Opening the Spike TV portion of the card was a bantamweight bout between Johnny Bedford and Louis Gaudinot.
Bedford made it to the semi-finals before being knocked out by John Dodson. The fighter has competed in Bellator and defeated WEC vet Frank Gomez in his last bout before making the show.
Gaudinot was submitted by Dustin Pague in the quarterfinals of the show. The New York-based fighter has amassed a 5-1 record, all under the Ring of Combat banner.
Bedford delivered a kick to start the fight. Gaudinot looked to answer but Bedford secured a takedown and landed in the top position against the cage. Bedford connected with a knee to Gaudinot’s head as he returned to his feet. Beford looked for a trip, but Gaudinot managed to stay standing. Bedford tossed Gaudinot to the ground and effortlessly moved to mount. Bedford rained punches and forced Gaudinot to cover up. Bedford looked to attack an arm and forced Gaudinot to roll to his stomach. Bedford secured both hooks and tried to flatten him out along the fence. Gaudinot escaped and recovered his half guard. Bedford continued to drop punches from the top. Bedford finished the round delivering knees to Gaudinot’s body.
Gaudinot pressed forward to open the second stanza. Bedford moved inside and landed more knees. Bedford scored with a takedown. Gaudinot stood momentarily but Bedford put him on his back yet again. Working from the half guard, Bedford hammered the body of Gaudinot. Gaudinot recovered his full guard, but Bedford used his size to move to mount. Gaudinot again got his guard, but took a number of punches in doing so. Bedford moved to north-south and then to mount. Bedford fired away with punches and elbows. Bedford attacked the right arm of Gaudinot, who survived to the bell.
Bedford scored with kicks in the final frame. Gaudinot still tried to attack, but Bedford just picked him apart with shots to the body. A big knee from Bedford sent Gaudinot to the canvas. Bedford unloaded with knees, kicks, and punches, ultimately forcing Steve Mazzagatti to step in to wave off the fight.
Speaking with Joe Rogan, Bedford was ecstatic with his win. He expressed a desire for another shot at John Dodson, who defeated him on the reality show.
Official Result: Johnny Bedford def. Louis Gaudinot by TKO (knees and punches). Round 3, 1:58
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Rob Tatum is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. You can also find Rob’s work at TheMMACorner.com. For anything related to MMA, you can follow Rob on Twitter @RobTatumMMA.