“Multimate Fighter” Brad Katona, winner of two Ultimate Fighter seasons, looked to bounce back from a loss at home against Garrett Armfield when he took on Jesse Butler at UFC Louisville on Saturday.
Katona, who trains with SBG Ireland alongside Conor McGregor and other notable names, won both Season 27 and Season 31 of The Ultimate Fighter, making him the first and only TUF double-champ in UFC history. As for Butler, he was 0-1 in the promotion after stepping up on short notice against veteran Jim Miller.
The fight began with Butler immediately going to work with his kicks and reach advantage. Katona immediately looked for a way inside with punches. Seconds into the round and Katona catches a kick and landed an overhand that placed his opponent on the canvas. Katona moved into Butler’s closed guard and landed some good short strikes to the body. Midway thru the round and to the jeers of the crowd, and Katona is still in a dominant position on the ground. Over the remainder of the round Brad continued to expertly maintain his dominant ground position and land a little damage. And as the round closed out, Butler returned to the feet and took a nice knee from Katona in the process.
The second round started with Jesse landing a hard right hand. Butler threw an ill-advised body kick and Katona caught it and completed a takedown. Katona was again in Butler’s closed guard and landed a hard elbow that split open Jesse. Midway thru the round and Katona had thwarted multiple attempts at a butterfly sweep from his opponent. Brad landed some vicious ground and pound from momentary side control before Butler was able to regain full guard. With under a minute left in the round, Butler tried desperately to return to his feet. The time would expire as Butler unsuccessfully looked for a kimura.
The final round opened with a solid exchange on the feet. Butler seemed to have listened to the advice of his corner in between rounds and threw only punches. Katona landed some nice leg kicks in repose to Butler’s long jabs on the outside. Katona landed two nice overhand rights as the two fighters continued to move around the cage. Midway thru the round, yet another overhand landed for Katona as the fight’s pace began to pick up. Butler began to get comfortable and threw couple of kicks in quick succession before he lost his footing. Katona ended up on top in the middle of the octagon and landed educated brutal ground and pound nearly finishing the fight as the final bell sounded.
Official Result: Brad Katona def. Jesse Butler by Unanimous Decision (30-26, 30-27, 20-27)
