FAN POLL: 73% Travis Decker

REFEREE: Jordan Ripley

 

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ROUND ONE

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[The bell announces the first round! The fighters size each other up in the center of the cage. Both looking carefully at the other, not to make an early mistake. Nigel Musgrove jabs at Decker and lands straight in his chest! This backs Decker away from his opponent momentarily. Seeing red, Musgrove moves in to strike and moves away quickly to avoid any exchange with the more experienced fighter.]

 

[Ripcord seems a bit off and Musgrove shoots for a double leg takedown! The crowd pops at the attempt, but Travis Decker sprawls, managing to stay on his feet and avoid the takedown. After another failed attempt at a takedown, Musgrove decides to throw some tentative punches provoking an exchange that gets the crowd excited. Both Decker and Musgrove landed some good shots, but is Musgrove who takes the best of the exchange.]

 

[The clock says 0:57 of the 1st round and while surprised, Decker is still in good shape. It’s obvious that he has trained his chin and conditioning for this fight. After a couple of seconds of feeling each other, Decker tries to bring the fight to the ground with a double leg takedown; and takes it! Musgrove goes down with Decker right in open guard over him. Desperately, Musgrove looks to close his guard around Decker but he’s unable to do it. Decker lands some punches to the ribs, as Musgrove looks to move out of this predicament. Even with the relentlessness of Decker’s attack, Musgrove shows no signs of slowing down.]

 

[Frustrated by Musgrove’s defenses, Decker tries to lock in a straight ankle lock! The crowd senses something as they begin to cheer for Decker. As Ripcord looks to lock in the hold, it was what Musgrove needed to work his magic and sprawl out of it. Even then, Decker doesn’t let go of the guard and looks for another opening to either strike or lock in a submission. Musgrove on the other hand, uses the time on his back to rest a bit.]

 

[The clock says 1:50 in the 1st round. Travis Decker is still in open guard over Musgrove; and Musgrove is still looking for a way out. Sensing there’s no advancement in positioning the referee steps in standing up the fighters and restarting the fight on their feet. The crowd seems pleased with Ripley’s decision here as they cheer the fighters getting up.]

 

[As quickly as Ripley gave the signal, Nigel Musgrove tagged Decker with a shovel hook that staggered him a bit. After a brief exchange, Musgrove faked a punch and shot for a body lock takedown! Decker finds success in his defense as he manages to stay on his feet. At 2:15 of the first round, Nigel finds another opening and hits a solid shot to the body of his opponent, but Decker managed to block the following strikes.]

 

[Not finding success high, Musgrove shifts his focus to the legs and manages to hit Decker on the shin with a low kick, this gets a loud pop from the crowd as Decker moves back. The clock says 2:35 in the 1st round.]

 

[Musgrove continues stalking Decker and tries to grapple with him, but Decker manages to fend off his opponent. The Magic Man manages to push his opponent against the fence in a plum position and Decker looks like he doesn’t want to clinch as he ducks under Musgrove’s embrace and tries to move away, but the distance is too short between the two and Musgrove manages to push Decker back against the fence and does in fact, clinch with his opponent.]

 

[Inside the clinch, Musgrove managed to land some shots as Decker tried to get away from the clinch. Determined to continue in this position, Musgrove launched some hard punches to Decker’s ribs! Decker is visibly hurt and struggles to get away so he decides to protect himself.]

 

[Seeing no advancement, Jordan Ripley gets involved once more, separating the fighters and asking them to continue. Back in the middle of the octagon, Decker studies his opponent looking for a hole in a defense that, to this point, has been really good. Every time Decker looks to get inside, he’s met with a low kick or a jab that makes him move back. Then, in one attempt, Musgrove missed with a low kick clumsily and Decker managed to fight back! Ripcord launches a furious low kick that echoed through the arena!]

 

[Nigel Musgrove moved away from Decker and this was what Ripcord was waiting for. As Decker moves in, Musgrove threw a jab to the body that managed to fend off his opponent momentarily. The clock says 3:55 in the 1st round; as Decker continues pushing in on his opponent. Nigel throws a right hand that manages to surprise Decker landing straight in his face! Musgrove finally recovers from that massive leg kick, as he pushes forward with Decker pawing him away, managing to make Musgrove miss with a massive right hook.]

 

[Sensing the final moments of the first round, Musgrove threw a left kick to the body, that Decker managed to block. In the process, Musgrove missed a step and Decker sensed an opening to counter and hits another great leg kick that made Nigel wince a bit. Musgrove moves back, slowing the pace of the fight a bit as he looks to recover, with Decker stalking him smelling blood. As Decker moves in, Musgrove fires a very unorthodox hook to Decker’s torso that hit its mark to the delight of the crowd; as Jordan Ripley stands between them signaling the end of round one! There’s not really a clear advantage between these two!]

 

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ROUND TWO

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[The round begins right where we left the first one with Nigel Musgrove on the offensive; but his technique is a bit off. Nevertheless, a leg kick finds Decker’s thigh. Travis Decker moves back switching stance, as Nigel tries some clinching to gain control of the fight. Unlike in the first round, it seems that now Decker’s defenses are a bit off as Nigel manages to get the clinch on his first attempt. Decker knows what’s coming and he tries to sprawl out of the clinch to no avail, as Musgrove lands a massive knee to Decker’s chest and continues pummeling his opponent. Musgrove’s cardio allows him to continue his relentless attack on Decker, as Decker desperately looks to get away from the clinch.]

 

[After a couple of seconds in the clinch, Musgrove pushes Decker to the fence and looks to slow down the action. This was everything Decker wanted, as Jordan Ripley separated both fighters due to lack of action. Back in the middle, Musgrove moves back as Decker asks him to engage, which excites the crowd. Musgrove smirks as he circles around Decker before throwing a right jab that gets blocked by Decker. It seems Decker’s call to action ignited something in Musgrove as he throws a flurry of punches to Decker’s head and body, but only manages to land glancing blows. Even then, the crowd seems to be loving the action so far.]

 

[Decker waves and bows avoiding some of the big blows that are coming his way, until Nigel lands some solid jabs that stuns Decker a bit. Musgrove moves forward launching some leg kicks that staggered Decker. The clock says 1:30 in the 2nd round, as Decker looks for an opening. Nigel has been dominating the action to this point, but when he goes for a right kick to the body, Decker manages to grab a hold of his leg looking to take him down. Nigel struggles with his balance and goes down.]

 

[Ripcord now has side control over Musgrove and the more experienced fighter instinctively looks to isolate Musgrove’s arm and neck looking for an arm triangle. The end might be near for the rookie fighter; as Decker continues to set the hold up. Nigel struggles, but manages to find a way to relieve pressure on his neck and slip out of the hold. Decker maintains side control, but now has lost the hold. Decker hits Nigel with some good punches trying to slow Musgrove down.]

 

[Travis Decker gets a hold of Nigel’s arm looking for a Kimura, but Musgrove manages to break the lock and trap Decker in his guard switching to full guard. The clock says 2:20 in the 2nd round as Decker looks to move on the ground to no avail. Decker looks to land with his right hand on Nigel, but Musgrove manages to avoid the hit and grab a hold of Decker’s arm looking for an Omoplata! Decker struggles but finds a way out of danger. Musgrove seems dangerous even when his back is against the mat.]

 

[Nevertheless, Decker continues in open guard and looks to grab a hold of Musgrove’s leg, but Musgrove is able to break any attempt at a submission of his opponent. In the process, Musgrove closes his guard on Decker and pins his opponent between his legs trying some hammer punches to Decker’s ribs from the ground. Ripcord blocks some of the punches and tries to improve his position on the ground as he sits on his knees trying to break the closed guard. Ripley has seen enough passivity on the ground and stands both fighters.]

 

[With both fighters on their feet the fight resumes with Musgrove throwing a body kick that gets blocked by Decker. Nigel smirks as Decker challenges him to come inside. Musgrove measures the distance between him and Decker with some jabs and manages to land a couple. He then moves forward and lands a massive kick to Decker’s right thigh that’s now starting to get red.]

 

[Decker moves backwards avoiding all strikes by Musgrove. Musgrove continues pushing forward with some tentative jabs, but there’s nothing exciting happening in this exchange as Nigel moves back and takes a deep breath trying to regain composure. The clock says 4:10 in the 2nd round. Nigel hesitates a bit before throwing a brilliant combination at Decker who showed some great dodging skills avoiding some of the hits. Decker then finds an opening on Musgrove as he gets in close range trying to grapple with Musgrove who doesn’t want anything like that at this point of the fight and moves back throwing some punches at Decker who manages to avoid getting trapped by the combination. Decker moves back and now it’s Musgrove who challenges Decker who returns the smirk at his opponent; but the bell rings and this toss up of a round is over.]

 

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ROUND THREE

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[The round begins with Decker on the offensive, seems like the corner told him he needed to take the judges out of the equation and he seems like a man possessed to open this round. Yet, even with the pressure from Travis Decker, Musgrove just ducks and waves some of the punches away avoiding any significant damage. Once he finds an opening he throws a leg kick at Decker that gets blocked. The clock says 1:30 in the 3rd round, as Decker grabs a hold of the Magic Man’s right leg looking for a single leg takedown; but this time Musgrove maintains his balance pushing Decker away from him and keeping the fight standing.]

 

[The crowd is getting excited as both fighters engage in a flurry of offense in the center of the octagon that finishes with Musgrove landing a solid straight right kick to Decker’s liver. Ripcord staggers, but manages to get away from Musgrove before any other hit landed. Travis Decker circles around, but Musgrove manages to cut the space between them grabbing Decker by the waist and looks for a suplex that Decker blocks. Looking for a way to get Musgrove off of him, Decker lands a straight elbow to the side of Musgrove’s head that gets a loud pop from the crowd.]

 

[Free from Musgrove’s hold, Decker launches a flurry of jabs and hooks at Musgrove, but only manages some glancing blows, that get countered by a one-two combination from Musgrove that lands moving Decker back. Nigel tries to end the fight with a roundhouse kick, but Decker moves out of the way. The clock says 2:35 in the 3rd round. Not relenting in his approach, Musgrove gets Decker in a troublesome thai clinch and lands a knee before Decker ducks and tries to get away from the clinch. Musgrove doesn’t allow his opponent to move away as he lands a big elbow strike that knocks Decker to the mat!]

 

[Musgrove stands over Decker who has his back on the mat. Decker avoids Nigel by throwing some kicks to Nigel’s knees, with the final one getting dodged. The clock says 2:55 in the 3rd round. Nigel sees no way he can get to Decker in the ground and moves back allowing his opponent to get back to his feet. Musgrove rallies the crowd who cheer Decker on as he gets back standing. Nigel gets his left fist up, looking for a fist bump by Decker, who shows respect to his opponent as the size each other up in the center of the cage.]

 

[They circle around for a bit before Nigel Musgrove shoots for a double leg takedown! Travis Decker is taken off his feet, but manages to pull Musgrove into his guard. Musgrove tries to improve his position on the ground and fakes some punches slipping one leg to get the half mount. He throws a series of blows at Decker, who looks like he wasn’t expecting Musgrove to be this good. Musgrove manages to get in full mount over Decker and he begins hitting Ripcord with a series of ground and pound punches and elbows that seem to have hurt Decker.]

 

[Travis Decker tries to roll to his side, but Nigel keeps control and remains in full mount. After a series of blows, Nigel throws the leg over and rolls into an armbar! The referee moves in close as the crowd pops! Nigel tries to lock the hold in, but Decker shows great skills by breaking the hold. The clock says 3:45 in the 3rd round and Nigel Musgrove is still in full control of the fight. Nigel rolls Decker over and gets his back. Musgrove is now in rear mount over Ripcord as he looks to get some punches in, landing a massive right hook.]

 

[We move into the 4 minute mark in the third round and Musgrove has one hand under Decker, looking to get another one under. There’s no doubt that Musgrove is looking for a rear naked choke here. If he succeeds in getting his second hand under things are going to look bleak for Ripcord here. As we move into the 4:15 mark, Musgrove manages to get his second hook in and the end might be near for Travis Decker! The crowd senses it and they get into their feet for the final moments of this fight!]

 

[Decker is flailing, trying to get out of Musgrove’s attempt at a rear naked choke. Decker seems to be gassing out and Nigel looks to lock the hold in; but he’s too slow allowing Decker some time to recover and continue fighting the choke. Nigel Musgrove tries to use some tricky moves, but Decker avoids them. Jordan Ripley is getting close to the action as Nigel seems to have locked in the choke but the bell rings and the fight is over!]

 

JUDGE MIRANDA FRANCO

Travis Decker  9 9 10: 28

Nigel Musgrove  10 10 9: 29

 

JUDGE MAX CARVER

Travis Decker  9 9 9: 27

Nigel Musgrove  10 10 10: 30

 

JUDGE OZZIE SEBASTIAN

Travis Decker  9 9 9: 27

Nigel Musgrove  10 10 10: 30

 

Winner: Nigel Musgrove by Unanimous Decision 

 

Statistics: Travis Decker

Punches 5/7 (71%)

Kicks 4/4 (100%)

Clinch strikes 0/0 (0%)

Takedowns 2/3 (67%)

GnP strikes 0/0 (0%)

Submissions 4/4 (100%)

Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)

Time on the ground 288 s

 

Statistics: Nigel Musgrove

Punches 16/38 (42%)

Kicks 4/14 (29%)

Clinch strikes 1/5 (20%)

Takedowns 1/4 (25%)

GnP strikes 0/1 (0%)

Submissions 2/2 (100%)

Clinch Attempts 1/1 (100%)

Time on the ground 259 s