UFC Fight Night 81 results: Chris Wade runs through Mehdi Baghdad in first round

Chris Wade

BOSTON – Chris Wade wasted no time taking Mehdi Baghdad to the canvas, and once he put the fight there, it was only a matter of time until the finish came.

The lightweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC Fight Night 81 event at TD Garden in Boston. It aired on FOX Sports 1 following additional prelims on UFC Fight Pass and ahead of a main card on FOX Sports 1.

Wade (11-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) immediately took Baghdad (11-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) to the canvas, ending up in full guard after a head and arm throw. With Baghdad on his back, Wade unloaded with some heavy elbows to the face.

As the strikes were piling up, Baghdad tried to find his way back to his feet and opened up a better position for Wade. Wade transitioned to the back and landed punches until he was able to flatten Baghdad out and sink in the rear-naked choke for the submission at the 4:30 mark of Round 1.

The loss snapped a seven-fight winning streak for Baghdad, while Wade’s own winning streak advances to six.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 81 results include:

• Chris Wade def. Mehdi Baghdad via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:30
• Luke Sanders def. Maximo Blanco via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:38
• Paul Felder def. Daron Cruickshank via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 3:56
• Ilar Latifi def. Sean O’Connell via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:30
• Charles Rosa def. Kyle Bochniak via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Rob Font def. Joey Gomez via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 4:13
• Francimar Barroso def. Elvis Mutapcic via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 81, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan and Matt Erickson contributed to this report on site in Boston.)