Brace 38: Hera Tamati chokes out Jade Thomson; Mills outworks Alchin

Hera Tamati recovered from a big knockdown to choke out striker Jade Thomson unconscious in the main event of Brace 38 earlier today, while in the co-main event Andrew Mills won his welterweight debut with a unanimous decision over the experienced Rick Alchin.

The event took place at the Big Top in Sydney, New South Wales and was broadcast live on the online platform UFC Fight Pass.

Tamati came out strong against the striker Thomson who was making her MMA debut. Not giving her a moment to set up her striking, Tamati came forward landing the straight and clinching against the cage. Tamati locked up a standing head-arm triangle, however was unable to finish it as Thomson clinched against the cage. Near the end of the round, Thomson dropped Tamati with a massive right before the buzzer.

Tamati recovered quickly and went on the front foot again landing a straight right. The two scrambled and Tamati, who looked the stronger grappler took Thomson’s back where she looked to lock in the rear-naked choke. Thomson removed one hook however Tamati was able to get the choke under the chin. Tamati quickly flattened her opponent before rolling back. There Thomson finally succumb, falling unconscious to get Tamati the win. The official time came 4:27 into the second round.

In an intriguing welterweight battle, Andrew Mills shot in for an early takedown against the more experienced Rick Alchin. A BJJ brown belt, Alchin recovered Mills reversed where he controlled the fight until midway through the round when Mills escaped back to his feet. On their feet both were cautious, with Alchin coming forward and Mills landing singular strikes from the outside.

In the second round, Alchin landed a strong right punch that sent Mills on the back foot earlier. Mills got a strong double leg takedown and from inside the guard, started to unload with strong elbows while Alchin covered up. The elbows started to get through which opened up a cut on Alchin.

Mills took off where he landed in the third round getting the fight to the ground where he stayed strong from the top landing short strikes. Alchin hopped back to his feet in the final minute of the fight, but Mills again secured the takedown where he landed short elbows from half-guard to finish the fight.

A big win for Mills who was making the drop to welterweight for the first time. In the process he moves his professional record to 6-0.

In a lightweight tournament bout, Jesse Medina was put on his back early, however it wouldn’t last as he scrambled back to his feet to quickly get his own takedown. On top Medina remained in control, stuffing his opponents escapes and in the second round, secured the rear-naked choke to force the tap. Medina will be a force in the lightweight tournament, taking his record to 10-1-1 with the win.

Former Muay Thai fighter, Myles Simpson took his MMA record to 8-1 with a strong win against Bayden Mandich, submitting his opponent unconscious with a rear-naked choke in the opening round of a featherweight contest.

In an entertaining bantamweight tournament bout, Ben Watson and George Malizis put on a fun back-and-forth fight. Both guys had their moments where they had their opponent rocked, however it would be Ben Watson who would get the better of the exchanges and take home the unanimous decision victory.

In the opening fight of the night, Australian based Filipino fighter Luke Catubig secured a first round stoppage over Kris Spence.

A bantamweight clash between Byron Cowell and Edwin Arana was cancelled within 24 hours of the event due to Arana failing to complete his Combat Sports Authority paperwork in time.

Unofficial Results:

• Hera Tamati def Jade Thomson via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 2, 4:27
• Andrew Mills def Rick Alchin via Decision (Unanimous)
• Jesse Medina def Ethan Duniam via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 2, 3:12 – lightweight tournament
• Myles Simpson def Bayden Mandich via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 1, 3:38 – featherweight tournament
• Ben Watson def George Malizis via Decision (Unanimous) – bantamweight tournament
• Luke Catubig def Kris Spence via TKO (Punches), Rd 1, 1:42 – featherweight tournament