LAS VEGAS – Ron “Wolverine” Bata became the first Power Slap fighter to win a belt in two divisions, after defeating AyJay Hintz for the light heavyweight title at Power Slap 3 on Friday at UFC Apex.

“It feels great to have the C by my name again,” Bata said. “I don’t feel like losing the C anytime soon.”

The two put on a thrilling bout that lasted all five rounds, earning Fight of the Night bonuses for both fighters. 

Hintz’s first slap resulted in a foul but took a clean slap from Bata on his defense round. Bata rocked Hintz with strong slaps in rounds two and three, but Hintz did not fall to the mat. Hintz delivered a strong slap in round 4, garnering a thumbs up from Bata. Bata responded with a strong slap of his own, again rocking Hintz but failing to put him to the mat.

The fifth round featured two more solid strikes, but the bout eventually went to the scorecards, which Bata won via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46). 

“It was tough match. AyJay shocked the hell out of me,” he said. “Everyone has seen him get laid down last couple of times. … Fourth round, he got me pretty good. ”

The semi-final bout featured a super-heavyweight friends, Koa Viernes and Micah Seiuli. The two traded heavy slaps for the three-rounds, but ultimately it was Viernes, known as the “Da Crazy Hawaiian,” picked up the unanimous decision victory (30-26, 30-26, 29-27).

“That’s my boy,” he said. “Micah is probably the toughest opponent I’ve ever had. … I really tried to knock his ass out, but he ate it.”

In a battle between a pair of 2-0 light heavyweight fighters, Austin Turpin (3-0) knocked out No. 2 ranked Alan Klingbeil (2-1) with a massive right-handed slap that sent Klingbeil to the mat. Klingbeil couldn’t make it back to the podium in the allotted 60-second frame, resulting in a technical knockout victory for Turpin.

Turpin made the move down from heavyweight to light heavyweight – a move that seemingly paid dividends. 

“It went exactly how I thought it would,” he said.

Turpin made his intentions known after the fight, calling out Bata for a title shot.

“Ron, I’m coming for that dangum belt,” he said. “Keep it warm.”

In the opening bout of the main card, Duane Crespo (4-2) defeated Dorian Perez (4-1), handing the latter his first career loss in Powerslap. Perez was called for a clubbing foul and a stepping foul, which resulted in points being deducted. Crespo won all three scorecards 29-26, putting himself back in line for a potential heavyweight title shot against his friend and coach Damien Dibbell.

“I was just hungry. You lose one time especially to the high level that’s where you want to be,” Crespo said. “So back to the grind and I did everything I needed to do to get here and I think I did a great job.”

Preliminary Card Results

• WELTERWEIGHT: Emanuel Muniz (2) def. Cole Young (4) via unanimous decision (29-26 all scorecards).
• MIDDLEWEIGHT: Azael Rodriguez (2) def. Amir Nuriddeen (4) via technical knockout.
• WELTERWEIGHT: Jewel Scott (9) def. Andrew Fields (8) via disqualification.
• LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT: Russel Rivero (4) def. Bear Bennett via knockout.