On Friday night in the city of St. Louis, at the glamorous Chase Park Plaza, Andrew Sanchez (7-2) took care of business. He finally captures the middleweight title after a bloody war with John Poppie (6-2). The crowd saw him land a devastating spinning backfist followed by a few shots to the head as Poppie went down. In the co main event Ken Porter (9-2) withstood plethora of inside leg kicks to out work Matt Manzanares (7-6) on the mat and earn a split decision. Adam Osmoe (3-0) and Jake Roberts (5-0) also had great performances at RFA 28: Sanchez versus Poppie.

The main event saw Andrew Sanchez taking care of John Poppie with a spinning back fist that sent him to the canvas. The fight was almost stopped by a nasty cut over the eye of Poppie, in the second, as the blood poured down over his eye. He was allowed to continue on but tasted some kicks to the head while still pressing forward. Poppie was not going to go down easy but the spinning back fist that also hit part of his elbow was all that was needed to finish the task and crown Sanchez as the new middleweight champion. In front of a very favorable crowd the task that has eluded him for sometime is finally complete.

Ken Porter jumped leaps and bounds in competition by facing Matt Manzanares the former RFA flyweight champion.  After a brief feeling out process Matt got busy landing vicious inside leg kicks as Porter circled. The second round started the same except Ken shortened the distance and scored a takedown. The takedown came once again for Porter in the third where he laid into Matt with some razor sharp elbows. He cut open Manzanares and ended the fight on top to win a hard pressed split decision.

Javon Wright (6-4) came out looking flashy but missed a few leg kicks. That was just the opening Thiago Moises (6-1) needed to press Javon against the cage and attempt to grab the back of Wright. Javon staved off the attempt to survive the round. In the second, Thiago was successfully able to get Javon to the canvas and work for the submission. Against the RFA cage he sunk in the hooks to pull off a rear naked choke submission. That gives the Brazilian fight a needed win to stay on track as one of the better prospects on their roster.

Jake Roberts (5-0) pressed forward and controlled the clinch game in a testy battle with Chuka Willis (4-2). Willis never looked comfortable after a big shot from Roberts in the first and tried to counter strike to no avail. The second and third rounds went in the favor of Jake as well as he grinded out each round keeping the striker guessing. In the end Jake Roberts outworks Willis to win by the scores of 28-29, 30-27 and 30-27.

Adam Osmoe (3-0) came out landing frequently on Jimmy Donahue (6-6) which eventually woke him up. Once they started to trade Jimmy backed up Adam with a few punches and a knee which prompted the takedown. Jimmy went for an armbar but that allowed Adam to slam him three hard times. He soon took the back of Donahue and sunk the hooks in to pull off the submission.

Joe Valadez (0-1) and Travis Draper (3-1) kicked off a barn burner in the main card of RFA 28. The fight started in Joe's favor as he landed some big shots late in the first round that stunned Draper. In the second it was all Draper who controlled a fatigued Valadez and almost pulled off a rear naked choke submission. Valadez didn't tap which set up an interesting third round. Travis pressed on and scored a few takedowns early in the third but a late flurry by Joe made this a close finish. Travis scored one more takedown to finish the round and secure the split decision.

The preliminary rounds saw finishes by Dakota Bush and Andrew Wiltse while Ty Flores (1-0) looked impressive in his victory over Colby Tierney in his pro debut. Next up for RFA is the team competition RFA: USA - Brazil. The full results for RFA 28: Sanchez - Poppie are listed below.

Main Card

Andrew Sanchez def. John Poppie by TKO (strikes). Round 3, 1:53  – for middleweight title

Ken Porter def. Matt Manzanares by split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)

Thiago Moisés def. Javon Wright by submission (rear-naked choke). Round 2, 2:10

Jake Roberts def. Chuka Willis by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

Adam Osmoe def. Jimmy Donahue by submission (rear-naked choke). Round 1, 3:27

Travis Draper def. Joey Valadez by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)

Prelims

Tyler Flores def. Colby Tierney by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)

Dakota Bush def. Derek Clardy by knockout (strikes). Round 2, 1:40

Andrew Wiltse def. Ross Campbell by knockout (punches). Round 3, 2:05