Nick Rodriguez made his promotional debut at UFC BJJ 6 on Thursday night. After a slow start and a near-buzzer beater, the BJJ standout could not get the job done and came up short with a draw against Elder Cruz.
A rematch from Who’s Number One in 2022, Rodriguez looked for revenge against Cruz. Instead, he found himself unable to deal with the wrestling of his opponent for much of the match.
Cruz scored with a takedown early, but Nicky Rod’s aggression caused Cruz to give up position. Through the first round and into the second, Cruz’s takedown defense proved too much for Rodriguez. Cruz found himself finding good positions against Rodriguez, but Rodriguez proved to be too scramble on the ground.
At the end of the second round, it was Elder Cruz who found himself up on the cards and beating Rodriguez though his better wrestling.
Down on the cards, Rodriguez came out on fire in the third round. After a failed takedown from Cruz, Rodriguez finally found a takedown of his own against the edge of the bowl and on top. Rodriguez passed to side control then north-south after some settling down from both competitors. As time expired, the two fell into a leg entanglement, and Rodriguez cranked down on a heel hook. Elder Cruz did not tap as the clock ticked away and was saved by the bell.
At the end of the day, the judges could not decide on a winner, and the bout was declared a majority draw.
In the co-main event, the women’s bantamweight title was on the line as Ffion Davies took on Cassia Moura. Moura started off red hot with three takedowns in the first round. Davies managed to reverse Moura and end the first on top. Davies took over the second round as she controlled nearly the entire round on top. But the third saw Moura controlling Davies, the favorite of the match. Moura won the inaugural women’s bantamweight UFC BJJ title with the win on the night.
The main event featured Mason Fowler defending his light heavyweight title against Pedro Machado. Fowler controlled the first round by putting Machado on his back against the bowl, negating any guard pulls from the Brazilian. It was more of the same in round two as Fowler dominated the top position and nearly locked in a kimura to close the show. The bout slowed down in the third round with plenty of tying up on the feet with a few moments of explosiveness. At the end of the day, Mason Fowler would be named the victor and retain his UFC BJJ title.
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