John Howard made his return to the UFC on Saturday night at UFC Fight Night 26 and handed Uriah Hall his second straight defeat in the UFC by split decision.
Hall opened the fight and immediately took the fight to the ground. While on the ground, he landed some short strikes but eventually decided to move away and had Howard stand up.
The remainder of the opening round would be on the feet with Howard looking for his left hand but he would not be able to connect.
In the second round, Howard was able to mount offense with his striking and clinched with Hall against the cage. During the middle round, Hall was unable to get anything going and seemed to be resting up for the final round.
During the last round, the fighters touched gloves on several occasions and seemed to be showing to much much respect. Howard will be able to land more in the final round and was able to take the fight to the ground. Hall would get back to his feet but was unable to land anything significant and two of the three judges scored the fight for Howard.
Howard (21-8) has now won four fights in a row and this is his first win in the UFC since his victory over Daniel Roberts in 2010. Hall (7-4) has dropped both of his official fights in the UFC and both fights have been split decision defeats.
UFC Fight Night 26 Results:
John Howard def. Uriah Hall via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
Michael Johnson def. Joe Lauzon via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-25)
Michael McDonald def. Brad Pickett via submission (triangle choke) – Round 2, 3:43
Conor McGregor def. Max Holloway via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Steven Siler def. Mike Brown via KO (strikes) – Round 1, :50
Diego Brandao def. Daniel Pineda via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Manny Gamburyan def. Cole Miller via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Ovince St-Preux def. Cody Donovan via KO (strikes) – Round 1, 2:07
James Vick def. Ramsey Nijem via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, :58