UFC APEX – One of the more intriguing bouts at UFC Vegas 97 set Road To UFC lightweight winner Rongzhu against Chris Padilla on Saturday night.
Rongzhu (25-5) won Road To UFC off an impressive RNC victory in February. Just a few months later he arrived in Las Vegas to fight Padilla at the APEX.
Padilla (14-6) came into the fight off his own submission victory over James Llontop last April. The two prospects looked to prove themselves on Saturday night.
Round 1: Rongzhu came out with a heavy kick attack going for calves and then up high. Mixing it up real well and keeping Padilla guessing the kicks were followed by hands. Padilla began to try and force strikes and get his back off the fence. Rongzhu was on his game early countering Padilla’s attacks rather easily.
Rongzhu did a lot of analysis as Padilla decided to be first in the exchanges. The pressure he put on Padilla forced a lot of attacks. Padilla took control as he began to go after the legs and landed some heavy shots up top. Definitely a close round for the judges.
Round 2: Padilla came out firing looking to be the one to put the pressure on, but Rongzhu was not backing down at all. Both men threw heavy shots accepting that they’d have to accept damage to land it. Rongzhu was not happy eating leg kicks to the lead leg and Padilla noticed it. His corner let him know about a big red mark on the calf.
A massive right elbow damaged Rongzhu’s left eye. Rongzhu thought it was an eye poke and Padilla rushed him with a flurry of strikes. Rongzhu had to clinch and put him on the fence before the ref called timeout and asked for the doctor.
The doctor said that was too much damage and called the fight. Padilla scores the TKO victory. In the post-fight interview Padilla credited the elbow to watching Superlek defeat Jonathan Haggerty at ONE 168 on Friday night.
Chris Padilla def. Rongzhu via R2 TKO, 4:14
