Lucindo wants to take this fight to the ground and it’s clear to see why as Rodriguez leaves her wobbly-legged with a overhand right to the temple. She survives the warning shot and does well to get that elusive takedown for with a minute to go, keeping ground control for the rest of the round and laying in ground strikes.

Rodriguez is finding her distance and connects with a nice combination as Lucindo backs up towards the fence. But just like in the first round, as Lucindo looks in danger, she gets the body lock and lands the takedown. Marc Goddard stands the pair up with 30 seconds to go and the round ends on the feet, with Lucindo landing a nice spinning back kick to the body.

Julianna Pena will look to reclaim the women’s bantamweight throne tonight as she squares off against Raquel Pennington in tonight’s co-main event.

Who did she beat when she was last crowned champ? Only the greatest to ever do it.

All action round three as both men go in search of a knock out in the final five. Hernandez gets Hubbard up against the fence and lands two heavy hooks but Hubbard responds with big hits of his own, doing damage with front kicks in particular.

In the final minute, Hubbard looks to have Hernandez hurt after connecting flush with two shots, only for Alexander ‘The Great’ to provide a receipt of his own. Both laying into each other for the final seconds as the crowd reaches fever pitch. Buzzer sounds and a decision will be required…

Alexander Hernandez def. Austin Hubbard via split decision (29-28, 29-29, 27-30)

One judge with a slightly perplexing view of the fight compared to his colleagues, deeming that Hernandez didn’t win a single round. Nothing on Howie Booth, mind you.

Alex Pereira’s knockout power is truly frightening. Will Khalil Rountree become the latest to fall victim?

Hernandez rocks Hubbard with a stiff overhand late in the first. Immense showcase of skills to start things off here, looking light on his feet and firing off shots. Hubbard looking to take it to the ground but to no avail.

Takedowns really aren’t working for Hubbard – he’s nought for nine. All credit to Hernandez, whose takedown defence has been impeccable. However, Hubbard is up on significant strikes in the second. Hernandez has kept up to speed for the most part but may be tiring as we go to a third.

An icon of the sport, Aldo’s more recent memories of fighting in Salt Lake City aren’t the best, having experienced just how impactful altitude can be in his UFC 278 bout against cardio king Merab Dvalashvili.

A win tonight against Bautista would be a major statement at bantamweight, showing that the former champ is not simply back in the UFC for a nostalgic farewell tour.

Potieria is not a happy man as he appears to get poked in the eye again. Almeida is warned to close his fist, but still no point taken away. The Brazlian then lands a beautiful straight right hand before connecting with a hook.

Commentary losing their minds with the referee, who having missed four eyepokes is now seperating clinches after about three seconds. Potieria looks exhausted and ends up on his bag as the buzzer sounds. We go to the scorecards…

Cesar Almeida def. Ihor Potieria via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

A fight that will unfortunately be overshadowed by the performance of referee Dave Seljestad.

Very relaxed round from the outset from Almeida. Potieria lands a heavy left but the Brazilian counters well. Almeida then follows up with another strong shot and enjoys success with the low kicks. Incredibly potent and efficient striking performance so far from Almeida.

Stuttered start to the round as Potieria gets poked in the eye THREE times in the space of 90 seconds. No word of warning from the ref and as action begins to flow, Potieria lands a takedown. However, it’s Almeida who does the damage on the ground, raining shots down while also nearly locking in a choke. Potieria survives and gets to a third round.

Here’s a rundown of all the action from tonight’s early prelims in Salt Lake City.

To start the night off, home crowd favourite Court McGee pulled off an impressive submssion victory over Tim Means, getting the RNC in early and forcing a tap.

Two-time strawweight champion Carla Esparza was then just edged out of a retirement victory on her way out of MMA, losing on the scorecards to Tecia Pennington – wife of women’s bantamweight champion Raquel, who is of course in co-main event action later tonight.

And in the featured early prelim, it was another quick submission as Ryan Spann locked in the guillotine after landing a massive right hand on Ovince Saint Preux.

Ryan Spann def. Ovince Saint Preux via first round submission (guillotine, 1:35)

Tecia Pennington def. Carla Esparza via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Court McGee def. Tim Means via first round submission (rear naked choke, 3:19)