A bantamweight tilt between Mitch Gagnon and Matthew Lopez kicked off tonight’s UFC 206 prelims on FS1.
Round one begins and Gagnon comes forward and lands a low kick. He ducks his head and charges forward with punches. Lopez throws a kick but Mitch catches it and presses him against the cage. The fighters break and then reengage in the clinch. Lopez scores a trip takedown but Mitch immediately pops back up to his feet. Matthew connects with a straight left. Mitch fires back with a jab and then a low kick. Lopez presses forward and lands a kick. Mitch connects with a huge left that drops Lopez. Mitch jumps on top and begins raining down some ground and pound. Lopez gives up his back and Gagnon tries to sink in a rear-naked choke. Lopez defends the submission and then scrambles and winds up on top position. Gagnon is able to scramble free and then lands another good left hand. Lopez throws a kick. Mitch catches it and takes him down. Round one comes to an end.
Round two begins and Mitch comes out with forward pressure. Lopez with a low kick. The fighters clinch and Matthew lands a beautiful trip. He winds up in full mount. Mitch quickly scrambles back to full guard. Lopez with some big shots. Mitch gives up his back. Lopez drops down some bombs. Mitch scrambles but Lopez stays on him. He looks to secure a rear-naked choke but Mitch is able to defend the submission. Lopez moves to full mount now. Mitch is able to scramble and get back to full guard. Round two comes to an end.
Round three begins and Gagnon throws a kick that hits Lopez right in the groin. The referee immediately steps in to stop the action. Lopez is given some time to recover. We restart and Lopez lands a nice counter left. He presses forward and pushes Mitch against the fence. Lopez scores a quick takedown and jumps on the back of Gagnon. He looks to secure a choke but Mitch defends. Mitch scrambles but is unable to shake Lopez. He bucks again and this time gets back to his feet. The stand-up is short lived as Lopez immediately scores another takedown. He quickly moves to the back of Gagnon. He works some short shots from the top. Gangon scrambles and is able to get back to his feet just as the horn sounds to end round three.