Juancamilo Ronderos vs. Clayton Carpenter

The first half of the opening round is an exciting display of multiple disciplines.  Early in the round Carpenter is throwing some nice strikes until he is taken down.  From there Ronderos is looking to ground and pound.  However, he is quickly caught slipping and thrown into a triangle.  While Ronderos is struggling to survive in the triangle Carpenter is simultaneously attacking the armbar.  Both attacks look extremely threatening but somehow Ronderos is able to survive and escape both.  Shortly after that Carpenter takes the back and once Ronderos lets his guard down Carpenter sneaks in the rear naked choke.  The choke is in tightly and it only takes a few seconds before Ronderos has no choice but to tap out.  Carpenter by first round submission.

A.J. Fletcher vs. Themba Gorimbo

In the opening round the two fighters trade strikes for about a minute until the fight hits the ground.  Fletcher gets on top and within 30 seconds he is able to transition to full mount.  While in full mount he is now raining down elbows and punches.  A couple of the elbows land extremely flush and Gorimbo is underneath struggling to survive.  Fletcher does a nice job at maintaining control and avoid being bucked off while landing nice ground strikes.  This is a clear-cut round in favor of Fletcher.  In the second round the fight quickly hits the ground and Fletcher once again shows his grappling dominance.  He snatches up the neck and before Gorimbo can address it the choke is in tightly.  It takes only a matter of seconds before Gorimbo is tapping out.  Fletcher by second round submission.

Ovince St. Preux vs. Philipe Lins

This fight was over very quickly.  As the round begins St. Preux marches across the cage and lands a leg kick.  For the most part, that was about the entirety of his offense for the fight.  Lins starts throwing combinations and lands flush.  He gets St. Preux on the backfoot and Lins continues to blitz forward.  Lins starts landing continually and St. Preux begins to crumble.  The more Lins blitzes and lands the more St. Preux just flees and never throws anything back.  Eventually Lins lands the shot that drops St. Preux.  Once he hits the ground St. Preux shells up on the ground which is the body language of a man who no longer wants to fight.  The fight is called off immediately.  Lins by first round TKO.

Jamall Emmers vs. Khusein Ashkabov

In the first round of this bout the two fighters are closely matched.  Each fighter throws blistering punches with leg kicks mixed in.  About halfway through the round Ashkabov attempts a takedown but Emmers defends nicely and denies it.  From there they continue to trade on the feet.  There are shifts in momentum as Ashkabov had the early edge but Emmers started coming on later in the round.  In the second round Ashkabov starts to fade a bit.  He is making mistakes by loading up on his shots and lunging.  He not only begins to fade but appears to get a bit discouraged as well.  The second round appears to be edged out by Emmers.  In the third round Emmers continue to do some nice work.  The first portion of the round is clearly his but later in the round Ashkabov begins to have a couple of moments on the ground.  Despite this it is Emmers who is still edging out most of the exchanges.  In the end the judges felt that it was Emmers who had done enough.  Emmers by unanimous decision.

Lina Lansberg vs. Mayra Bueno Silva

The opening round in this match was mostly a striking affair early on.  The two fighters trade punches and kicks but Lansberg is also sneaking in some elbows.  Silva seems to be edging it out but then late in the round she also lands a takedown.  She accrues about a minute of control time which now makes the round pretty clear cut in her favor.  In the second round they trade on the feet once more but the fight hits the ground much quicker this time.  Once on the canvas Silva shows her clear advantage in the grappling.  Lansberg tries her best, but Silva is always one step ahead.  It doesn’t take before Silva is attacking a kneebar which has Lansberg in all sorts of trouble.  She tries to tough it out but eventually the tension is just too much.  She taps out and Silva has another nice win on her resume.  Silva by second round submission.

Nazim Sadykhov vs. Evan Elder

The first round of this bout was a back-and-forth affair.  Sadykhov had some momentum early on but then Elder starts to find some success.  He lands a flush straight right hand that wobbles Sadykhov backwards and fall.  He hops right back up and calls Elder on for more.  As the round continues Sadykhov starts finding his momentum again.  The swings continue throughout the round.  A very tough round to score.  In the second round the momentum swings are still happening.  These fighters are evenly matched and there is never a dull moment.  Both fighters take turns landing flush and each show a very impressive display of toughness.  However, late in the round Sadykhov lands a flush head kick that opens up a very bad cut.  After a quick review by the referee and doctor the fight is forced to stop as it is declared that Elder is not fit to continue.  Sadykhov by second round TKO.

Jim Miller vs. Alexander Hernandez

This fight is yet another battle between two fighters who are evenly matched.  In the opening round they each have their moments.  Miller lands a nice head kick that briefly wobbles Hernandez.  Hernandez later lands his own head kick.  Each fighter also takes turns landing flush shots.  Miller is throwing nice check hooks and Hernandez is landing beautiful jabs very consistently.  The opening round is back and forth and will be a tough one to score for the judges.  In the second round it is more of the same.  The fighters continue to trade, and the momentum swings are constant.  Another very close round.  In the final round the early momentum belongs to Miller.  He lands and hurts Hernandez once again but it’s not enough.  Hernandez recomposes himself and comes back to later hurt Miller again.  Each fighter showed their incredible chins and despite hurting each other time and time again, neither are ever able to find the finish.  An incredible fight with two evenly matched fighters but in the end the judges felt it was Hernandez who had done enough to edge it out.  Hernandez by unanimous decision.

William Knight vs. Marcin Prachnio

This fight was a little bit weird.  For the entire fight Knight maybe threw ten strikes or less.  Throughout the first and second round he gave off the sense that maybe he was just concerned about cardio issues and was saving up all his energy for the third round.  But the then the third round came and he still never threw anything.  For the first round Prachnio was peppering with jabs and hooks accompanied by leg kicks and questions mark kicks.  Knight just stands back and tries to evade but still gets hits with shots here and there.  Then the second round is more of the exact same.  Prachnio throws frequently and Knight does nothing.   The strike count differential continues to add up.  When the third round finally comes and Wright still does nothing it all now becomes baffling.  His approach and mindset are curious at best.  As the fight comes to an end it is not only clear that he lost, but also curious as to whether he may get cut by the UFC after that performance.  Prachnio by unanimous decision.  

Josh Parisian vs. Jamal Pogues

The opening round of this fight goes about as expected with two mediocre heavyweights.  The fighters trade slow single shots on the feet with very occasional two punch combinations.  Late in the round Pogues is able to land a takedown but it is so late in the round that it doesn’t result in much.  Pogue lays on Parisian for about ten seconds then the round ends.  In the second round it is more of the same.  However, this time instead of a late takedown there is late clinching.  The fighters latch onto each other and trade a couple of knees.  The strike count is about the same between the two fighters.  It is another close round with nothing too eventful happening.  In the final round Pogues lands one more takedown.  The fighters appeared to throw a bit more volume but it was once again nothing too eventful.  The few takedowns for Pogues in the fight appeared to be the difference in the end.  The judges agreed.  Pogues by unanimous decision.

Zac Pauga vs. Jordan Wright

In the first round Pauga marches across quickly and immediately tries to crowd the space of Wright.  He backs Wright against the cage, throws a big shot to close the distance and quickly clinches.  From there he keeps Wright clenched along the fence and just peppers in his clinch strikes.  This appears to be the very clear game plan for Pauga in order to avoid the dangerous and dynamic striking style of Wright.  The fighters exchange clinching knees but Pauga is occasionally sneaking in some hard elbows that land flush.  One of them opens a significant cut over the right eye of Wright.  This could prove to be an issue later in the fight.  In the second round Pauga rushes across and utilizes the same game plan.  He clinches Wright against the cage and starts landing shots.  This time however, Wright eventually escapes and gets back to the center of the cage briefly.  However, Pauga doesn’t spend much time there before he is pushing and clinching against the cage again.  It is a boring approach, but it is certainly an understandable one.  In the final round Wright comes out knowing he needs a finish to get the win.  He once again shows zero urgency and just lets Pauga win a slow and boring fight.  This may end up getting Wright cut from the UFC as well.  Pauga by unanimous decision.

Jessica Andrade vs. Erin Blanchfield

In the opening round of this main event it is surprising at how willing Blanchfield is to engage directly in the pocket and trade strikes with Andrade.  Not only is she participating in the pocket, but she is doing surprisingly well.  Blanchfield has the reach, but Andrade has the speed advantage.  The two fighters trade shots on the feet and each land some good flush shots.  Blanchfield tries to get a takedown on several occasions, but Andrade defends nicely.  In the second round the fighters continue to trade on the feet.  However, this time Blanchfield finally gets a takedown during a grappling scramble.  She uses an inside trip and quickly switches to side control.  From there she waits until Andrade explodes to escape and quickly takes the back.  She throws in a rear naked choke with insane speed and before Andrade even realizes what happened, she is already tapping out.  An incredible performance from the young and surging prospect.  Blanchfield by second round submission.