iKON Fight Federation returned to San Carlos, Mexico for their third event of 2020. iKon showed consistency with another great fight night with multiple finishes. The promotion as a whole is starting to get in a flow moving from fight to fight with little interruption. Especially with no commercials, iKON 3 was a good viewing experience on UFC Fight Pass.
Official Main Card Results
Luis Gerardo Garcia def. Francisco Montoya Barcena via verbal TKO 1:46 round 2
Kayla Hraco def. Jessica Solis via Rear-Naked Choke 3:07 in round 1
Pedro Rodriguez def. Yasser Guzman Delacruz Via TKO in 10 seconds of round 1
Elvin Espinoza def. Juan Gabriel Mendez Acuna via TKO 3:12 in round 1
Marco Elpido def. Oziel Rodriguez Lopez via unanimous decision 30-27 30-27 29-28
Luis Rodriguez def. Paul Marquez Moreno Via TKO 3:13
Daniel Vega draws with Alejandro Martinez. All judges scored the fight 28-28
Vega vs. Martinez Offers a Weird End to the Night
The commentators did a great job selling the main event and they did not sell it short. This fight was great under any metric. The fight was multifaceted; there was not a place it stopped moving. Vega and Martinez were swinging on the feet and grappling on the ground with great pace. It was clear though that Alejandro Martinez had the better fight. He was winning the striking on the outside and getting the better of Daniel Vega on the ground. Vega was winning the moments on the inside fighting. He even scored a late knockdown in the second that won him the round.
But the theme of this fight was Alejandro Martinez‘s uncontrolled ground and pound. On two different occasions, the fight was stopped because Martinez landed illegal blows to the back of Daniel Vega’s head. The referee rightfully deducted a point for the second offense in the 3rd round. In the end, the fight was considered a draw. It would have been a 29-28 win for Martinez but the point deduction because of the illegal strikes made it 28-28. It was an anticlimactic ending to iKON 3.
Rodriguez is on a Roll
Pedro Rodriguez remains undefeated, as he earned the second victory in his career. This finish came faster than the first. Rodriguez sprinted across the ring, jumping in with a flying knee to Yasser Guzman Delacruz’s face. It was partially blocked. Then Pedro threw a flurry of right and left hooks with one catching Delacruz and knocking him down. The majority of the 10-second fight was Rodriguez hammer fisting Yasser’s head. If the referee saved Yasser faster, Rodriguez could’ve broken Conor McGregor’s fastest knockout time. Two up, two down; Pedro Rodriguez remains undefeated and shows no signs of stopping.
Luis Rodriguez Gets Back on Track
This 21-year-old Luis Rodriguez had an amazing iKon debut. “Lazy Boy” was poised; he was controlled with his striking. He took everything Paul Marquez Moreno had to offer and responded with a huge left hook to his face, leaving the opponent dazed on the ropes. Then fight finished with a flurry that ended with another left hook that slept Moreno. In his last fight, Rodriguez lost to Jerome Riviera in the Dana White Contender Series. So, he needed this win in to redeem himself and get back in the win column.
Final Thoughts
iKON 3 was pleasing to see. Thinking back to their last event. the promotion made many improvements. The ring ropes seem tighter and it showed by none of the fighters falling out of the ring like at iKON 2: Palomares v. Jimenez. Improvement is always great to see in a young promotion. The stops in action were sparse and justified when they happened. If you are a young MMA fan and looking for a promotion to grow with, or to say “I was there in the beginning,” iKON is the promotion for you. It seems as if iKon has found a temporary home at the Marina Terra Event center at least for now during the times of Covid. They will be back again for iKON 4 Friday, December 11th in San Carlos Mexico.
