The main card of tonight's (Sat., April 19, 2014) UFC on Fox 11: "Werdum vs. Browne" event from the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, kicked off with a middleweight match-up pitting hard hitting wrestler Yoel Romero against former Ultimate Fighter contestant Brad Tavares, who came in riding a five-fight win streak.
Tavares came out firing while Romero bounced back and forth. They were patient but it felt like a flurry could come at any moment. Sure enough, Yoel landed hard and clean, mauling his foe and overwhelming with blistering speed.
Then, because he can, the wrestler wrestled, picking Tavares up and dumping him down. Not once, but twice.
Late in the round, Romero showed some versatility by turning a single leg takedown opponent from his foe into a kimura that, while unsuccessful, proved he could threaten with a wide array of offense. By the time the opening frame ended, Romero had recorded four takedowns.
He kicked off the second with his fifth, and immediately moved to side control. Tavares battled back and found moderate success as the bout wore on, but his best chance was Romero getting tired.
It didn't happen.
What did happen was Romero controlling the action, slipping punches and scoring a couple late takedowns in the third to seal the deal. Tavares, quite simply, was physically out-matched here.
Final scores: 30-27 across the board, all in favor of Romero.
For complete UFC on Fox 11 results and blow-by-blow coverage of all the night's action click here.