Liveblog: ROC 31 Part 3

Tom Velasquez of Team Endgame and Tom DeBlass of Ricardo Almeida's School for Gifted Youngsters square off to do battle. Sporting smoother takedowns and a jiu-jitsu master's top game, DeBlass owns Round 1 on the scorecards. But no judges are needed for Round 2, thanks to Velasquez wading in swinging fists and DeBlass catching him with some accurate counter-punching. Velasquez goes down, and the ensuing barrage has ref Big Dan stopping it at fifty seconds in. Carmine Zocchi-trained Villi Bello is up next and he's taking on Pellegrino MMA's Dave Church. Round 1 is an all-out war, and Bello's dynamic striking has Church going down hard twice in the early minutes. But Church is made of stone, because he pops right back up and keeps swinging, and though he loses the round for sure, he's still in it. Don't believe me? Then consider Round 2, when Church gets Bello down and just pounds on him. It goes to a third round, and once Church gets Bello down it's all about the Pellegrino MMA rep beating on him and sinking the rear naked choke at 2:34 of the round. Bello looked great, and this is the best Dave Church we've ever seen. RABJJ's Haz Ibrahim and Black and Blue's Steve Edwards are up to round out the prelims. As usual Ibrahim comes out like a raging bull and slams Edwards to the canvas. But Edwards weathers the storm from above, and after a failed takedown attempt by Ibrahim, Edwards works his way onto his opponent's back and sinks the rear naked choke. The tap out comes at 2:31 of Round 1. That's a good win for Edwards, as Ibrahim is a quality opponent.