UFC on FOX 16 results: Elizabeth Phillips starts quick, just hangs on against Jessamyn Duke

Elizabeth Phillips

CHICAGO – Elizabeth Phillips spent two rounds dominating Jessamyn Duke, and one round just barely surviving against her.

Fortunately for Phillips (5-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC), the math worked out in her favor in the end, as she gutted out the final round against a surging Duke (3-3 MMA, 1-3 UFC) to come away with the unanimous decision victory (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).

The women’s bantamweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC on FOX 16 event at United Center in Chicago. It streamed on UFC Fight Pass ahead of additional prelims and a main card on FOX.

The first two rounds of this fight were all Phillips, both on the feet and on the ground. She battered the taller Duke in the striking exchanges, exploiting a complete lack of defense on Duke’s part early on. Then, when it turned into a grappling match, Phillips moved repeatedly into full mount before taking Duke’s back and peppering her with punches.

Though Phillips couldn’t find a submission in those first two rounds, neither could Duke find any respite from her attacks. Heading into the third, Duke’s corner made it clear that she needed a finish, and to her credit she came out fighting like she believed it.

At the same time, Phillips seemed to run out of gas early in the final frame, which gave Duke all the opportunity she needed to seize control of the fight. After softening an exhausted Phillips up with knees to the body, Duke took her down and searched desperately for a submission, moving from one choke to the next as Phillips focused only on survival.

With the seconds ticking down, Duke locked up an armbar and had just begun to straight the arm out when the final horn sounded. The grimace on her face said that she knew how close she’d come, just like she knew it wouldn’t matter once the judges’ scores were tallied up.

With the win, Philips snaps a two-fight losing streak, and gets her first UFC victory after two previous unsuccessful outings. Duke loses her third fight in a row.

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For complete coverage of UFC on FOX 16, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s Matt Erickson contributed to this report on site in Chicago.)