UFC 173 results, photos: Sam Sicilia grinds out Aaron Phillips

LAS VEGAS – For as long as it remained a pretty contest of speed and striking technique, Aaron Phillips seemed to have the edge on Sam Sicilia.

But once Sicilia (13-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC) turned it into an ugly, messy battle of up-close ground fighting, that’s when Phillips (5-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) got a rough education at the hands of a more experienced fighter, resulting in a unanimous decision win (29-28, 29-28, 30-27) for Sicilia.

The featherweight fight was part of today’s UFC 173 preliminary card at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. It streamed on UFC Fight Pass ahead of additional prelims on FOX Sports 1 and prior to the pay-per-view main card.

Phillips got off to a promising start, tenderizing Sicilia’s body with kicks and knees in the opening minutes of the bout, and Sicilia seemed to be feeling the effects. But once Sicilia figured out how to get Phillips to the floor – and how to exploit his ambitious attacks from the bottom for his own gain – that’s when Sicilia began to take over.

Throughout the second and third rounds, Phillips tried for chokes and armbars off his back, which only gave Sicilia the openings he needed to advance his position and dominate from the top with short strikes that gradually wore Phillips down. Phillips’ coaches let him know that he needed a finish in the final frame, but when a desperate guillotine choke failed in the waning seconds of the bout, even Phillips seemed to see the writing on the wall.

For Sicilia, it was the victory he needed to bring his record inside the octagon to an even .500 after losing three of his last four. For Phillips, it marked the first defeat in what could be a promising career.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 173 results include:

• Sam Sicilia def. Aaron Phillips via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Jingliang Li def. David Michaud via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)

For full coverage of UFC 173, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.

(Matt Erickson and John Morgan contributed to this report on-site in Las Vegas.)