This review features the other fights on the main card. To check out my views on the main and co-main events, go here. For the preliminary fights, go here.
Clean and simple, that's what this fight was. Both fighters played it smart at the sound of the bell and circled carefully, gauging each other's distance and timing until they were completely comfortable. The only difference was that Koch became more comfortable a lot quicker as he landed a sweet head kick early in the round. He immediately jumps on Rivera to deliver some ground and pound and referee Steve Mazzagatti stops the fight at 3:24.
 |
Erik Koch delivers a sweet head kick against Francisco Rivera |
JOSEPH BENAVIDEZ VS. WAGNNEY FABIANO
Benavidez comes out full of energy and very active with his striking, but Fabiano seemed to have taken a dose of sleeping pills prior to the match. While he did throw a few strikes here and there, Fabiano mostly circled Benavidez, and ran away when strikes came his way. He clearly did not want to fight this night. Since Benavidez was so active, I was constantly hoping he would land a clean one to finish the fight already, but Fabiano managed to run away enough to survive the first round.
 |
Third time's a charm! |
Fabiano slips early in the second round and baits Benavidez to follow him. Benavidez eagerly jumps after him, and I thought for sure that Fabiano would turn around and show us some of that BJJ Magic he's very wel known for. But, nope, still nothing. Benavidez gets in a few good shots and sinks in a Guillotine.
You've still got to give it to Fabiano, though. Benavidez sunk that Guillotine incredibly tight twice in a row, and Fabiano managed to escape cleanly both times. Third time's a charm, though, and Fabiano eventually taps to yet another Guillotine attempt. Benavidez proves that if he's anything, he is definitely consistent. And that wins him the fight.
DAMACIO PAGE VS. DEMETRIOUS JOHNSON
 |
Demetrious Johnson drops Damacio Page with a kick to the head |
This fight was mostly a wrestling match, but fortunately, neither fighter resorted to any lay and pray strategies and kept active all the time, so it managed to avoid becoming a snooze-fest.
The first round was all about Page's wrestling. The fight quickly goes to the ground, and Page manages to maintain top position most of the time. Johnson stays active, though, constantly trying to get up and defending well, and thus, doesn't really take a lot of damage.
Johnson drops Page early in the second round with an inside leg kick to the groin, and Page uses the opportunity to rest for a few minutes. When the fighters engage again, it's now Johnson's turn to shine. He takes Page down and controls him there for the rest of the round.
The third round starts and Johnson drops Page early with a head kick. The kick was actually aimed for the body, but since Page's head was ducked low in reaction to Johnson's flurry of punches, it got the worst of it. Johnson takes advantage of the situation and lays on some vicious ground and pound, but Page manages to defend well and survive. Johnson eventually manages to sink in a Guillotine Choke, though, and finish the fight.
