Mario Bautista v. Jay Perrin

Bautista comes out in this fight and immediately starts blasting leg kicks. He’s trying to compromise the lead leg of Perrin to offset his solid jab that he utilizes. Bautista is also showing several jump knees early on that do not land but serve as warnings for Perrin who also is known to shoot in for wrestling attacks. For the most part Bautista seemed just a half step ahead of Perrin for the first round although Perrin did have his moments and was even able to land a dominant but short lived takedown. In the second round Bautista gets right back to work and every time they are in a clinch position he is landing a wide variety of nasty strikes. He lands flush elbows on the inside, hard knees to the body and even some pretty brutal shoulder strikes. Perrin is extremely tough though and although he is on the worse end of the exchanges, he remains persistent and mostly undeterred. The second round is a more clear cut win for Bautista and Perrin finishes this round now showing some noticeable damage on his face. In the third round Perrin comes out knowing he’s behind. He tries his best but by this point in the fight Bautista has just been slowly building and wearing down Perrin with brutal strikes and significant damage. With each consecutive round Bautista seemed to dominate a little bit more and land harder and harder strikes. Perrin stayed tough and did not get finished but he was clearly dominated and beaten up pretty badly. Bautista by unanimous decision.

Jonathan Pearce v. Christian Rodriguez

In the first round Pearce does as expected. He pursues his wrestling heavy attack and for the most part is dominant the whole round with heavy control on the ground. However, there was a very intense scare for Pearce during his first takedown. Rodriguez is able to lock in a choke that was about as deep as a choke can get. All the commentators were marveling at how deep the choke was and they were convinced the fight was moments from being over. Shockingly though, Pearce was able to somehow grit it out for well over 30 seconds of no air and could be heard gargling and trying to hang in there. Once he escaped the remainder of the round was all Pearce. In the second round Rodriguez came out much more potent. He starts putting together combinations and was landing pretty frequently on a clearly fatigued Pearce. After a minute of Rodriguez having his way Pearce was able to muster up enough energy to once again complete a takedown and begin to resume his dominance on the ground with plenty of control time. A much better round for Rodriguez but in the end Pearce was able to come back enough and control long enough to win the round. In the final round Rodriguez continued to have a couple of moments where he picked up steam but for the most part it was the wrestling and masterful grappling on the ground that did more than enough to win another clear cut round for Pearce. A hard fought battle for Rodriguez that will prove to be a valuable learning experience but it was Pearce who was the clear victor for this one. Pearce by unanimous decision.

Jesse Strader v. Chad Anheliger

Strader comes into this bout a considerable underdog. However, in the opening round he is the one who looks like the favorite. He throws the much harder strikes in much higher numbers and shows off some very dominant wrestling as well. Anheliger is given all he can handle and is forced to be in a defensive mode for most of the round which obviously stifles his offense significantly. A very scrappy first round but it is Strader who does the better work which should be enough for the judges to give him the round. In the second round Strader comes out aggressive again but Anheliger lands a punch that drops him about a minute into the round. The punch isn’t hard enough to knock him out but it’s enough to drop him and Anheliger capitalizes and quickly follows him to the ground to take top control. Strader is able to get up fairly quickly though. The remainder of the round plays out on the feet and both fighters have their moments but towards the end of the round Strader does start showing some signs of fatigue. A closely contested second round. In the final round Strader continued to try and be aggressive despite his fatigue. However, as he was approaching aggressively in the final minutes, he’s hit flush with a counter left which violently drops him. Anheliger swarms and starts throwing a hard flurry of follow up shots while Strader is still dazed on the ground. It only takes a few more flush shots and then referee Herb Dean has finally seen enough to stop the fight. Anheliger by third round TKO.

Diana Belbita v. Gloria de Paula

The opening round of this fight was an all boxing affair. Belbita did a majority of her work going to the body while de Paula chose to go more for the head. There were a couple of occasional clinches and a few kicks but for the most part it was a closely contested boxing round. In the second round the girls once again got right back to the boxing. There again were occasional clinches in which they would take turns trading knees but for the most part it was all boxing again. In the final minute of the second round de Paula was close to getting a takedown but Belbita was able to fight it off for the most part. Another closely contested round. In the third round these ladies get right back to business and are really starting to sit down on their punches now. About half way through the round de Paula is able to secure a nice takedown but Belbita is able to pop back up fairly quickly. The fight once again ends up in a clinch along the fence and the girls continue to just trade knee after knee to the body. In the final minute of the fight the girls meet back in the middle and empty the tanks. They start really showing some aggression and start getting the few fans in the building involved. A great final minute in a very closely contested fight between two girls that were very even in skill and petrformance. In the end though, the judges though it was de Paula who had done just enough. De Paula by unanimous decision.

Chas Skelly v. Mark Striegl

In the opening round these fighters meet in the middle and start trading strikes fairly quickly. Surprisingly, it is Striegl who initiates the first grappling attempt. Not a wise decision against a grappler with the caliber of Skelly. Skelly lands eventually gets the takedown but Striegl is able to get back up from the first one. Later, during a clinch, Striegl once again tries to get another takedown which is once again refuted by Skelly via a whizzer which gets him the takedown. Skelly is able to remain here in top control for the remainder of the round. One would think Striegl had now seen enough to learn his lesson about trying to grapple Chas Skelly. In the second round the boys get right back to business but it doesn’t take long before Skelly is able to land a lead elbow which wobbles Striegl. Skelly follows him towards the cage and throws two hard punches and then throws a beautiful knee right up the middle which lands flush on the chin of Striegl. Striegl drops violently as Skelly follows up with hard ground strikes. Striegl then turns on his side and covers up which is the body language of someone who is not going to try getting up or to fight back with any offense. The referee sees this and immediately stops the fight. Skelly by second round TKO.

Jessica-Rose Clark v. Stephanie Egger

This fight was very short lived. Clark had surprised everyone in her previous fight by implementing a grappling heavy approach to get the win. Clark comes out in this fight and once again tries the grappling approach but this time she comes up against a very skilled grappler in Stephanie Egger. Egger utilized her judo hip throws to defend Clark’s wrestling attempts. Once Egger gets Clark down on the ground it doesn’t take long before she is able to quickly lock in a very deep arm bar. Clark waits about a second to try and escape but she quickly realizes the arm bar is in way too deep and she doesn’t want to risk having her arm break. A wise decision considering Clark has been very inactive the past few years due to injuries. Egger by first round submission.

Gabriel Benitez v. David Onama

This fight was high action. Benitez comes out looking great and is landing consecutive leg kicks followed by nice punching combos. For the most part Benitez is winning the first round with heavier volume and then lands a flush punch that hits Onama in the eye. Onama is clearly bothered by the eye punch and starts moving back squinting while Benitez is chasing violently and following up with more heavy shots. There is a point during the flurry that it looks like Benitez might be able to get an early finish but Onama hangs tough and survives. Shortly there after Onama starts picking up steam of his own. He lands a shot that hurts Benitez so Onama chases. Benitez starts circling quickly around the edge of the cage while Onama is chasing and for the most part Benitez is dodging the strikes. Then out of nowhere Benitez decides to stop circling and just stops in his tracks allowing Onama to then throw a deadly ten punch combo. The last few strikes of the combo land flush and Benitez drops immediately and is out cold. A quick and violent finish to a very exciting fight. Onama by first round KO.

Joaquin Buckley v. Abdul Razak Alhassan

This fight was one of those bouts where you hold your breath the whole time. Both guys have extreme power but Alhassan has next level power. Both fighters start exchanging early in the first round and once Buckley feels the power he immediately starts ducking under and trying to wrestle. Hard to blame him. Late in the first round Alhassan land some good shots that momentarily wobble Buckley but for the most part it was Buckley who had the higher volume which should have been enough to win him the round. In the second round Buckley continues his wrestling approach which seemed to be strictly about draining the power of Alhassan. As the second round progresses Buckley’s strategy cleary is working as Alhassan is now seeming very fatigued and much slower now. Alhassan had a couple of moments but once again it was the higher volume of Buckley and the wrestling which should have been enough to win him another round. In the third round Alhassan actually starts getting some takedowns of his own. Surprisingly all this early wrestling of Buckley has now caught up with him as well. When Alhassan lands his takedowns Buckely is too tired to resist and try to getup. Both men are exhausted but Alhassan is now starting to dominate the fight. A clear winning round for Alhassan to end the fight. In the end, the judges thought it was Buckley who had done just enough though. Buckley by unanimous decision.

Jim Miller v. Nikolas Motta

Miller comes into this fight once again reclaiming the record of most fights in UFC history. He comes out looking good throwing some pretty strong leg kicks which are clearly bothering Motta. Miller also exchanges punches with Motta but the punching exchanges seem to be slightly in the favor of Motta. Miller does land punches of his own but it is the left hand of Motta that gives Miller problems. Surprisingly, Miller doesn’t try much grappling in the opening round. A closely contested round but Miller may have edged it out simply off the many devastating leg kicks he landed. In the second round they get right back to the striking. Miller continues to attack the leg and once Motta blitzes in Miller finally lands a flush punch that drops him. Miller swarms quickly and lands a lot of follow up shots on a wounded Motta. Referee Keith Peterson lets the fight go a little too long which caused Miller to land some extra unnecessary punches. The fight is eventually stopped though and Miller doesn’t hesitate to gripe at the referee a little bit in his post fight interview. Another impressive performance for the veteran fighter who just never seems to age. Miller by second round TKO.

Parker Porter v. Alan Baudot

Porter comes out very aggressive in the opening round against the larger Baudot. Porter blitzes in with aggressive combinations and lands a couple here and there. Porter later starts implementing a heavy clinch approach as well. From inside the clinch he is able to control Baudot against the cage and land several different inside strikes. Porter even is able to land a takedown late in the round. In the second round Porter gets right back to his blitzing punch attacks as well as his clinches and takedown attempts. With all the clinches and times that Baudot is forced to defend the wrestling he starts to fatigue a bit. Porter stays persistent with his grappling heavy pressure and it clearly starts to take a toll on Baudot leaving him more flat footed in the striking exchanges. In the final round Porter starts getting pieced up a little bit on the feet but about halfway through the round he is able to complete a very important takedown. From there he is finally able to control Baudot on the ground and actually start landing significant ground strikes. This was a closely contested fight but this ground control and striking flurry at the end for Porter was what made the difference. Porter by unanimous decision.

Kyle Daukaus v. Jamie Pickett

This was another short lived fight. Daukaus just came out way too smart. He initiated clinches and went for takedowns every time Pickett would load up and try to sit down on punches. Once on the ground Daukaus would focus on position in order to keep in control and land strikes when the opportunities presented themselves. Anytime Pickett was finally able to muscle his way up Daukaus would lure him into throwing heavy and duck under to get another clean takedown. In the final minute of the round Daukaus starts focusing on submissions and in the final ten seconds of the round he is able to lock in a choke. Pickett, unaware of the time ends up tapping out with one second left on the clock. In fact, the final buzzer ends up going off in the middle of his tap. Unfortunately for him his tap started before the buzzer went off and was considered a tap out. If only he knew he just had to wait it out one more second. Another great performance by Kyle Daukaus. Daukaus by first round submission.

Johnny Walker v. Jamahal Hill

The main event of the night was quite the grand finale. Walker took some criticism in his last fight for not being active enough. His defense had clearly improved but in the process his offense seemed to suffer a bit. He definitely fixed that in this fight. He came out much more aggressive this time but it was controlled aggression where he picked his moments. He was looking really good and was clearly the bigger man. Hill was staying evasive though knowing that he was clearly the smaller and less powerful fighter. Hill was always going to be the more precise fighter though. Hill waited for his moment and about half way through the first round he landed a shot over the left eye of Walker which left one of the more memorable images we’ve ever seen in MMA. Walker stiffens and falls straight backwards like a fainting cartoon would. Hill quickly followed him to the ground to land one final strike right on the chin. Hill was out immediately. A dynamite way to end the event. Hill by first round KO.