Rafa Garcia vs. Jesse Ronson

Round 1
Lightweights take the stage as we move along the prelims, as Canada’s Ronson (21-10, 1 NC; 0-3, 1 NC UFC) will try to earn his first victory inside the Octagon in his fifth try. He will face “Gifted” Garcia (12-2, 1-2 UFC) out of Mexico in a battle of North American nations. Drawing the charge is referee Mark Smith, who hopes that what happened in the last fight takes place in this one. There is no glove touch, and instead the two fighters start trading in a hurry. Garcia lands with a solid right hand, and Ronson gets off an inside leg kick. As Ronson comes forward, Garcia acts as a matador and actually tosses Ronson down to the canvas. He does not pounce, allowing the Canadian to get back up, and they throw hands again. Garcia lines up his right hand, and Ronson is just able to get out of harm’s way each time. As Ronson advances, Garcia clubs him with this right, and Ronson shakes it off and tries to pay him back. The lightweight go tit-for-tat, with one landing, the other replying, and the first swinging back. Ronson jabs down the middle, and Garcia swings back at him with a more varied approach. A faked ankle pick from Garcia allows him to wing an overhand right, and Ronson rolls through it and comes right back. “The Body Snatcher” connects with a swiping kick to the body, and he tries to throw another only for the leg to get caught. Garcia swings him down to the ground, and Ronson scrambles right back up. When they are tied up, “Gifted” gives him man several gifts in the form of surprisingly powerful foot stomps, which lead to Ronson exploding out of the position. As Ronson recovers, Garcia shoots through his hips and plants him on the ground with a clean double. Ronson once more hops back up to his feet without being grounded for long, and when he stands, Garcia drills him in the face. Ronson does not stop moving forward, and Garcia lays into him and lands flush. Ronson powers straight ahead, landing with a few clean punches, and concluding the round with a low kick on the rear leg of his foe.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Garcia
Ben Duffy scores the round: 10-9 Garcia
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Garcia

Round 2
The fighters march out of their corners, and they are quick to engage. Ronson marks Garcia up with a few punches, and Garcia comes forward to hit a takedown. The Canadian scrambles, and he works his way up to a knee. Before getting up, Garcia nails Ronson with an illegal knee, and Smith recognizes this instantly and lets out a heavy sigh as there is now nonsense in this fight too. Smith calls in the doctor to assess Ronson from the foul, and Ronson is a little wobbly but he informs the doctor that he is ready to continue. Smith properly deducts one point from Garcia for the foul, and he resumes the action. “Gifted” surges forward in pursuit of a takedown, and he drags Ronson right back down to the ground. Ronson scoots his way to the fence, and back up to a knee, but this time Garcia is not interested in landing knees as he wants to take his back instead. Garcia cannot lock up a choke, and as he pursues one, Ronson falls to his back to free up his neck. The Mexican fighter set up an arm-triangle choke from the guard, and he bails on it when he attempts to pass guard. Garcia hops over to half guard, where he starts hammering down with punches. Garcia grinds on top as his punches slow, keeping Ronson tightly pressed down to the ground. Ronson too holds on tight from below, in hopes of a standup or to at least stop Garcia from landing strikes. Garcia slowly works Ronson with several right hands, forcing Ronson to turn over. As Ronson tries to slide out the back door, Garcia grabs hold of his back and gets a hook in. Ronson turns to his knees and tries to buck Garcia off of him, but Garcia postures up and smacks Ronson upside the head.
The punches make Ronson adjust briefly, allowing “Gifted” Garcia the slightest of opportunities to slip his arm beneath the chin and lock up a rear-naked choke. It is all he needs, as he cinches the choke tight, and Ronson taps almost instantly as it is academic and he would be out seconds later.
That is one way to take the judges out of the equation, after Garcia lost a point a few minutes ago.

The Official Result
Rafa Garcia def. Jesse Ronson R2 4:50 via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke)

Jesse Ronson vs. Nicolas Dalby

Round 1
Returning to the welterweight division, we are now treated to a classic Denmark vs. Canada matchup as Dalby (18-3-1, 1 NC; 2-2-1 UFC) tries to keep his momentum going against the returning Ronson (21-10, 0-3 UFC). Serving as the referee is Marc Goddard, and these two 170-pounders do not touch ‘em up before throwing down. Dalby starts out offensively, with a fast blitz of punches that ends with a head kick that Ronson can barely block. Dalby walks him down to unload more punches, and Ronson is mostly on the defensive as he looks like a significantly smaller fighter. Ronson digs to the body with a kick to disrupt Dalby’s offense, and he slings another but gets blocked. Dalby fires one back, and bullies Ronson to the fence and lands a few clinch strikes including a cracking elbow. Dalby grabs hold of a leg to try to take the fight down, and Ronson manages to keep his balance and circles out. Dalby follows him with a few body kicks, a head kick just barely misses the mark. Ronson tries to come back with his own side kick, but “Lokomotivo” marches through it and lands a few punches. Ronson fires a kick and it gets checked, and Dalby races in to attack.
When Dalby crashes forward, Ronson clips Dalby with a short right, and a straight left sets the fighter from Denmark down like a ton of bricks. Ronson leaps on top with a torrential assault of elbows while claiming mount position, forcing Dalby to turn and give up his back. “The Body Snatcher” snatches up the neck in an instant, sinking in a rear-naked choke that is tight as can be. Dalby only needs a second or two before surrendering, as there is no way out from there.
He taps out, and Ronson has now finally won his first fight inside the Octagon after four attempts.

The Official Result
Jesse Ronson def. Nicolas Dalby R1 2:48 via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke)