On Saturday, March 12, World Series of Fighting hosted its 29th event from the Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley, Colo.
Headlining the event was a lightweight title fight between current champion Justin Gaethje and recent tournament winner Brian Foster.
Gaethje, a product of Grudge Training Center and former All-American wrestler at the University of Northern Colorado, was unbeaten through 15 professional bouts. The 27-year-old knockout artist had stopped 12 of those outings by strikes, including back-to-back “Fight of the Year” contenders against Luis Palomino in 2015.
The UFC veteran Foster also spends time training in Colorado at Factory X Muay Thai and MMA. The 31-year-old suffered a submission loss in opening round of the WSOF eight-man tournament in November, but due to injuries to other competitors, he re-entered the bracket. He stopped the aforementioned Palomino in the semifinals, before exacting revenge on the man who defeated him, Joao Zeferino, in the finals. The win earned Foster a guaranteed crack at the unbeaten Gaethje.
The action kicked off with a preliminary card stream live on Combat Press beginning at 8 p.m. ET, before transitioning to the NBC Sports Network at 10 p.m. ET for the four-fight main card.
The much-anticipated lightweight title clash didn’t last long. After some heavy exchanges of punches, the champion Gaethje began attacking the lead leg of Foster with kicks. One directly to the knee stunned Foster, but he tried to continue fighting. A follow-up kick buckled Foster’s leg and the referee was forced to intervene, allowing Gaethje to retain his belt.
Josh Copeland def. Mike Hayes by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
Louis Taylor def. Cory Devela by technical submission (standing guillotine choke). Round 1, 0:29
Kris Hocum def. Josh Cavan by split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)
Ian Heinisch def. Tyler Vogel by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 29-27)
Josh Huber def. Clay Wimer by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
Brandon Royval def. Danny Mainus by knockout (knee). Round 1, 2:48
Justin Gonzales def. Patrick Davis by TKO (strikes). Round 1, 2:19 (a)
Chris Morgan def. Jacob Flesher by TKO (strikes). Round 1, 1:04 (a)
Gerald Scott def. Donovan Alirez by submission (rear-naked choke). Round 2, 2:45 (a)
Dylan Stubblefield def. Joe Guerrero by technical submission (rear-naked choke). Round 1, 2:35 (a)
Steven Peters def. Sean Mahany by submission (guillotine choke). Round 1 (a)
(a) – denotes amateur contest