UFC 171 results: Robert Whiteford grinds his way past Daniel Pineda

DALLAS – It wasn’t always pretty, but Robert Whiteford‘s game plan against Daniel Pineda worked.

Whiteford landed a pair of big kicks in the second, but he took Pineda down in each round and grinded his way to a unanimous decision victory, his first in the UFC.

The featherweight bout opened up the preliminary card of today’s UFC 171 event at American Airlines Center in Dallas. It streamed on UFC Fight Pass ahead of additional prelims on FOX Sports 2 and a main card on pay-per-view.

The two looked to establish range early on with hard kicks and punches, but it was Pineda landing hardest before the two clinched up. Pineda looked for a takedown, but Whiteford reversed to look for a trip. The two changed positions, but Whiteford finally got the fight to the canvas midway through the round. Pineda worked back to his feet, and the two stalled out again on the fence before being separated and restarted in the middle.

In the second, Whiteford wasted no time and took Pineda right down with a double, his third takedown of the fight. Whiteford looked to pass while Pineda stayed defensive. Back on the feet, Whiteford landed a kick that cut Pineda open on the right side of his face, and Whiteford tried to keep the pressure on with a punch. Pineda smiled through it and landed a kick to the body. But Whiteford seconds later landed another kick to the same spot. Pineda rolled over for a kneebar, and it was tight. But Whiteford survived it and passed to side control as the blood ran into Pineda’s eye. Pineda got back to his feet to close out the round and landed a spinning back kick to Whiteford’s midsection as the round closed.

Whiteford in the third again easily got Pineda to the ground, and may have been tired as Pineda tried to land elbows from the bottom. Whiteford didn’t do much in the way of ground-and-pound and was continually warned by the referee until they were stood up near the three-minute mark. A Pineda spinning backfist just missed, and Whiteford ducked under to take him down. He fell into a kneebar, but Whiteford scrambled out and back to the top. Moments later, a Pineda triangle choke attempt wasn’t close enough, and Whiteford went to work in side control. They were stood up again with a minute left, but a Whiteford takedown attempt was too tired, and Pineda took him down. But Whiteford held on to ride out the round. Pineda went after a kimura late, but Whiteford survived and became the first Scottish fighter to win in the UFC.

“I couldn’t have been more well prepared,” Whiteford said. “I was in the best shape of my life, thanks to my work with American Top Team. The key was my movement, being smart and not brawling with him. I wanted to brawl, but I stuck to the game plan. I can’t wait to get back to American Top Team and start training with them again. Being the first Scot to fight in the UFC and getting the win in my debut means everything to me and a lot of people back home. I’m getting emotional just thinking about it.”

Whiteford (11-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) picks up his first UFC win after a submission loss in his promotional debut in October. Pineda (18-11 MMA, 3-4 UFC) lost his second straight and has dropped four of his past five.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 171 results include:

• Robert Whiteford def. Daniel Pineda via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

For complete coverage of UFC 171, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.

John Morgan and Steven Marrocco contributed to this report on-site in Dallas.