Live, blow-by-blow updates for today’s UFC event in Philadelphia, which features a lightweight striking dream matchup in the headliner.
Join us today on Bloody Elbow for live results, discussion, round scoring, and play-by-play as UFC on ESPN 2: Barboza vs. Gaethje from Philly.
The headliner comes in the lightweight division, where striking specialists Edson Barboza and Justin Gaethje will square off. The co-main is at middleweight, where David Branch and Jack Hermansson will settle their differences.
We’re still adjusting to the new schedule the promotion is using for ESPN broadcasts. This is a big ESPN show, but it’s starting even earlier than usual. The three-fight early preliminary card starts at 3:30pm ET/12:30pm PT, then things move to ESPN for four more fights at 5pm ET. The six-fight main card will kick off at 7pm ET and will air on ESPN.
Check out this week’s MMA Vivisection for predictions, analysis and betting odds on the each matchup.
Ross Pearson vs. Desmond Green
Round 1 – Pearson with a leg kick. Green with his own. Green drops Pearson with a shot, but Pearson gets up immediately. Pearson beating up the front leg with kicks. Knee up the middle again for Green. Green with a takedown and he’s landing huge shots against the cage! Pearson isn’t covering up and he’s in trouble! It’s over!
Desmond Green defeated Ross Pearson via TKO (strikes), 2:52 of round 1
Enrique Barzola vs. Kevin Aguilar
Round 1 – Barzola with an outside leg kick. Aguilar looking to jab. Low shot from Aguilar. Cornuts cam confirms. Quick restart. Aguilar with sneaky counters. Nice shovel hook to the chest from Aguilar. Barzola with a left hook. Aguilar with a right over the top. Nice leg kick from Barzola. They clinch briefly. Barzola misses with a knee. He lands a couple of jabs though. 10-9 Aguilar.
Round 2 – Barzola shoots, but Aguilar stands tall. Barzola scoops Aguilar up for a takedown, but when he threw him to the floor, Aguilar landed on his feet. That was weird. Straight left from Aguilar. Aguilar stuffs another takedown and rips Barzola to the body. Barzola lands his own body shot. A left and a body kick from Aguilar. Aguilar attempts a single leg but gets nowhere. Aguilar with a right over the top. Barzola shoots again but is thwarted. 10-9 Aguilar.
Round 3 – Right over the top from Barzola. Aguilar with a counter left. Barzola puts a combination together but still can’t get a takedown. Body kick from Aguilar. Head kick from Barzola. Another body kick from Aguilar. Barzola scores with a right. Barzola with a left hook and a leg kick. He’s pressuring, but it might be too late. He tries for a takedown again, but Aguilar’s defense is stout. Aguilar with a left and a body kick. Big 1-2 from Barzola. Huge knee from Barzola just before the horn! 10-9 Barzola, but 29-28 Aguilar.
Kevin Aguilar defeated Enrique Barzola via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Kevin Holland vs. Gerald Meerschaert
Round 1 – Holland immediately gets a takedown. He rolls to his back with a guillotine, but can’t get it. Meerschaert is working from side. Holland just dumps him off and they get up. Holland gets another takedown. Meerscheart secures a choke and rolls Holland over. Meerschaert is in mount with a guillotine. Holland is surviving. He somehow gets out and scrambles to his feet! Meerschaert jumps on his back, but gets sluffed off quickly. There’s a lot going on here, I can barely keep up. Meerschaert jumps on his back and sinks a standing choke! Bulldog choke! Holland defended by somehow sinking his own choke! This is ridiculous. They both give it up and Holland is in mount, landing elbows. He’s just slapping him and Meerschaert gives up his back. Elbows from Holland. I’ve never said this in 11 years of doing play-by-play, but I have absolutely no idea how to score that. 10-10.
Round 2 – Holland jumps in with a kick but Meerschaert catches his leg and gets a takedown. Meerschaert is up and holding Holland against the fence. Meerschaert tries to drag Holland down but ends up on his back. He’s tired. And I get that, because the first round was completely non-stop. Meerschaert is still on top, looking for an arm triangle. Holland is laughing. Seriously. Meerschaert decides to back and and jump back in – but he jumps right into a triangle. Meerschaert pulls out and they return to the feet, albeit briefly. Meerschaert spins him back down and attacks an arm. He’s on his back with Holland in turtle position. Meerschaert deftly rolls him over and looks for a sub, but somehow Holland flipped him over and he’s in mount now. This is like a video game. Elbows from Holland. 10-9 Meerschaert.
Round 3 – Leg kick from Holland. Another chops Meerschaert down, but he’s right back up. Holland is wrestling now. Somehow Meerschaert locks up a guillotine and it looks dangerous. Holland straight stands up, in a guillotine, and dumps him off. That was boss! Now he’s on Meerschaert’s back, clubbing him with hammerfists. Now Meerschaert slips out and he’s on top with some exhausted strikes. They get to their feet and Holland slaps Meerschaert like a Diaz brother. Meerschaert is on Holland’s back standing, but eats an elbow. Meerschaert is holding him against the fence, and Holland is slapping him again. Meerschaert with a takedown. Back up, and they stall in the clinch. Meerschaert lands a couple of body shots. That was super fun! 10-9 and 30-28 Meerschaert, but my PBP doesn’t do that justice. That was ridiculous, in a great way.
Kevin Holland defeated Gerald Meerschaert via split decision (29-27, 28-29, 30-27)
Ray Borg vs. Casey Kenney
Round 1 – Kenney aggressive early. He lands some kicks. Borg wades in and gets the clinch. Kenney reserves and hits a nice trip takedown. Kenney attacks an arm and get to Borg’s back. Borg pushes off the cage and gets back to his feet. That was nice. Borg does some work and gets his own takedown, but Kenney scrambles away immediately. Borg attacks a kimura in close but Kenney spins behind him and gets Borg to the floor again. Borg looks for the kimura again but Kenney defly uses the cage to get out of danger and take top position. Fun round. 10-9 Kenney.
Round 2 – Borg gets to the wrestling right away. Kenney stays on his feet, but Borg is relentless. He finally gets a body lock and puts Kenney on his back, but once again he’s up right away. This time Borg spins to his back and looks for the choke. He’s up high though, and Kenney shake shake shakes him off. Knee to the belly from Kenney. They stall out against the cage. They separate and Borg lands a nice combination. Back to the takedown for Borg. He elevates and slams Borg. Another good round. 10-9 Borg.
Round 3 – Kenney comes out firing and trips Borg up with an inside kick. Borg pushes him against the fence, scoops him up like a sack of garbage, and slams him to the mat after a few seconds. Kenney scoots and gets up immediately, and they battle on the fence. Borg gets on him with the grappling, and takes the back briefly. Kenney gets away and he’s bringing the pressure. They’re brawling to the horn! Great fight! 10-9 and 29-28 Borg.
Casey Kenney defeated Ray Borg via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Round 1 – Moroz closes the distance right away. She gets a takedown and works in Mazo’s full guard. After a long time where basically nothing happened, Mazo used butterflies to puh Moroz away and she got up. Moroz lands a nice counter right. Moroz punches her way into the clinch again. All Moroz. 10-9 Moroz.
Round 2 – Moroz lands and clinches. Mazo got back to distance quickly though this time. Moroz clinches again. She gets a body lock and drags Mazo down, but she’s up right away. Mazo squirmed away and got back to range. Moroz with a left and a combo, but Mazo counters. Body kick from Mazo. Moroz lands too. Moroz with a jab and she follows it up with a nice combo. Moroz clinches again. 10-9 Moroz.
Round 3 – Moroz is putting together nice combinations. Mazo is landing decent counters though, and landing nice body kicks. She scores with a knee. Moroz walks it off. Mazo lands another knee, so Moroz clinches. Mazo reverses position and gets separation. Inside leg kick from Moroz. Body kick from Mazo. Moroz with an uppercut. More body kicks from Mazo. Head kick from Mazo now and that stunned Moroz a bit. Good finish. 10-9 and 30-27 Moroz.
Maryna Moroz defeated Sabina Mazo via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Alex Perez vs. Mark De La Rosa
Round 1 – Perez with an inside leg kick. He lands a nice left. He scores with a combo but De La Rosa fires back with a counter. They trade. Perez ends a combo with a right hook. He comes in and scoops a single. Nothing there so he’s battling in the clinch. A bunch of body shots. He changes directions with the takedown attempt and gets De La Rosa to the floor. De La Rosa looks for a kimura but eats some punches for his efforts. De La Rosa is trying to strike from the bottom. Big elbows from Perez. Big shots. 10-9 Perez.
Round 2 – Outside leg kick and a right hook from Perez. More leg kicks and he chained some takedowns together to get De La Rosa to his knees. Perez is hitting him with punches and looking to flatten him out. And he does. De La Rosa is trying to tie up his hands but not really doing anything to get up. Perez is doing enough to stay on top but not a lot is happening. 10-9 Perez.
Round 3 – Tepid start to the third. Neither man is doing much. De La Rosa is jabbing and throwing out leg kicks. Hardly what you need when you’re down two rounds. They clash heads. Perez with the outside leg kicks. Perez waits till there’s 90 seconds to go to look for a takedown. De La Rosa just pulls guard in response. Perez lands a few shots from the top. De La Rosa is trying to attack an arm but there’s nothing there. 10-9 and 30-27 Perez.
Alex Perez defeated Mark De La Rosa via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Main Card (ESPN, 7 PM ET)
Justin Gaethje vs. Edson Barboza
David Branch vs. Jack Hermansson
Josh Emmett vs. Michael Johnson
Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Michelle Waterson
Paul Craig vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu
Sheymon Moraes vs. Sodiq Yasuff
Preliminary Card (ESPN, 5 PM ET)
Jessica Aguilar vs. Marina Rodriguez