Danny Chavez looked phenomenal in his UFC debut, securing the win over T.J. Brown via unanimous decision.
Half a pound cost T.J. Brown thousands of dollars at UFC 252. That, after Brown came in just a tad heavy for his featherweight contest with Danny Chavez. Brown did not weigh in again, despite being given an hour to do so, and the bout moved forward at a catchweight. With Brown coughing up 20% of his purse to his opponent.
Assuming he was making at least ten grand for the fight, if not more, that’s a pretty hefty chunk of change. But a nice bonus for Chavez, making his debut in the fight.
And what a debut it was. T.J. Brown opened up by leading forward and looking to land some low kicks, meanwhile Chavez’s first strike of the bout was a spinning head kick that just missed Brown. Early on it appeared that Chavez had the speed advantage, but Brown still was the one leading the dance. Brown shot in for a takedown that was stuffed, and Chavez briefly dropped Brown with a low kick. Brown recovered but ended up eating another low kick that put him down briefly once again and forced him to start switching stances. Brown landed a solid counter right hand as the final minute of the round neared, which was his hardest strike of the bout to that point. However, Chavez ate it well. Brown was stuffed on the takedown immediately afterward, and Brown blocked a hard head kick to send them to round two.
Chavez went right back to the leg kicks to start the second, and Brown answered with a hard kick of his own. Chavez answered with a head kick followed by two low kicks that completely took Brown’s legs out from under him. Chavez landed a nice combination but didn’t push for the finish, and Brown recovered a little bit, enough to land a knee in close and go for a takedown. That takedown was stuffed but Brown started to land some really slick combinations, that was until Chavez landed a devastating right straight that put Brown down hard. Chavez followed up with some ground and pound, but somehow Brown survived. Brown made his way back to his feet and survived to see a round three.
Brown tried to walk Chavez down to start round three but quickly ended up on the backfoot after being stuffed on a takedown attempt. Chavez landed some hard shots to the body, and then followed up with another hard calf kick to the already depleted legs of Brown. Brown got Chavez to the fence and landed some hard combinations that got Chavez’s attention. Chavez got off the fence and Brown followed up with a hard 1-2 which landed clean, but once again Chavez ate the shots well before stuffing another takedown attempt. Brown landed hard shots in the clinch that forced Chavez to shoot for a takedown that he completed, and he landed the fight on top after throwing Brown around in the final seconds.
Two MASSIVE takedowns in the final ten! 👏
The prelims have delivered tonight from the UFC APEX. #UFC252 pic.twitter.com/HJoyUxRewh
— UFC (@ufc) August 16, 2020
A strong debut performance for Danny Chavez, who spent 14 years on the regional scene en route to his UFC debut on Saturday.
Official Result: Danny Chavez def. T.J. Brown via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
