Many expected the UFC Fight for the Troops 3 bout between Rustam Khabilov and Jorge Masvidal to compete for fight of the night. And those people were right. Masvidal held off Khabilov's vaunted wrestling for the most part, but ate a bunch of rights early and a huge spinning kick late. It was enough to Khabilov to take the unanimous decision victory with 30-27, 29-28, and 30-27 scores.
Khabilov clubbed Masvidal with a couple of winging rights early in the first. Whenever Masvidal closed the distance he was getting caught with that right. Masvidal defended a couple of takedowns and scored with knees. He got a little overconfident though and went for a flying knee, which led to a brief takedown. He managed to get up quickly though and score with more knees in the clinch and kicks to the body.
The fighters were a little more tentative early in the second, with Khabilov scoring with a right or two while Masvidal worked his jab and body kicks. Masvidal seemed to be finding his rhythm a bit, working to slip Khabilov's right while connecting with his own offense. Khabilov switched it up and scored with a combo that made Masvidal smile. Jorge responded with a brief takedown, and the grappled against the cage for a while.
After exchanging some single shots, Khabilov dropped Masvidal with a spinning head kick. Khabilov charged in but Masvidal recovered quickly. They engaged in a fun grappling battle with a few reversals before returning to the feet. The pace slowed a bit as both men were tired. Masvidal tried a spinning back kick but Khabilov took his back. Masvidal quickly escaped though. The fight ended in a stalemate on the feet.