UFC London results: Dominick Reyes stays unbeaten, squeaks by Volkan Oezdemir

LONDON – Dominick Reyes (11-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) was pushed to the limit but kept his perfect record intact with a razor-thin split-decision win over Volkan Oezdemir (15-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC).

The light heavyweight bout was part of the main card of today’s UFC on ESPN+ 5 event at The O2 in London. It streamed on ESPN+.

Reyes stayed at distance to start, first kicking the leg and then nearly landing flush with a kick to the chin. Oezdemir kept his guard high but pressed forward with punches, cutting off the cage as he moved. A Reyes kick landed to the cup, causing a brief pause, but Oezdemir didn’t require much time to recover.

Reyes immediately chopped the thigh on the restart. He slipped to the floor on another kick shortly after, allowing Oezdemir to take top position. However, Reyes was able to battle back to his feet and pull free soon after. Oezdemir continued to press, scoring another takedown, but Reyes again crawled back to his feet and pulled free. Oezdemir remained the aggressor on the restart, pushing forward with both punches and kicks to all levels.

The action started quickly in the second, with both men throwing strikes at full power. Both fighters continued to invest in attacking the legs but also looked for big punches up top. Reyes tried briefly to take the fight to the floor but wasn’t able to do so, and Oezdemir continued stalking with punches. Reyes showed strong defense but seemed to be on the back foot more often not.

Oezdemir pushed forward quickly in the third and scored a nice takedown, though Reyes moved immediately back to his feet. Reyes had decent volume on offense, but Oezdemir did a great avoiding most of the work. A brief clinch proved fruitless, but a Reyes knee to the body immediately after didi visible damage. Oezdemir was suddenly forced to retreat. His offensive output slowed a bit, though Reyes couldn’t really capitalize before the bell. In the end, a close fight went to the judges, and two of the three sided with Reyes, who took home a split-decision resu.t

Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN+ 5 results include:

• Dominick Reyes def. Volkan Oezdemir via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
• Nathaniel Wood def. Jose Quinonez via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:46
• Claudio Silva def. Danny Roberts via verbal submission (armbar) – Round 3, 3:37
• Jack Marshman def. John Phillips via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Arnold Allen def. Jordan Rinaldi via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 29-28)
• Marc Diakiese def. Joe Duffy via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Saparbek Safarov def. Nico Negumereanu via unanimous decision (29-26, 29-26, 29-27)
• Dan Ige def. Danny Henry via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 1:17
• Molly McCann def. Priscila Cachoeira via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-
• Mike Grundy def. Nad Narimani via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4:42

For complete coverage of UFC on ESPN+ 5, check out the UFC Events section of the site.