On Friday, June 24, Victory Fighting Championship hosted its 51st event from the Buccaneer Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.
In the night’s main event, UFC and Bellator MMA veteran Robert Emerson took on Shawn West for the promotion’s vacant 135-pound title. Emerson had not competed since late 2014. The veteran saw a five-fight winning streak come to halt, falling to Rafael Silva via decision at Bellator 127. The 26-year-old West entered the match-up having not tasted defeat in his last eight outings. Nine of his 12 career wins had come via strikes.
Also on the card, the promotion crowned a new middleweight champion as UFC veteran Mike Rhodes met Rakim Cleveland.
VFC 51 kicked off at 10 p.m. ET live on UFC Fight Pass.
Above are video highlights of the main card (courtesy of Victory FC).
Mike Rhodes def. Rakim Cleveland by submission (guillotine choke). Round 2, 2:42 – for vacant middleweight title
Rick Glenn def. Ramiro Hernandez by split decision (29-28, 27-30, 30-27)
Cameron Olson def. Julius Anglickas by submission (arm-triangle choke). Round 3, 3:42
Mike Plazola def. Anthony Baccam by knockout (punch). Round 1, 3:30
Chance Cretsinger def. Luke Rodriguez by unanimous decision (a)
Spencer Wray def. Grant Sherman by TKO (strikes). Round 1 (a)
Cody Dickerson def. Nate Smith by submission (D’arce choke). Round 2, 2:20 (a)
Mason Roberts def. David McKinney by submission (armbar). Round 1 (a)
Kai Brunk def. Kevin Burke by submission (arm-triangle choke). Round 1, 2:12 (a)
Jon Paulson def. Dillion Cox by submission (arm-triangle choke). Round 2 (a)
(a) – denotes amateur contest