Benardo Sopaj bests Ricky Turcios in Scrappy Fight

The Ultimate Fighter 29 bantamweight champion Ricky Turcios was in action at UFC 311 on Saturday, taking on Benardo Sopaj early on the night’s preliminary card.

Sopaj had lost his UFC debut last time out, lost to Vinicius Oliveira back in March. The Turcios fight had first been booked for November, only for the TUF winner to be forced out due to medical issues.

Sopaj might have wanted to make a statement and he went to the head early with a kick that was at least partially blocked. Turcios chopped at his opponent’s leg and then had to fend off another head kick, also partially blocked, this time getting a huge reaction from the crowd. Turcios stuck to the low kicks and then mixed in a spinning kick to the body.

As the round progressed, Turcios would have a chance to take his back standing. Too high up, however, he went over the top, with Sopaj ending up in the dominant position and Turcios working back to the fence and up.

The second round opened with Sopaj in the middle, keeping Turcios guessing and occasionally surging forward on the attack. Turcios had his moments but Sopaj seemed to have found his rhythm. And as the Turcios looked to take the fight down, it was Sopaj who came out on top, although they soon went back to their feet. There, in a clinch, Sopaj fired a knee. A rough round ended with some left hands from Sopaj and they went for the third.

The third got off to a nasty start as a body shot from Sopaj absolutely punished Turcios. The TUF 29 champion seemed to struggle to recover and Sopaj went after him but just couldn’t put the fight away. Then, as Turcios got up, Sopaj threw a knee – which was caught! Turcios dumped Sopaj and appeared to have obtained a stay of execution. Bloody, sore but not out was Ricky Turcios even as Sopaj continued to move forward.

As the clock ticked down, the last minute of the round was no less scrappy. However, Turcios couldn’t pull a rabbit out of the hat and Sopaj ended the frame with a little rolling thunder.

Official result: Benardo Sopaj def. Ricky Turcios by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)