RFA 37 results: Devin Clark, Leandro Higo claim titles in night of finishes

Devin Clark (6-0) is the first light heavyweight champion in RFA history, as he scored a second-round TKO victory over Rafael Viana (6-1).

The contest served as the headlining bout of Friday’s RFA 37 event, which took place at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D., and aired on AXS TV.

After a wild opening exchange where both men damaged their opponent in a torrid flurry, the pace settled a bit as Clark and Viana battled from the clinch for the remainder of the frame.

Clark scored a takedown early in the second, though Viana worked immediately back to his feet. It didn’t matter, as Clark simply outworked him on the feet and then eventually drove his foe back to the canvas. Viana appeared to have trouble with his right hand, but with UFC President Dana White in the crowd watching, he declined to opt out of the fight during the round. However, the injury did end up costing him the fight, as he declined to answer the bell for the third, eventually blaming a broken finger.

In the night’s co-feature, Brazilian Leandro Higo (16-2) survived incredible early pressure from Joey Miolla (8-2) to score a first-round technical submission and claim RFA’s vacant bantamweight title.

It was Miolla who started the attack, driving his opponent to the floor in the early going. Higo eventually rolled for an armbar, and Miolla elevated him and slammed him directly on his face, seemingly dazing Higo in the process. Somehow, Higo survived and crawled up top his feet, and on the restart, he slipped around to his opponent’s back, went immediately to the neck as they fell to the floor, and squeezed tight until Miolla went out at the 2:07 mark of the first round.

Prelims deliver on quick, painful finishes

Undefeated middleweight Joe Gigliotti (7-0) earned a quick win, tapping out Joe Poppie (7-3) in the first. Gigliotti cracked his foe with a big right hand to start and then followed to the floor and latched on to a guillotine choke. Poppie resisted well, but it proved futile, and he was forced to tap out 58 seconds into the fight.

Welterweight prospect Logan Storley (4-0) turned in an incredible performance, dominating Cody Lincoln (3-1) in the first before finishing him in the second.

Storley took the fight to the floor early in the first and nearly ended the fight where with a non-stop barrage of strikes that Lincoln somehow survived. It didn’t matter, as Storley delivered a crushing right hand to start the second and then followed to the floor with additional blows to halt the contest 13 seconds into the frame.

In bantamweight action, Matthew Lopez (8-0) kept his perfect professional record intact with an impressive first-round finish of Eli Finn (5-2). After some initial scrambling start to the contest with both men having moments of success, Lopez established top position and destroyed his opponent’s nose with a crushing elbow. Finn tried to roll to his knees and recover, but Lopez teed off with big right hands that earned a tap.

In a welterweight matchup, Brian Camozzi (6-2) overcame a slow start in a striking matchup to rally for a devastating knockout win. Facing a much smaller Kenneth Glenn (7-4), Camozzi picked up the pace in the latter stages of the fight, eventually landing a third-round knee that left his opponent out cold on the floor.

RFA 37 results include:

MAIN CARD

• Devin Clark def. Rafael Viana via TKO (injury) – Round 2, 5:00
• Leandro Higo def. Joey Miolla via technical submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:07 – to claim vacant bantamweight title
• Joe Gigliotti def. John Poppie via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 0:58
• Logan Storley def. Cody Lincoln via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 0:13
• Matthew Lopez def. Eli Finn via 3:15 submission (strikes) – Round 1, 3:15
• Brian Camozzi def. Kenneth Glenn via knockout (knee) – Round 3, 1:02

PRELIMINARY CARD

• David Michaud def. Chris Hugh via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 1:44
• Bryce Logan def. C.J. Hunter via unanimous decision
• Jordan Johnson def. Ryan Debelak via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 1, 1:02

For more on RFA 37, check out the MMA Events section of the site.