The Birmingham Stallions defeated the Columbus Aviators 14-3 on May 17, 2026, in Birmingham in Week 8 of the UFL season. Dorian Thompson-Robinson threw a 29-yard touchdown to Jordan Thomas and finished 12-for-20 for 126 yards with one touchdown and one interception in the victory.
The weight of the game fell to a few decisive plays. Steven Gilmore blocked a Columbus field goal attempt and returned it for a touchdown, swinging the scoreline in Birmingham’s favor, and Jonah Dalmas’s 48-yard field goal in the second quarter produced Columbus’s only points. Tae Crowder’s interception with 1:21 left sealed the win. Jalan McClendon finished 20-for-31 for 150 yards for Columbus and threw two interceptions; those turnovers proved costly in a game that finished 14-3.
Stat lines underlined how tight the contest was: Thompson-Robinson was 12-for-20 for 126 yards with the 29-yard scoring pass to Jordan Thomas, while McClendon’s 20-for-31 performance yielded 150 yards but included the two picks that stalled Columbus drives. The blocked field goal returned for a touchdown and the late interception by Crowder highlighted a defensive struggle more than an offensive shootout.
The result matters now because Birmingham’s defense delivered a third straight victory for a team that, three weeks earlier, the supplementary coverage described as “hanging by a thread.” The win moves the Stallions onto a short run of momentum at a crucial middle point of the UFL season; Columbus, meanwhile, must answer for the turnovers and the special-teams breakdown that cost them points and field position.
Context: the matchup was a low-scoring, defensive affair, and the primary schedule marks Week 8 as part of the UFL season that will sort teams as it moves into late spring. The immediate practical consequence is on the ufl schedule itself: Birmingham and Columbus are set for a quick rematch in Columbus on Saturday, May 23 at 3 p.m. ET, giving both clubs six days to adjust and respond to what happened in Birmingham.
The tension inside the result is plain. Birmingham’s offense produced just enough—Thompson-Robinson’s touchdown pass and the turnover-return score—to win, yet the Stallions relied on a special-teams play and a defensive takeaway to secure the margin. Columbus moved the ball through McClendon’s 150 passing yards and Dalmas’s long field goal, but the two interceptions and the blocked kick returned for a touchdown represent a gap between potential and execution. Which of those truths will define the rematch is the immediate friction point.
Saturday’s game in Columbus will tell whether Birmingham’s third straight victory is the start of a sustained turnaround or a brief surge born of one or two game-changing plays. If the Stallions’ defense can again force turnovers and convert special-teams opportunities into points, Birmingham will arrive in the standings with momentum; if Columbus eliminates the turnovers and protects the kicker’s attempts, the Aviators can make the short turnaround on the ufl schedule mean something decisive for their own season.
For now, the concrete takeaway is this: Birmingham won 14-3 on May 17 because of a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown, a 29-yard scoring pass from Thompson-Robinson to Jordan Thomas, and an interception by Tae Crowder with 1:21 remaining. Both teams have six days to prepare for the rematch in Columbus, a game whose outcome will quickly clarify whether Birmingham’s three-game run has real staying power.
