The first three fights are in the books for UFC on Fox 18: Johnson vs. Bader. The card featured the debut of Randy Brown, who was featured on Dana White’s Lookin’ for a Fight. The Fight Pass prelims also featured a late submission win in an entertaining back and forth fight. Here’s how it went down.
Randy Brown def. Matt Dwyer by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
Round one started with both fighters, who are really tall for the weigh tclass, trying to find their range. Dwyer landed the first big punch of the fight midway through the round, a big winging right hand over the top. Dwyer kept the pressure on Brown for the majority of the round. In Round 2, Brown started finding his rhythm, landing several combinations on Dwyer and pressuring the fight. While defending a takedown, Brown reversed Dwyer and threw him with a hip toss. Dwyer landed a takedown of his own but was hit with several big elbows. In Round 3, Brown threw a flurry of punches that had Dwyer tumbling backwards. The rest of the round saw both fighters trading punches and grappling while exhausted.
Damon Jackson vs. Levan Makashvili ended in Majority Draw (29-27, 28-28, 28-28)
This fight was a clinch fest with little offense, a point deduction and peculiar judging. In Round 1, Jackson opened up early with his aggressive striking. This didn’t last as the rest of the round saw Jackson shoot for takedown after takedown against Makashvili with no success. Makashvili didn’t land a lot in the round, but did land a punch that opened up a cut on Jackson’s face. In Round 2, more of the same occurred. Both fighters were aggressive on the feet for a little bit, but then clinched and spent the majority of the round against the cage. In Round 3, Makashvili landed the first successful takedown of the fight, but a guillotine attempt resulted in a scramble, with both fighters getting back to their feet. Makashvili landed a second takedown, this one against the cage, but landed an illegal knee to the head. When the fight continued, an illegal eye poke to Jackson resulted in a point deduction for Makashvili. The fight ended with really no clear winner, and oddly enough was scored a draw.
Tony Martin def. Felipe Olivieri by Submission (rear-naked choke), 3:02 of Round 3
This fight turned from a classic striker vs. grappler fight into a nice back and forth contest. In Round 1, Olivieri was able to chop Martin’s legs down early in the fight. Martin wanted none of that, picking Olivieri up and throwing him down repeatedly. In Round 2, Olivieri continued to numb the leg of Martin with vicious and repeated kicks. Martin began to land the right hand midway through the round, snapping Olivieri’s head back multiple times. Within the final minute of the round, Martin landed a combination of punches that wobbled Olivieri, who survived the round. In Round 3, Tony Martin got a takedown midway through the round, and while scrambling against the cage caught Olivieri with a rear naked choke. The referee stepped in after Olivieri was already passed out.