Gregory Rodrigues turned up the heat early in the third round with thunderous punches to seal a TKO victory over Brad Tavares tonight at UFC Fight Night 236.
Round One:
Jab for Tavares. Good straight right for Rodrigues. Short flurry from him but not quite getting through the guard.
Rodrigues continuing to pressure, but Tavares tags him with a counter punch and that stops the Brazilian in his tracks for a moment.
Solid jab lands for Rodrigues. Body kick for Tavares. Leg kick for him. Missed jab for Rodrigues and Tavares fires back with a couple of punches in return.
Rodrigues with a heavy punch and continues applying pressure. Rodrigues Attempts a takedown, but Tavares stays up. Rodrigues landing hammerfists to the thigh.
They break apart. Rodrigues pressuring again, backing Tavares up to the cage as he fires off his fast powerful jab.
Tavares staying calm though. He lands a leg kick. Rodrigues working on a single-leg. Rodrigues goes back to striking and lands a couple of heavy blows. Now a hip throw from Rodrigues. Tavares on a knee and stands against the cage, but Rodrigues tries to snaps him down with a potential guillotine threat. Tavares puts a hand down. He picks his hand back up and Rodrigues lands a knee so Tavares puts his hand down again. Knee to the body from Rodrigues as the round comes to a close.
Round Two:
Tavares with a jab and leg kick, but a heavier punch comes in response from Rodrigues. Elbow strike from Tavares. Now a head kick attempt from him. Solid leg kick for Rodrigues. Now Rodrigues in on a takedown, getting the body lock as Tavares tries to keep upright against the cage. Rodrigues around to the back, but Tavares turns into him.
Tavares pushes away from the cage and then shoves Rodrigues away. Front kick to the body from Rodrigues. Now another calf kick. jab for Tavares. Nice one-two for him. Now a body kick. Back to the jab. jab for Rodrigues.
Nice right and for Rodrigues. Tavares with a piston-like jab. Solid calf kick for Rodrigues. Jab for Tavares. Leg kick for Rodrigues. Another calf kick for him. He tries for a single-leg but it doesn’t pay off.
Power punch from Tavares misses. Body kick for Rodrigues. Now one to the head that’s blocked and a low kick to follow.
Good punch for Tavares. his calf is a real mess at this stage in the fight, very swollen. Tavares with a low kick, but Rodrigues nicely times a takedown off of it and lands it in the center of the Octagon.
Rodrigues in-half guard and happy to control on top as we head towards the end of the round.
Round Three:
Nice jab for Tavares. Now a right hand. Push kick from Tavares. Rodrigues now firing back throwing big hooks. He’s piling on the pressure with huge punches and Tavares might be wilting but manages to move off the cage and circle away.
Rodrigues pursuing him immediately though and throws out more thumping punches that leave Tavares covering up against the cage under sustained fire until the ref rushes in to end the fight. Big TKO win for ‘Robocop’ Rodrigues 55 seconds into the final round!
