SANTA YNEZ, CALIFORNIA – World ranked junior middleweight contender Callum Walsh, bloodied and swollen from an accidental headbutt, scored a five-round technical decision over veteran Elias Espadas in the main event of the UFC Fight Pass-broadcasted card at the Chumash Casino Resort on Saturday night.
Walsh (14-0, 11 KOs) of Ventura, California by way of Cork, Munster, Ireland flashed his speed and power against the smaller Espadas (23-7-1, 16 KOs) of Merida, Yucatán, Mexico from the early moments of the bout. Walsh’s punches moved Espadas when he connected cleanly. The fight took an unfortunate turn in round two, when Espadas, 153.8, caught Walsh, 154, coming in with his head and opened a bad cut over the Irishman’s right eye. The blood followed immediately and understandably slowed Walsh’s output the rest of the round.
Walsh, the WBC #6/IBF #6 ranked contender, would be looked over by the ringside physician at the start of each round the rest of the way. The bleeding was never stemmed, but the fight continued into the third and Walsh’s edge in class carried the bout.
After a fourth round in which maybe Walsh was protecting his eye a bit, while still outboxing Espadas, referee Rudy Barragan ended the bout on the advice of the ringside physician. All three judges scored the bout for Walsh, 50-46, with the one second fifth-round being scored even.
“First of all I want to apologize to everyone that came out to see us fight,” Walsh told the crowd after the decision. “I am disappointed to win a fight like this. It’s unfortunate, but it was impacting my vision and ability to see.”
Pearl Gonzalez brought up fellow Southern California junior middleweight Fernando Vargas Jr., who has been mentioned as a potential opponent for Walsh, who successfully defended his regional WBC Continental Americas title on Saturday night.
“Fernando Vargas,” Walsh responded, “if you want this belt, come and get it kid.”
In the co-feature, Umar Dzambekov (12-0, 8 KOs) of Los Angeles, California by way of Grozny, Chechnya, Russia banked some much needed rounds and boxed his way to an eight-round unanimous decision over former world title challenger Roamer Alexis Angulo (28-4, 23 KOs) of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic by way of Patia, Cauca, Colombia.
Dzambekov, 176, boxed well in rounds one and two, but Angulo, 174.6, found a home for some of his power shots in round three and seemed to have the southpaw out of his comfort zone at times. Both fighters had their moments in round five, as Dzambekov did well to box and move, while Angulo, who had trouble slipping at various moments, landed some clean power punches.
Angulo packed up his offense a bit in round seven, which left an opening for Dzambekov to sit down on his power punches in the closing moments of the round. Dzambekov, who stopped his last two opponents inside of two rounds, proved he could maintain his output over the duration of an eight-rounder and still had plenty in the tank down the stretch of the fight.
All three judges scored the bout for Dzambekov. Judge Chris Leben had it a shutout, 80-72. Judge Lou Moret gave Angulo one round for a card of 79-73, while judge Mike Bell had it the closest at 77-75.
Junior welterweight prospect Cain Sandoval (16-0, 14 KOs) of Sacramento, California stopped short-notice replacement Yonathan Eniz (36-23-1, 17 KOs) of Dolores, Buenos Aires, Argentina inside of two rounds.
Sandoval, 142.6, walked the smaller Eniz, 142.6, down from the early moments of the fight and did not appear to be too worried about what the Argentinian had to offer in return. Early in the second, Sandoval upped his pressure even more and forced Eniz into a neutral corner, dropping him with a flurry just as referee Rudy Barrgan began to leap in and stop the action at 2:31 of round two.
Rising featherweight Roxy Verduzco (5-0, 1 KO) of Los Angeles went the distance in her first scheduled eight-rounder, scoring a unanimous decision over veteran Celene Roman (6-5-1) of Chino, California by way of Zacatecas, Zacatecas, Mexico.
Verduzco, 125.8, outworked Roman, 124.4, over the first half of the fight while utilizing her movement to great effect, while Roman struggled to cut off the ring or match the southpaw’s output. In the latter third of the fight, Verduzco was more apt to fight at close range and sit on her punches in the center of the ring. Roman found a string of success in round eight and landed with some power punches in the final moments of the bout.
In the end, all three judges scored the bout 79-73 for Verduzco.
In a very competitive fight, Daniel Barrera (9-1-1, 4 KOs) of Eastvale, California scored a wide eight-round unanimous decision over a determined Basilio Franco (10-4, 8 KOs) of Norwalk, California by way of Yahualica De Gonzalez Gallo, Jalisco, Mexico.
Franco, 113.6, outworked Barrera, 115, and controlled ring position for much of the first half of the bout. Barrera began to sit down on his body punches a little more in the fifth round and pressed the action as Franco’s output dipped. Barrera broke through with some power shots in round six, but Franco was still the busier fighter for much of the round. Barrera followed his success with power punches in the seventh, his best round of the fight. Franco was having a good round right, before Barrera unloaded a combination of power punches to close out the fight.
Despite the competitive nature of the bout, the three official scorers gave Franco almost no credit, as judge Jack Reiss scored it a shutout, 80-72, while judges Chris Leben and Lou Moret had it only one round closer at 79-73.
In an upset, Vernon Brown (14-2-1, 10 KOs) of Chicago, Illinois scored a come-from-behind seventh-round stoppage of highly-touted Gor Yeritsyan (20-2, 16 KOs) of Los Angeles by way of Yerevan, Armenia.
Yeritsyan, 146.4, was in control for the majority of the bout, landing in combination, while Brown, 146.2, threw mostly one at a time, looking to land with his left. In a precursor to what was to come, the southpaw Brown landed clean with a winging left that caught Yeritsyan’s attention in the second round. For the next four rounds, Brown looked to repeat that success.
The fight was fought on the inside for much of the contest. Yeritsyan was able to land in combination, especially upstairs, and took control of the fight in the middle rounds. Yeritsyan had such a strong round six that referee David Solivan had the ringside physician take a look at Brown to begin round seven. The Chicago native seemed to take exception to the suggestion that he was in any sort of trouble and began the round aggressively, before landing a leaping left hook that dropped Yeritsyan hard early in the round. Yeritsyan managed to rise to his feet and attempted to weather the storm, but eventually Brown landed an unanswered flurry in the blue corner that prompted Solivan to leap in and wave off the bout at 2:46 of the seventh. The knockout victory ended a layoff of over three years for Brown.
In the opener, MMA veteran Jenelyn Olsim (0-0-1) of Ventura by way of Baguio City, Benguet, Philippines was held to a four-round majority draw by Jessica Radtke Maltez (1-2-2) of Waconia, Minnesota. Olsim, 125, was the harder puncher, but Radtke Maltez, 124, stood up to them and had her moments in round four. Neither fighter really pressed on the gas and let their hands go for any prolonged stretch. Judge Lou Moret scored the bout 39-37 for Olsim, but was overruled by judges Mike Bell and Jack Reiss, who both scored it even, 38-38.
