Justin Edwards defeated Jorge Lopez via unanimous decision (29-28 x3). The fight had some sloppy moments, but was pretty exciting overall. Both of the first two rounds were close, with Edwards looking to take both. Lopez managed to get to full mount in the third, but ended the round stuck in a variety of submission attempts. Edwards was a significant underdog at +300 coming into the fight, but he completely deflated the hype for Jorge Lopez tonight.
Robert Peralta defeated Mike Lullo via unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 29-28). Peralta dominated the first round with some deadly leg kicks and combinations. Lullo spent the majority of the second and third rounds with Peralta pressed against the fence, but he had very little success getting the fight to the floor. The second round was close, as was the third, but the judges were more impressed with Peralta's offence and takedown defense than they were with Lullo's cage clinching.
T.J. Waldburger defeated Mike Stumpf via submission (triangle choke), 3:52, round 1. Waldburger came out with a huge leg kick that spun Stumpf around and he jumped straight onto his back within four seconds. The fighters proceeded to exchange submissions throughout the fight after Stumpf escaped from that, but Waldburger finished with an armbar attempt that was defly transitioned into a triangle. It was a very entertaining fight.
Seth Baczynski defeated Clay Harvison via submission (rear naked choke), 1:12, round 2. Baczynski completely dominated the fight from bell to bell, pretty much. He beat up Harvison standing in the first and clearly took the round. In the second, he dropped him with a shot, landed a few more on the ground, then transitions and took the easy RNC win.
Ken Stone defeated Donny Walker via submission (rear naked choke), 2:47, round 1. Walker never really got into the fight. Stone had him on the ground within a minute, Walker popped up but was taken right back down.Stone worked had his back, sunk in the hooked, and locked up the choke. Walker showed a lot of heart fighting it off, but Stone switched to a palm-to-palm grip and squeezed until Walker went out.
Lance Benoist defeated Matt Riddle via unanimous decision (29-28 x3). A very good back-and-forth fight. Benoist came out with solid standup, but got taken down by Riddle. An excellent sweep saw him on top for a while, but Riddle was threatening with submissions. Benoist had his nose broken by a Riddle knee in the second, but maintained position on top for the majority of the round. It was all Riddle in the third, who got a takedown and reigned down blows, but it was too little, too late. A bloody good fight that deserves its own post.
Evan Dunham defeated Shamar Bailey via unanimous decision (30-27). Dunham completely controlled the entire 15 minutes but couldn't put Bailey away. Bailey landed a couple of nice shots in the first, but Dunham landed a lot more. The second was all Dunham on the feet, though he never had Bailey in trouble. Bailey came out in the third trying to get the knockout, but he couldn't get much going. Dunham landed a ton, but Bailey showed a ton of heart and stayed in the fight. Dunham had a standing guillotine locked up at the end, but ran out of time. All Dunham as expected, but an admirable performance from Shamar.
Vagner Rocha fefeats Cody McKenzie via submission (rear naked choke), 3:49, round 2. Rocha showed off his high-level grappling over the course of the fight, but McKenzie was valiant in suriving some close calls. He even tried to latch on his vaunted guillotine a couple of times, but it was not to be. Rocha ended up getting full mount halfway through round two and slapped on a choke that Cody was forced to tap to.