BILLY EVANGELISTA VS. K.J. NOONS
Round 1: Noons opens up the action with a couple of nice leg kicks, then weaves out of the way when Evangelista tries to punch him. Noons with a takedown! Wow, haven’t seen that much. It was a nice one, too, but Evangelista gets back up immediately. I think Evangelista borrowed his trunks from Joe Duarte. Seriously. Evangelista with a big slam, but Noons gets back up immediately as well. Clinch against the cage and a big knee from Evangelista. Evangelista looking for a trip takedown but it’s not there this time around. Noons wants that big right uppercut and you can see him preparing to throw it. They trade leg kicks. Big knee from Noons lands flush, but Evangelista is fine. Left hook from Evangelista stumbles Noons but he recovers quickly. Noons is getting sloppy with his work now, which he tends to do. Noons misses a huge uppercut but lands a right directly after. Evangelista finishes the round with a flurry but it’s not enough to outpoint Noons, who landed the bigger shots. Heavy.com scores the round 10-9 for K.J. Noons.
Round 2: Noons opens with more leg kicks of the inside variety, then goes to the body with hooks before Evangelista scores a leg kick of his own. Noons fakes a leg kick, lands a sweet back spinning kick, then follows with a spinning back fist before landing a right hook. Nice combo. Head kick from Noons. He’s loosening up. Noons is using a front kick to keep Evangelista away from him. Noons lands several straight rights, but Evangelista smiles and shakes his head, telling him they don’t hurt at all.Evangelista lands a fun right of his own. These two are pretty much trading in the pocket at this point. Noons still can’t get the takedown. Evangelista is still shaking his head at Noons, telling him he’s not being hurt, but here’s the thing: HE IS STILL LANDING STRIKES ON YOU. Stop smiling and dropping your head and maybe block some punches. This strategy is baffling to me. The round ends with Noons clinching Evangelista against the cage. Heavy.com scores the round 10-9 for Noons.
Round 3: Evangelista looks much fresher at this point. They’re swinging for the fences. It’s a lot like the last round except with harder punches. Noons still wants that uppercut. Noons lands a nice head kick, then a spinning back fist. Evangelista shoots but doesn’t get the takedown. Noons is landing from a distance now. This is a great fight. Evangelista is really pressing the action and Noons is trying to get away. Noons tries another takedown but can’t get it, and Evangelista locks on a Darce choke, Noons scrambles to get away and just barely does, but he’s exhausted. The crowd roars. They’re all standing up, in fact. Noons swings for the fences. They high five each other and then begin trading punches. It’s almost like they have an agreement to just trade punches. Evangelista lands an open slap. Well, that fight was awesome. Heavy.com scores the round 10-9 for K.J. Noons.
WINNER: K.J. NOONS BY UNANIMOUS DECISION (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
GEGARD MOUSASI VS. OVINCE ST. PREUX
Round 1: St. Preux has giant legs. Mousasi lands some leg kicks early on. He’s stalking St. Preux, which we’re not really used to seeing. St. Preux’s corner is telling him to use a certain combo and he’s not doing it. Headh kick misses from Mousasi. St. Preux gets a body kick caught and Mousasi takes him to the ground immediately, into half guard. Big punches landing from the top for Mousasi. He stands up and drops bombs. St. Preux wants an armbar, but Mousasi tosses it aside and goes into side control. St. Preux gets up, but Mousasi wrestles him back down. Yeah, Mousasi wrestled OSP. Little surprised there, to be honest. Mousasi back in half guard and he’s looking for the kimura. He nearly gets it, but OSP escapes and ends up on top in half guard. This is awesome. Mousasi sweeps him and gets on top, then lands shots from the top. He goes into Salaverry, landing punches until the round ends. That was a fun round. Heavy.com scores the round 10-9 for Gegard Mousasi.
Round 2: Mousasi takes OSP down again. Quite the stunning development here, although we were told Mousasi had been drilling nothing but wrestling since his last fight. Mousasi is in half guard again and landing short, but probably effective, elbows. The crowd isn’t liking this a lot, but it’s effective tactical work from Mousasi. The ref stands them up. Mousasi with a leg kick. Flying knee from OSP caught by Mousasi, who goes for a takedown, but OSP grabs a leg and takes Mousasi down instead. OSP is in side control, using elbows. A fan wants the ref to stand them up, but I mean, OSP’s in side control. Mousasi gets up anyway and then misses a big head kick, but so does OSP. Mousasi sprawls an OSP takedown attempt and the round ends. Heavy.com scores the round 10-9 for Gegard Mousasi.
Round 3: Mousasi grabs the flying knee again, then gets another takedown. OSP back to his feet, but then he grabs the cage to prevent a slam. OSP gets the quick takedown into side control. He’s just not doing much with the position. OSP quickly moves into mount, then starts raining down elbows, but all of them are blocked. Mousasi shrugs him off, gets to a seated position and back to his feet, where he gets a takedown. He immediately jumps on his back, but OSP gets to his feet and gets a takedown of his own. Mousasi escapes and gets OSP to the ground. Takedown city, here we come. Mousasi briefly wanted a rear-naked here but misses his chance and falls into guard instead. OSP moves away, Mousasi goes for another rear-naked and OSP escapes out the back door, then stands up. St. Preux looks for a Darce, but there’s only 10 seconds left. He doesn’t get it. Mousasi should win this one 29-28. Heavy.com scores the round for Ovince St. Preux.
WINNER: GEGARD MOUSASI BY UNANIMOUS DECISION (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
A feeling of doom has descended here on the arena, which means it must be time for Cyborg to fight another lady. This could get ugly and I’ll be surprised if it lasts longer than three minutes.
CRISTIANE “CYBORG” SANTOS VS. HIROKO YAMANAKA
Round 1: Yeah, that was ugly. Cyborg comes out firing and drops Yamanaka immediately. She somehow makes it back to her feet before Cyborg absolutely murders her against the cage, dropping her again. Thank God the ref stepped in here, because this got ugly fast. Other female fighters are going to think twice about stepping in there with Cyborg. This was brutal.
WINNER: CRIS CYBORG VIA KO, round 1 (0:16)
GILBERT MELENDEZ VS. JORGE MASVIDAL
Round 1: Feeling out process starts us off in the first, with both guys trying to find range. Melendez connects first with a straight right. Nasty leg kick from Masvidal. Melendez connects several times in response. Masvidal finds a home for a jab of his own. Masvidal drops his hands and mocks Melendez. Not sure what that’s about, but Melendez tags him anway. Nice crawling uppercut from Melendez. Melendez is constantly landing the right straight down the pipe. Masvidal takes Melendez’s legs out from under him with a leg kick, but Gil scrambles back to his feet. Masvidal landing the jab pretty well, still. Melendez catches a knee, drops Masvidal down and looks for a guillotine. He doesn’t get it, but he lands several big knees. Masvidal lands a couple of shots, but not enough to do damage. Masvidal is bleeding under his left eye. Heavy.com scores the round 10-9 for Gilbert Melendez.
Round 2: Melendez has a nasty welt on his left leg from leg kicks. Body combo finished with a right to the head for Melendez. Another combo. Melendez appears to be much too fast for him. Nice leg kick from Masvidal is answered with a straight right. Masvidal is back away much more in this round than he did in the first, but he still appears highly confident. Melendez blocks a head kick and lands a straight right. Melendez stalking Masvidal now. Masvidal with a nice jab of his own. Melendez gaining confidence as he eats a few of Masvida’s punches. Melendez punches Masvidal in mid-air, dropping him, but lets him back up. I’m not sure if the crowd is chanting Nino or Tebow but neither would surprise me because Tim Tebow is awesome. Heavy.com scores the round 10-9 for Melendez.
Round 3: Melendez opens up with two quick jabs and a straight right. Masvidal circles away. Melendez finally shoots for a takedown but doesn’t get it.They exchange a bunch of punches. Melendez still finding a home for that right but it doesn’t appear to be doing too much damage. Neither guy seems worried about the others punching power. Gilbert’s right eye is starting to close, however, indicating that Masvidal is going the most damage. Melendez’s mouthpiece comes out so they stop briefly to put it back in. Masvidal is targeting the right eye now. Masvidal’s jab is really closing up that eye now and he’s starting to land it more and more. Melendez still finding a home for the right hand but Masvidal is really landing that lead jab, and Gil’s eye is busted up.Melendez lands four punches, then two more. These guys are slugging it out. Melendez lands one final big shot as the round comes to a close, sealing a fairly close frame for him. Heavy.com scores the round 10-9 for Gilbert Melendez.
Round 4: Melendez comes out firing again, landing consecutive shots. He’s using that Nick/Nate Diaz right hand winging punch a lot and it’s working. Uppercut from Melendez. He’s starting to land more and more, and he’s protecting his eye now as well. Straight right down the pipe from Melendez. He lands another. Masvidal has a solid chin. Melendez just blew his nose which means that eye is going to swell up badly. Straight right from Masvidal. Leg kick from Melendez. Masvidal uses a front kick to the leg which is supposed to be illegal in California now, and Melendez complains. I think we’re destined to get five rounds here. Melendez firing away now. He’s going for the kill. Well, I thought so, but he backs off. Heavy.com scores the round 10-9 for Melendez.
Round 5: Melendez out connecting on shots early, but Masvidal lands his first real meaningful combination of the entire fight. Melendez fires back, however. Masvidal is just a tough dude. Melendez has landed a ton of punshes but there’s barely a mark on Masvidal’s face. Big body shot from Masvidal. Front kick to the face misses from Masvidal and Gilbert counters with a straight right. Melendez lands roughly 7 punches but Masvidal just keeps walking forward. He’s talking to Gilbert, trying to sucker him into doing something dumb, but Melendez just smiles. Masvidal keeps talking. Melendez breathing heavily now but he’s not moving like he’s tired at all. Left hook from Melendez. Masvidal misses a flying knee and Gil lands yet another straight right. I’d love to know how many of those he landed tonight, CompuStrike. One minute remaining. Right hand from Melendez. Masvidal is a zombie. They’re trading punches now, ending this fight on an exciting note. Both guys throwing like crazy. Masvidal shoots, gets Melendez down but Melendez stands up and clinches. Masvidal reverses as the fight ends. Heavy.com scores the round 10-19 for Gilbert Melendez.
WINNER: GILBERT MELENDEZ via unanimous decision