Round 1
The fighters trade leg-kicks and Oliveira adds another one. Oliveira hurts Lentz with a punch and rushes in. He has to defend a guillotine but Lentz cannot get his guard making it academic for Oliveira. With the fighters back on their feet, Lentz stops a takedown and jumps to another guillotine. Oliveira slams him to the mat and breaks the hold. Lentz finding his range on his punches now, he lands a nice combination that has Oliveira reeling. He pushes him against the cage and takes him to the canvas with a double at the horn.
Round 2
Lentz, feeling more comfortable as the fight wears on, begins round two with a pair of right leg-kicks, one to the body and one to the head of Oliveira. Lentz pushing the pace this round, he pushes Oliveira against the cage and pops him with a nice right hand. Oliveira answers with a right of his own. Oliveira takes Lentz to the mat along the cage and tries to wrest control of the fight back from his opponent. Oliveira trying to mount but gets put back in guard. Lentz takes top position in a scramble only to be put back on bottom by Oliveira. Lentz is back on his feet but looks to be tiring. He is bleeding pretty good from his mouth.
Round 3
Lentz still charging forward as the third gets under way. Oliveira changes levels and grabs hold of the wrestler taking him to the mat in sloppy fashion. Oliveira goes to work in the guard, landing punches and looking to pass. Lentz uses the cage to get back to his feet and resumes his forward movement. Oliveira stops him dead in his tracks with a stiff right hand but Lentz is undeterred. He takes Oliveira to the mat, again sloppily. The men trade punches with Lentz firing down to the body and head while Oliveira counters with backfists. Lentz punishing Oliveira from half-guard with both right and left hands while trapping his opponent’s left arm with his leg. Oliveira lands an upkick in the rounds closing seconds but it should not be enough to sway the judges.
Nik Lentz defeats Rafaello Oliveira via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)