Erik Koch Earns Unanimous Decision Victory

Erik Koch

“New Breed” moves to 13-1 with the win

The judges at UFC Fight Night 25 have been tested, and in this one, they passed with flying colors.

In a fight that was a battle between Erik Koch’s effective and timely striking and Jonathan Brookins’ grappling and control, the judges sided with Koch, handing the Roufusport product a unanimous decision victory.

While there were several points where Brookins’ controlled the action up against the cage, the winner of Season 12 of The Ultimate Fighter was never able to manage much real offense. Koch defended the takedown exceptionally well, and when he was in space, the 22-year-old found a home for his strikes without much resistance.

Koch opened up in the third, starting out more aggressive and landing more than he had in the previous two frames. Brookins wasn’t able to do much other than try for takedowns and press the action into the cage. When he did, Koch was able to work his way free and throw his hands.

This was a tough fight to score, but the consensus is that the judges got it right. Koch was the more effective striker of the two throughout, and while Brookins showed good control at time, he did very little other than stall the action again the cage.

Koch has now won four straight since suffering the lone loss of his career to Chad Mendes back in the WEC. With the victory, he moves one step closer to challenging for the UFC featherweight title.