Though two champions stepped into the Tachi Palace Fights cage to do battle Thursday night, only one title was at stake in the TPF 31 main event. Adrian Diaz put his featherweight belt on the line against Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Cody Gibson and had to regroup after a rough opening round. Gibson took him down and controlled the pace with plenty of strikes from on top, but when Diaz landed a partially-blocked head kick in the second, the tides were changed.
Gibson, who is the current TPF bantamweight champion, stormed back in the third, but when the fight went to the ground, Gibson made a critical error by ducking his head in a dangerous position.