Jimmie Rivera and Abel Cullum waged a highly entertaining five-round battle for the King of the Cage bantamweight belt on Friday night, with HDNet viewers treated to a good fight that ended with Rivera taking Cullum's title by split decision.

It was one of the better shows King of the Cage has put on HDNet, which needed the Rivera-Cullum main event to entertain the fans and make up for the fact that former heavyweight boxing champion Ray Mercer abruptly pulled out of his scheduled fight with Ron Sparks.

Rivera and Cullum delivered, and at the end of of 25 minutes of back-and-forth action, mostly on the feet, two judges ruled it 49-46 for Rivera, while one ruled it 48-47 for Cullum.

"I'm happy for a win," Rivera said. "Hell of a fighter, Abel Cullum. Thank you for the opportunity."

Rivera improved his record to 7-1, and the only loss was a split decision in his second pro fight. Cullum falls to 18-4.

In other King of the Cage action:
* Noah Weisman beat Sean Wilmot by unanimous decision
*Jesus Martinez beat Chip Moraza-Pollard by unanimous decision
*Donald Sanchez beat Pat McGreal by first-round submission (rear-naked choke)
*Myles Jury beat Sam Oropeza by first-round submission (neck crank)