Night one of the Craig Jones Invitational is here.
It’s an intergender grappling match between Craig Jones vs. Gabi Garcia tomorrow but as for today we get NCAA All-American Pat Downey vs. former UFC Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold across three five-minute rounds.
Downey, a MMA fighter himself with a record of 1-1, would simply outwork Rockhold over the distance, landing multiple takedowns and snagging top control throughout the match. Downey’s wrestling skills paid dividends and wore on Rockhold with the UFC veteran not having many answers on the ground other than the occasional return to his feet.
https://x.com/MartialMind1/status/1824592734138593294
Rockhold nearly got submitted with a rear-naked choke in the third round right after dapping up former flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson ringside. Rockhold survived the submission attempt.
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En route to a lopsided decision win for Downey, both competitors playfully slap boxed each other in the third round, with Downey even pushing Rockhold around in the final seconds of the match.
Official result: Pat Downey defeats Luke Rockhold via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-25, 30-26)
Check out the highlights below:
Luke Rockhold and Pat Downey just gave us the greatest start to a grappling competition ever 🤣 pic.twitter.com/UJD6KbEcSA
— MartialMind 🇳🇬🇺🇲 (@MartialMind1) August 16, 2024
Luke Rockhold and Pat Downey started to slap box during their match#CJI pic.twitter.com/Qn8qOnng50
— MMA Mania (@mmamania) August 16, 2024
Pat Downey had the entire #CJI crowd saying “Fuck Gordon Ryan” pic.twitter.com/SS3tJ7F3dk
— MMA Mania (@mmamania) August 16, 2024
