UFC on ESPN 10 Results, Recap and Odds
UFC on ESPN 10 brought rousing action from Apex Center as an unheralded card overachieved.
Women's bantamweight campaigners Jessica Eye (+120) and Cynthia Calvilo (-140) fought a hellacious contender's match. Interestingly, the top-rated 125 lb. female fighter entered at slight underdog odds.
Working behind feints, Eye landed the crisper boxing through a technical opening round. Calvilo (9-1-1) did enough to prove her standing wares, but lost the first frame and reached her stool cut along the nose.
Undeterred, after eating more Eye (15-8-8) combos, Calvilo took matters to the ground before taking Eye's back and sinking in the hooks before claiming the second set.
Round three gave contested standup, with Eye holding a slight edge. Realizing this, Calvilo landed another takedown with just over one minute remaining.
Calvilo landed her takedown earlier in round four and landed extra significant strikes before Eye escaped the back door and again found a boxing stance.
Final frame action saw Calvilo land harder shots and emphatically plant Eye to secure an impressive debut headline performance. The highlight win might earn Calvilo an eliminator vs. Katlyn Chookigan who called out the fiesty wrestler via Twitter post match. Meanwhile, Jessica Eye dropped her first non-title match at 125 pounds.
Mariya Agapova (-350) vs. Hannah Cifers (+285)
Mariya Agapova began main card action by using her physical tools to overwhelm Hannah Cifers by rear-naked choke at 2:47 of round one. The loss marked another submission loss for Cifers after her May 30 knee bar tap vs. Mackenzie Dern. At 10-6, Cifers has dropped three straight. Agapova (9-1) has won three consecutive and finished seven of her nine paid opponents.
Jordan Espinosa (-170) vs. Mark De La Rosa
Using length, Espinosa landed the cleaner first round strikes. De La Rosa realized his best attempt was to start a ground war. However, after nearly one minute of eating elbows while pressing Espinosa against the fence, no takedown came and the round ended.
The Brazilian continued clear striking dominance through the middle frame. Outclassing his opponent from every angle, Espinosa appeared confident to begin the final five minutes.
Curiously, final round activities began with Espinosa landing a takedown but electing to enter De La Rosa's (11-5) wheelhouse instead of bringing the fight back up. After landing ground and pound Espinosa (15-7) stood, circled and gained a much needed unanimous decision win.
To cap a lopsided meeting, Espinosa out landed De La Rosa 192-48 and dominated the brief mat exchanges. Saturday likely marked "The Bumblebee's" final Octagon appearance after four straight losses.
Andre Fili (-230) vs. Charles Jourdain (+190)
After taking shots to gain data on his opponent, Fili began landing distance kicks before a clean Jourdain (10-3) overhand brought the UFC veteran briefly to the mat. The two circled more actively after standing before Fili landed a power takedown and hammer fists to close round one.
The second frame began with dueling kicks before Fili found effective boxing range after eating a spinning back fist. In another tight round, Fili (21-7) sealed a late takedown while lobbying for points.
Fili dominated the closing minutes with wrestling as he showed added dimension in a razor-thin standup match.
When the judges rendered their decision, Fili earned his third win in four fights out striking Jourdain 79-66 and landing five unanswered takedowns. Meanwhile, the rugged Canadian marked himself as a viable 135 lb. operator at the UFC level.
Charles Rosa (+160) vs. Kevin Aguilar (-180)
Aguilar began by showing class and landing convincing right hands against the outstretched chin of Charles Rosa. Round one ended as the Texan added superior boxing.
Round two became an effective Aguilar clinic in timing. Each time Rosa thought about throwing, Aguilar smothered his intent with hard combos. The second set resembled the first as Rosa walked back corner side bloodied.
The last stanza had Rosa landing first with an urgent feel. At the same time, Aguilar appeared worn down. More big Rosa shots landed as the fight ended. That last hurrah proved decisive as "Boston Strong" Charles Rosa (13-4) stole victory, and redeemed his recent loss vs. "Thug Nasty" Bryce Mitchell. In defeat, Kevin Aguilar (17-4) out landed Rosa 64-56, but couldn't hold serve while taking his third consecutive loss.
Marvin Vettori (-240) vs. Karl Roberson (+200)
The week's grudge match concluded as middleweights Marvin Vettori and Karl Roberson finally shared Octagon space. Roberson came in at 190.5 pounds and and was heavily fined for his troubles.
Though, the extra weight didn't matter as Vettori mauled Roberson (9-3) before ending matters with a rear-naked choke at 4:17 of the first round.
That win over a quality opponent places the 185 division on notice as "The Italian Dream" owns three straight wins and looks like a force for higher ranked names. It will be interesting to see where Vettori (16-3-1) next lands after finding stride.
