UFC 214 results: Alexandra Albu brawls her way to win over Kailin Curran

What Alexandra Albu lacked in strategic awareness she made up for in raw aggression against Kailin Curran.

While that approach got her face bloodied and bruised, it also got her a win on the scorecards, as Albu (3-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) outpointed Curran (4-5 MMA, 1-5 UFC) in an entertaining brawl to win a unanimous decision victory after three frantic rounds.

The strawweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC 214 event at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. It streamed on UFC Fight Pass ahead of additional prelims on FXX and a main card on pay-per-view.

Albu didn’t always make the smartest choices in this fight, but she did make them all with a fervent commitment, relying on her athleticism to get her out of a few jams against Curran. After a fast start that saw Albu charge forward behind some heavy combinations, she halted her own momentum by pulling guard in the first round, giving Curran a free chance to work from the top.

Albu would adjust somewhat in the second, taking Curran down and doing some work of her own from the top position, battering Curran with ground-and-pound and at one point shrugging off an illegal upkick that prompted a brief intervention from referee Herb Dean.

But after relying on her own explosive strength to pull her through early, Albu began to tire later in the round, giving Curran a chance to turn the tables in the third frame. A blistering combination of punches and kicks had Albu on the run early, and Curran got further help from some takedowns assisted by Albu’s own questionable choices.

That left Albu looking battered by the time the final horn sounded, but when it went to the judges all three had the fight for Albu by scores of 29-28, giving her a narrow victory in a frenzied contest.

With the win, Albu remains perfect as a professional in her young career. Curran has now lost three straight in the UFC.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 214 results include:

• Alexandra Albu def. Kailin Curran via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Jarred Brooks def. Eric Shelton via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Drew Dober def. Josh Burkman via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 3:04

For complete coverage of UFC 214, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s Dann Stupp, John Morgan, Ben Fowlkes, Mike Bohn and Ken Hathaway contributed to this report on site in Anaheim.)