WSOF 12 took place on Saturday night at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada and Luis Palomino won his second straight fight as he defeated Lewis Gonzalez.
The entire fight would be on the feet as the fighters had a striking battle. Palomino would end up rocking Gonzalez a little after the three minute mark of the round. Gonzalez would look to recover, but Palomino would continue to land strikes and eventually landed a head kick that would cause referee Herb Dean to come in and call the fight.
Palomino (23-9) has now won back to back fights in the WSOF and both of those wins have come by knockout. He now has the second most TKO/KO wins in WSOF lightweight division history and this is his thirteenth career win by TKO/KO.
Markes wins WSOF debut by unanimous decision
The co-main event of the fight card was a light heavyweight bout as Ronny Markes won his debut with the WSOF as he defeated Cully Butterfield by unanimous decision.
Markes was able to close the distance in the opening minute and would get the fight to the mat. While on the ground, Markes looked for a kimura and Butterfield would get back to his feel for a moment. However, Markes got the fight back to the ground and was on the back of Butterfield. He would work for a rear-naked choke and Butterfield would escape the attempt but Markes was still on the back of Butterfield. Markes would end up moving his position for an arm-triangle choke but Butterfield would reverse the position and ended the round by landing multiple punches on the ground.
Just like the first round, Markes would need little time to get the fight to the ground and would be on the back of Butterfield. After an unsuccessful attempt of a rear-naked choke, Markes would lost the position and Butterfield would be in top position. Butterfield struggled to mount offense and Markes would once again end up having Butterfield’s back. As the round was coming to an end, Markes landed a series of fights but Butterfield would make it to the end of the round. After an exchange of leg kick to open the third, Butterfield would take the fight to the ground and landed strikes that opened up a cut on Markes.
Markes would work his way back to his feet and eventually get the fight back to the ground. Just like the previous rounds, he would get the back of Butterfield and looked for a rear-naked choke submission. Butterfield would escape the submission and ended up in top position. The fight would remain on the ground until the final bell and Markes would get the victory by unanimous decision. The victory snaps a two fight losing streak and this is his first victory in 540 days.
Mutapcic hands Tiller his first career defeat
Elvis Mutapcic scored his first victory in the WSOF as he defeated Kelvin Tiller by unanimous decision in a 195 pound catchweight bout.
The fight opened up with Tiller scoring a takedown in the opening thirty seconds and he would keep it on the ground for the next minute. He did look for a submission, but Mutapcic would easily escape and the feet moved back to the feet. The fight would end up being paused following a groin strike by Tiller and Mutapcic would take a couple of minutes to recover.
When the fight was restarted by referee Herb Dean, they got into a clinch fight and Mutapcic would take the fight to the ground. Tiller would reverse the position but he would end up moving the fight back to the feet. Mutapcic would get the fight back to the ground in the final moments of the round and the fight would move into the second round.
In the second round, Mutapcic would take the fight back to the ground after a striking exchange for the first ninety seconds of the round. Tiller attempted to explode to get out of the position, but Mutapcic would keep his position on the ground and remain here until the bell sounded to end the round.
As the third round opened, Tiller had his hands down as he had a striking exchange with Mutapcic. The fight would end up on the mat as Mutapcic scored a takedown. While on his back, Tiller looked for a triangle choke and landed a elbow to open up a cut on Mutapcic. They would continue there ground fight and Mutapcic adjusted his position to half guard to limit the offense of Tiller. The fight would go to the scorecards and Mutapcic won by unanimous decision. The victory for Mutapcic is his first in the WSOF and his first victory in 540 days.
The complete WSOF 12 results are below.
Main Card: (NBCSN)
Luis Palomino def. Lewis Gonzalez via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 4:42
Ronny Markes def. Cully Butterfield via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Elvis Mutapcic def. Kelvin Tiller via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Brandon Hempleman def. Alexis Vila via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Matt Sayles def. Bryson Hansen via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Preliminary Card: (NBCSports.com)
Lucas Montoya def. Jimmy Spicuzza via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 4:11
Danny Davis Jr. def. Jorge Lopez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Adam Acquaviva def. Cody Maltais via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Bryson Gutches def. Soslan Abanokov via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:07