Tatsuro Taira vs. Jesus Aguilar

Aguilar makes his UFC debut in this fight and draws an extremely dangerous opponent in Taira.  In the opening seconds Aguilar sprints across the cage and throws a devastating leg kick that is so hard it knocks Taira off of his feet.  Aguilar then jumps on a guillotine which he uses to control Taira from the bottom for the next two minutes.  Once Taira finally escapes, he is still on top and begins to land some nice ground strikes.  Aguilar waits for his opportunity and then explodes to reverse the position.  Unfortunately for him, Taira is lightning fast and is able to throw up a triangle during transition.  Aguilar tries to hang on but the triangle is tight and Taira also starts to simultaneously attack an armbar while the triangle is still locked on.  The combination of the two is too much and Aguilar is forced to tap out.  A beautiful finish for Taira who is now showing his grappling prowess in addition to his striking prowess.  Taira by first round submission.

Jun Yong Park vs. Denis Tiuliulin

In the opening round the fighter’s trade shots on the feet for the first half of the round.  Then Park explodes inside to execute a very nice takedown.  From there he starts doing beautiful work from top control.  He lands extremely brutal ground and pound and is dominating in every way possible.  He opens a nasty cut on the and continues to rain down gruesome punches and elbows.  As Tiuliulin starts to panic he tries one last effort to explode out of the situation.  It is at this point that Park takes the back and quickly locks in a rear naked choke.  It is only a few seconds later that a bloodied and defeated Tiuliulin is being saved by the referee.  Another very impressive and violent performance from Park to keep him surging.  Park by first round submission.

Hyun Sung Park vs. Seung Guk Choi

The opening round of this bout was a tale of momentum swings.  Early in the round Park is getting the better of the exchanges on the feet.  Eventually he ends up on his back with Choi standing over him.  Choi kicks the legs and throws some occasional punches while Park lays there.  Choi then lets him up and the final minute is pretty even.  A close round that could have gone to either fighter.  In the second round the fighters spent the first two minutes on their feet.  Each has their moments of landing strikes until Choi is able to execute a nice trip.  He lands a few ground strikes but Park doesn’t take long before he finds his way back up.  The remaining minutes of the round are once again evenly matched.  Another close round but it may have been slightly edged out by Choi.  In the final round the fighters continue to stay evenly matched.  About 90 seconds in Choi attempts another takedown but Park defends nicely.  Choi then clinches Park against the cage until Park reverses and takes the back while standing.  From there Park works Choi to the ground while still having his back.  He eventually sneaks an arm under the neck and locks in a rear naked choke.  Choi tries his best to survive but the choke and squeeze are just too much.  Choi is forced to submit.  A very competitive fight with a nice rally by Park to finish it off.  Park by third round submission.

Rinya Nakamura vs. Toshiomi Kazama

This one was absolute fireworks while it lasted.  From the opening bell Kazama marches right across the cage and starts walking down Nakamura.  Unfortunately for him Nakamura is not phased even the tiniest bit by this.  He bites down on his mouthpiece and starts swinging with terrible intentions.  Kazama tries to evade and do the same thing.  Both fighters are now throwing absolute bombs and violence is flying in every which way.  Nakamura starts landing heavy shots and although Kazama keeps plowing forward, he eventually eats the shot that ends it all.  It is a straight left counter that is fired right down the center by Nakamura.  The punch lands flush and Kazama is out cold before he even hits the ground.  An absolute barnburner of a fight while it lasted, and the division is now officially put on notice.  Nakamura by first round KO.

Zha Yi vs. Jeong Yeong Lee

In the opening seconds Lee storms across the cage and throws a blistering two punch combination.  Yi barely dodges and quickly latches on to stop the blitz.  From there Yi pins Lee against the cage to slow down the fight and control his hyper aggressive opponent.  For the remainder of the round it is Yi controlling the fight via the clench along the cage.  In the second round Yi employs the same tactics.  He clinches against the cage once more, but this time Lee is able to break away and the haymakers are now flying once again.  Each time Lee builds some momentum it is Yi who closes the distance and clenches to slow the onslaught.  As the round moves on Lee eventually gets wise to the clinching tactics and starts to evade the lunges.  Once this happens the fight is much more competitive.  In the final round Lee starts to land some of his best punches.  However, every time he builds momentum, Yi lunges in to clinch and slow down the fight.  It is not a fan friendly approach but it is keeping him in the fight.  The final round once again is filled with momentum swings and as time expires the fight will now be decided by score cards.  It was a close battle but in the end the judges decide that it was Lee who had done just enough to edge it out.  Lee by split decision.

Anshul Jubli vs. Jeka Saragih

The first round is a tale of two different areas.  When the fight hits the ground it is Jubli who is dominant.  When the fighters are on their feet, it is Saragih who has the advantage.  Saragih manages to land some good strikes in the first round, but a majority of the time is spent on the ground with Jubli landing strikes and constantly controlling.  This appeared to have been enough to win him the round.  In the second round Jubli continues with his grappling which is now starting to wear on Saragih.  The fatigue begins to set in and the relentless pressure is now starting to melt Saragih.  Jubli finds his way to full mount and is now raining down strikes on the weathered and deflated Saragih.  The referee gives Saragih plenty of chances but finally the onslaught is just too much and the fight is called off.  A very impressive performance for Jubli who is now a name to watch out for.  Jubli by second round TKO.

Yusaku Kinoshita vs. Adam Fugitt

This fight is similar to the previous fight in the fact that each fighter was dominant in separate areas.  Fugitt owned the grappling department while Kinoshita owned the striking department.  Each time the fighters are on their feet it is Kinoshita who is dominating and making Fugitt look out of place.  However, when the fight hits the ground it is Kinoshita who looks out of place.  Fugitt recognizes this and continues to force the grappling.  Eventually the pressure is just too much for Kinoshita.  Late in the first round we have Fugitt in top control and raining down punches.  Kinoshita is below him and squirming for survival but there is just nothing he can do.  The pressure and striking is just too much and the fight is called off.  A very impressive performance.  Fugitt by first round TKO.

Doo Ho Choi vs. Kyle Nelson

The first round is an action packed round.  Both fighters exchange heavy shots on the feet until Nelson blitzes in for a nice takedown.  He is in full control on the ground and having his way until later in the round when Choi is able to reverse.  The final minute or so is now being spent by Choi in full control.  Each fighter lands a couple of nice strikes from top as well as both accruing some decent control time.  This makes the round fairly even and could have gone to either fighter on the score cards.  In the second round a majority of the time is spent on the feet.  Each fighter lands some nice punches and some devastating leg kicks.  It is another close round.  In the final round Nelson blitzes across and immediately lands a takedown.  Choi stays scrappy and never settles or accepts the position.  He works his way back to the feet where Nelson now clinches him against the fence.  After some squirming from both Nelson is able to land another takedown with authority.  He controls Choi briefly but then gets reversed.  While on top, Choi is in control but then lands a headbutt which causes the referee to pause the fight.  Whether or not the headbutt was intentional, the referee decides to take a point away from Choi for it.  This could prove to be very costly.  When the fight resumes the final minute is spent with Nelson spending heavy energy on grappling which forces Choi to defend.  Choi lands some nice body strikes in the final 20 seconds while Nelson is bent over holding onto the legs.  An interesting final round which will make it even more interesting to hear the score cards.  In the end one judge gives the edge to Choi and the other two judges score the fight even at 28-28.  This fight results in a majority draw.

Marcin Tybura vs. Blagoy Ivanov

The opening round of this fight plays out entirely on the feet.  This is somewhat surprising as Tybura has been getting a majority of his recent wins by using heavy grappling.  The fighters trade punches and for the most part it is Ivanov who is the one walking forward and pressuring.  There is not a ton of striking but enough to keep it interesting and each fighter has their moments.  The round is close and will be a tough one to score.  In the second round it is more of the same.  Both fighters land flush with the only difference being that Tybura is targeting the body a little more than Ivanov is.  In the final round Tybura has instructions from his corner to pursue the grappling since they are unsure who is winning the fight.  Tybura follows these instructions and lands a takedown fairly quickly.  He spends a majority of the round controlling Ivanov on the ground and carefully finding opportunities to pepper in strikes.  Ivanov continues trying to escape but never has any luck.  As the time is ticking away, he is clearly frustrated.  However, this tactic proves to be the right one as it ends up winning the round for Tybura and ultimately the fight as well.  Tybura by unanimous decision.

Da Un Jung vs. Devin Clark

Round one starts off with Clark heavily pursuing the grappling.  However, Jung defends nicely which results in Clark settling for clinches along the fence.  Jung stays patient on the fence until he is able to reverse and take control to start accruing his own control time.  As the round progresses the fighters continue taking turns in switching control and peppering in strikes when they find their openings.  It is a close opening round.  In the second round Clark immediately blitzes in for the grappling again.  Once again Jung stays poised and defends nicely.  The clinching along the fence begins again and the fighters once again take turns trading out the dominant position.  As the round comes to a close this is a very close fight with two fighters that are very evenly matched thus far.  The final round will be very important in determining the winner.  As it begins to play out, it is Jung who lands a takedown early.  He controls Clark for at least a minute while landing very few strikes.  Clark waits for his opportunity then finds a way to escape.  The fighters then continue the patterns from the previous two rounds. This includes occasional striking followed by heavy clinching with control being alternated by each fighter.  The round comes to a close and although it was an extremely competitive contest, the judges all felt that it was Clark who had done enough to win all three rounds.  Clark by unanimous decision.

Derrick Lewis vs. Serghei Spivak

The first round of this main event fight is all Spivak.  Early in the round Lewis is stalking forward looking to land his world-famous knockout punches.  Unfortunately for him, it doesn’t take long until Spivak begins his patented rinse and repeat cycle of takedowns.  He lands the first takedown and has Lewis squirming frantically to get back up.  Lewis does find his way back to the feet but is very quickly taken back down by Spivak.  This happens over and over at least four or five times.  Each time the fighters hit the ground the resistance of Lewis begins to fade.  Eventually Spivak finds his opening and pursues the submission.  He locks on a choke and it doesn’t take long before Lewis realizes that there is no escaping.  Lewis taps out and Spivak now has his biggest win to date.  Spivak by first round submission.