Gaston Bolanos and Cortavious Romios faced off in bantamweight action at UFC Vegas 100 on Saturday, a fight that found itself bumped up to the main card after a couple of other match-ups fell through.
A former Bellator talent, Bolanos was looking for his second UFC win, while Romious was making his promotional debut following his win on the latest season of Dana White’s Contender Series.
Round one started with both fighters firing heavy kicks at each other, using the openings from the open stance matchup (Bolanos orthodox, Romious southpaw). A big explosion from Romious resulted in a slam that took the fight to the ground. However, he chased the armbar too quickly. Bolaños was able to defend the rushed submission attempt and ended up on top before disengaging and standing up. The next couple minutes were spent on the feet with Bolanos doing the better work and being the busier fighter. Bolanos appeared hurt at the end of the round, though it was revealed to be more of a stumble than a true knockdown. 10-9 Bolaños after one.
Big slams from Romious again to start the second round and while Bolanos came close to a reversal, Romious ultimately got a back take. Romious kept trying to lock in a rear-naked choke, but the Peruvian fighter managed to defend and work his way out of this bad position. He then managed to thoroughly outs-trike Romious for the remainder of the round. Romious won the first half of the round through control time, though there is very little doubt that Bolanos dished out more damage throughout the entirety of the round. Bolanos took the round 10-9 once again.
Romious was still looking to grapple in round three. They ended up in a strange position after Romious appeared to attack with a calf-slicer attempt. Bolanos ended up on the bottom, but a triangle choke attempt allowed him to reverse positions. Trying to hop around the back, Romious inadvertently put himself on the bottom after Bolanos denied the attempt. With both fighters breathing heavy in the latter half of the third round, strikes have less heat behind then and takedown attempts come easier. Romious successfully gets a takedown in the last minute, but Bolanos, assuming he is up on the scorecards, opts to close his guard, limit risk and wait for time to expire.
Official result: Gaston Bolanos def. Cortavious Romious by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
