Randa Markos v. Livinha Souza 

This fight was a must win for Randa Markos.  She had lost 5 of her last 6 bouts and was clearly fighting for her job.  Many thought Souza would dominate but Markos missed that memo.  Markos was far more aggressive than we have ever seen her and out struck Souza by a considerable amount.  At one point Markos even had Souza in a crucifix.  By the middle of the second round, Souza seemed tired and never really bounced back as Markos continued to pour on the aggression.  Souza survives to the final bell but it was not her night.  Markos by unanimous decision.

Jeff Molina v. Daniel da Silva

Round one of this fight was action packed.  Da Silva comes out throwing sharp kicks repeatedly within the first 20 seconds.  When Molina has finally had enough and blitzes, da Silva shoots for the takedown and is able to take the back of Molina. Da Silva tries to get the rear naked choke but eventually Molina is able to escape and end up on top where he begins the very heavy ground and pound.  Da Silva survives to the end of the round but not until he had suffered a lot of damage from the bottom.  Round two was short lived as Molina lands a straight right in the beginning of the round that drops da Silva instantly.  After that Molina follows and pours down more ground and pound until eventually the referee had seen enough.  Molina by second round TKO.

Khama Worthy v. Jai Herbert

This fight was also short lived and was somewhat expected to be that way with both fighters possessing so much striking power. The first round starts off with both fighters stalking and throwing occasional shots but eventually Herbert lands one that is significant.  When Herbert notices that Worthy is a little bit stumbled he moves in aggressively for the kill.  Worthy backs up against the cage and instead of trying to cover up or focus on head movement until he can recover he decides to engage in a phone booth fire fight.  Bad decision.  Herbert eventually connects a few more times and drops Worthy.  The referee is forced to step in and stop the fight.  Herbert by first round TKO.

Laureano Staropoli v. Jamie Pickett 

Round one of this bout was interesting.  Jamie Pickett was trying to keep distance and utilize his reach advantage while Staropoli was continuously trying to close distance and force the grappling.  For the most part, Pickett was able to evade the takedown but Staropoli was still able to force the clinch against the cage and land enough strikes to likely win him the round.  Round two was more of the same with Staropoli continuously forcing the grappling exchanges while Pickett tries to evade and snipe from distance.  Round three was more of the same as the fight began to end up more and more in the clinch.    By the end of the fight there was a final flurry between both fighters where they just stood their ground and exchanged rapidly with no more clinches being pursued.  These were the most exciting moments of the fight that helped it end with a bang.  In the end, the judges saw it clearly.  Pickett by unanimous decision. 

Tabatha Ricci v. Maria Oliveira

Ricci comes out in this fight and immediately starts pursuing the grappling.  Oliveira is able to fight it off but then Ricci begins to land some nice shots in the standup.  Throughout the course of the round, Ricci is landing the better of the strikes, is the more aggressive fighter and even lands a takedown at the end.  Ricci did enough to clearly win her the opening round.  In the second round, Oliveira begins to get her kicking game going but Ricci eventually puts a stop to that by landing a quick takedown.  From there she gets full mount and is reigning down shots to the point where it looked like the fight might get stopped soon.  Oliveira escapes though and they end up back on their feet.  Before the round ends, Ricci lands another takedown and lands more ground strikes which may have been enough to win the second round as well.  Round three Ricci continues her aggression and continues to land takedowns which never allows Oliveira to ever get much going.  By the end of the fight, the outcome was pretty clear cut.  Ricci by unanimous decision. 

Mason Jones v. David Onama

Round one of this fight was all action.  Jones was coming into this fight as the heaviest favorite on the entire event while Onama was making his UFC debut.  As the fight began to unfold however, it was clear that these two fighters were much more close in skill level than the odds makers had expected.  Round one both fighters had their moments and were able to hurt their opponent.  The round ended with spectators on their feet and both fighters gasping for air.  Round two picked up right where the first had left off.  Both fighters landing heavy shots and blasting their opponents head back as they landed.  One of the commentators even made a remark that this was the best fight he had seen in a while.  Going into round three it was anybody’s guess as to who was in the lead.  Once gain both fighters began exchanging in an immediate fire fight.  Jones got rocked and was smart enough to quickly duck under and land a takedown to buy himself some recovery time.  The fighters return to their feet and begin trading heavy shots.  This fight ended up being very competitive and probably will win the UFC bonus as “Fight of the Night”.  In the end however, it was the takedowns of Jones that would do just enough to separate him in the judges eyes.  Jones by unanimous decision. 

Jun Yong Park v. Gregory Rodrigues 

This bout was another action packed brawl to keep the high octane momentum of the night going steadily.  Both fighters had their moments in the opening round but towards the end of the round Rodrigues lands a takedown and is threatening with submissions while also landing strikes in between attempts.  Park survives but had clearly lost the opening round.  In round two however, Park lands some good shots and has Rodrigues rocked.  At the same time, Rodrigues is showing severe signs of fatigue as Park closes in with increased intensity trying to get the finish.  Rodrigues hangs tough and is firing back eventually landing a few consecutive shots that now have Park rocked.  Park stumbles across the cage and ends up with his back against the wall.  Rodrigues closes in and lands a couple more until the referee has seen enough.  Rodrigues by second round TKO. 

Nick Negumereanu v. Ike Villanueva 

This fight was short lived and was somewhat expected to be that way with two heavyweights who are known to not go the distance very often.  Ike Villanueva was another fighter on the card who was probably fighting for his job.  Villanueva had lost three of his last four bouts with all of them ending in the fight being stopped prior to its completion.  In round one, Negumereanu comes out and begins throwing heavy shots until he eventually connects with a few good ones and has Villanueva stumbling.  In typical Villanueva fashion, what follows next is poor defense and poor choices all around.  Villanueva starts trying to throw wild and clumsy shots back rather than covering up and bobbing his head in order to buy some recovery time.  Villanueva ends up getting dropped with Negumereanu standing over him throwing repeated shots to the back of the head.  Many of these shots were clearly illegal blows but the referee ignores that and ends up calling the fight.  Negumereanu by first round TKO.

Francisco Trinaldo v. Dwight Grant 

In the opening portion of the first round Grant comes out and is giving Trinaldo some problems with closing distance and managing the reach advantage of Grant.  Eventually though, Trinaldo starts getting Grant’s timing down and is able to catch him a few times when he’s coming in.  In fact, by the end of the round, it was Trinaldo that had landed the more significant strikes even leaving Grant showing signs of being hurt.  Round two both fighters start off with the same energy but after two minutes Grant lands a bomb that drops Trinaldo.  Grant tries to follow him to the ground and throw follow up shots but Trinaldo is always so tough and is able to get back to his feet in a matter of seconds.  The round ends with Trinaldo clinching Grant against the fence leaving it a tough round to call in the judges eyes.  Round three starts off and Grant suffers a low blow at the very beginning of the round.  Luckily for the fans, this allows both fighters to rest which usually means the following minutes will be that much more exciting.  As the fight resumes, it’s only a matter of seconds before Grant suffers another illegal blow.  This time it is in the form of a brutal eye poke. The judge takes away a point but the doctor allows the fight to continue.  With the fight already being close and Trinaldo now losing a point, he knows he has to pursue with intensity to try and get the finish.  He does just that and is closing the distance aggressively looking for knockout blows.  Eventually, he is able to land a takedown and get into half guard.  From there Trinaldo is trying desperately to improve his position and land strikes but Grant does a good job to defend against a majority of the offense.  The fight ends up going the distance and is left up to the judges.  In the end, Trinaldo does just enough to get the nod.  Trinaldo by split decision. 

Alex Caceres v. Seung Woo Choi

Round one of this fight was all action.  Both fighters landed significant strikes that had a clear effect on their opponent.  Choi landed the most significant strikes of the round even dropping Caceres but unfortunately Choi then lands an illegal knee to the face of Caceres as he was in the process of trying to stand back up.  It was a very significant knee which damaged Caceres but after evaluation, the doctor and referee allow the fight to continue but not before a point is deducted from Choi.  Round two is more of the same but eventually Caceres is able to jump on the back of Choi while they’re still standing.  He locks in a body triangle and starts throwing shots from behind Choi until he is eventually able to sink a rear naked choke.  Choi falls to the ground while fighting the hands but is ultimately left no choice but to tap out.  Caceres by second round submission. 

Jessica-Rose Clark v. Joselyne Edwards

This bout was Clark’s first time in the Octagon in close to a year.  She returned after having a recovered from a surgery.  As the opening round begins, Clark quickly shoots for a takedown making it clear that her game plan was to out grapple Edwards.  As the round progressed, Clark did just enough grappling to possibly win her the round.  In the second, Clark picks up right where she left off and is able to secure a couple takedowns in this round as well.  It was beginning to appear that Clark’s grappling approach was the right path for her to chip away at Edwards and try to secure the victory.  Round three begins with Clark appearing to be up two rounds to zero.  Clark quickly shoots for another takedown and is able to secure it with relative ease.  From there she remains in top control landing occasional strikes for the entirety of the final round.  A nice return for Clark as she delivers a mostly dominant performance.  Clark by unanimous decision. 

Grant Dawson v. Ricky Glenn

Grant Dawson draws the veteran Ricky Glenn in this bout with Glenn stating confidently that he is not worried one bit about the surging Dawson.  The opening round however was all Dawson with him securing the takedown quickly and always having an answer for every time Glenn tried to return to his feet.  Dawson clearly wins the opening round with almost the entire first round in grappling control.  Round two starts off better for Glenn with him being able to stuff the first few takedown attempts of Dawson.  Dawson stays persistent though and eventually finds an angle that works to secure the takedown.  From there he picks up where he left off in the first continuing to remain in control and land shots here and there. He clearly wins round two as well.  Round three however, the wheels begin to fall off for Dawson.  All that wrestling in the first two rounds had him hitting a wall in the cardio department.  Glenn ends up being very dominant in the third round and even has a choke hold on Dawson in the final seconds of the round.  When the final buzzer goes off Glenn lets go of the choke and it looks as though Dawson was maybe one second away from blacking out.  He barely survives.  In the judges eyes, this ends up being enough to score a 10-8 round for Glenn.  This impacted the fight majorly as the judges end up scoring the result as a majority draw.

Marvin Vettori v. Paulo Costa 

Round one was a brutal slugfest just as expected.  Costa landed the far more brutal kicks but Vettori was landing the better of the punches.  Round two was more of the same but Costa was already starting to show signs of fatigue.  During all the wild exchanges, Costa lands an accidental eye poke which ends up costing him a  point.  The fight is allowed to continue.  Round three begins with Vettori likely up by two rounds.  Costa has a better round even landing a takedown of his own but he ends up making a poor decision of trying to get a choke and ends up getting reversed with Vettori on top.  The round ends with Vettori in top control and likely up by three rounds now.  Rounds four and five were more of the same but the most surprising thing about the final two rounds were the fact that Costa was able to keep pressing on and not really show much more cardio issues than he had initially shown earlier in the fight.  After the final bell, it appeared that Marvin had won at least four of the five rounds.  Vettori had landed more than double the amount of head strikes than Costa.  Costa however, had landed more than double the body strikes.  In the end, the judges saw it as a mostly dominant performance.  Vettori by unanimous decision.