A catchweight bout at UFC Vegas 19 saw Jared Gordon up against Danny Chavez, it what served as the featured preliminary bout of the evening.
Gordon missed the featherweight limit by four pounds on Friday, necessitating the 150lb catchweight. Chavez would be that much richer as a result, but whether the weight flub would impact the fight was another matter.
Chavez came out with a body kick to start things off Saturday, and Gordon fired back with a kick of his own. Gordon backed Chavez up into the cage before he dove in with a right hand that found the mark and Chavez scrambled away. Gordon continued to press the action and looked to land the left in his next attack, but Chavez found the mark with a stiff left of his own that backed Gordon up. Another quick exchange followed, and the two traded kicks. However, Chavez landed low and caused a short pause in the action to allow Gordon to recover. The first low blow of the night, in the final prelim bout.
As the action resumed, Chavez opened with a high kick that Gordon slid out of range from. Gordon answered back with a pair of stiff leg kicks. Gordon backed Chavez up, but Chavez exploded forward with a combination. Things to that point were going back and forth. That only lasted for a moment and Gordon pressed forward again with more leg kicks, and his first take down attempt of the fight. Chavez defended, but ate a knee in the process. As the round came a close both men exchanged with both sides finding their targets.
In round two, Chavez got off first with a leg kick— then shot in for the take down from a fair distance out. He worked to complete the shot, but Gordon popped back to his feet quickly and went back to pressing the action. Gordon kept working the leg kick, and the damage was showing. Chavez threw a lazy left hand that Gordon ducked under and locked in the take down, taking Chavez to the mat. On the ground Gordon worked from top to improve position but Chavez defended well, even while eating some heavy shots from Gordon. Chavez exploded and tried to get back to his feet but Gordon stuck with him and dragged him back to the mat. If nothing else, it appeared Gordon was no worse for the wear from his weight cut. Gordon was back on top in short order and again went back to landing heavy strikes before he moved to half guard and started to land elbows. It looked like Gordon was ready to keep him Chavez all night, but thankfully for Chavez the horn sounded to end the round.
Chavez opened the third with a spinning high kick, followed by a second then finally a leg kick, with only the leg kick hitting its target. Chavez pressed now, but Gordon landed a hard punch that looked to have hurt Chavez. Chavez continued to press forward but kept eating punches before Gordon shot the take down. A near-escape by Chavez was foiled as Gordon stuck with it and again took him to the mat. Gordon was now working from the guard of Chavez. Chavez was able to get back to his feet but Gordon pressed him into the cage and continued to grapple and force the clinch. At this point, Gordon was running away with the fight. Chavez was able to spin free and looked to land a flying knee moments before the round and the fight came to an end. But when the scorecards came, there were no surprises.
Official Result: Jared Gordon def. Danny Chavez by Unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
