A fun bantamweight scrap between Chris Gutierrez and Cody Durden ended in a draw to kick off UFC Vegas 5.
One of several debuting fighters at the UFC Vegas 5 card, bantamweight Cody Durden opened the event against Chris Gutierrez.
Gutierrez was entering the fight off a memorable TKO via leg kick at the first UFC Vegas card in May. That win had been his third straight inside the octagon, albeit it in a featherweight contest due to the short prep time for the bout. It was back to 135lbs against Durden, however, who was replacing Luke Sanders on a couple of week’s notice.
Gutierrez started off feinting with the leg-kick, but Durden wasn’t fazed. He quickly got the takedown and moved to the back. Durden did a good job of landing some strikes from the back to open up the possibility to get the rear-naked choke. Durden flattened Gutierrez out and started cranking on the neck, but couldn’t get the submission. He proceeded to go right back to landing strikes, but he couldn’t get Gutierrez out of there. Durden ended the dominating round on his back as Gutierrez scrambled to land on top in the final seconds.
Gutierrez opened up with a ruthless leg kick, and then followed up with a couple more hard ones. Durden shot in for another takedown but Gutierrez did a good job of stuffing the takedown. Gutierrez landed a hard body shot that caused Durden to shoot in on another takedown but was once again stuffed. Gutierrez then landed a ruthless groin strike that caused a halt to the fight for a few minutes. Durden recovered and then tried to work up the jab and walk Gutierrez down. However, the lack of power on his strikes was noticeable compared to Gutierrez. Gutierrez was doing a good job of piecing Durden up on the outside, battering his legs once again. Durden got a takedown in the final minute, but Gutierrez locked in an armbar off his back, but Durden survived to see a round three.
Gutierrez opened up the round with a nice head kick, low kick combination. Durden was taking a beating to the legs, but he kept moving forward and walking through the hard kicks. He even landed a brutal kick of his own, however, it was to Gutierrez’s groin and halted the fight for a minute before resuming. Durden shot in for a takedown but it was once again stuffed, Durden had started to slow down badly. Durden followed up with another shot but once again was stuffed. He then shot and was stuffed again on his third straight attempt. Gutierrez landed a great combination to the body, something he had done all night long. Eventually, the fight would go to the ground with Gutierrez on top in Durden’s guard, raining down elbows. Gutierrez stood up and threw a rolling thunder to end the fight.
Chris Gutierrez vs. Cody Durden Ends in Unanimous Draw (28-28 x3)
