Noche UFC results: Tommy McMillen stays undefeated after back-and-forth war with Marwan Rahiki

Tommy McMillen doesn’t always make it look pretty but he sure knows how to put on a show as he won a back-and-forth war against Marwan Rahiki at Noche UFC on Saturday.

The featherweights battled it out over three rounds with Rahiki nearly scoring a finish in the second round and then McMillen storming back to win the third round and the fight. It was a wild affair but when the final horn sounded, McMillen had done enough for the victory with the judges scoring the fight 29-28, 29-28 and 29-27 in his favor.

“Let’s go Arizona!” McMillen shouted to his home audience. “He had a pretty good second round, busted me up a little bit but I knew I could out dog him.

“Tomorrow morning, I’m going hopt on a [plane] to Vegas and I’ll be there on Dec. 12 waiting on my next victim and my next $100K bonus.”

An early takedown opened the fight for McMillen but Rahiki was quick to break free and get back to the feet. The featherweights were just standing and banging with both landing some solid strikes along the way. A late pair of right hands from McMillen definitely caught Rahiki off guard as they continued blasting away at each other.

In the second, McMillen nearly snatched a D’arce choke during a wild exchange but Rahiki was able to scramble and break free. McMillen connected with a stiff left hook that rattle Rahiki momentarly.

As the slugfest continued, Rahiki blasted McMillen with an uppercut that put the featherweight prospect down on the canvas. Rahiki went for the kill with several knees up the middle and McMillen was left in survival mode just trying to avoid the knockout.

Rahiki was trying desperately to get the finish but McMillen just refused to go away. As time passed, Rahiki was running out of gas and that allowed McMillen to start dishing out some punishment of his own.

With five minutes remaining. McMillen and Rahiki both turned to their grappling momentarily but it was short lived as they decided to start hammering away ate at each other instead. That’s when McMillen uncorked a shot that put Rahiki down again.

McMillen immediately grabbed onto a submission but Rahiki was playing defense effectively to avoid getting caught. McMillen continued the assault as he desperately tried to get the finish but Rahiki refused to go away.

Still, McMillen did enough to secure the victory as he remains undefeated at 12-0 while also celebrating becoming one of the most popular  young fighters on the entire UFC roster.