Priscila Cachoeira v. Gillian Robertson

Cachoeira comes into this fight after missing weight and forfiting 30% of her purse. Robertson wastes no time in the opening round showing her aggression and possible displeasure of her opponent missing weight. Both fighters exchange strikes throughout the round and occasional clinches against the cage. Towards the end of the round Robertson lands a takedown and begins quickly threatening submissions. She moves from position to position trying to find Cachoeira out of position and eventually is able to take the back. From there she locks in a rear naked choke and is racing against the clock to see if she can get her opponent to tap out or go unconscious. With only a second or two left Cachoeira finally taps out while she is falling unconscious. Robertson by first round submission.

Randy Costa v. Tony Kelley

In the opening round of this bout Kelley starts out at a hundred percent pace immediately. He rushes Costa with a blitz immediately and appears to catch Costa off guard. Kelley keeps this up the entire round and doesn’t seem to fade one bit. Although Costa evades nicely throughout the round and counters he may have lost the round just due to the nonstop pressure and activity from Kelley. In the second round Kelley continues to rush Costa and eventually seems to overwhelm him. Towards the end of the round he lands five consecutive knees to the body of Costa while against the cage. Costa drops and Kelley follows him to the ground raining down shots that continue to overwhelms Costa. As it continues, Costa eventually seems to stop trying to escape and just goes into a submissive position. Once the referee sees this the fight is stopped shortly after. Kelley by round two TKO.

Ryan Hall v. Darrick Minner

In this fight Minner was instructed by his coach James Krause to never grab ahold of Hall. Minner starts off the opening round doing nicely and following his coaches instructions. He was winning the striking exchanges but eventually his instinct seemed to take over and he started engaging in the grappling. This is a very dangerous situation for anyone fighting Ryan Hall. Eventually Hall ends up on top and is threatening with several submission attempts but impressively, Minner is able to survive the round. After being scolded in between rounds by his coach, Minner immediately engages in the grappling again in the second round. He spends a majority of the round fighting off submission attempts from Hall. He ends up surviving the round once again but he may have lost the round due to all of the control and submission attempts from Hall. In the final round Minner continues about his ill advised ways. He continues to engage in the grappling and is once again dominated on the ground by Hall. Although it is impressive that Minner is able to escape all the submission attempts. Unfortunately for him though, he is dominated enough of the fight to lose. Hall by unanimous decision.

Miranda Maverick v. Erin Blanchfield

The clear game plan for Blanchfield in this fight was grappling. From the very first round Blanchfield was not only relentless with her takedown attempts but she was extremely successful with every single attempt. Maverick appeared to be caught off guard by all of the grappling. By the end of the first round it was very clear that Blanchfield won the round. In the second, Blanchfield picked up right where she left off in the first. She continued to dominate with grappling and Maverick had absolutely no resistance to it. Going into the third round it was a very clear cut 2-0 in the favor of Blanchfield. Maverick’s coaches were pleading to her in between rounds to get a finish. It would be her only path to victory. The first minute of the third Maverick looked much better and was winning the striking exchanges. But then foolishly she initiates a clinch which quickly backfires on her. Blanchfield once again demonstrates her clear dominance in the grappling strength. She ends up back in top control and from there just continues to add on to her already large amount of control time in the fight. By the final buzzer of the fight, it was the most clear cut win of the night up to that point. Blanchfield by unanimous decision.

Andre Muniz v. Eryk Anders

This fight did not last long. Muniz didn’t take long before he started attempting grappling. He initiated a clinch which he quickly turned to a takedown. After Anders is able to fight Muniz off several times and continue to evade he eventually gets into a position that is too much. Muniz locks in an armbar and was in a position very reminiscent of the time he broke Jacare Souza’s arm in a previous fight. Anders appeared to be very aware of this and fortunately for him, he tapped right away before Muniz could add another broken arm to his trophy case. Muniz by first round submission.

Jordan Wright v. Bruno Silva

This bout was another one of the more short lived fights of the night. Wright came out looking extremely violent and dominant in the striking department. He was lighting Silva up from the outside with punches and body kicks. Where Wright made his mistake was when he went to the muay thai clinch up against the cage. He got the clinch and landed some really good knees to the body which is exact moment he should’ve disengaged and started working from the outside again. He got a little lazy with the clinch and his defense got a little lazy which is when Silva capitalized with a two punch combo that wobbles Wright. Wright starts to immediately do the chicken leg dance and Silva blitzes landing a couple more shots that drop Wright. Silva continues to land more strikes on Wright as he flops around on the ground trying to grab a leg of Silva. After a few more unanswered shots the referee steps in to stop the fight. Silva by first round TKO.

Augusto Sakai v. Tai Tuivasa

The opening round of this bout was all heat. As expected with the heavyweights, every shot thrown by these fighters was at 1000% power. Sakai was having some decent success early on in the first round but as time progressed Tuivasa was starting to inch his way in and get closer and closer with his strikes. Eventually he landed a mean left hook that stumbled Sakai backwards which is the moment Tuivasa always starts rushing in and stalking his prey. Tuivasa chases Sakai towards the fence and is throwing full power combinations. He lands another left hook and then a couple of brutal right hands with the last right hand being the one that finally knocks Sakai unconscious. Sakai does one of those falls where his leg bends in a really awkward way that you know he will also feel tomorrow. Tuivasa by round two KO.

Dominick Cruz v. Pedro Munhoz

The first round of this fight was all action. In the first part of the round Munhoz had the edge as he was able to catch Cruz and hurth him pretty severely. Cruz was smart though and was able to grab ahold of Munhoz while he was on the ground. This was enough to buy Cruz some time to recover. At the very end of the round Cruz then lands his best combination of the round and as the buzzer goes off you could see Munhoz stumble off towards his corner. In the second round Cruz started getting going a lot better than he was in the first round. He started putting together his combinations and finding ways to evade better. By the end of the round it appeared that Cruz had won it and going into the third the fight would be tied at one round a piece. The final round was very competitive but Cruz was still showing his vast amount of skills and experience and having success. Munhoz continued to stalk but was still having trouble finding Cruz as is usually the normal with a Cruz fight. By the end of the fight both fighters had given a good account of themselves but it appeared that Cruz had done just enough to edge it out. The judges agreed. Cruz by unanimous decision.

Josh Emmett v. Dan Ige

This bout was a couple of highly skilled fighters locked in a cage together. Both fighters have extreme talents, experience and abilities to end the fight in a single shot. The very first punch that Emmett threw dropped Ige. He followed Ige to the ground but Ige was able to survive. Later in the round Ige started getting his jab going and was having some success of his own. By the end of the round both fighters had their moments and it was going to be a tough one to call for the judges. In the second round Ige had a brief moment where he had Emmett rocked and slightly stumbled. Ige tried to close in and follow up but Emmett stayed smart and evaded long enough to regain his composure. As the round progresses both fighters continue to be smart defensively and open up only when the opportunities present themselves. Another tough round for the judges to score. Going into the final round it was anybody’s fight. Emmett comes out very aggressive in the third and seems to be more focused with landing his combinations rather than single knock out shots. This new approach starts to give him success and Ige is forced to adjust his approach as well. The final round ends up being very competitive as was the rest of the fight and going to the judges score cards it was anybody’s guess. In the end, the judges thought it was Emmett who had done just enough. Emmett by unanimous decision.

Raulian Paiva v. Sean O’Malley

O’Malley came into this fight a heavy favorite. The only thing that made this fight intriguing was the fact that Paiva has been known to have a good chin. O’Malley comes out and starts with the jab. He moves back and forth laterally and is able to evade every time Paiva comes in. O’Malley then starts landing his push kicks up the middle to the body. He then starts incorporating his hooks and straights. Eventually he lands that full strength right hand flush to the head of Paiva. He stumbles and O’Malley follows him to the cage wall. He measures up and then releases an insanely fast, accurate and deadly combo. He drops Paiva again and after a few more follow up shots the referee has seen enough. O’Malley by first round TKO.

Kai Kara-France v. Cody Garbrandt

This fight was the much anticipated drop down in weight for Cody Garbrandt. After hitting a skid at bantamweight Garbrandt hired a doctor/nutritionist and spent 8 months trying to get his weight down to 125 pounds. The man picked to welcome him to flyweight was City Kick Boxing’s Kai Kara-France. Garbrandt came out looking poised and confident. His size advantage was noticeable immediately. As they both circled each other and began to assess one another Garbrandt throws a very hard leg kick which got Kara-France’s attention right away. But it didn’t take long before Kara-France had finally seen enough and went in for the kill. He throws a couple of pittering shots to get him on the inside and then throws his hardest shot at the end of the combination. He lands flush and drops Garbrandt. The crowd erupts as Kara-France stalks his wounded prey. Garbrandt still shows speed and is aware enough to evade. He even waves Kara-France on as if to challenge him to throw more. Kara-France accepts this invite and lands flush again. With Garbrandt stumbling to survive Kara-France lands a few more flush shots and drops Garbrandt for the third time. Referee Herb Dean has seen enough and stops the fight. Kara-France by first round TKO.

Geoff Neal v. Santiago Ponzinibbio

The first round of this bout was closely contested. As was expected for this fight both were throwing every shot with full power. Neither fighter ever landed anything too flush but both had their moments with jabs and occasional partially blocked head kicks. By the end of the first round Ponzinibbio had a little blood showing on his face but he had just as much success as Neal. A tough round to score. In the second Ponzinibbio began to find his rhythm a bit more. By the end of the round it was Neal that had landed the best shot of the round but it was Ponzinibbio that had landed a great deal more of the strikes. In between rounds Neal’s coach was pretty harsh on him and was yelling at him to come alive and get a finish. He comes out a little more aggressive and begins to have success. In the last 2 minutes of the fight was when Neal did his best work of the whole bout. He starts landing flush and was clearly effecting Ponzinibbio with clear damage. Neal never followed up with flurry’s or got overly aggressive but it ended up being the most dominant portion of the fight for either fighter. In the end, the judges thought that Neal had done just enough to get the nod. Neal by split decision.

Amanda Nunes v. Julianna Pena

Julianna Pena talked a lot of trash for a long time to get this fight and she finally got it. In the opening round the power discrepancy was clear. Amanda started by landing a viciously hard leg kick that dropped Pena. From there she followed her to the ground and was threatening from the top. Pena eventually makes it back to her feet but Nunes was still landing the better strikes. Nunes clearly wins the first round. In the second round everything changed. Nunes seemed to hit a brick wall. She started just standing in the pocket and trading with Pena and her shots have never looked more slow, looping and careless. She clearly had gassed completely after the first round which makes you wonder if she had a terrible weight cut. Not only were her shots slow and accompanied by zero footwork but she did it all with zero attention to defense. We had never seen a Nunes look like this. She looked slow and stuck in the mud. She looked careless. She looked like an amateur. It’s hard to know what was going on in her head or with her body but that was not the usual murderous GOAT that all the other opponents had to face. After a completely gassed Nunes got her back taken Pena locks in a rear naked choke and Nunes doesn’t even try one time to fight it off. She taps immediately. She was clearly gassed. Pena shocks the world. Pena by second round submission.

Charles Oliveira v. Dustin Poirier

The opening round of this championship fight was utter chaos. Both fighters trading blistering shots nonstop for the entire round. The pace of the opening round was something to behold and had the announcers wondering if either fighter could keep up at the rate. In the second Oliveira began to take over. He landed some good punches and continued to land his devastating body shots which seemed to start to wear on Poirier. Oliveira later ends up on top and stays in top control for the remainder of the round. From there he lands more and more punishing shots making it a very clear cut round for the champ. In the third Oliveira gets behind Poirier quickly and is able to jump on the back. We know how things usually go in a fight if Oliveira gets on your back. It only takes a minute or less before he can sink in a rear naked choke while Poirier is still standing up bent over carrying Oliveira’s weight. From there it was the beginning of the end. Poirier is forced to tap out. Oliveira wins by third round submission.