UFC 189 results: Cody Garbrandt outstrikes Henry Briones for unanimous decision

Cody Garbrandt

LAS VEGAS – After hinting at a slugfest for three rounds, Cody Garbrandt and Henry Briones finally threw caution to the wind and slung leather.

Both ate leather in that final exhilerating exchange, but unfortunately for Briones (16-5-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC), it didn’t erase the confident work of Garbrandt (7-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC), who cruised to a unanimous decision for his second UFC win.

The bantamweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC189 event at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. It aired on FOX Sports 1 following additional prelims on UFC Fight Pass and ahead of a main card on pay-per-view.

The final scorecards were unanimously 30-27 for Garbrandt, who remains undefeated as a professional. The Team Alpha Male product controlled the pace of the fight for 15 minutes, though Briones frequently surprised him with a stiff jab and counter-attacks that forced him to reset.

After early trouble hunting the “TUF: Latin America” vet down, Garbrandt found success taking the fight to the ground, where he quickly did damage and ended the first round in near mount.

A left hook-right uppercut combo in the second knocked Briones to the mat and threatened a finish, but Briones escaped and charged back with a flying knee.

Briones came out swinging in the final frame and several times caught Garbrandt with stiff hooks. None of them, however, were enough to do serious damage.

After a knockout loss in the quarterfinals of the international reality show, Briones goes back to the drawing board again following a debut submission of Guido Cannetti this past November at UFC 180.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 189 results include:

For complete coverage of UFC 189, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan, Matt Erickson, Steven Marrocco and Ben Fowlkes contributed to this report on site in Las Vegas.)