Less than a week on from the UFC’s massive card at the White House, it was back to the Meta Apex in Las Vegas, where Gaston Bolanos and Michael Aswell Jr. faced off in featherweight action.
Aswell entered off a loss to Luke Riley, carrying a 1-2 record inside the octagon. On the other side, Bolanos was 2-2 and looking to rebound from his own loss to Quang Le.
The American got things started right off the bat, sprinting toward Bolanos and landing a sharp one-two combination to open the fight. Bolanos came prepared in response and was willing to exchange. He caught Aswell from the outside, causing a trip that brought “the Texas Kid” to the mat.
Michael Aswell quickly bounced back, finding his range midway through the first round. Continuing to bring pressure to Bolanos, he fought behind a series of combinations that opened a cut on the face of the Peruvian fighter. Though, it was Bolanos who started gaining momentum at the end of the first round, chasing down Aswell after landing a big shot to the head.
The action continued in the second round as the featherweights exchanged, with Michael Aswell scoring a flush hook to the face of Gaston Bolanos to take an early lead in the striking. Aswell continued delivering high volume following the big strike, but Bolanos responded with the first grappling exchanges of the fight, bringing Aswell to the ground.
While he was able to return to his feet easily, Michael Aswell began fading as Bolanos started to gain an edge by mixing up his targets. Low kicks began piling up for Bolanos, peppering the lead leg of the American. Aswell attempted to get going late in the round, though he wasn’t able to do enough damage to his opponent.
Opening round three, Michael Aswell caught a second wind, hurting Bolanos along the cage with another clean boxing combination. The American began flowing, putting a high volume of strikes on the face of Bolanos before the Peruvian featherweight fired back with some power of his own. With around thirty seconds left in the bout, the Peruvian made a mistake going for a Justin Gaethje-esque rolling thunder, giving Aswell free top control to close out the fight.
Though when it came to the scorecards, Aswell’s late control time wouldn’t matter, as Gaston Bolanos was awarded the unanimous decision victory, moving to 9-5 as a professional. Michael Aswell Jr. drops his second consecutive fight, and is left facing an unfortunate reality.
Official Result: Gaston Bolanos def. Michael Aswell Jr. by unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)
