WSOF 31 Results: Blagoy Ivanov Retains Over Josh Copeland

It’s once again fight day here at LowKickMMA, and the talent on display tonight (Friday, June 17th, 2016) will come from WSOF 31. Headlining the card are Blagoy Ivanov and Josh Copeland, but there’s a whole bunch of great fights also taking place on the rest of the main card.

Blagoy Ivanov and Josh Copeland met in a heavyweight title bout in the main event. Copeland was avoiding his big shots and getting inside. Ivanov was bleeding from his right temple in the first round. Ivanov tagged him and Copeland backed up. In round 2, Copeland got bloody and these dues were just throwing big strikes. Copeland had a nasty cut under his right eye. In round 3, Ivanov and Copeland were just blasting away. Ivanov tagged him a few times in this round. In round 4, both guys kept a great pace and kept the fight standing. A very close round. In round 5, Ivanov tagged him several times and backed him up. Ivanov took him down and beat him down from half guard. These guys were exhausted by the end of it. Great fight. Ivanov won the fight by decision to retain the heavyweight title.

Jason High and Mike Ricci met in a lightweight bout. Ricci took him down at the beginning of round 1. Ricci tried to go for a guillotine choke but couldn’t get it. He then got his back and went for a rear-naked choke but ran out of time. In round 2, High came out and took him down then worked him over with strikes from the top to finish the fight.

John Howard and Michael Arrant met in a featherweight bout. In round 1, both guys were conservative but mixed up their strikes well. Not too much action in this one. In round 2, Howard came out aggressive and went for a takedown early but Arrant held the fence and Howard couldn’t get it. Howard scored takedown to end the round. In round 3, Howard scored a takedown to open the round but Arrant got back to his feet. Howard took him down with a minute to go. Howard won the fight by decision.

Luis Palomino and Sheymon Moraes met in a middleweight bout. Palomino came out in round one and unloaded then reset. Both guys started to pick up the action midway through this round and started to have some wild exchanges. In round 2, Moraes continued to poke him in the eye due to his fingers being extended. Both guys mixed up kicks and strikes well. Palomino threw bombs to close the round. In round 3, Palomino scored a brief takedown but Moraes got to his feet. Both guys tired down in this round. Moares won the fight by decision.

Opening the main card on NBCSN was Phil Hawes vs. Joshua Keys in a welterweight bout. Keys shot for an early takedown but Hawes caught him and took him down and got mount within the first minute of the first round. Hawes rained down elbows from mount. Hawes then went for an armbar but couldn’t get it. Keys rolled out. Moments later, Hawes got mount and rained down more elbows to finish the first in the first round.

Here are the results:

Main Card: (NBCSN – 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT)

Champ Blagoy Ivanov def. Josh Copeland via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47)

Jason High def. Mike Ricci via technical knockout (Round 2, 4:08)

John Howard def. Michael Arrant via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Sheymon Moraes de. Luis Palomino via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) r3, 5:00

Phil Hawes def. Joshua Key via TKO (Punches) R1, 2:52

Preliminary Card: (WSOF.com – 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT)

Devin Powell def. Tom Marcellino via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)

Justin Willis def. Juliano Coutinho via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:30

Tyler King def. Lorenzo Hood via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 4:20

Bruce Boyington def. Saul Almeida via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)

Marcus Surin def. Christian Torres via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 2:51