Closing out the Facebook preliminary fights was a very close middleweight battle between Dongi Yang and Brad Tavares.
The two middleweights traded punches for the majority of the bout, but multiple fouls committed by both fighters caused the fight to undergo several stoppages by referee Dan Miragliotta and both fighters were slowed down by the illegal blows.
Tavares walked away with the decision win, despite an eye injury that nearly stopped the fight, but both men looked solid throughout the bout.
What we’ll remember about this fight:
Both fighters did well in all areas, but the illegal blows ended up becoming the focal point of the fight.
Both men were hit with an eye poke early on in the bout and Tavares especially seemed flustered as he tried to overcome his hindered vision.
Despite the injury, Tavares was able to hang in there and survive an ugly second round and he used his superior grappling to earn him the edge in the decisive third.
What we learned about Brad Tavares
This was a very close fight, but Brad Tavares showed he had a bit of a mental edge over his opponent in the third round.
Tavares had the presence of mind to shoot for a takedown almost immediately to start the final round and it paid off as he dragged Yang to the mat and controlled posistion for a few moments.
What we learned about Dongi Yang
From a technical standpoint, Yang looked fine in this fight, but it was his suspect cardio that ended up costing him the bout.
Commentator Kenny Florian mentioned that Yang had a tough weight cut going into the fight and it obviously effected him, as Yang was breathing hard for the majority of the third round.
What’s next for Tavares
After a good win over a game opponent, I’d like to see Tavares take a small step up in competition for his next fight.
A bout against the winner of the UFC 146 bout between Jason Miller and CB Dollaway makes a lot of sense.
What’s next for Yang
Despite the loss, I don’t think Yang needs to move too far down the middleweight ladder.
Let him get his cardio in check and then fight Tom Lawlor, who won a fight against Jason MacDonald on tonight’s main card.
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