RUF 69 Results: Lucio 18-Second TKO, Ocasio Wins Main Event

RUF Nation packed the Celebrity Theatre Saturday night for RUF 69, and the card gave Phoenix a little of everything: four first-round finishes, a heavyweight split decision, and a main event that went the full fifteen. Free photo galleries from the night are live at the bottom of this post. Amateur Card Marcos Gamez opened the night in the lightweight division with something to prove. Last time we saw him, at RUF 65, he was on the wrong end of a TKO. This time he grinded out all three rounds against debuting Carlos Moreno and swept the cards 29-28 across the board. His amateur record now sits at 2-1. Isidro Benavidez III followed with the first submission of the night, sinking a rear naked choke on Manuel Medina* at 2:31 of round two. Both fighters were new to our coverage. Benavidez moves to 2-0 as an amateur. Then the first-round finishes started stacking up. Samuel Dalton, rebounding from a TKO loss to Jax Stam at RUF 62, gave up age and reach to newcomer Nate Brown and didn't care. He found the rear naked choke at 2:22 of the first in their 175-pound catchweight bout. JoJo Griffin did him one better. Coming off a TKO loss at RUF 61, Griffin choked out Robert Mendoza in 1:31 flat to get back in the win column. Morgan Lucio owned the fastest finish of the night. Her last fight in our coverage was a TKO loss at WVR 1 back in 2019, so a long layoff was the storyline going in. It lasted 18 seconds. Lucio blitzed Tehya Swarts with strikes for the TKO and announced herself back in the bantamweight division in the loudest way possible. Pro Card Niko Kittrell, fresh off a decision win at Empire Championship Series in March, went to war for three rounds with debuting heavyweight Malik Besseck. Kittrell took the split decision and keeps his pro record clean at 2-0. Alex Martinez hadn't appeared on our pages since a submission win at RUF 52 in 2023. The layoff didn't show. He controlled all three rounds of a 160-pound catchweight bout against Malique Lee and took the unanimous decision, 30-27 on every card. Alex Preissing keeps making this look easy. One month after his submission win at RUF 68, he battered Jean Tejena to a TKO stoppage at 3:07 of round one. Preissing is now 5-0 as a pro, and at this rate the regional bantamweight division is running out of tests for him. Main Event Ryan Ocasio came into his MMA Stalker debut carrying a 6-1 record and left with it intact plus one. He and Esteban Gonzalez, also new to our coverage, went the distance in a 126-pound catchweight bout. Ocasio controlled the fight and took the unanimous decision, 30-28, 30-27, 30-28. Keep an eye on Preissing and Ocasio. Both look ready for bigger stages, and RUF's amateur ranks keep producing fighters worth tracking. Full Results Amateur Lightweight | Marcos Gamez wins by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) over Carlos Moreno Amateur Flyweight | Isidro Benavidez III @isidro_benavidez_iii wins by Submission via Rear Naked Choke over Manuel Medina at 2:31 of round 2 Amateur Catchweight - 175 lbs | Samuel Dalton @_samueldalton wins by Submission via Rear Naked Choke over Nate Brown at 2:22 of round 1 Amateur Catchweight - 150 lbs | JoJo Griffin @jojomma wins by Submission via Rear Naked Choke over Robert Mendoza at 1:31 of round 1 Amateur Bantamweight | Morgan Lucio @bigmorgzmma wins by TKO via Strikes over Tehya Swarts at 0:18 of round 1 Pro Heavyweight | Niko Kittrell @nikokittrell wins by Split Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) over Malik Besseck Pro Catchweight - 160 lbs | Alex Martinez @amar155_ wins by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) over Malique Lee Pro Bantamweight | Alex Preissing @alexpreissingmma wins by TKO via Strikes over Jean Tejena at 3:07 of round 1 Pro Catchweight - 126 lbs | Ryan Ocasio @ryanocasio wins by Unanimous Decision (30-28, 30-27, 30-28) over Esteban Gonzalez Free Photo Galleries Full fight night galleries from RUF 69 are free to browse and download