Brian Foster and Matt Brown at UFC 123

Brian Foster, following an up-and-down start to his Octagon career, started ramping up some momentum with an impressive victory at UFC 123: Rampage vs. Machida in Detroit on Saturday night.

He and Matt Brown battled back and forth over a razor-thin first round, hitting the mat over and over, scrambling for position.

Round two started the tide in Foster’s favor. He quickly put Brown on the mat and started grounding and pounding. Brown made a move to escape, but Foster caught him in a guillotine choke, fell back and cinched it tight, causing Brown to tap.

“I’m ecstatic. I wanted this so bad man,” said Foster with tear-filled eyes after the fight. The win put him on a two-fight winning streak.

Mark Munoz at UFC 123

Mark Munoz and Aaron Simpson set their friendship aside on Saturday night, throwing everything they had at each other for three full rounds, but neither was able to put the other away.

The fight was fairly even all night, especially in the opening round where neither could gain much advantage.

As the fight wore on Simpson was able to time Munoz’s right kicks and catch them, but every time he did, Munoz would follow up with punch combinations, getting the better of the exchanges.  Munoz also stepped up his general pace in rounds two and three, consistently beating Simpson to the punch and landing many more strikes.

Munoz was particularly effective in the clinch, driving knees home to Simpson’s body, and catching him with uppercuts, and just staying much busier over the last two rounds. It was enough for the judges to award him a unanimous decision victory.

“I was prepared to go three rounds and go as hard as I can,” said Munoz after the fight. “I know Aaron doesn’t back down and I didn’t back down for three rounds.”