Nate Diaz eyes Conor McGregor from across the Octagon before their welterweight rematch at the UFC 202 event

UFC 241: Anthony Pettis vs. Nate Diaz play-by-play, results, live blog

ByJake Nichols Updated on
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Play-by-play updates and live results for the UFC 241 co-main event welterweight matchup between Anthony Pettis vs. Nate Diaz on ESPN+

Pettis (22-8) moved up to welterweight in March and got off to an incredible start by defeating Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson with a brilliant superman punch KO. He’ll make his second walk to the cage as a welterweight at UFC 241.

Diaz (19-11) returns for the first time since losing to Conor McGregor via majority decision at UFC 202 in August 2016. Before that fight, he submitted McGregor with a rear-naked choke at UFC 196.

UFC 241: Anthony Pettis vs. Nate Diaz full fight video highlights

Read on for our UFC 241 play-by-play and results for Anthony Pettis vs. Nate Diaz.

Anthony Pettis vs. Nate Diaz live play-by-play

Round one

Pettis vs. Diaz is up now that Yoel Romero vs. Paulo Costa has finished.

Diaz has the center early. Diaz with some punches and Pettis backs up. Both fighters showing lots of different looks. Diaz comes forward with pressure but Pettis catches him with some good strikes to the head. Pettis going to the legs of Diaz already. Diaz lead jab to the body and then upstairs. Pettis answers with a punch and then Diaz closes the distance and clinches against the cage. Pettis rips the body of Diaz with a punch as they separate. Diaz feinting and marching Pettis down now. Both fighters swapping stances. Right hook into a left straight for Diaz and then closes the distance. Working Pettis now in the clinch. Knee to the body and now Pettis steps up. Pettis circles out and now they’re at kickboxing range again.

Two minutes remaining.

Diaz takedown and Pettis has the guillotine choke but Diaz pops out. Diaz has to be careful of Pettis’ triangle choke. He falls down into Pettis’ full guard now. As he postures up, Pettis looks to secure an arm and go for the triangle. Pettis inverts and Diaz locks him in turtle. Diaz has the back and then rolls over into mount. Pettis scrambling well but Diaz is all over him. One hook in for Diaz now as he tries to take the back. Two hooks now. Only 10 seconds remaining in the round but a great first round from Diaz.

The Body Lock scores round one for Diaz (10-9).

Round two

Low kick by Pettis is checked and Pettis falls to the mat. Diaz chases after him and pushes him back to the cage. Separation and then some punches are thrown. Pettis jabs the body. Diaz comes forward with his classic high guard and Pettis doesn’t respond. This time he does and goes after the left leg of Diaz. Now Pettis is going to the body as Diaz guards high.

Referee Mike Beltran stops the action and calls for a doctor to check Diaz’s eye.

It’s fine.

Action restarts and Diaz now backing Pettis up. Pettis gives up his back at close range and Diaz latches onto him. Pettis collapses down beside the cage. As Pettis attempts to stand Diaz is waiting and catches him with a knee. Diaz’s pressure has been the difference. Diaz elbow lands. Pettis comes back with some hard punches at close range. Toe-to-toe stuff now as Diaz has Pettis with his back on the cage. Diaz leaning on Pettis against the cage. High guard and Pettis hits the forearms. Thai clinch and some knees from Diaz. Overwhelming him now. Some hard uppercuts land for Diaz and an elbow is fired back from Pettis. Diaz finishes the round by going after Pettis with lots of clean punches to the head. Doesn’t look stunned but possibly saved by the bell.

The Body Lock scores round two for Diaz (10-9).

Round three

Crowd gets loud before round three – great fights so far tonight.

Diaz coming straight out of the gate and marching Pettis backward again. Diaz is pushing the pace and Pettis is being asked to respond. Diaz orthodox stance and jab lands. Pettis lands some punches in return. Pressure is crazy here from Diaz, he lands a right hand to the chin. Clinching against the cage again but this time it’s Pettis controlling. Not for long. Reset in the middle, Pettis’ arms are by his sides. Diaz southpaw 1-2 down the middle. Huge knee connects upstairs and he follows it up with another. Pettis drops to the mat, he looks hurt. Pettis in the turtle position and Diaz now going after the back. Diaz has two hooks in and wrist control. Pettis turns and reverses the position – he’s now in Diaz’s full guard.

Diaz got a little too reckless looking for the finish and gave up a great spot.

Diaz has wrist control from the bottom and is looking for submissions. Omaplata seemed there for a second but then he resets. Pettis stands and stacks Diaz. Falls into his guard. Diaz doing lots of work from the bottom. Pettis passes over Diaz but Diaz ends up on top now and passes his guard. Pettis rolls and goes back to turtle. Diaz punching Pettis’ head now from turtle. Pettis can’t escape. Diaz looking to transition to the back again. Both hooks are in with 30 seconds left. Diaz slides his left arm across the chin but Pettis escapes and recovers. Diaz goes for an armbar. Great fight.

The Body Lock scores round three for Diaz (10-9).

We’ve got the fight 30-27 for Nate Diaz after three rounds. Crazy pressure helped to slow Pettis down in rounds two and three. Diaz’s grappling was superb, too. Good work to control positions and hunt for submission attempts.

Official result: Nate Diaz def. Anthony Pettis via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Covering MMA and combat sports since 2015. Formerly the lead MMA Editor at RealSport.

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