Alexa Grasso, Valentina Schevchenko Split Draw (48-47, 47-48, 47-47)

Shevchenko came out aggressive and was finding success with straight punches and low kicks. Grasso used stance switching effectively in the first round to take away weapons from Shevchenko. When it came to wrestling, Shevchenko initiated for the most part with locking double undercooks, and found success on two of them first and third round. Grasso knocked down Shevchenko hard in the second, leading to some panic wrestling that let Shevchenko barely stay alive while taking some big damage from dirty boxing from Grasso. Grasso also landed some damage at the end of the second from her back, with kicks to the thigh and an up kick that landed flush. Grasso found herself in submission danger after the takedown in the third round. Shevchenko came very close to locking up a mounted guillotine that she nearly secures, then took Grasso’s back and threatened a rear naked choke for nearly the rest of the third round. In the fourth, Shevchenko went right back to her jab until shooting a takedown that Grasso defends perfectly and Shevchenko pays the price, taking damage from knees and elbows in the clinch. In the fifth, Shevchenko went back to fighting behind her jab once more until Grasso got it to the mat and came very close to a late submission.

In a historical fight between these two fighters, there’s no doubt that both fighters showed their word class skill. In a back and forth fight, I had it 49-46 Shevchenko, but I’d say 48-47 is also a very reasonable score card as the fifth round could have went either way. Grasso secured the second, but I don’t see which other round should have went to her. Amazing fight, but very questionable scorecards.

Jack Della Maddalena def. Kevin Holland via Split Decision (28-29, 29-28 x2)

Della Maddalena was working well off of the jab early, while Holland was finding success with calf kicks. JDM also was following up his shots perfectly. He lands combos so easily while still not over extending himself or compromising his defense. Holland was playing more of the role of the counterpuncher and was finding plenty of success himself. I don’t love Holland’s tendency to turn his back after his punches, but his ability to stay loose as can be even when JDM was finding success is impressive. I had it 30-27 for JDM, but all extremely close rounds. JDM beat his toughest opponent so far in this one and I think this could get him a huge fight and a push to serious title contention in the near future.

Raul Rosas Jr. def. Terrence Mitchell via TKO (Ground Strikes, Round 1)

Both fighters come out throwing and Rosas lands a clean left hand to fold Mitchell. He got it to mount and finished the fight with ground strikes. Rosas came out aggressive and it paid off for him on a huge night for his young career. Amazing bounce back performance for Rosas Jr.

Daniel Zellhuber def. Christos Giagos via Submission (Anaconda Choke, Round 2)

Giagos is explosive. He showed this early in his ability to get into range, land some heavy right hands on Zellhuber and hurt him in the first round. Zellhuber picked up momentum in the second round until he hurts Giagos with a right hand, leading him to shoot a desperate takedown and Zellhuber hops right on an anaconda choke. Impressive finish.

Kyle Nelson def. Fernando Padilla via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28 x2)

Nelson did a lot of running from Padilla, but Padilla still landing plenty of shots despite Nelson’s movement. Padilla did a great job at landing heavy kicks, elbows and hooks from the clinch. Padilla looked like he took the second round off. Nelson landed some beautiful high kicks that seemed to hurt Padilla temporarily. The third round was close, but I think Nelson out struck Padilla again. Padilla started off this fight strong, but switched up his game and I don’t think it worked out for him. He started straight up box with Nelson and abandoned the clinch work all together in the second half of the fight.

Loopy Godinez def. Elise Reed via Submission (Rear Naked Choke, Round 2)

Godinez gets clinch control early and goes to work, until she trips Reed and gets it to half guard. After Reed works her way back up, Godinez hits her with a head kick from hell that drops her. Godinez then takes her back, nearly secures a rear naked choke, then goes from an armbar that Reed barely defends as well. The submission defense by Reed was so insane that I had to turn away. Reed’s arm looked like it was about to break for about a minute straight. In the second round, Lupe gets it to the ground again and gets herself another submission win. Loopy’s strength is scary for the rest of the women’s strawweight division, good lord.

Roman Kopylov def. Josh Fremd via TKO (Body Kick, Round 2)

Kopylov has an incredibly efficient first round, landing upward of 80% of significant strikes. When he was not doing that, he was consistently staying busy with faints to set up his next attack. Kopylov’s takedown defense held up well too, properly defending 5 of 5. Kopylov continued just lighting up Fremd until he folds him with a kick to the body. I would describe this as a striking masterclass by Kopylov overall.

Edgar Chairez, Daniel Lacerda No Contest

Chairez gets a standing guillotine in a clinch against the fence on behalf of an awful stoppage after Chris Tognoni thought his arm went limp. Unfortunate case, but I am glad that they ended up calling this a no contest instead of letting the bad call slide. With that being said, Chairez’s chances of locking up that guillotine seemed pretty good, so its a shame that he will lose out on what was probably an eventual win because of a poor call by the referee.

Tracy Cortez def. Jasmin Jasudavicius via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 30-27 x2)

Cortez looked sharp early with precise 2-3 piece combos and good takedown defense. Jasudavicius lands some counters but Cortez was out landing her. Round 2 was a pretty big momentum shift. Jasudavicius did get pieced up a bit early but seemed to be wearing out Cortez with her wrestling and heavy top pressure. Round 3 was close but I think Cortez did enough to win 29-28. Jasudavicius fought a seriously dirty fight, with plenty of clinch fighting and grinding against the fence. Overall a great scrap, and a great win for Cortez after a layoff that should propel her up a few spots in the rankings.

Charlie Campbell def. Alex Reyes via TKO (Punches, Round 1)

Reyes simply looked like he had no answers to Campbell. No way around it, the man just got pieced up hard. Campbell got after it and was aggressive from the jump. He’d need to show that he can fight a more technical striking match for me to be completely on board for him, but I’m sure his aggressiveness was a result of knowing what kind of opponent he had in Alex Reyes.