Ground and Ground
John Salter vs. Andrew Kapel
Middleweight
This fight went as expected, Salter used his superior wrestling ability to simply run this match from bell to bell. Kapel spoke of wanting to keep the fight standing in the pre-fight press conference, and he wasn’t able to do that, at all. Salter racked up points for the entire fight by keeping a top position for the vast majority of the time. Salter eventually got Kapel to submit with an arm triangle. Fantastic discipline and gampe-plan from Salter, but that unfortunately led to a bout that didn’t offer much in the way of excitement.
Rating: 6.5/10
Result: 3rd Round Submission for John Salter (Arm Triangle)
Easy Money
Roy Nelson vs. Valentin Moldavsky
Heavyweight
This was very much an “old lion vs. young lion” fight. Moldavsky was faster, in better shape, more disciplined, and had all the answers. Nelson was looking for that dynamite right hand of his, but was very obviously loading up on Moldavsky. Moldavsky was very much playing the stick and move game, and it worked to perfection. The final totals were Moldavsky landing 90 strikes while Nelson only landed 17. A truly dominant performance.
Rating: 7/10
Result: Unanimous Decision for Moldavsky
Crown Jewel?
Julia Budd vs. Jessy Miele
Women’s Featherweight
Jessy Miele just didn’t seem ready for this one. Budd had several options she could play into, and she used them all. She had her shard of takedowns, and always got the better of any exchanges while standing up. Miele seemed a little overpowered while they were staring each other down. Miele came into this fight with an underdog mentality, and maybe she stuck to it just a little bit too much. Julia Budd continues her very impressive career, and maybe this win will get her closer to a shot with the big girls again.
Rating: 7.5/10
Result: Unanimous Decision for Julia Budd
Vadim The Dream
Light Heavyweight Championship
Ryan Bader vs. Vadim Nemkov
Vadim Nemkov definitely made Fedor proud in this one. The first round was very much a feeling out process with a lot of stand up exchanges. Vadim got the better of most of them, and towards the end of the first Bader scored a takedown, possibly to try and save the round on the scorecard. The 2nd round started as more of the same, but Nemkov caught Bader with a great shot and chased him down. Bader did a great job surviving an absolute onslaught of lefts and rights for about 90 seconds, but it was eventually too much. The ref called a stop to the fight in the 2nd round, and we crowned a new Light Heavyweight Champion. Congrats to Vadim, he didn’t earn it, he took it.
Rating: 8/10
Result: 2nd Round KO by Vadim Nemkov
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