Brad Tavares vs Dongi “The Ox” Yang

Round 1:
Both fighters landed leg kicks in the early goings and Tavares targeted the body with more kicks. Big punches landed for both and an exchange of strikes followed. Yang landed leg kicks and Tavares answered with a combination. Time was called after Yang was poked in the eye. The fight resumed and this time Tavares suffered an eyepoke. Action continued and Tavares landed punches. Yang responded with a lead left hook and clinched. Tavares reversed against the cage and landed knees. Close round. 10-9 Tavares.

Round 2:
More kicks were exchanged in round two and Tavares landed a right hook. Yang landed a big front kick and a hard left cross. He remained the aggressor and both fighters landed kicks. Yang clinched and took Tavares down, but Tavares quickly stood and the fighters battled in the clinch. Yang tried to throw Tavares to the mat, but Tavares defended. 10-9 Yang.

Round 3:
Yang opened round two with kicks and Tavares took him down. Yang scrambled up to his feet and was taken down again. Yang stood and was slammed down. Tavares briefly held side control, but Yang used the cage to work up to his knees. The fighters were stood up and both landed punches. Yang was kicked in the groin and time was called. The fight eventually continued and Tavares landed a body kick. Yang answered with leg kicks and avoided a takedown. Tavares kicked at Yang’s upper body in the final 20 seconds. 10-9 Tavares.

Winner: Brad Tavares by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) after three rounds. He improves to 8-1-0.

 

Cody “AK Kid” McKenzie vs Marcus “The Prospect” LeVesseur

Round 1:
LeVesseur dumped McKenzie to the mat right away and landed in side control. He stood and was kicked in the groin. Time was called and the fight resumed soon after. McKenzie attempted a pair of head kicks and avoided LeVesseur’s haymakers. LeVesseur landed big punches in close and McKenzie fell to the mat. LeVesseur stood over him and rained down more shots.

McKenzie attempted submissions from the bottom and prevented LeVesseur from taking his back. McKenzie locked on his trademark guillotine choke from butterfly guard and switched to a power guillotine. He rolled LeVesseur over and LeVesseur was forced to submit.

Winner: Cody McKenzie by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 3:05 of round one. He improves to 13-2-0.

 

T.J. Grant vs Carlo “Neo” Prater

Round 1:
Prater jabbed early on and Grant answered with a lunging one-two. The fighters traded leg kicks and Grant landed two more quick punches. He followed with a kick-punch combo and more leg kicks were exchanged. Grant clinched and tried for a takedown, but he could not get it. Prater looked for a takedown of his own, but Grant broke away from the clinch.

Prater closed the distance again, but Grant punched free and pushed forward with another combination. Grant stuffed a takedown and attempted a standing guillotine choke, then landed a big knee and took Prater down. Prater rolled for a kneebar and Grant escaped into top position. He passed to side control just before the bell. 10-9 Grant.

Round 2:
Grant landed a right hook and caught a kick in round two. He backed Prater up to the cage and landed knees to the body. A big standing elbow scored for Grant and Prater appeared to be stunned briefly. Grant landed another elbow and more knees to the body. Punches were exchanged and Grant landed a nice combination. Grant clinched and continued to score with knees to the ribs.

Grant took Prater down for a second, but Prater stood and backed away. Grant closed the distance and used a standing guillotine choke to fight off a Prater takedown attempt. Grant took Prater down and moved to side control. He landed some big shots from the top, but Prater swept into top position in the final five seconds. 10-9 Grant.

Round 3:
The final round began with an exchange of leg kicks and Grant scored with a lunging left hook. He remained aggressive with his punches and took Prater down. Prater tried for a guillotine choke from the bottom and Grant countered by moving to side control. Grant nearly passed to mount and then took Prater’s back in a scramble.

Grant attempted a Banana Split submission and then returned to top position. He moved to mount and landed short punches and shoulder strikes. Prater tried to escape to his feet, but Grant took his back. Prater got back to his feet and Grant suplexed him to the mat. He tried for a rear-naked choke and was about to lock on an armbar, but time expired. 10-9 Grant.

Winner: T.J. Grant by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) after three rounds. He improves to 18-5-0.

 

Rafael dos Anjos vs Kamal “Prince of Persia” Shalorus

Round 1:
Dos Anjos threw a head kick early on and Shalorus returned fire with a flurry of punches. Dos Anjos dropped Shalorus with another head kick and followed with punches on the ground. He took Shalorus’s back and worked to set up a rear-naked choke. Dos Anjos trapped Shalorus’s left arm and locked on the choke, forcing Shalorus to tap out.

Winner: Rafael dos Anjos by Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) at 1:40 of round one. He improves to 16-6-0.

 

Johnny Eduardo vs Jeff “The Big Frog” Curran

Round 1:
Eduardo landed a nice counter right hand early on and the fighters traded leg kicks and overhand rights for the next minute. Eduardo landed a hard leg kick and Curran answered back with a side kick to the body and a right hook. A quick one-two scored for Eduardo and Curran landed a right hand in return.

More punches found the mark for Eduardo and he followed with two hard leg kicks. Curran kicked to the body and Eduardo immediately answered back with a combination and another leg kick. He sent Curran backwards with a one-two and closed out the round with one more leg kick. 10-9 Eduardo.

Round 2:
Eduardo opened round two with a pair of kicks to Curran’s lead leg and Curran began to limp slightly. Curran tried to land head kicks, but Eduardo easily blocked them and fired back with punches and more kicks to Curran’s leg. Curran just missed with a haymaker right hand and was met by two more leg kicks for his efforts. Curran put together a combination and Eduardo landed a hard three-punch flurry.

A spinning hook kick just missed for Eduardo, but he landed a hard leg kick. Two more leg kicks scored for Eduardo and Curran tried to catch the second one. A one-two, leg kick combo backed Curran up and Eduardo easily stuffed a takedown. Eduardo landed a left hook, a spinning backfist and a leg kick before the bell. 10-9 Eduardo.

Round 3:
Eduardo resumed kicking at Curran’s lead leg in the final round. He sprawled out of a Curran takedown attempt and backed away. A stiff jab scored for Eduardo, but a counter left hook from Curran appeared to damage his right eye. Eduardo implored for a timeout, but the referee did not see an eyepoke and instructed the fighters to continue.

Curran landed two combinations of punches and became more aggressive. He began to find more success with his punches and jabbed at Eduardo’s right eye. Eduardo landed a counter left hook and avoided a clinch attempt. He punched to the body and backed away. A left hook from Curran was answered by a leg kick from Eduardo. More punches scored for Curran in the final 30 seconds. 10-9 Curran.

Winner: Johnny Eduardo by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) after three rounds. He improves to 26-9-0.

 

Francisco “Cisco” Rivera vs Alex Soto

Round 1:
Rivera stuffed an early takedown and countered a head kick with a right hook that briefly dropped Soto to the mat. Soto stood and took Rivera down, but Rivera got back to his feet and hurt him with more punches. A right hook to the temple wobbled Soto, but he managed to take Rivera down again.

Soto struck from the top until Rivera fought back to his feet. Soto backpedalled and came up well short with his punches. Rivera flashed out two head kicks of his own, but neither landed. Rivera scored with two right hands and a flying kick. He remained the aggressor as Soto circled away until the bell. 10-9 Rivera.

Round 2:
Punches were exchanged in round two and Rivera continued to walk Soto down. Soto landed two counter kicks to the body and time was called after he was kicked in the groin. Action resumed and both fighters landed leg kicks. After an exchange of right hooks, Soto looked for a takedown and then threw a flying knee. Two right hands stunned Soto, but he recovered quickly and threw a front kick that struck Rivera in the groin.

Time was called again and the fight resumed soon after. Rivera chased Soto around the cage and landed landed a knee. Soto countered with a body kick, but Rivera dropped him briefly with a head kick. Soto stood and circled away with more body kicks. He ducked into another head kick from Rivera shortly before the end of the round. 10-9 Rivera.

Round 3:
Soto caught a kick and took Rivera down in the final round, but he was only able to land one punch from the top before Rivera stood up. Soto missed with a looping left hook and ate a right hand counter. Rivera landed two front kicks and badly rocked Soto with a right hook to the temple. He swarmed with more punches, but Soto somehow survived and stayed on his feet.

Soto landed his best combination of the fight and followed with a head kick. He jabbed and ate a counter right from Rivera. Soto ducked into a head kick, but managed to block it with his hand. The fight ended with an exchange that saw Rivera score with body kicks while Soto missed with a flashy Superman Punch attempt off of the cage. 10-9 Rivera.

Winner: Francisco Rivera by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) after three rounds. He improves to 8-2-0.