UFC 159 results/photos: Bryan Caraway taps Johnny Bedford in third

NEWARK, N.J. – Stepping in for injured Erik Perez on just six days’ notice, Bryan Caraway outworked and outgrappled fellow “The Ultimate Fighter 14? cast member Johnny Bedford en route to an impressive third-round submission win.

The bantamweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC 159 event at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. It aired on FX following additional prelims on Facebook and ahead of the pay-per-view main card.

After the pair traded punches to open the fight, Caraway deftly slipped to the back and simply dragged Bedford to the floor, where he secured both hooks and went to work with alternating choke attempts with both arms. After a few tense moments, Bedford scrambled to his feet and landed a few choice blows, but Caraway smiled and lasted until the bell.

With Caraway almost exclusively throwing his left hand to start the second, he opened a nasty cut over Bedford’s right eye. A slick takedown earned him a dominant spot on the floor, and he controlled the positioning until the end of the round.

Down on the cards to open the third, Bedford turned up the aggression in the final frame, but Caraway used superior grappling to again work himself to top position and avoid a few submission attempts while dominating the action. With time winding down, Caraway declined to coast to a decision win and instead locked in a guillotine choke after transitioning quickly to mount and scoring a third-round tap-out with 16 seconds left in the fight.

After losing a disappointing decision to Takeya Mizugaki in March, Caraway (18-6 MMA, 3-1 UFC) rebounds and is now 4-1 in his past five fights. After the win, he said he thinks the win erases the sting of that defeat, as well as girlfriend Miesha Tate’s loss to Cat Zingano earlier this month.

“I was focused on finishing the fight tonight because I’m so sick of bad decisions and stoppages,” Caraway said. “I think I got a bad call against Mizugaki and Miesha got a horrible call in that stoppage two weeks ago. I wanted to erase those memories and put a smile on both our faces with a win tonight. I think I did that.”

Bedford (19-10-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) sees a three-fight win streak snapped.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 159 results include:

• Bryan Caraway def. Johnny Bedford via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 3, 4:44
• Cody McKenzie def. Leonard Garcia via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
• Steven Siler def. Kurt Holobaugh via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

For complete coverage of UFC 159, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.

Matt Erickson and Steven Marrocco contributed to this report on-site in Newark.