NEW ORLEANS – This is the UFC Fight Night 25 live blog for Jonathan Brookins vs. Erik Koch, a featherweight bout on tonight’s UFC on Spike telecast from the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.
Brookins (12-3, 1-0 UFC) has not fought since winning Season 12 of “The Ultimate Fighter” with a unanimous decision win over Michael Johnson last December. Brookins was scheduled to return against Jeremy Stephens in June, but had to pull out of the fight with an injury.
Koch (12-1, 1-0) has won three straight, all in the first round. His last two fights have been Knockout of the Night winners – one with a head kick in his final WEC fight against Francisco Rivera last November and one against Rafael Assuncao in his UFC debut in March.
Round 1: Cautious start for both fighters, and after 30 seconds Brookins moves in looking for a single-leg and has Koch against the fence. They spend a full minute there, with not much activity. They’re trading knees here and there, though. Brookins really wants this takedown. He appears strong enough to keep Koch on the fence, but not strong enough to get it down. The crowd grows slightly restless halfway through the round. Then Koch finally gets out and hits a nice left. Then a left outside leg kick. Brookins misses and uppercut. Koch dodges out of a couple jabs, almost Anderson Silva-sytle, then lands another left. Brookins again wants the takedown, but Koch defends along the cage. Koch reverses, then Brookins reverse. Brookins lands a big throw takedown, but it’s after the horn. Not a lot of action, but Koch seemed to get the better of things and we’ll give him a 10-9 first round.
Round 2:
Snapping outside left leg kick from Koch. Then he goes back to it. Brookins shoots for a single, Koch defends again and lands a right as they scurry to the fence. Decent elbow from Brookins just before the break, but back in the middle Koch lands a nice right kick to the head that gets Brookins’ attention. Brookins continues to work to get the fight to the ground, and Koch continues to defend it mostly well. A little scramble sees the fight go to the ground briefly, but it’s right back up and into teh clinch along the cage. After a minute, they break and go back to the middle. Another nice leg kick from Koch. Then he tags Brookins with a short combo before Brookins again works for a takedown. This time, he finally makes it work and Koch works out of guard. As he pops up, Brookins lands a nice right. But Koch still gets back to his feet. It’s a round very similar to the first – not a ton happening, but enough from Koch that we’ll give it to him 10-9 again.
Round 3:
Koch peppers Brookins with jabs to open the round. He eats a knee, but gets back to the middle and looks to stay standing. Brookins shoots for another single, but Koch avoids it. Good head movement from Koch in his standup game. Brookins again shoots for a single, but it’s not there and it’s more clinch work on the fence. After the separate around the 2 minute mark, Koch lands a nice kick, then continues to work his jab. A Superman punch from Brookins doesn’t find a home. But they clinch up and Brookins lands his best takedown of the fight. They pop up immediately, though, then clinch again. A nice exchange at the 30-second mark gives the fans some hope, but there’s not much to it. Little tougher to score this round, but we’ll give it to Koch 10-9 and the fight to him 30-27.
Result: Erik Koch def. Jonathan Brookins, unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
NEW ORLEANS – This is the UFC Fight Night 25 live blog for Jonathan Brookins vs. Erik Koch, a featherweight bout on tonight’s UFC on Spike telecast from the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.
Brookins (12-3, 1-0 UFC) has not fought since winning Season 12 of “The Ultimate Fighter” with a unanimous decision win over Michael Johnson last December. Brookins was scheduled to return against Jeremy Stephens in June, but had to pull out of the fight with an injury.
Koch (12-1, 1-0) has won three straight, all in the first round. His last two fights have been Knockout of the Night winners – one with a head kick in his final WEC fight against Francisco Rivera last November and one against Rafael Assuncao in his UFC debut in March.
Round 1: Cautious start for both fighters, and after 30 seconds Brookins moves in looking for a single-leg and has Koch against the fence. They spend a full minute there, with not much activity. They’re trading knees here and there, though. Brookins really wants this takedown. He appears strong enough to keep Koch on the fence, but not strong enough to get it down. The crowd grows slightly restless halfway through the round. Then Koch finally gets out and hits a nice left. Then a left outside leg kick. Brookins misses and uppercut. Koch dodges out of a couple jabs, almost Anderson Silva-sytle, then lands another left. Brookins again wants the takedown, but Koch defends along the cage. Koch reverses, then Brookins reverse. Brookins lands a big throw takedown, but it’s after the horn. Not a lot of action, but Koch seemed to get the better of things and we’ll give him a 10-9 first round.
Round 2:
Snapping outside left leg kick from Koch. Then he goes back to it. Brookins shoots for a single, Koch defends again and lands a right as they scurry to the fence. Decent elbow from Brookins just before the break, but back in the middle Koch lands a nice right kick to the head that gets Brookins’ attention. Brookins continues to work to get the fight to the ground, and Koch continues to defend it mostly well. A little scramble sees the fight go to the ground briefly, but it’s right back up and into teh clinch along the cage. After a minute, they break and go back to the middle. Another nice leg kick from Koch. Then he tags Brookins with a short combo before Brookins again works for a takedown. This time, he finally makes it work and Koch works out of guard. As he pops up, Brookins lands a nice right. But Koch still gets back to his feet. It’s a round very similar to the first – not a ton happening, but enough from Koch that we’ll give it to him 10-9 again.
Round 3:
Koch peppers Brookins with jabs to open the round. He eats a knee, but gets back to the middle and looks to stay standing. Brookins shoots for another single, but Koch avoids it. Good head movement from Koch in his standup game. Brookins again shoots for a single, but it’s not there and it’s more clinch work on the fence. After the separate around the 2 minute mark, Koch lands a nice kick, then continues to work his jab. A Superman punch from Brookins doesn’t find a home. But they clinch up and Brookins lands his best takedown of the fight. They pop up immediately, though, then clinch again. A nice exchange at the 30-second mark gives the fans some hope, but there’s not much to it. Little tougher to score this round, but we’ll give it to Koch 10-9 and the fight to him 30-27.
Result: Erik Koch def. Jonathan Brookins, unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
NEW ORLEANS – This is the UFC Fight Night 25 live blog for Jonathan Brookins vs. Erik Koch, a featherweight bout on tonight’s UFC on Spike telecast from the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.