UFC 159 results: Pat Healy submits Jim Miller in PPV opener

The UFC 159: "Jones vs. Sonnen" main card on pay-per-view (PPV) kicked off tonight (Sat., April 27, 2013) at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, with a lightweight lowdown pitting hometown boy Jim Miller taking on surging Strikeforce import Pat Healy.

Healy made his return to the Octagon riding a six-fight win streak and flirting with the upper echelon of the 155-pound division. Miller, meanwhile, has gone 2-2 in his last four but he's been wildly entertaining fans the whole way.

This one was no different.

Miller looked damn good early, controlling Healy with a mix of kicks that earned takedowns, positional grappling, and submission attempts. This mixed in with periodic punches to put the exclamation point on it. "Bam Bam" battled back towards the end of the first but Miller came back even stronger, ending the round on top landing heavy shots that very nearly stopped the fight.

Despite his troubles in the first, Healy worked hard to even the score throughout the second, using a suffocating wrestling game to grind his way to a big round. Although Miller battled back late to reverse position and end the round on top, he took a lot of damage along the way.

After two, both sides approached the bout as though it was tied at one apiece.

The final frame saw Healy use a decidedly Miller-esque strategy, simply using a strong wrestling game with top control and intermittent punches and elbows to cause just enough damage to score points. In a tight battle like this, such a thing makes all the difference.

Ultimately, though, it didn't matter. That's because Healy locked in a rear-naked choke and squeezed until Miller fell asleep.

For complete results and round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of all the UFC 159 action click here.