of his own. The two seemed closely matched in every exchange, but it was Khabilov who was generally the aggressor. Green did get a takedown and move to the back, but it was in the very final seconds of the contest, but it was too little, too late, and Khabilov took a decision win, 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 on the judges’ cards.

Khabilov (22-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC) now boasts a five-fight winning streak, while Green (20-6 MMA, 1-1 UFC) sees his own five-fight run come to an end.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 115 results include:

• Rustam Khabilov def. Desmond Green via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Aleksandar Rakic def. Francimar Barroso via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Zabit Magomedsharipov def. Mike Santiago via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:22
• Abdul-Kerim Edilov def. Bojan Mihajlovic via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 2:32
• Thibault Gouti def. Andrew Holbrook via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 4:28

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 115, check out the UFC Events section of the site.