Carlston Harris vs. Jared Gooden

Gooden misses weight for this fight which is not incredibly surprising since he took the fight on last minute notice.  When the fight starts he looks a bit slow but he lands they are heavy shots since he has a bit more weight behind them.  Gooden lands a couple of heavy leg kicks to start and then starts landing flush jabs repeatedly.  Harris clearly has the speed advantage but he is loading up with his counter strikes and is overextending to the point where he almost looks sloppy.  They each find moments of success in the opening round but Harris finds some real momentum in the last 20 seconds as he starts landing a flurry.  In the second round Harris clinches early and forces Gooden against the fence.  He lands clinch strikes until he sees his opening then lands the takedown.  From there he controls the remainder of the while landing occasional ground strikes.  This is a clear-cut round in favor of Harris.  In the final round Harris lands a takedown early.  He once again gets in top control and is now increasing his output.  The increased pressure actually inspires Gooden to get up this time.  Once he’s up Harris keeps Gooden clinched against the fence until he can land yet another takedown.  For the entire round it is Harris completely controlling everything and Gooden producing almost zero offense.  He is basically just surviving at this point.  This makes for a clear-cut fight in the eyes of the judges.  Harris by unanimous decision.

Tyson Nam vs. Bruno Silva

The opening round is a very competitive back and forth affair.  Silva has the speed advantage, but Nam has the power advantage.  Silva lands some nice kicks and even a spinning backfist but Nam lands some bombs that clearly get Silva’s attention.  Late in the round Nam also lands a very heavy body kick that gets the crowd to erupt.  It is a very close opening round.  In the second round the competitive action resumes until one of the most devastating kicks you’ll ever see is landed by Silva.  As Nam approaches to engage, Silva lands a front kick right up the middle that hits extremely flush right on the chin of Nam.  The sound alone is enough to make you cringe.  Nam drops violently but somehow is still conscious.  Silva quickly hops on top of him and before Nam can even get his bearings Silva has his back and is attacking a choke.  He gets the arm under the chin and Nam tries to fight the grip but it is not enough and he quickly goes unconscious.  What a performance and wild finish for Silva to add to his resume.  Silva by second round club and sub.

JJ Aldrich vs. Ariane Lipski

Lipski comes into this fight as a pretty big underdog.  However, in the opening round she is doing surprisingly well.  When the striking exchanges occur, Lipski has a clear speed advantage and is actually the one who is getting the better of the exchanges.  Aldrich seems solely focused on trying to find openings for the takedown, but she finds very little.  When she does make an attempt Lipski does a nice job at defending and keeping the fight standing.  Late in the round Lipski lands a flush bomb that wobbles Aldrich.  Lipski chases after her and lands another one before the bell rings.  It is a clear round in favor of Lipski.  In the second round Aldrich comes out with a little more aggression but Lipski holds her ground and throws more of her crispy combinations.  For most of the round Lipski is once again winning in all of the striking exchanges.  Aldrich looks to be solely focused on the grappling opportunities that never come.  It is another winning round for Lipski.  In the final round Aldrich knows she needs a finish but still can’t ever find any success.  It is just not her night which unfortunately for her, is paired right alongside the best performance we have ever seen from Lipski.  It seems like Lipski has clearly won every single round.  The judges agree.  Lipski by unanimous decision. 

Victor Henry vs. Tony Gravely

The opening round is competitive as both fighters are fresh.  Gravely is never able to get his wrestling going because in his limited attempts Henry defends nicely.  On the feet both are throwing heavy strikes and are somewhat evenly matched.  However, in the second round Henry starts to take over early.  Gravely starts to tire out and Henry is pouring on the volume and pressure.  Henry starts to land repeatedly and Gravely appears to be melting a little bit.  In the final minutes though, Gravely is finally able to get his wrestling going.  He lands a couple of takedowns but unfortunately for him he doesn’t do much with them.  Henry stays scrappy and never settles.  It appears to be a winning round for Henry.  In the final round both fighters are now tired and are pouring out every drop they have left.  Despite the fatigue they continue to press forward and throw volume mixed with grappling scrambles.  The momentum changes several times and when the final bell rings they are both ready to collapse.  It is a wild final round but in the end the judges felt that it was Henry who had done enough.  Henry by split decision.

Sedriques Dumas vs. Josh Fremd

The opening round is a wild one for Dumas.  He comes into this fight from a nice win on the Contender Series, but his inexperience shows itself in the first round.  He appears to be nervous and is overextending with his shots.  Meanwhile, Fremd is staying poised and is landing the better shots.  In addition, Fremd also lands a takedown and accrues nearly a couple minutes of control time while landing a few ground strikes.  It is a clear winning round for Fremd.  In the second round Fremd starts to take over.  The fight eventually hits the ground, and it is the beginning of the end.  He quickly locks in a guillotine and shortly after Dumas is tapping out.  A nice performance from Fremd to get him back on track.  Fremd by second round submission.

Davey Grant vs. Raphael Assuncao

The first minute of this bout the fighters are trading shots but nothing too significant is landing.  Then Grant throws a kick which is caught by Assuncao.  He uses that to force Grant to the ground where Assuncao now assumes top position and accrues nearly a minute and a half of control time.  Grant works his way back to the feet where they start trading again.  The round is close but the 90 seconds of control time may have been enough to edge out the round for Assuncao.  In the second round it is close but it once again feels like Assuncao may have edged it out.  In the final round Grant knows he needs a finish and is fighting accordingly.  He is now pressuring and throwing combinations instead of single looping shots.  He starts to land and build momentum and has Assuncao in a bit of trouble now.  This is the first round that Grant is clearly winning.  However, he continues to grab the fence throughout the fight and is now finally penalized.  He loses a point which ends up being the thing that saves him.  When the fight resumes he now knows there is absolutely zero chance of winning a decision.  He puts his foot on the gas and keeps landing nice shots.  Assuncao doesn’t throw much back but instead keeps ducking under and trying to use wrestling as his defense.  Unfortunately for Assuncao, during a scramble in the final minute, Grant latches onto an inverted triangle.  Assuncao is now trapped and after a few seconds he is unconscious.  Grant finds a way to pull off the miracle in a fight that he was clearly going to lose.  He does so with only 17 seconds left in the fight.  What a comeback.  Grant by third round submission.

Lukasz Brzeski vs. Karl Williams

The first few minutes of round one is all Williams.  He uses his wrestling to overwhelm and bully Brzeski.  But as the round progresses Brzeski starts to find a bit of momentum of his own.  He stuffs a few takedowns in the final minutes and begins to land some nice shots.  The round still may be edged out by Williams, but it is not guaranteed.  In the second round Williams lands early and has Brzeski in trouble.  Williams now blitzes after him and unloads nonstop haymakers trying to get the finish.  Brzeski is somehow able to survive and Williams is tired now.  Despite the exhaustion, Williams uses his wrestling to hang in there and win the round.  In the final round both fighters are completely worn out.  Williams continues to lean on his wrestling in order to control the fight.  However, once the fight hits the ground he’s not doing much with the takedowns.  He’s basically just using the wrestling to control and wear down the clock.  As boring as it is for the fans, it is enough to seal the win for himself.  Williams by unanimous decision.

Vitor Petrino vs. Anton Turkalj

The opening round of this bout is all Petrino.  He uses heavy strikes and grappling to overwhelm Turkalj.  It is a dominant round of pressure which makes it clear cut for the judges.  In the second round Petrino keeps up with the pressure but after having his foot on the pedal for so long he now starts to fade.  Turkalj senses this and now starts to pour on pressure of his own.  He has endured an incredible beating that most fighters couldn’t have taken and is now starting to rally.  The fight is back and forth now, and the crowd is erupting.  Although fatigued, Petrino still finds his moments to rally as well.  It is an incredible round.  In the final round it is more of the same.  Petrino digs deep and finds enough energy to keep wrestling.  He is always giving Turkalj something to deal with which in turn tones down the offense of Turkalj.  The final round is once again back and forth.  Each fighter is exhausted but has given an incredible showing of themselves.  It is likely that we may have just seen the fight of the night.  In the end, however, the judges feel that Petrino has done more than enough to get the win.  Petrino by unanimous decision.

Mario Bautista vs. Guido Cannetti

In the opening minute Cannetti throws some heavy shots.  He clearly is not intimidated by the overwhelming favorite that Vegas has deemed Bautista in this fight.  About a minute into the round Bautista lands a takedown with authority.  He quickly gets into top control and starts attacking.  Cannetti stays patient though and eventually finds his way back to the feet.  It doesn’t last long because Bautista immediately lands a violent suplex slamming Cannetti into the canvas once again.  From there he takes the back and quickly sinks in a choke.  Cannetti tries to resist for a couple of seconds but quickly realizes that his resistance is pointless.  He taps out and Bautista once again gives another incredibly dominant performance.  Bautista by first round submission.

Said Nurmagomedov vs. Jonathan Martinez

The first couple minutes of this fight is an onslaught from Nurmagomedov that comes in a wide variety of attacks at lightning speed.  Martinez appears to be slightly overwhelmed but finds a way to hang in there.  Nurmagomedov hits him with lightning-fast head kicks, spinning elbows and every other possible strike.  Not only does he throw them incredibly fast but he sometimes throws them all within the same combination.  As if this isn’t enough, Nurmagomedov also mixes in some fast and powerful wrestling.  Despite all this, Martinez not only deals with it all, but is actually able to return some of his own offense and find his own moments.  The skill level in this fight is a sight to behold and both fighters are being tested like they never have before.  The first round likely goes to Nurmagomedov.  However, in round two Martinez starts to find some more success for himself.  He wins moments in grappling exchanges and lands strikes on the feet.  Each fighter is relentless and is constantly pushing themselves and their opponent at the same time.  Although the second round is close, it feels like Martinez may have done just enough to edge it out.  In the final round the madness continues.  It is another round of constant pressure and momentum changes. Martinez once again hangs tough and is constantly working through all the problems that Nurmagomedov presents.  Both fighters have great moments but there is a world where Martinez may have just barely squeaked by to win the round by a razor thin edge.  The judges agree.  Martinez is emotional as he picks up the most impressive win of his entire career.  Martinez by unanimous decision.

Nikita Krylov vs. Ryan Spann

The first round of this fight is a chaotic frenzy.  Spann sprints across the cage and quickly lands a flush shot.  After that he blitzes because he feels he may already have his opponent wobbled.  Then the sloppy scrambles begin.  Each fighter has periods of being on top, in control and attacking submissions.  Each time that happens the other fighter escapes and scrambles.  There is a constant ballet of tumbling over each other with various flips and positions switches.  It is incredible to watch but eventually Spann makes one wrong move.  He is on top and throwing a right hand down at Krylov but misses.  As he misses Krylove throws a leg over the shoulder and locks in a triangle.  Despite each fighter escaping submissions several times, Spann is not able to escape this one.  He taps out and Krylov wins what may be the wildest fight of his career.  Krylov by first round submission.

Alexander Volkov vs. Alexandr Romanov

This fight was about as one sided as it gets.  Romanov comes out and tries to get his wrestling going immediately.  However, Volkov is ready for it and stuffs the takedowns nicely.  The more Romanov fails on his takedowns the more concerned and helpless he starts to look.  Volkov forces the fight to remain on the feet and is now starting to land.  Eventually the fight hits the ground but surprisingly it is Volkov who is the one on top.  He takes the back of Romanov and ultimately sinks a choke in.  Romanov survives but then Volkov starts raining down punches from behind.  Romanov shells up and never really tries to improve his position.  He appears to just accept defeat and the fight is called off.  Volkov by first round TKO.

Petr Yan vs. Merab Dvalishvili

The first round of this main event is a high-energy frenzy as usual in a Dvalishvili fight.  He blitzes with relentless takedown attempts and throws heavy shots on the feet.  Yan is known for being a slow starter, so he looks slightly overwhelmed early.  However, he is also known for downloading information and then finding momentum later in the fight.  Despite this, Dvalishvili with all his volume, easily wins round one.  In the second round Dvalishvili continues with his heavy output.  He continues to throw high volume and eventually lands his best takedown of the fight so far.  Yan stays poised though and quickly works back to the feet.  About three minutes into the round Yan catches a kick and gets Dvalishvili down for the first time.  He stands over him and tries to land strikes, but Dvalishvili works back up quickly only to resume his heavy output.  Yan has moments but it feels like another round won by Dvalishvili.  In the third round Dvalishvili just continues with the volume.  He is known for being like a machine with his relentless cardio.  Yan is doing a good job at minimizing damage, but the problem is that he is constantly forced to defend, which leaves virtually no time for his own offense.  We have never seen Yan given this much trouble, even in his few losses.  Round three ends and it feels like Yan has won zero rounds so far.  The fourth round is when Yan is finally stuffing a few takedowns.  He finds subtle moments of success by clinching Dvalishvili against the cage and landing a few clinch strikes.  Of course, this doesn’t last.  Dvalishvili works back out to the center of the cage and once again pours on the volume.  Yan has his best round yet, but it still is questionable as to whether he did enough.  There is possibly a world where Yan is down all four rounds.  Or best-case scenario, three rounds to one.  In the final round Dvalishvili is still pouring on relentless pressure and volume.  It appears that he is not human and could do this all night long without ever getting tired.  Poor Yan tries his best to deal with the onslaught but it just seems too much for any man to deal with.  As the fight ends, Yan’s eye is busted up and he looks clearly defeated.  He just never was able to get much going.  An absolute masterclass by Dvalishvili.  The judges agree.  Yan never wins even one round on a single judges score card.  Dvalishvili by unanimous decision.