SANTA MONICA, Calif., April 28 -- Eighteen Southern Californian mixed martial arts hopefuls stepped into the cage tonight as the Total Fighting Alliance held its second card at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.

In the main event, Toby Grear (Pictures) earned a well-deserved decision over TFA lightweight champion Brett Cooper (Pictures) after an exciting and competitive fight.

Grear survived two close attempts at a triangle choke from Cooper in the first, slamming his way to safety each time. He changed momentum in the second by staying out of danger and working a steady ground-and-pound game from the guard.

Even on the cards heading into the third, Long Beach's Cooper lost control of the fight in the final minute when Grear delivered a heavy dose of punches from the top.

All three judges scored the bout 29-28 for the Hollywood-based Grear, which Sherdog.com agreed with.

Grear-Cooper -- the only contest featuring five-minute periods after the California State Athletic Commission limited the first eight bouts to three, three-minute rounds due to the untested level of fighter -- was the last of the card's four title clashes.

In a sloppy affair for the vacant TFA heavyweight title, Los Angeles's Julian Rush (Pictures) survived a 15-pound size disadvantage and two takedowns from Riverside's Greg White to score a technical knockout at 2:23 of round two.

With Eddie Bravo in his corner, lightweight Conor Heun (Pictures) slapped a D'Arce choke on the overmatched Gilbert Salinas at 1:37 of the first.

A middleweight tilt saw Bryan Baker stop Geoff Hawks (Pictures) from the mount at 2:10 of the opening period.

Maurice Eazel (Pictures) imposed his will on Skye Rivera, winning the 135-pound clash at 2:51 of round two. Eazel opened with a high-elevation double-leg takedown that brought the roughly 750 diehard MMA fans in the Civic Auditorium to their feet. At that point it was academic, as Eazel had little difficulty the rest of the way.

Jesse Juarez blew through Jacob Nudel, picking up and slamming the overmatched middleweight before securing an armbar from mount just 62 seconds after the opening bell.

The evening's lone controversy came when referee Cecil Peoples interjected early during the 135-pound TFA title clash between belt holder Chad George and his challenger, Todd Guimond.

Following two competitive though plodding rounds, Guimond took over from the top and looked as though he'd locked in a choke from side-control. With George on his back, Peoples moved in at 1:31 of the final round when it appeared to the veteran referee as if George was unconscious.

Upon separating the fighters, however, it was clear George remained lucid. Promoters declared a fourth bout between the bantamweights for July.

TFA welterweight titleholder JJ Ambrose had no trouble in dispatching Ben Gonzalez. Ambrose's size and superior wrestling served him well en route to a stoppage at 2:06 of the second period.

Seth Dukin opened the card by out-pointing Jeff Martin 29-28 twice and 30-27.