It was the perfect combination of power and technique.

That’s the best way to describe Ian Heinisch’s LFA debut as he was superior in every way during his first-round submission win over Lucas Rota in the main event of LFA 10, which took place Friday at Massari Arena in Pueblo, Colo., and aired on AXS TV

“This feels so good,” Heinisch said. “I stayed calm, I fought my fight, I did what I was supposed to do. I took care of business.

Heinisch (8-0) came out nimble on his feet and displayed his power early, even if he was just a bit off, as an overhand right just missed landing flush on Rota (12-7). It still pushed back Rota, who responded with aggression that Heinisch dodged.

Then Heinisch got into his zone — wrestling.

Heinisch took down Rota and methodically dominated on the mat. With Heinisch controlling Rota’s hips, he successfully took the full mount position about 2 minutes into the bout. Instead of moving straight to ground and pound, though, Heinisch remained confident in his wrestling. He kicked himself off to the side and slapped on a headlock that he transitioned into a scarf hold armlock, squeezing tight until Rota tapped at the 2:38 mark.

After such a dominant performance, Heinisch was thinking about the next level.

“Everyone from the UFC, what’s up? Eight and oh,” he said. “Where you at? I’m ready. C’mon.”

Urso grinds out split-decision win over Royval

There was little in terms of style points, but it was a big win nonetheless for Nick Urso, who defeated Brandon Royval via split decision 30-27, 28-29, 30-27 in their co-headlining flyweight bout.

Urso entered as the No. 2 ranked contender in the AXS TV flyweight rankings. When asked afterward how he felt about a shot at No. 1 ranked Roberto Sanchez, his answer was … awkward?

“I don’t know who Roberto Sanchez is,” he said, “but give me a title shot.”

The first round provided little action. After Royval (5-3) attempted a spinning kick early, he was taken down by Urso (10-3). For more than four minutes, the fight stayed on the mat with Urso mostly controlling the action as Royval attempted to employ jiu-jitsu moves from full guard.

Royval came out in the second round with a jumping knee, but Urso caught him and took him down. Again, the fight continued on scrappy on the canvas. Urso scored some short elbows to the face, and Royval kept working his jiu jits and going for gogoplata but to no avail. The third round simply provided much of the same, although Royval did manage to cut open Urso with some elbows to the head during a scramble.

“Brandon’s tough as shit,” Urso said. “I expected a tough fight. He’s a real good grappler, and I shut him out with it. I feel good about it.”

Martinez upsets Olympian Perez by submission in wild affair

This fight had it all. A banana split submission attempt, guillotine chokes, rear-naked chokes, a crucifix, the rare double knockdown, everything.

And through it all, it was the hometown boy, Adam Martinez, who came away with a stunning upset over previously unbeaten Cuban Olympic wrestler Maikel Perez with a guillotine choke at the 2:22 mark of the second round.

Martinez (4-1) let it be known early in the first that Perez’s pedigree would not scare him when Perez (3-1) had Martinez locked in a banana split, a submission in which a shredded groin appeared imminent. But Martinez staved off the finish and fought tough until the bell.

It was a wild first round, to say the least, but that was far from the end of the craziness. A rare double knockdown occurred in the second round, and Perez never quite recovered. Not long after, Martinez landed a hard punch that dropped Perez into an instinctive defensive takedown. That signaled the end as Martinez locked in a tight guillotine and pulled guard, then spun to top position resulting in a quick tap-out finish.

LFA 10 results include:

• Ian Heinisch def. Lucas Rota via submission (shoulder lock) — Round 1, 2:38
• Nick Urso def. Brandon Royval via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 30-27)
• Bantamweight Fight – Jerome Rivera def. Zac Riley via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-26, 30-27)
• Slobodan Maksimovic def. Dominic Montoya via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Featherweight Fight – Andrew Tenneson def. Andrew Yates via submission via submission (guillotine choke) — Round 1, :49
• Adam Martinez def. Maikel Perez via submission (guillotine choke) — Round 2, 2:22
• Cody Yohn def. Mike Jones via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

For more on LFA 10, stay tuned to the MMA Events section of the site.