Brad Tavares dominated opponent Krzysztof Jotko for the better part of three rounds before dropping him with a punishing right hand in the third at UFC Glendale.
Opening up the televised preliminary card of UFC Glendale (UFC on FOX 29) was a middleweight scrap between Krzysztof Jotko and Brad Tavares. Both fighters were looking to break into the top ten of the middleweight division, but come the end of the night, only one could move forward, while the other would drop back. The question was, who would it be?
It was Jotko who held center off the opening bell, pushing the action and feinting kicks. Tavares answered back, circling on the outside then quickly closing the distance on his taller, longer opponent. Tavares attacked the lead leg of Jotko, but had to be wary of getting caught along the fence as Jotko worked to cut off the cage. As Jotko worked to get his opponent’s timing down, Tavares landed a solid right hand. He mixed up strikes to the head and body; eventually Jotko opted to clinch and fire off a knee.
In the second, Tavares immediately fired off an overhand right. A two-punch combination followed. Jotko feinted, moved, and feinted more, but wasn’t committing to his attacks. He would, however, catch a leg and fire off an uppercut. That did some damage around the eye of Brad Tavares. Tavares answered back with a big body kick that seemed to momentarily stun Krzysztof Jotko. They tied up along the fence, however, which likely gave the Polish fighter some time to recover. With the takedown not there for Tavares, he found himself reversed. Jotko worked in a knee before being reversed himself. Once they split, it was Jotko walking his opponent down, but Tavares continued to be the more effective fighter, landing a knee followed by a right hand.
Round three saw Tavares successfully come over the top with a right hand that caught Jotko by the ear. He ate that, but was soon backing away from Tavares. The Polish fighter remained light on his feet, but simply wasn’t connecting as often or as cleanly as Tavares. Tavares, meanwhile, worked leg kicks into the mix, was finding a home for his right hand, and managed to mix in knees as well. Then, as if the underline the point, Tavares unleashed a right hand that dropped Jotko! Jotko went down hard and covered up while Tavares rained down blow after blow until the ref moved in to make the save!
Brad Tavares def. Krzysztof Jotko by TKO, Round 3, 2:16
