Hello all and welcome to InsideFights.com’s live coverage and play-by-play of UFC Fight Night 26 headlined by a five-round light heavyweight bout between Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua and Chael Sonnen. I’m Ryan Frederick and I’ll be covering tonight’s event from the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Stay tuned for live play-by-play coverage of the night’s preliminary card airing on FOX Sports. Stay tuned for coverage of the main card on FOX Sports 1, and check out our full coverage of the Facebook preliminary card. Enjoy the fights everyone.
Diego Brandao vs. Daniel Pineda
Referee: Mario Yamasaki
ROUND 1- Brandao fires off a kick to start off and Pineda lands a hard leg kick. Pineda misses a right hand and goes for a takedown that misses. Brandao switches stances but Pineda lands a head kick. Brandao with a right hand. Pineda backs Brandao up with a right hand. Brandao lands a combo and then lands a flying knee. Brandao with a head kick and gets another flying knee. Pineda survives and lands a right hand. Brandao rocks Pineda with another combination. Pineda with a right hand. Pineda with a leg kick. Pineda lands a combo and Brandao misses a right hand. Brandao lands a left hook and Pineda counters with a combination. Brandao with a left forearm. Brandao rocks Pineda with a big right hand. Pineda with a right hand and Brandao rocks him with a counter right. Pineda goes down for a moment and Brandao lands a right hand. Brandao then lands another flying knee. Brandao scores a takedown. Brandao looks to pass the guard and does. Brandao with a knee to the body and then both get to their feet. Pineda with a combination and Brandao lands a big leg kick. Pineda fires off leg kicks of his own. Pineda backs Brandao up with a combo. Pineda lands a right hand and Brandao returns with a big body kick. Pineda goes for a spinning back fist but nothing there. Ten seconds left and Pineda misses a front kick. The round ends. 10-9 Brandao.
ROUND 2- Both men fire off to start the round against the cage. They break up and Pineda rushes forward with right hands. Brandao scores a takedown and is in the guard of Pineda. Brandao looks to pass guard but Pineda looks to secure a submission. Brandao escapes and Pineda gets back to his feet. Brandao with a combo and Pineda fakes being hurt. Brandao rushes in and Pineda lands an elbow. Brandao gets another takedown. Not much happening with this takedown. Pineda looks to set up a submission but Brandao lands some ground-and-pound. Pineda grabs an arm and looks for a kimura and uses it to sweep to the top. Brandao is on bottom and looks to be tiring. Pineda lands ground-and-pound and some hard elbows. Brandao is in trouble and grabs Pineda. Pineda with more punches from the top. Pineda gets mount and is landing punches from the top. Big punches coming down. Brandao is not doing enough to escape and the fight could be finished from here. Brandao rolls over to escape and Pineda is forced to his feet. Brandao grabs Pineda’s leg and is looking for a leg lock. Pineda gets out and back into the guard of Brandao. Pineda with some soft punches from the top. Pineda with shots to the body. Brandao with an elbow but Pineda fires off as the round comes to a close. 10-9 Pineda. 19-19.
ROUND 3- This round could decide it. Brandao looks to set up the takedown but looks tired. Pineda looks to land a combo and Brandao comes back with a takedown. Brandao with body punches and then some shots to the head. Brandao with hammerfists. Pineda cause separation and they get back to the feet. Pineda misses a flying knee. Brandao gets another takedown and pushes Pineda against the cage. They get up but Brandao has Pineda’s back. They break. Pineda misses a knee and Brandao lands a right hand. Pineda misses a takedown. Pineda goes for another one but Brandao defends it. Pineda with a spinning kick to the body but Brandao comes back with another takedown, his sixth one in the fight. Brandao with an elbow from the top. Pineda looks to set up something with his legs. Pineda tries to roll and gets up and Brandao has his back. Pineda with some back elbows. Brandao drags the fight back down to the ground. Pineda looks for a kimura and they get back up to the feet. Pineda with a Superman punch. Brandao then gets another takedown that Pineda can’t defend. Mario Yamasaki stands them up after no action. Pineda misses a spin kick twice but lands a punch. Both are very tired as we head to the end of the fight. Pineda with a combo and looks for a takedown but can’t get it. They battle against the cage. Pineda lands a big right hand and Brandao ends the fight with a head kick. We head to the judges. 10-9 Brandao. 29-28 Brandao.
Official Result: Diego Brandao def. Daniel Pineda by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Mike Brown vs. Steven Siler
Referee: Yves Lavigne
ROUND 1- Brown returns from near retirement. Touch of gloves to start. Siler looks to establish the jab to start. Siler with a leg kick. Brown lands a right hand and Siler clips him with a right hand. Brown goes to the ground and Siler is landing big right hands. Siler stands up and lands a big right hand on Brown. Brown is out cold as Siler lands some right hands. This fight is over! Siler with a big knockout win.
Official Result: Steven Siler def. Mike Brown by KO (punches) at :50 of Round 1
Conor McGregor vs. Max Holloway
Referee: Herb Dean
ROUND 1- McGregor has been hyped up a ton this week, time to see if he delivers. Touch of gloves to start. McGregor lands early with some kicks and a jumping front kick. McGregor goes for another running front kick. McGregor mixing kicks up early. McGregor lands a left hands and backs Holloway up. McGregor lands a combination. McGregor lands some more kicks. Holloway lands a leg kick. McGregor with a body kick. McGregor with an uppercut and lands a jumping switch kick. McGregor with a combo that lands. McGregor with a jumping kick again. McGregor lands another body kick. McGregor lands a left hand. McGregor with a head kick followed by a straight left hand. Holloway with a leg kick. McGregor with a jumping switch kick and a front kick. McGregor misses a Superman punch. McGregor with a head kick and Holloway lands a right hand. Holloway misses a spinning wheel kick. McGregor lands more kicks and punches. McGregor with more kicks but Holloway lands his own. Holloway moves around to avoid the attacks. McGregor with a unique rolling looking for a takedown move but the round ends. 10-9 McGregor.
ROUND 2- Touch of gloves to start. McGregor lands a left hand to start the round. McGregor with another straight left hand. Holloway with a leg kick. Holloway ducks under a combo from McGregor. McGregor with a side kick. Holloway with a right hand. McGregor with another kick. Holloway looks to land a left hand. McGregor lands a straight left and ducks under a right hand thrown by Holloway. Both land big punches. McGregor with a left and Holloway misses his punches. McGregor lands a nice inside uppercut. Holloway lands a left hand that dazes McGregor. McGregor misses a spin kick. McGregor catches a kick from Holloway and lands a left as they go to the ground. McGregor on top and tries to step over out of guard. McGregor is in Holloway’s full guard. McGregor looks to posture up and does. McGregor on his feet and lands as he goes back down into the guard. McGregor back on his feet and lands as he moves to side control. McGregor back in half-guard and moves back to side control. Another round for the Irishman. 10-9 McGregor. 20-18 McGregor.
ROUND 3- Holloway likely needs a finish here. McGregor with a side kick. Holloway lands a right hand. McGregor goes for a takedown against the fence and gets it. McGregor in Holloway’s guard. McGregor postures up and moves into side control. McGregor is looking to set something up. McGregor almost gets the mount but Holloway rolls over and they get to the feet. McGregor gets another takedown and back into half-guard. McGregor gets into full mount. Holloway tries to roll but McGregor has him locked down. McGregor not doing much and slaps the ears. He’s looking to possibly set up an arm-triangle choke. Holloway tries to roll and McGregor starts landing some punches from the top. McGregor with more hard punches from the top. McGregor with an open right hand from the top. Holloway rolls to his back and the two stand up. McGregor lands a knee. Holloway lands a head kick. McGregor gets another takedown and is on top yet again. McGregor with some soft punches. The fight ends. Dominant performance from McGregor. 10-9 McGregor. 30-27 McGregor.
Official Result: Conor McGregor def. Max Holloway by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Brad Pickett vs. Michael McDonald
Referee: Kevin McDonald
ROUND 1- We are underway with our final prelim bout. McDonald with a leg kick to start his attack. Pickett looks for a body shot but eats a right hand. McDonald with a body kick. Pickett with a right hand and both begin to start firing. McDonald lands some hard punches and Pickett goes down and is in trouble. McDonald with more hard punches and Pickett is in serious trouble but survives. Pickett’s face is a mess. McDonald with a huge flurry. Pickett misses some left hands. Pickett with a leg kick. McDonald with a brief takedown. McDonald with a right hand that lands. McDonald with a head kick and knocks Pickett down. McDonald ends up on top and is in the guard. McDonald gets to his feet and Pickett stands back up. McDonald with a knee to the body. Pickett just misses a big right hand. McDonald with a front kick to the body. Pickett misses a right hand. McDonald with a head kick. Pickett gets a leg kick but McDonald counters with a combo. They start firing away again and McDonald lands a big uppercut. McDonald with a knee and another flurry to end the round. 10-8 McDonald.
ROUND 2- McDonald looks to land the jab to start this round. McDonald lands a right hand but Pickett fires back off. McDonald misses a knee and both stumble around the Octagon. Pickett with a leg kick. Both trade combinations multiple times. Pickett scores a takedown and is in the guard of McDonald. Pickett landing from the top but McDonald has a good hold of him in the guard. Pickett with body shots from the top. McDonald looks to push Pickett off. Pickett with a soft punch to the head. Pickett trying to pass guard but McDonald has him locked. Pickett with an elbow and more punches. McDonald tries to create distance on the ground but can’t. McDonald switches in and locks in a triangle choke. He switches to a triangle armbar but Pickett escapes that and is back in the triangle choke. Pickett taps out! McDonald with the submission win in a very exciting fight. Big win gets him back on title track.
Official Result: Michael McDonald def. Brad Pickett by submission (triangle choke) at 3:43 of Round 2
