UFC 196 Preliminary Results: Siyar Bahadurzada Chokes Out Brandon Thatch

It was once again fight day here at LowKickMMA, and the talent on display tonight (Saturday, March 4th, 2016) will come in the form of UFC 196. Headlining the card are Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz, but there’s a whole bunch of great fights also taking place on the preliminary section of the card.

Brandon Thatch (11-4) vs. Siyar Bahadurzada (22-6-1) in a welterweight bout closed out the UFC 196 preliminary card on Fox Sports 1. Bahadurzada dominated the fight with not only his striking, but takedowns, and grappling. Bahadurzada wore him down with constant pressure and finished the fight in the third round via submission. Bahadurzada last fought at UFC 168 and looked better than ever in this fight.

Erick Silva (18-7, 1NC) and Nordine Taleb (11-3) met in a welterweight bout at UFC 196. This was a strange fight. The first round saw decent action. The notable moment of the round was when Silva faked a fist bump and jabbed him in the face. In the second round, Taleb caught a leg kick and landed a straight cross to shut Silva’s lights out.

Vitor Miranda (12-4) and Marcelo Guimaraes (9-2-1) met in a middleweight bout at UFC 196. Guimaraes controlled the first round with his takedowns and striking. However, Miranda turned things around in the second round. Guimaraes clinched with him and put him up against the fence. Miranda then rocked Guimaraes with a series of elbows then a head kick and the fight was over.

Darren Elkins (19-5) vs. Chas Skelly (15-1) in a featherweight opened the UFC 196 Fox Sports 1 preliminary bouts. Fun fight. The first round saw a lot of action with Elkins taking him down, but Skelly was going for leg submissions often. In the second round, Elkins took him down early and stayed in top position and just beat Skelly’s face in for the entire round. Elkins kept the pace up in the third and just swarmed him with constant punches and takedowns. This was the best Darren Elkins we’ve seen this far. Elkins picked up the win by decision.

Diego Sanchez (25-8) vs. Jim Miller (25-7, 1NC) in a lightweight bout finishes off the UFC Fight Pass preliminary card for UFC 196. This was as expected. Great. Sanchez controlled the first round with his ground and pound. In the second round, Miller came alive and let his hands go. He also worked in some strikes and grappling, which Sanchez tried to counter and take the fight to the ground. In the third round, both men kept their pace up and put on a striking fest. After three rounds, the judges gave the unanimous decision victory to Sanchez.

Justin Salas (12-6) and Jason Saggo (10-2) met in a lightweight bout at UFC 196. This one did not last long. Salas scored an early round takedown, but Saggo stayed patient and worked off his back to top control. Late in the round, Saggo transitioned to back mount and worked him over with shots to finish the fight.

Opening the UFC Fight Pass prelims for UFC 196 was Julian Erosa (15-2) vs. Teruto Ishihara (7-2-2) in a featherweight bout. The first round was entertaining with both men exchanging as well as taking the fight to the ground. In the second round, Ishihara caught him with a left-hand 30-seconds into the round and finished him on the ground.

Here are the prelims results:

Preliminary Card: (FS1 – 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT)

Siyar Bahadurzada def. Brandon Thatch via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 3, 4:11

Nordine Taleb def. Erick Silva knockout (punches) – Round 2, 1:34

Vitor Miranda def. Marcelo Guimaraes by TKO (strikes) at 1:09 of Round 2

Darren Elkins def. Chas Skelly via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-26 29-27) R3, 5:00

Preliminary Card: (UFC Fight Pass – 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m PT)

Diego Sanchez def. Jim Miller via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Jason Saggo def. Justin Salas via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:31

Teruto Ishihara def. Julian Erosa via knockout (punches) – Round 2, 0:34