Rafa Garcia found himself in a hard-fought slug-fest with Jared Gordon tonight at Noche UFC 3, and was able to outlast his opponent to win by TKO in the final round.
Round One
Leg kick from Garcia to start. Left hand for Gordon. Short flurry inside and Garcia connected there.
Gordon loads up on a power punch but misses. Left hand for Gordon. Straight right for Garcia. Exchange of punches in close. Solid leg kick for Garcia.
Short right from Garcia seemed to get Gordon’s attention. Garcia tries for a low kick but Gordon sees it coming and disrupts his balance with a counter.
Right hand for Gordon. He tries for a kick, but Garcia knocks him to the mat with a counter.
Gordon back up. Garcia threatens with an overhand right. Right hand for Garcia. Now Gordon sticking Garcia with a good right. Body punch for Gordon.
Leg kick for Gordon. Garcia with a nicely timed takedown. Gordon over to the cage and stands up. Garcia breaks away from the clinch while landing an elbow. A final punch apiece lands before the horn.
Round Two
Garcia with a left hand to start the round. Low kick for him. Hard punches being exchanged here as both men throw caution to the wind.
Garcia working for a takedown. He’s trying for a choke here. Gordon manages to survive that and then gradually works back to his feet.
Back to striking range. Nice body-head combo from Gordon. Phone-booth fighting here as they both try to slug it out. Gordon starts to land some heavy blows that back up Garcia, but he soon gets back into the fray.
Three punches from Jordon and then comes close with an uppercut. Hook connects for him now.
Right hook and an uppercut from Gordon. Good elbow from Garcia inside that immediately opens a cut on Gordon’s forehead.
Right hand for Garcia. Front kick to the body from Jordan. Garcia tries the same. Left hook for Gordon. A few short lefts and rights from Gordon. Elbow again from Garcia. Nice takedown from Garcia in the final second of the round.
Round Three
Inside leg kick from Garcia. Jabs for him. Gordon thinks about a takedown, but they end up in the clinch. Elbow from Garcia. Now another elbow lands well for him as they break free.
Nice left hook for Garcia. Now a right hand that puts Gordon on his heels. Gordon with short punches and Garcia rips to the body.
Jab for Gordon. Step-in left hand for Gordon. Right hook from Gordon. Garcia with a straight right. Another rip to the body from Garcia.
Garcia with a big right hand sits Gordon down. Garcia trying for a rear-naked choke, but nothing doing, so he changes things up and starts dropping down elbows on his already bloodied opponent. And that’s it, the ref has seen enough – Garcia wins via TKO at 2.27mins of the third round.
