Popular veteran Michael Bisping snapped Thales Leites’ lengthy winning streak by edging out a five-round split decision in the main event of a UFC Fight Night event in Glasgow, Scotland Saturday.
Bisping, 36, started off strong and picked his opponent apart in the first two rounds, however, Leites gained momentum early in the third frame after rocking Bisping with a series of punches. Bisping was able to hold on and the perennial top-10 middleweights traded shots for the final two rounds.
Bisping has now won two straight for the first time since 2011. During the fight, he also leapfrogged Frankie Edgar to sit first in significant strikes landed among active UFC fighters. He also now ranks second in total fight time among active fighters — only Edgar has seen more Octagon time.
Leites had an eight-fight win streak snapped. He had gone 5-0 since returning to the UFC in 2013.
In the co-main event, Evan Dunham upset Ross Pearson in a battle of veteran 155-pounders. Pearson’s last four wins had come by knockout but Dunham used his grappling to neutralize the Brit’s striking and earned a unanimous decision victory. Pearson has alternated wins and losses in his last five fights, while Dunham has won his last two bouts.
Also on the main card, Joseph Duffy, the last man to beat UFC superstar Conor McGregor, submitted Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Ivan Jorge in just over three minutes.
It was the UFC’s debut event in Scotland and Scottish fighters ended up going 3-0 on the card.
Women’s strawweight contender Joanne Calderwood of Glasgow put on a thrilling performance picking up a unanimous decision win over UFC debutant Cortney Casey.
Featherweight Robert Whiteford, a native of Armadale, West Lothian, earned a first-round TKO win over Ireland’s Paul Redmond.
Meanwhile, Fife’s Stevie Ray did the same to Leonardo Mafra in lightweight action.
Here are the complete results from UFC Glasgow:
MAIN CARD
— Michael Bisping def. Thales Leites by split decision
— Evan Dunham def. Ross Pearson by unanimous decision
— Joseph Duffy def. Ivan Jorge by submission, Round 1
— Joanne Calderwood def. Cortney Casey by unanimous decision
— Leon Edwards def. Pawel Pawlak by unanimous decision
— Stevie Ray def. Leonardo Mafra by TKO, Round 1
PRELIMINARY CARD
— Paddy Holohan def. Vaughan Lee by unanimous decision
— Ilir Latifi def. Hans Stringer by knockout, Round 1
— Mickael Lebout def. Teemu Packalen by unanimous decision
— Rob Whiteford def. Paul Redmond by knockout, Round 1
— Jimmie Rivera def. Marcus Brimage by TKO, Round 1
— Daniel Omielanczuk def. Chris De La Rocha by TKO, Round 1
