FRIANT, Calif., July 24 -- Before a sold-out crowd, Billy Evangelista (Pictures) scored a unanimous decision win over Ryan Bixler in the inaugural "Melee on the Mountain" event.
In what turned out to be the fight-of-the-night, Elaina Maxwell (Pictures) fought her way to a close split-decision over local favorite Michelle Maher. The Cung Le (Pictures)-trained Maxwell was worse for the wear but was able to take solace in the fact that she left with the title belt.
Three of the event's four undercard fights did not get past the first round. One of the most entertaining fights of the evening featured bantamweights Andrew Vellardez notch a submission win over Alvin Cacdac via armbar in the third round. Vallardez, who also trains under Cung Le (Pictures), was losing the fight until he locked up the submission.
Rounding out the undercard, Matt Major earned a first-round TKO over Mark Kempthorne; Luke Rockhold defeated Mike Martinez in the first round with an arm lock; and Wayne Phillips stopped Rocky Molina with a rear naked chock just 51 seconds into their bout.