We’re halfway through the UFC on FOX 23 preliminary card in Denver, Colorado, and we’ve got three opening round finishes already, including a pair of quality chokes by Eric Spicely and Jason Gonzalez. Here’s how the first four fights have played out.

Eric Spicely def. Alessio Di Chirico via submission (triangle choke) at 2:14 of round 1 – Middleweights

Spicely spent the better part of a minute looking to take Italy’s Di Chirico down, but wound up getting reversed on the way down. Spicely immediately set up a trianlge choke, elbowed Di Chirico, pulled the head down, and was able to get Di Chirico to tap. It’s another opening round submission win for Spicely, who is now 2-1 in his UFC career.

Marcos Rogerio de Lima def. Jeremy Kimball via TKO (punches) at 2:27 of round 1 – 209 lbs catchweight

Kimball pushed de Lima down early in round 1, and the Brazilian attacked with a heel hook, but Kimball escaped back to his feet. Kimball tripped and then de Lima hurt Kimball with a right hand and then jackhammered him with more shots to the head while he was turtled up, and referee Adam Martinez stopped the fight. The crowd booed, but Kimball was not in good shape to continue.

Alexandre Pantoja def. Eric Shelton via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) – Flyweights

Pantoja threw some hard leg kicks in the early going, but was caught hard by a Shelton spinning backfist. Shelton was landing the cleaner shots with his hands, but Pantoja hopped on Shelton’s back and aimed to get both hooks in, which he did. He couldn’t get a rear-naked choke on Shelton, who then reversed position and got back to his feet, before taking Pantoja down. Pantoja returned to his feet before the opening round ended. Both men were active with their boxing early in round 2, and Pantoja was able to stop Shelton’s takedowns. Pantoja went for the guillotine and pulled guard but instantly lost position. They returned to striking just before the halfway mark. Pantoja dropped for a guillotine again, this one tighter than the previous, but Shelton escaped just the same. Shelton drilled Pantoja with a hard flying knee shortly thereafter. Pantoja took Shelton down and gained backmount. He briefly flattened Shelton out, but Shelton tried to use the cage to improve his position. Pantoja flattened Shelton out again and went for the rear-naked choke, switching arms as he looked for the finish, but Shelton survived the danger and made his way into round 3.

The pace slowed down in the final round, and you could understand why, given this is in Denver and there was a lot of energy expended in rounds 1-2. Shelton caught Pantoja with a hard left hook, with Pantoja motioning him to bring it on. Pantoja threw two power shots that cracked Shelton. Shelton easily shucked away a Pantoja takedown with just over a minute remaining in the final round. These exhausted flyweights swung to the final horn, but Pantoja would come away with the split decision win in a very close and competitive fight between these two TUF 24 semifinalists.

Jason Gonzalez def. J.C Cottrell via submission (d’arce choke) at 3:54 of round 1 – Lightweights

Gonzalez was active early on with body and head kicks, and then hurt Cottrell with an uppercut. Cottrell got a much-needed takedown and managed to gain side control. Gonzalez was able to get back to guard and he was active off of his back, but Cottrell kept a heavy base. Cottrell had a mounted triangle very briefly, but Gonzalez scrambled to his feet, then went for an extremely tight d’arce choke, which he finished expertly. Gonzalez improves to 1-1 in the UFC, while Cottrell is 0-2.