A pair of middleweights looking to return to the win column featured early on Saturday’s UFC Denver card, as Josh Fremd took on Andre Petroski.
Things were perhaps a little more dire for Petroski, having dropped two straight. Fremd for his part had seen a two-fight win streak snapped by Roman Kopylov last time out.
The fight began with Andre moving in and out of distance before he clipped Fremd with a shot that floored him. Fremd quickly returned to his feet but Petroski landed a kick and missed a strike, which he turned into a body lock to get his opponent to the ground. Petroski was able to quickly transition to side control and began looking for ways to isolate the far side elbow or shoulder.
Josh bridged and looked to escape but found no success as Petroski landed minimal damage. Midway thru the round and Petroski continued to hold his opponent in side control. With nearly a minute left in the round, Fremd transitioned to full mount before briefly controlling the head a neck of his opponent. Petroski finished the round on top as Fremd continued to scramble, giving up his back and taking a couple of shots in the process.
To start the second round, Fremd flicked out his jab and Petroski was able to find another high kick. Petroski attempted a desperate shot from distance and crashed into the cage with his opponent. Andre was ultimately able to secure the takedown as he tripped his opponent while holding a leg elevated. Petroski immediately looked for looked for a guillotine on the ground. Josh defended the guillotine but ended up giving up a deep head and arm choke. Fremd was able to defend against the choke for an extended period of time and eventually Petroski let go of the attempt. With nearly a minute left in the round, Petroski was able to pass to full mount. But Fremd was able to wiggle out the back door. Fremd began to look for an armbar from an awkward position but wasn’t able to get anything meaningful before the round ended.
To start the final round, Petroski went to the body twice with a jab and a kick. Fremd came back, closing distance, and throwing a flying knee as his opponent moved against the fence. Josh uncorked a few knees to the body of his opponent against the cage before the two moved back into space. Fremd began to throw his jab, trying to find his range before Andre was able to land yet another takedown.
Petroski quickly moved to side control then to full mount before Josh momentarily gave up his back in an attempt to escape. Fremd rolled back over and began to cage walk, catching his opponent’s head in a figure four for just a second. But Petroski quickly escaped and again returned to side control and landed some nasty short raking elbows to the face of his opponent. Petroski was able to scramble and get to his knees with 30 seconds left, attempting to return to his feet, with the help of the cage. Andre continued to land damage, keeping Josh from returning to his feet as the final horn sounded.
Official Result: Andre Petroski def. Josh Fremd by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
