Two of the brightest and most talented Bantamweights in the world threw down on Long Island, as Thomas Almeida — who was looking for back-to-back wins — and Jimmie Rivera — who was in search of consecutive win number 20 -- went at it for an intense 15 minutes of action.
Almeida came out testing his leg kicks, peppering Rivera from the jump, though they didn’t do much to thwart Rivera’s attack, who dropped the Brazilian with a clean straight left that momentary stunned him. Once back on the feet, it was clear Jimmie had the most power between the two in their strikes, dropping Thomas once again, this time with a right hand.
In round two, though, the tides started to turn a bit, as Almeida dropped Jimmie with a right hand, though, Rivera was quick to get back up to his feet. Still, a bloodied up Thomas continued to pile on the pressure and managed to win the round.
In round three, Jimmie quickly went in for and earned a takedown, perhaps knowing that they were all even at 1-1. Once back on the feet, it was all Jimmie, who clocked Almeida with some heavy shots. Feeling he was down, Almeida picked up the intensity and started to throw caution to the wind. But, Jimmie landed another takedown which looked good in the eyes of the judges. In the end, Rivera did enough to earn a unanimous-decision win.
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