Round 1
Kimmons punches his way inside on Rivera and changes levels for a takedown but Rivera grabs underhooks and thwarts him. Kimmons pushes Rivera back against the cage but Rivera escapes back to the center. Rivera lands a nice right hand lead and pushes Kimmons against the cage and scores with a nice uppercut. Rivera takes control in the middle of the cage, scoring with multiple punch combinations, landing big right after big right. Kimmons shows a solid chin but his only answer in the exchanges are flailing counters. Kimmons backs Rivera into the cage once again and takes him down with about 45 seconds left in the round. Rivera defends from his back but Kimmons finds some holes and lands his best shots of the round.
Round 2
Kimmons charges in again to begin round two, pushing Rivera against the cage. Rivera knees to the body as Kimmons shoots and drops him awkwardly to the mat. Kimmons pops right back up but Rivera lands an uppercut that hurts Kimmons who falls to his back. Rivera takes over from top position and punishes him with strikes. He is landing at will every time he sits up in his guard. Rivera is pounding away with just over a minute left in round two. Rivera stands up out of guard and leaps back in with more right hands. With 30 seconds left, Rivera lets Kimmons up. The fighters exchange from the clinch with Kimmons getting the better shots in the final seconds.
Round 3
Rivera knocks Kimmons to the mat with a barrage of punches just 10 seconds into the final round. Rivera settles into his guard and pounds away with right hands as referee Herzog watches intently. Kimmons’ face is covered in blood and Herzog calls for the doctor. After a cursory look, Kimmons takes up his position on the mat and Rivera continues the assault. Herzog deems he has had enough and steps in at 1:53 to give Rivera the win by TKO.