World Series of Fighting (WSOF) returned to action on Sat. night (Nov. 15, 2014) from Tampa, Florida at the USF Sun Dome. The main card featured three title fights, with Yushin Okami taking on WSOF middleweight champion David Branch in the main event.
In the headliner, Branch defeated Okami by technical knockout (TKO) in the fourth round in a fight that was evenly contested up until that point.
There was a bit of a feeling-out process in the first round until the two middleweights ended up battling for position in the clinch. Okami secured an inside trip from a body lock to get the fight to the canvas with a little under two minutes remaining in the round. Okamai was unable to mount any offense inside the guard of the Renzo Gracie black belt and Branch was able to get back to his feet right before the round ended.
The champion got things going in the second by picking a single leg and pushing Okami back into the fence. Okami circled out and the two squared off once again in the middle of the Decagon. Branch avoided a takedown attempt and landed a couple of nice jabs. Both fighters ended up in the clinch for a few seconds and Branch landed a good combo, but failed to take Okami down against the cage. Okami pulled Branch into his plumb and missed a knee, allowing him to circle out right before the round ended.
In the third round Branch mixed up some jabs and low kicks to start things off and Okami was able to get the fight in the clinch once again, but could not capitalize. Branch would land more on all the exchanges throughout the round and started to find a nice rhythm with his punches while breaking free from the rest of Okami's clinch attempts.
Branch landed a big punch in the fourth that dropped Okami and he finished up on the ground until referee Andrew Glenn called a halt to the action at the 3:39 mark. With the win, Branch improves to 15-3 overall and has now won five straight in WSOF. Okami falls to 30-10 overall.
In the co-main event, WSOF lightweight champion Justin Gaethje defeated Melvin Guillard by split decision in a highly-entertaining three-round battle. The fight was a non-title affair due to Guillard missing weight by almost four pounds.
The champion and Guillard put forth the fight that most expected, exchanging bomb after bomb for all three rounds. Gaethje would receive a 30-27 score by one of the judges, which left many puzzled, but no one disputed he was the rightful winner. Gaethje improves to 13-0 overall and Guillard drops to 32-14-2 (2).
In the women's strawweight title fight, Jessica Aguilar defeated Kalindra Faria by unanimous decision, but the Brazilian proved to be a worthy challenger. In the end, Aguilar landed the more significant strikes and got the better of the key grappling exchanges to earn four out of the five rounds on all three judges score cards. The win over Faria was Aguilar's second title defense and she is now 19-4. WIth the loss, Faria is now 15-4.
In the opening fight of the main card, Jorge Patino defeated Eric Reynolds by unanimous decision in an entertaining and bloody lightweight scrap.
For complete WSOF 15 results and live play-by-play click here.