Fight Night Challenge Play-by-Play

Posted by :jcastle On : January 21, 2014

Category: Beard Advantage, Boxing, Doombeard Exclusive, Fight Night Challenge, Fight Recap, Fighting Style, Muay Thai

Fight Night Challenge was an interesting amateur promotion to watch. Not only did they feature entertaining MMA fights, but they opened their show with a boxing match, and also featured four Muay Thai bouts. Below, you will find play-by-plays, plus my opinion, on the fights that night. There is also a video following some match ups, so that you can watch it for yourself.

Calvin Daniels vs. Zach Zeleick (156 lbs. Boxing bout)

RD1: 10-9 Zeleick

RD2: 10-9 Zeleick

RD3: 10-9 Zeleick, but he is fading noticeably

RD4: 10-9 Zeleick

Zach “ZZ” Zeleick wins by Unanimous Decision. “ZZ” seemed to have the edge in power and killer instinct throughout , rocking Daniels several times.

Charles Tarvers vs. Chance Jones (165 lbs. Modified (no elbows) Muay Thai bout)

Chance Jones has a definitive “Beard Advantage” with a solid full beard.

RD1: 10-9 Jones

RD2: 10-9 Jones

RD3: 10-9 Tarvers

Jones was the definite aggressor early on into the fight, but Tarvers came back and definitely won the third round. Charles Tarvers wins by Unanimous Decision.

Oleksander “The Greek” Humen vs. Richard “The Outlaw” Thacker ( 170 lbs. MMA Bout)

Oleksander Humen walked out to an awesome Greek hard rock song that also featured heavy doses of mandolin. Humen has an abosolutely awesome entrance song, that I am sure is going to give him some great vibes and added power in the fight. The power of the mandolin compels him!

RD1: Humen lands a snapping leg kick, then another. Thacker clinches up with Humen and pushes him against the cage, where Humen then reverses and lands a series of knees to the legs of Thacker. Humen then attempts to jump and take Thackers back while standing, but instead settles for a slamming takedown, almost immediately achieving mount. Humen then unloads a barrage of punches on Thacker, forcing Thacker to turn over as he wilts under the pressure, with blood streaming down his face. Referee Todd McGovern stepped in and called the end to the bout.

A 2:07 TKO win for Humen in Round 1.

Dakota Donivan vs. Antonio Ortega (130 lbs. Modified MMA rules)

This fight is a modified MMA fight where both competitors are still in high school, with Donivan being 15, and Ortega being 16.

RD1: Ortega lands a solid left hand to begin the bout, with Donivan responding with a takedown. Ortega attempts an Armbar, but Donivan defends it well, but succumbs to the second Armbar attempt.

First Round (:50) Submission (Armbar) win for Antonio Ortega.

Lashonda Hinton vs. Chelsea McCoy (135 lbs. Modified Muay Thai rules)

RD1: 10-9 McCoy

RD2: 10-9 McCoy

RD3: 10-9 McCoy

A re-occuring theme throughout the fight was the rapid fire flurries of punches and knees that Chelsea McCoy was landing on her opponent. While Hinton was landing some hard single shots, McCoy’s blistering speed kept her one step ahead of her opponent throughout the duration of the bout.

30-27 Unanimous Decision victory for Chelsea McCoy.

Roque Zapata vs. Carlos Martinez (135 lbs. MMA fight)

RD1: Both fighters meet in the center and are exchanging hard and fast combos. Zapata in particular. Zapata lands a snapping leg kick, then another. Martinez clinches up on the end of a combination and looks to be working for a takedown against the cage for a while. They separate, with Zapata landing some hard punches as the round comes to a close.

RD2: Zapata takes the center of the cage, then Martinez lands a leg kick. Martinez lands a kick, but Zapata counters with a combination that lands flush on the chin of Martinez. Zapata then throws Martinez to the ground and beginning to work some hard ground and pound with Martinez pushed up against the cage. Martinez briefly achieves Rubber Guard, and is throwing his legs up, fishing for submission attempts. Zapata uses a failed sub attempt to advance to North/South position. Zapata goes for an Armbar, but with the 10-second clapper sounding, instead chooses to focus his efforts on landing a series of audibly hard punches to the body of Martinez to close out the round.

RD3: Martinez misses with a high kick. Zapata attempts a takedown, but Martinez deftly reverses it and lands on top in mount. Zapata rolls over and gives up his back, which Martinez capitalizes on the starts working for a Rear Naked Choke. Zapata is gamely defending, so Martinez mixes in some punches as well. Zapata attempts to stand up, which allows him to improve his position, shaking Martinez off his back. Zapata ends up on top in side control, but Martinez improves his position again, taking his back. Both fighters are now standing and are clinched up against the cage, with Martinez throwing a series of knees to Zapata’s head and body as the round comes to a close. At the end of the round, both fighters embraced and congratulated each other on a great fight.

Split Decision Win for Roque Zapata.

This extremely spirited fight to was truly awesome to watch. Both fighters involved are very exciting, and I am sure have great futures ahead of them in their MMA careers.

Robbie Lillard vs. Roy Smith (155 lbs. MMA bout)

RD1: Lillard lands a leg kick, then follows up with a series of punches that drop his opponent. Smith seems to be fishing for leg lock of some kind, but Lillard is unrelenting in his efforts at punching Roy Smith in the face. Lillard transitioned between side control and mount, eventually settling on staying in mount. Lillard continues to pound Smith with hard punches and elbows, eventually causing Smith to roll over and submit due to the Strikes right as the referee is preparing to step in and stop the contest.

Robbie Lillard wins by Submission (Strikes) in the first round.

Daryl Jones vs. Corey Brown (155 lbs. MMA Title Bout)

RD1: Jones lands a snapping leg kick to start the round. Jones then lands a series of punches and follows Brown to the ground. Jones uncorks a barrage of punches, but Brown weathers the storm and recovers his position and gets into full guard. After Brown spent some time trying to isolate an arm, Jones got back to his feet and walked away from Brown. A brief exchange sees Brown pushed up against the cage in the clinch. Another combination of punches from Jones sees Brown return to the ground, looking for a submission. Brown throws his legs up and threatens the arm of Jones, but Jones responds with a flurry of hammer-fists to Browns face. Brown regains control of Jones’ wrist, and seems to be looking for either another Armbar or Triangle Choke attempt as the round comes to a close.

At the close of the round, the ringside doctor came into the cage to attend to Brown, whose eye was visibly swollen and he appeared to be having problems with his peripheral vision, causing the ringside doctor to call and end to the fight for the purposes of fighter safety.

Daryl Jones wins via TKO due to Doctor Stoppage, becoming the new FNC Lightweight Champion.

Donald Henshaw vs. Justin Hatcher (170lbs. MMA Bout)

RD1: Henshaw shoots for a takedown from long distance, but is reversed with Hatcher landing on top. After a brief scramble, Hatcher got on top in mount and started raining down punches. Henshaw rolled over and seemed to go limp, forcing Referee Mike King to step in and call an end to the fight.

First round (0:39) TKO victory for Justin Hatcher.

James Speight vs. Nick Minton (255 lbs. MMA Bout)

Beard Advantage goes to Nick Minton, who is rocking a closely cropped full beard.

RD1: Minton throws a two-punch combination, and Speight clinches up with him and puts him against the cage. Minton is working short punches to the body of Speight, who throws Minton to the ground and almost immediately gets to mount. Very shortly thereafter James Speight locks up an Americana that causes Minton to tap almost immediately, causing ref Mike King to call an end to the action.

First Round Submission (Americana) Victory for James Speight.

Victor Rubli vs. Randy Fitzgerald (205 Modified (no elbows) Muay Thai bout)

Definitive Beard advantage for Fitzgerald, who has a solid full beard (goatee and chinstrap).

RD1: Rubli lands a kick, but Fitzgerald responds with a few punches in return. Fitzgerald lands a leg kick, then throws Rubli to the ground in short order. Fitzgerald starts to land his punches flush to the face of Rubli as the round comes to a close, noticeably rocking Rubli.

RD2: Rubli throws a pair of leg kicks, but Fitzgerald responds with hard punches. Rubli wings a right hand, but Fitzgerald slips his punch and lands some punches that drop Rubli again. Fitzgerald lands another series of hard punches that eventually drop Rubli yet again. Referee Todd McGovern steps in to check on Rubli and give him the count, but Rubli’s corner throws in the towel right before McGovern waves off the bout.

Second Round KO win for Randy Fitzgerald, who thanked all of his supporters for coming out to watch what was probably his last fight. If that was indeed his last fight, he certainly acquitted himself well, and ended his fighting career with a dominant performance in front of his friends and family.

Chris Rollins vs. Brian Rich (145 lbs. MMA Title Bout)

RD1: Rich throws a right hand and starts working for a takedown almost immediately. After he gets Rollins against the cage, he gets a slamming takedown and works some knees to the body of Rollins, who pops back up to his feet in short order. Rich gets another slam takedown, getting in side control and begins to work for a D’Arce choke against the cage. Rollins gamely defends the choke, constantly moving around and scrambling and eventually getting back to his feet. A furious exchange sees Rich shoot for another takedown in response to the strikes of Rollins. Ref. Todd McGovern separates the fighters and deducts a point from Rollins for strikes to the back of Rich’s head. After giving Rich the customary amount of time to recover, the fight resumes and sees Rich achieve another takedown in short order. Rich then takes the back of Rollins and starts to work for a Rear Naked Choke. Rollins defends the submission and Rich ends up on top in mount, working strikes against the cage until the round comes to a close.

RD2: Rollins starts off the round with a punching combination that sees Rich feint for a takedown. Rich then feints a punch and shoots for a takedown, but is met with the right knee of Rollins, which connected squarely on his jaw, dropping him. Rollins follows Rich to the ground and throws strikes to Rich’s face and body until Referee Todd McGovern steps in to call an end to the bout.

Second Round TKO stoppage win for Chris Rollins, who remains the FNC 145 lbs. Champion.

John Calloway vs. Kris Lewis (265 lbs. MMA bout)

Since both fighters are in possession of solid but closely cropped full beards, I will award Beard Advantage to both fighters, and will also congratulate both fighters for embracing manliness in general and growing beards.

RD1: Calloway lands a kick to the body of Lewis, who responds in kind. Both fighters clinch up and Calloway ends up on top in the front headlock position. Calloway looks to have locked up the arm of Lewis, who is forced to tap due to the fact that his shoulder got dislocated.

First Round TKO stoppage due to injury, win for John Calloway.

Alan Stephenson vs. Dustin Goard (155 lbs. Muay Thai Title Bout)

I award Beard Advantage to Dustin Goard, who in addition to having a solid full beard, walked out to “Danger Zone”, showing a great sense of style and panache.

RD1: Goard lands a leg kick, but Stephenson responds with one of his own with some punches to follow it. Both fighters begin to exchange hard leg kicks and punches, with Stephenson having the sleight edge in the exchanges, as he is countering well. Goard lands a few hard punches as the round comes to a close, but Stephenson fires back with some hard punches of his own, having done a good job of catching Goard on the end of a lot of his punches.

RD2: Goard lands a series of leg kicks, but Stephenson continues to respond in kind. Stephenson lands a snapping leg kick, then opens up on Goard with a hard series of punches. Stephenson lands a flush uppercut/hook combo that stuns Goard.

RD3: Stephenson almost immediately uncorks a solid barrage of punches that eventually drop Goard. After the fight resumes after the count, Goard lands a kick to Stephenson’s body, then a leg kick, but Stephenson fires back with hard punches and a spinning back kick that barely misses. Stephenson and Goard exchange strikes until the round comes to a close, a round that Stephenson handily won

RD4: Goard misses with a kick, then Stephenson responds with a body kick of his own, then a hard series of punches to the face of Goard. Stephenson is clearly wining on most of the exchanges, and seems to be putting a lot of power on all his strikes without his cardio appearing to be any worse for wear. Stephenson continues to land hard punches until the end of the round, clearly dominating yet another round.

RD5: Stephenson lands a solid combo to the face of Goard, who responds with a flying knee and subsequent spinning back-fist attempts that miss. Goard lands a snapping kick to the body of Stephenson , who responds with an audibly hard body shot of his own, followed by series of jabs. Goard fires back with strikes, but Stephenson catches him with a hard uppercut before both fighters clinch up. The round ends with both fighters throwing strikes up against the cage.

Unanimous Decision victory for Alan Stephenson, who handily dismantled his opponent throughout the fight with his superior striking abilities.

Jon-Taine Hall vs. Dashawn Boatwright (205 lbs. MMA Title )

Beard Advantage most assuredly goes to Dashawn “The 400 lbs. Silverback” Boatwright, who is sporting a great full beard and a Mohawk that is reminiscent of Mr. T.

RD1: Boatwright lands a hard kick to the body of Hall, and he follows it up with a punching combination and a high kick that drops Hall. Hall gets back up to his feet and attempts to clinch with Boatwright, but is easily shucked off. Boatwright lands a leg kick, then throws another kick that is caught by Hall, who then briefly gets him to the canvas. Boatwright almost immediately reverses and ends up on top in mount, then gets back to his feet in short order. Boatwright chases Hall down and begins to clobber him with punches. Hall responds with a takedown attempt against the cage, which Boatwright completely stifles. Both fighters separate, and Boatwright resumes his efforts at successfully stalking Hall and mixing up punches and kicks. Hall throws a leg kick, and is then chased down by Boatwright. Both fighters end up clinched against the cage, reversing position several times until they separate. Boatwright then throws a barrage of strikes to the head of Hall, dropping him with an extremely hard punch. Boatwright is on top of Hall, landing some short punches before he stands back up. Hall then shoots for and gets a takedown, but Boatwright almost immediately pops back to his feet. Hall throws a few front kicks and jabs to keep Boatwright at a distance. Hall shoots for yet another takedown that Boatwright shrugs off, clearly being the stronger fighter. Hall gets backed up against the cage and is nailed with an audibly hard right hand to the body. Hall throws another kick to the body of Boatwright right before the round comes to a close.

RD2: Both fighters meet in the center, with Boatwright immediately landing a leg kick, then another. Hall throws a series of front kicks to keep Boatwright at a distance. Boatwright lands another hard leg kick, then another. Boatwright then charges Hall with a hard punching combination, with Hall responding with a hard hook of his own. Boatwright then rushes in to throw more punches, but is inadvertently poked in the eye by Hall, who was keeping his jab hand out to keep distance.

After being attended to by the ringside physician, the fight was declared a No Contest due to an inadvertent eye poke by Hall to the eye of Boatwright. Up until the eye-poke, it was a fight that Boatwright was handily winning, having dropped his opponent several times in the space of the first round alone. I look forward to checking out their rematch, which will be taking place at the next Fight Night Challenge on March 29^th in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Simply put, the guys at Fight Night Challenge put on an absolutely great show. The night’s card was full of quality and exciting fights, and I greatly look forward to covering their shows in the future.

Questionable Refereeing Almost Turned a Win into a Loss at UFC Fight Night 34

Posted by :jcastle On : January 6, 2014

Category: Doombeard Opinion, Fighting Style, Referee, UFC, UFC Fight Recap

In a Bantamweight (135 lbs.) fight that saw Kyung Ho Kang come out and start to dominate from very early on against Shunichi Shimizu, I saw one of the stranger bits of refereeing that I can recall. At 3:34 in the First Round, after having mounted his opponent, Kang went for a Triangle choke and rolled over to his back, his opponent fully sunk into the choke. Shimizu gamely defended the choke, causing Kang to start chaining together submission attempts, moving between Triangle chokes and Armbars, sometimes even going for both at the same time. At the 2:02 mark, Kang landed two of what appeared to be illegal “12-6” elbows initially, but upon further review, I would say that “2-8” would be more applicable as far as the downward angle is concerned. Referee Steve Perceval separated the fighters, with Shimizu still seeming to be in decent shape, even motioning to Kang that his 12-6 elbows were illegal. After making sure that the ringside physician was checking on Shimizu, Perceval then announced that he was taking two points from Kang, as opposed to the usual one-point deduction. This precipitated a lot of boos from the crowd, boos to which I’d be inclined to agree with.

Seeking further information on the subject, I was grateful to have the chance to speak with Mike King; who since beginning his refereeing career in 2006 has refereed hundreds of Pro MMA bouts, much less the countless more Amateur MMA bouts he has overseen. He informed me that while he agreed with the separation of the fighters and calling the ringside physician into the cage to check on Shimizu, that he disagreed with the two-point deduction from Kang, going on to say that a one-point deduction would be much more appropriate. He went on to elaborate on the subject and his experience with it, citing the need for staying on top of the fighters with preemptive verbal commands to watch where their blows are landing, not just separating the fighters upon the instance of a foul itself. King also stated that a two-point deduction for anything less than an obviously intentional foul seemed a bit unprecedented and excessive, confirming my suspicion that UFC referee (and I say UFC referee due to the fact that since the bout took place in Singapore, where there is no recognized sanctioning body or athletic commission, which in those instances, the UFC imports their own referees) Steve Perceval was a bit heavy-handed in the way he dealt with the situation.

Shimizu was clearly in good shape to continue, so the fight thankfully went on. Commentator Jon Anik brought up a very good point once the fight resumed, stating that what was looking like a 10-8 round for Kang turned into, at best, a 8-8 round for him, or most likely, a 9-8 round for Shimizu. To extrapolate Kang’s predicament, that would mean that barring him getting a clean sweep for every round going forward, he was at great risk for having the fight scored as a Draw, or even worse, a Loss for him. Luckily, the dominance that Kang began to showcase early on into the fight continued, with Kang nailing Shimizu with audibly hard elbows and thunderous punches from the top position in guard. After more than two minutes of eating numerous hard blows, blows that contributed to one of his eyes being almost swollen shut, Shimizu began to wilt under the barrage of Kang. After a brief scramble, Kang ended up on top in mount and locked in an Arm Triangle choke that almost immediately forced Shimizu to tap. This was very fortunate for Kang, for as explained before, the unprecedented two-point deduction could have very well caused him to achieve a Draw, or even lose the fight via decision if the fight had gone the distance. I know that there is no referee alive who has always made the right calls, but it would have been a shame to see such a dominant performance marred by a questionable call by the referee.

Luckily, Kyung Ho Kang finished the fight before he could’ve run afoul of the scorecards!

Barbarian Fight Club: Domination

Posted by :jcastle On : October 25, 2013

Category: Beard Advantage, Doombeard Exclusive, Fighting Style

An Explanation of Beard Advantage: Upon reading this article, you will notice that I preface some fight’s play-by-play by noting which fighter possessed a superior amount/style of facial hair. This is part of an ongoing research project that I am undertaking, in which I am documenting the overall success rate of fighters who possess facial hair versus those that do not. It is my belief that fighters who have facial hair have a much higher rate of victory, and I will be taking the time to document my findings at the Amateur and Professional level in MMA. It is a study that is in keeping with the theme of my website, and is definitely something worth documenting to see if my theory holds any weight in reality.

Photo courtesy of Jessica Foster Photography

Ricky Painter vs. Robert Wolfe (190 lbs. Catchweight)

RD1: Both fighters met in the center of the cage and immediately started winging hard punches. Painter was clipped and fell to the ground on the far side of the cage, and Wolfe followed him to the ground, looking to work hard Ground and Pound almost immediately. Painter tried to recover and get into guard, but Wolfe ended up mounting him and continuing to work short punches. Painter managed to get up and looked to resume his striking against Wolfe, but was dropped again with a hard right hand during an exchange. He toppled to the ground, and Wolfe followed up with one more punch before the referee called a stop to the fight, as Painter was clearly on his way to unconsciousness prior to the stoppage.

Robert Wolfe wins by Knockout at 2:26 in the First Round.

Photo courtesy of Jessica Foster Photography

Marty “Mean Man” Doll vs. Richard “Boomer” Brown (265 lbs.)

RD1: The round began with Doll pumping a jab, then Brown landed a solid punching combination followed by a knee to the face of Doll, who fell to the ground and landed flat on his back. Brown looked to be moving in to follow up with punches on the ground, but the referee called a quick stoppage to the fight, as Doll had rolled over onto his hands and knees and was clearly out of the fight.

TKO Victory for Richard Brown at 0:09 in the First Round.

Photo courtesy of Jessica Foster Photography

Albert Ichelson vs. Terry Bartholomew (145 lbs.)

RD1: Bartholomew pumped two jabs, and then Ichelson landed a series of hard kicks to the body and legs of Bartholomew. Bartholomew then pushed Ichelson up against the cage and took him to the ground, quickly achieving side control. Bartholomew then went for an Anaconda choke that Ichelson rolled out of. Bartholomew then took Ichelson’s back and sunk in a Rear Naked Choke in short order, forcing the tap.

Submission victory via Rear Naked Choke for Terry Bartholemew at 1:16 of First Round.

Photo courtesy of Jessica Foster Photography

Chris Cowie vs. Donnie Orr (150 lbs. Catchweight)

Chris Cowie walked out to “Country Boy Can Survive” by Hank Williams Jr., eliciting quite a lot of cheers from the crowd. Cowie also possesses a definitive Beard Advantage, with a solid full beard.

RD1: Orr throws a few punches and a knee, and Cowie responds in kind. Both fighters clinch up and engage in a series of furious scrambles that see them alternating between striking on the ground and exchanging punches and knees in the clinch at a blistering pace. Orr lands a series of looping punches, and Cowie responds with a knee to the chin of Orr, who is briefly dropped. After being on the ground briefly, both fighters return to the feet and commence to throw hard punches and knees in the clinch, keeping an incredibly fast pace until the end of the round, which was certainly a crowd pleaser.

RD2: Cowie reaches with a left hand, and Orr repays him with a hard two-punch combo. Cowie then drops Orr with a hard combination of punches, ending up in the front headlock position as Orr looks to recover. Orr returns to his feet, and they resume exchanging punches, with Orr mixing in a few kicks as well. Orr lands a leg kick after eating a particularly hard punch that seemed to daze him. Cowie backs Orr up against the cage and looks to work knees and punches at close range, but Orr wraps him up and takes him down to the ground, landing in guard. Cowie keeps a closed guard and looks to isolate an arm, as Orr is content to stay on top and work punches and elbows as the round comes to a close.

RD3: In between rounds, Donnie Orr’s corner told the referee that they were throwing in the towel. After expressing some initial disappointment, Chris Cowie fell to the ground and put his hands up in celebration, as the DJ put his song back on. Between the fast paced fight and “A Country Boy Can Survive” by Hank Williams Jr., one could easily tell that the crowd was quite happy due to the deafening level of cheers that filled up the venue.

Chris Cowie wins via TKO (Corner Stoppage) at 0:00 of the Second Round.

Photo courtesy of Jessica Foster Photography

In between fights, the announcer called recently minted Pro MMA fighter Blaine Shutt into the cage to discuss his upcoming pro debut and the rigorous training that it takes to be successful as an MMA fighter. Shutt, who fights out of Pennsylvania, is currently preparing to make his Pro MMA debut against Joshua Aarons at Sherman Cage Rage IV, on December 14 in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Shutt, who had fought for Barbarian Fight Club earlier in his Amateur career, amassed a sterling 11-2 record while bouncing between the Bantamweight and Flyweight weight divisions. Now readying himself for his Pro MMA debut at Flyweight, Shutt is coming into a division that has recently been added to the UFC, and due to a lack of depth therein, its quite possible that Shutt can make his way to the UFC if he can put a good streak together to start his Pro MMA career. Here’s to hoping that we do indeed get to see Blaine Shutt fight in a bigger organization soon!

Photo courtesy of Jessica Foster Photography

Jason Hammack vs. “Berserker General” Grant Marrow (205 lbs.)

Props to Grant Marrow for having a truly unique nickname. In the absence of a Beard Advantage for either fighter, I’d tentatively award Marrow the “Swag Advantage” for having a one of a kind (and awesome!) nickname.

RD1: Both fighters touch gloves to start the round with a show of mutual respect and sportsmanship. Hammack lands two leg kicks in response to a jab from Marrow. Marrow then pounces on him with fast and hard punches, dropping Hammack in short order. Marrow is relentless with his strikes on the ground, eventually forcing the referee to intervene and stop the fight with Hammack’s face bleeding profusely.

Grant Marrow wins at 0:27 of the First Round via Submission due to strikes. On a side note, the method in which Marrow achieved such an emphatic victory definitely lives up to his moniker of “Berserker General”, as he most definitely finished his opponent in a way that is reminiscent of a Viking Berserker for sure.

Photo courtesy of Jessica Foster Photography

Drew “The Osteotome” Adamson vs. Todd Welle (170 lbs)

Todd Welle has a definitive Beard Advantage, as he has a short Donegal style beard. Conversely, Drew “The Osteotome” Adamson gets some points for having a unique nickname. Based on pre-fight mojo measurables, this should be an interesting fight.

RD1: Welle reaches with a punch and gets countered by Adamson, who hits Welle with a flurry of punches. Welle catches a kick and eventually gets Adamson to the ground. Adamson is working butterfly guard and sweeps Welle, landing on top in the mount position. Welle looks to hold onto Adamson and keep him close, but Adamson is able to posture up and start throwing hard punches to the face of Welle. Welle rolls over and Adamson begins working for a Rear Naked Choke. Welle works hard to defend the choke and protect his neck, and gets out of the submission attempt and ends the round on top of Adamson in half guard.

RD2: Welle reaches with a jab and is countered by Adamson, but both fighters land a few punches in the subsequent exchange. Welle clinches up with Adamson and is shucked off, but is successful at getting him to the ground on his second attempt. Adamson then powers his way out of the front headlock position and ends up on top of Welle in side control. Welle is able to recover his position and get back into guard, briefly looking for a Guillotine choke. Adamson tries to posture up and throw punches from within the guard, but Welle gamely returns fire with punches from the bottom, and then latches onto Adamson’s right arm to attempt an Armbar. Adamson gets up to his feet and successfully defends the submission attempt as the round comes to a close.

RD3: Adamson takes the center of the cage and looks to stalk Welle and set the tempo for the round. Welle lands a snapping kick to Adamson’s body, and then evades Adamson’s retaliatory punches. Adamson backs Welle up against the cage and gets him down to the

ground in short order. Adamson lands on top in guard, but quickly advances his position to half guard and then side mount. Welle explodes up and tries to wrap up his neck, but Adamson deftly jumps to the other side and avoids it. They end up in the front headlock position, with Welle looking for a Power Guillotine choke. Adamson looks to be defending it for a short time, but the referee steps in when he sees that Adamson has lost consciousness in his attempts to defend the choke.

Todd Welle wins by Technical Submission via Power Guillotine Choke in the Third Round.

Photo courtesy of Jessica Foster Photography

Andy “Tank” Knopp vs. Casey Woodburn ( 265 lbs.)

Casey Woodburn has a slight Beard Advantage, as he is sporting a short goatee.

RD1: Knopp almost immediately ties up with Woodburn, locking up a head/arm choke that he uses to throw Woodburn to the ground. Woodburn keeps scrambling to improve his position, eventually getting on top in guard. Woodburn starts to rain down thunderous punches from within the guard, and then lands an elbow that separates Knopp from consciousness. Woodburn follows up with another few punches before the referee steps in to stop the fight due to Knopp’s lack of consciousness. Barbarian Fight Club CEO Matt “The Barbarian” Douglas, a Professional MMA fighter himself, even steps into the cage to help revive Knopp, who returns to his feet after a few minutes.

Casey Woodburn wins by Knockout at 1:11 in the First Round.

Eric Newton vs. Chris Harris (135 lbs.)

RD1: Both fighters touch gloves to start the round. Newton wings two hard right hands to Harris, who latches onto his neck in response. Newton pushes for and gets a takedown against the cage. Newton then gets up to his feet and looks to throw some air to ground punches, but Harris lands an up-kick to his face for his troubles. After a brief scramble, both fighters end up on the ground again with Newton looking for a Guillotine choke. Harris defends the submission attempt and briefly gets top position in mount, before both fighters return to their feet. Harris is rushing in for takedowns from long distance, and Newton lands two hard right hands that wobble Harris. The round ends with Newton on top in the front headlock position.

RD2: Harris comes in with a jab but eats a hard counter punch from Newton. Newton then lands another combination that leaves Harris wobbling towards the cage wall. Newton pounces on him and both fighters end up on the ground. The referee separates the fighters due to a seemingly inadvertent but illegal knee to Newton’s head by Harris. The ringside doctor attends to Newton for several minutes, and said that he suffered a stinger from the illegal knee, and has largely lost feeling in his left arm and leg.

Eric Newton wins by DQ due to an illegal knee to the head from Harris.

Photo courtesy of Jessica Foster Photography

Charlie “Kevlar” Knuteson vs. Shawn Joffe (150 lbs. Catchweight)

RD1: Knuteson throws a kick, but Joffe catches it and throws him to the ground. Knuteson returns to his feet and is taken down again, but quickly returns to his feet and achieves a takedown of his own against the cage. Knuteson tries to posture up to throw punches from mount, but Joffe rolls over, allowing Knuteson to take his back. Knuteson begins to work for a Rear Naked Choke, but Joffe defends it fiercely, rolling from side to side and doing his best to protect his neck. Joffe reverses and ends the round on top of Knuteson, throwing hard air to ground punches. In between rounds, Joffe looks very amped up after finishing the round on a good note, whereas Knuteson is looking a bit exhausted from his efforts.

RD2: Both fighters touch gloves to start the round. Joffe is visibly very pumped to resume the fight after a strong finish in the opening round, treating the crowd to a loud “Woooo” that is reminiscent of old school Ric Flair. Joffe starts landing hard punches, with Knuteson ending up on the ground in short order, continuing to eat hard punches and elbows from Joffe. After a solid bit of ground and pound, Joffe ends up taking the back of Knuteson and starts looking for a Rear Naked Choke. After defending the first attempt, Knuteson eventually succumbs to the second submission attempt and is forced to tap out due to a fully sunk-in Rear Naked Choke from Joffe.

Shawn Joffe wins by Submission via Rear Naked Choke at 1:12 of the Second Round. The announcer mentioned it as a great candidate for Fight of the Night, as the fight showcased many spirited exchanges from both fighters. Check out my post-fight interview with Shawn!

Photo courtesy of Jessica Foster Photography

Brandon “Skyscraper” Mason vs. Robert Brown (170 lbs.)

RD1: Brown pumps a jab, and then Mason responds in kind with a punch and a snapping kick. Mason gets a takedown against the cage, stepping over the legs of Brown, then gets into mount and begins raining down hard punches. It appeared as if the referee was telling Brown to defend himself, and then stopped the fight right afterwards.

Brandon Mason wins by TKO (Referee Stoppage) at 1:07 in the First Round.

Brown seemed very unhappy with the stoppage, intimating that it was premature, and a point that has some merit. However, the referee is in there to ensure fighter safety, and he made the decision that he though was prudent, regardless of anyone else’s opinion.

Photo courtesy of Jessica Foster Photography

Will “The Warrior” Warrick vs. Thomas Smith (135 lbs.)

This fight has no clear beard advantage, as both fighters are sporting closely cropped beards of even stature. Therefore, I will award Beard Advantage to both fighters, given that they are both awesome enough to know that a beard makes a man even more awesome and manly!

RD1: Both fighters advance to the center of the cage, with Warrick refusing to touch gloves, eliciting some boos from the crowd. Warrick lands a snapping leg kick, followed by a hard punch. Smith ends up on the ground with Warrick on top. Smith gets back to his feet, but is quickly taken down again, with Warrick landing hard punches and elbows. After some particularly hard elbows and punches land, the ref stops the fight due to Smith being rocked from absorbing so many hard blows.

Will Warrick wins by TKO in the First Round. The fight was truly a great performance by Warrick, who controlled the action from start to finish. Never underestimate a guy with good wrestling and a red beard, that’s all I’m saying!

Photo courtesy of Jessica Foster Photography

Bouasone “Bolo” Phonhsavath vs. Matt Skibicki (140 lbs. Catchweight)

RD1: Skibicki lands a leg kick, and then Phonhsavath responds with a Superman punch that lands flush. Skibicki clinches up and gets a takedown, and quickly gets into half guard, working short strikes to the head and body of Phonhsavath. Phonhsavath is doing a solid job of keeping Skibicki from passing his guard, and eventually gets him into full guard and starts throwing his legs up, probing for a possible submission attempt. Phonhsavath kicks Skibicki off of him, but Skibicki returns to the ground and ends up taking Phonhsavath’s back, then moving to mount, then to back control again due to Phonhsavath rolling over. The referee steps in and calls a TKO stoppage right before the end of the round, as Phonhsavath was lying prone on the ground and absorbing strikes and not defending himself intelligently.

Matt Skibicki wins by TKO via vicious Ground And Pound at 2:58 of the First Round. Check out my post-fight interview with Matt!

Photo courtesy of Jessica Foster Photography

Louie Buttice vs. Randy Ruger (230 lbs. Catchweight)

Buttice has a definitive Beard Advantage, sporting a very solid goatee to accompany his Mohawk.

RD1: Both fighters touch gloves. Buttice throws a kick, but eats a few punches in response. Ruger is stalking Louie with a smile on his face. Buttice looks to work combinations, but Ruger responds in kind with combinations of his own. Both fighters end up clinched against the cage, with Buttice getting a trip takedown. Ruger reverses and ends up on top, and lands a few punches before Buttice explodes up with a reversal of his own that sees him land on top in guard, working short strikes to the face of Ruger. Buttice pushes Ruger to wall of the cage right in front of his corner, and continues to follow the advice of his coach, Matt “The Barbarian” Douglas. The round comes to a close with Buttice on top landing short strikes, with Ruger gamely smiling back at him and laughing. Serious man points for both fighters!

RD2: Ruger paws out with a jab, then eats an inside leg kick from Buttice. Buttice misses with a kick, and then lands a hard jab. Ruger is still smiling at him, and then punches Buttice in the face. Both fighters are exchanging very hard punches, with Ruger continually backing Buttice against the cage. Buttice throws a probing leg kick, but Ruger responds with more hard punches. Ruger throws a jab, and is then taken down by Buttice, who ends up on top in side control, working strikes to the body of Ruger. Ruger achieves half guard, and the round ends with Buttice belting Ruger’s body with hard punches, to which Ruger responds with a smile.

RD3: Both fighters are showing the effects of the strain of the first two rounds. Buttice lands a leg kick, then a body kick and a jab. Buttice throws a knee, and then Ruger clinches up and throws him away. Buttice gamely attempts a flying knee, but Ruger avoids it. Ruger backs Buttice up against the cage and is probing with jabs. Buttice responds in kind. After a brief separation due to a groin strike suffered by Buttice, both fighters resume their striking attempts, with Buttice attempting several head kicks in the process. The round ends with both fighters winging hard punches against the cage, ending a very entertaining and back and forth fight.

Louie Buttice wins by Unanimous Decision with 30-27 scores from all judges. Upon hearing the result of the fight, there was quite a bit of cheering from the crowd who came out in force to support their hometown favorite.

Photo courtesy of Jessica Foster Photography

Winslow Wells vs. Stephen McBride (Defending BFC HW Champ) (BFC 265 lbs. Title)

Wells has Beard Advantage with a closely cropped full beard.

RD1: Both fighters touch gloves to begin the round. McBride throws a right hand that sees Wells clinch up with him against the cage. McBride reverses and seems to be reaching for a single leg, but both fighters are working short knees to each others legs against the cage. McBride works a few short punches to the body of Wells. They then separate, and McBride drops Wells during a punching exchange on the break. McBride postures up over a grounded Wells and lands another two punches to his face before the referee steps in to stop the fight. As McBride walks away and throws his arms up in celebration, Wells returns to his feet and immediately starts protesting the referee stoppage.

Stephen McBride, wins by TKO at 1:49 of the First Round, successfully defending his BFC Championship. Wells asked for a rematch, which Stephen McBride immediately accepted, showing a great amount of gameness and respect for his opponent.

Photo courtesy of Jessica Foster Photography

Courtney “Damned Queen” Belcher vs. Krystal Cofone (BFC Female Heavyweight Title)

RD1: Cofone throws some punches to start the round, but eats some counter shots in return from Belcher. Cofone then reverses position in a subsequent clinch and starts blasting Belcher with elbows and knees. Belcher responds with punches and a knee of her own. Cofone then pushes Belcher up against the cage and looks to work more knees to the body of her opponent. Belcher then drops down for a takedown and gets it, landing on top in half guard, postured up and landing short strikes to the head of Cofone. Cofone is scrambling well on bottom to try and mitigate the ground and pound of Belcher as the round comes to a close.

RD2: Cofone lands a leg kick, and then Belcher closes the distance with punches to back her up against the cage. Cofone turns Belcher, backing her up against the cage and looking to land more strikes in the clinch. Belcher reaches for a leg, but is backed off by a knee to the head. Cofone then catches Belcher with a punch and then unloads on her with a fast bit of strikes. Belcher then gets a slamming takedown and after fending off a brief Omaplata attempt, gets on top in side control and starts working Ground and Pound. Belcher briefly attempts to begin an Armlock of some sort, but Cofone scrambles around well and avoids it. The rounds ends with Belcher on top of Cofone, landing short punches from side control against the cage.

RD3: Cofone throws a leg kick to start the round, but Belcher again closes the distance and pushes her to the cage. Cofone reverses position and then uncorks a serious barrage of knees to the body, and punches and elbows to the head. After relentlessly landing a long and hard series of unanswered strikes to Belcher against the cage, the referee starts paying even closer attention to the action, calling a stoppage to the action once it becomes clear that Belcher has taken more damage than she can recover from.

Krystal Cofone wins by TKO (Referee Stoppage) at 0:54 in the Third Round, becoming the new BFC Women’s Heavyweight Champion.

Photo courtesy of Jessica Foster Photography

Chris “The Rocket” Rollins vs. Irvin “Nic” Nicholas (BFC 145 lbs. Title)

Nicholas has the Beard Advantage for sure, sporting a short but full beard, whereas his opponent has no facial hair of any kind.

RD1: Both fighters touch gloves to begin the fight with a show of respect. Rollins lands a jab to start the round. Nicholas is throwing some probing kicks, but Rollins closes the distance with some punches in return. Nicholas then ties him up and lands a slamming takedown, ending up on top in half guard. Rollins recovers position and gets back into full guard, but Nicholas postures up and lands some strikes, then returns to his feet, allowing Rollins to get back up. Nicholas throws some probing kicks again, then Rollins lands a punch combination that drops Nicholas. After a brief scramble on the ground, both fighters return to their feet, then Nicholas ends up on top in half guard as the round ends.

RD2: Rollins takes the center of the cage, but Nicholas shoots for and lands a slamming takedown, ending up on top in side control. Rollins is trying to hold onto the head of Nicholas, but doesn’t have anything from there. Both fighters return to their feet, then Rollins clips Nicholas with a flurry of punches, dropping him again. Rollins follows Nicholas to the ground and is truly relentless with his Ground and Pound, eventually forcing the referee to call an end to the fight.

Chris Rollins wins by TKO (Referee Stoppage) at 1:04 of the Second Round, becoming the new BFC 145 lbs. Champion. Check out my post-fight interview with Chris.

Photo courtesy of Jessica Foster Photography

Eddie “Shuperman” Shupe vs. Robert Watley (BFC 155 lbs. Title)

Robert Watley has Beard Advantage, sporting a well-trimmed mustache and a “Poets Beard”.

RD1: The fight begins with both fighters touching gloves as a sign of mutual respect. Both fighters kick at the same time, with Watley catching the leg of Shupe, tripping him to the ground. Shupe latches onto the leg of Watley, attempting a leg lock. While his opponent avoids the submission attempt, it allows Shupe to get top position and work some Ground and Pound. Watley then gets back to his feet and works some good kicks, and then Shupe takes him to the ground again. Shupe has a front headlock in a standing position against the cage. Watley attempts to lift him up for a takedown, but Shupe has great balance and stays on his feet. Shupe then drops down for a Guillotine choke, but Watley defends it well. Shupe stays on top as the round comes to a close.

RD2: The round starts with both fighters looking to establish distance. Watley lands a head kick that briefly drops Shupe, but Shupe recovers and looks for a single leg takedown. Watley returns to his feet and subsequently drops Shupe with a left hand. After a brief scramble, Watley ends up on top and begins to rain down hard punches and elbows once he gets fully postured up. Shupe covers up as Watley relentlessly pounds him with hard punches and elbows, forcing the referee to stop the fight.

Robert Watley wins by TKO (Referee Stoppage) in the Second Round, becoming the new BFC Lightweight Champion. Check out my post-fight interview with Robert!

My Findings regarding Beard Advantage: Upon reading this article, you will notice that I preface each fight’s play-by-play by noting which fighter possessed a superior amount of facial hair. After comparing the results of the fights, I found that the fighters who possessed Beard Advantage came out victorious 75% of the time. Yes, I realize that a lot more goes into winning a fight than the mere presence of facial hair, but the aforementioned statistic is still worth some serious consideration. Feel free to express your opinions on the fights or the subject of a Beard Advantage on The Doombeard Report’s Facebook page.

Thanks to Jessica Foster Photography for the permission to use these photos.

To Play It Safe or Not Play It Safe in MMA — Part II

Posted by :jcastle On : October 15, 2013

Category: Doombeard Opinion, Fighting Style, MMA Fighter Profile, UFC

While I realize that I only included five fighters on the previous list, I was confronted with a moral quandary that made me unable to publish this list without including all of the fighters mentioned below. Please enjoy the following list, and feel free to share your thoughts on it on The Doombeard Report’s Facebook page.

Six Fighters Who Have greatly benefited from an exciting fighting style:

Photo courtesy of http://SBNation.com

1. Chris Lytle – This entry shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. Chris “Lights Out” Lytle was (and still is) one of the most beloved fighters in the sport. After losing his fight (and a guaranteed title shot against Georges St. Pierre) on the finale of TUF 4 against Matt Serra, Lytle believed that fighting conservatively lead to his loss. After that, he vowed to never have that happen to him again. Lytle went on to win eight of his next 14 fights in the UFC, achieving an overall UFC record of 10-10.

While this may not strike you as a highly successful record, it’s in the way he went about establishing his legacy in the latter half of his UFC career that gets him on this list. Chris Lytle is the living embodiment of “gameness” if there ever was one; winning bonuses for Fight of the Night a record six times, Submission of the Night three times, and Knockout of the Night once. When being interviewed about Lytle’s career before his last fight with Dan Hardy, Dana White was quoted as saying that Chris Lytle had earned almost a million dollars in post-fight bonuses alone in the course of his career, not counting discretionary “locker room” bonuses that White also said Lytle routinely got whether he won or lost. Chris Lytle’s fights through the latter half of his career were routinely amazing, whether he won or lost. Whether it was his Triangle/Kimura submission win over Jason Gilliam, or his Inverted Triangle/Straight Armbar finish of Matt Brown, Chris Lytle’s name further became synonymous with awesome fights and even more awesome and esoteric submissions. Lytle’s retirement fight saw him go out on a win with a thrilling third-round submission victory over Dan Hardy that netted him the ever-elusive “double-bonus”, where he was awarded both Fight of the Night and Submission of the Night. Needless to say, Chris Lytle definitely deserves to be on this list for his numerous fights that were crowd pleasers and instant-classics. If anyone were to ever say that Chris Lytle wasn’t one of the most exciting fighters to ever grace the sport of MMA, I’d readily accuse them of blindness!

Photo courtesy of www.bleacherreport.net.

2. Dan Hardy – After a standout career in various British promotions, Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy made his UFC debut at UFC 89 against Akihiro Gono, an entertaining, striking-heavy affair that Hardy won via Split Decision. An awesome knockout of Rory Markham and thrilling stand up victories over Marcus Davis and Mike Swick propelled Hardy into a title fight against Georges St. Pierre, a bout that he ultimately lost. Carlos Condit then knocked out Dan Hardy in a thrilling stand up war that ended in under a round. Hardy was subsequently, despite Johnson’s pre-fight claims that he desired a stand-up war, outwrestled by Anthony Johnson in a fight that was largely panned by MMA fans everywhere, as Johnson favored a wrestling-heavy style that was very light on action. Hardy then faced Chris Lytle in a thrilling back and forth bout that saw him lose via submission in the third round. With Hardy having dropped four straight fights at that point, UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta was quoted as saying, “I ain’t cutting Dan Hardy. I love guys that war!”

Dan Hardy’s next fight was a first round Knockout victory over highly decorated striker Duane Ludwig, followed up by a convincing Unanimous Decision win over Amir Sadollah. Hardy was scheduled to face Matt Brown at UFC on Fox 7, but was forced out of the fight due to being diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, a diagnosis that has since kept him out of competition. I personally cannot wait until Dan Hardy is able to return to competition, and I’m sure I’m not alone in that regard. A Dan Hardy fight has become associated with excitement and great standup technique, traits that can are never bad to have!

Photo courtesy of MMAJunkie.com

3. Matt Brown – After introducing himself to MMA fans on Season 7 of The Ultimate Fighter with an awesome head kick knockout win over Jeremy May, Matt Brown was defeated by the eventual winner of TUF’s seventh season, Amir Sadollah. After rattling off four stoppage wins in first five fights, Matt Brown saw himself go into a 1-4 slide that saw all of his losses come by way of submission. Brown was given one last chance to try to right the ship, and right the ship he did!

On February 4, 2012, Matt Brown defeated Chris Cope via TKO with a barrage of strikes, and hasn’t lost since. In his next contest, Brown derailed the hype train of the highly touted Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson by never allowing him to have the space to use his vaunted karate skills, and beating him up for his troubles. Brown then rattled off a TKO win over Luis Ramos, and a Knockout win against Mike Swick, with both of the aforementioned wins coming in dominant fashion. In his next contest, Brown fought late-replacement Jordan Mein. While the first round of the fight was very competitive with both fighters trading hard blows on the feet, Brown ended up stopping Mein via TKO with punches to the face and then elbows to the body once Mein dropped to the ground, pretty much ending the fight with sheer manliness and brutality. In his latest win, Matt Brown knocked out respected veteran Mike Pyle in just 29 seconds, defeating yet another opponent who was on an impressive winning streak.

I am positive that the UFC knows that they made the right decision not cutting Matt Brown, as he has utilized the opportunity to go on an absolute tear through the UFC’s Welterweight division. Matt Brown’s next fight is against Carlos Condit on December 14 at UFC on Fox 9, which certainly looks like a fight that, aside from potentially determining the next contender to get a shot at the Welterweight title, will certainly have it’s fair share of awesomeness.

Photo courtesy of www.scifighting.com

4. Joe Lauzon – Making his UFC debut on September 23, 2006 with a 48 second KO of former UFC Champion Jens Pulver, Joe Lauzon has since become a staple in the UFC’s Lightweight division, and an exciting one at that. With an overall UFC record of 9-6, Joe Lauzon has never fought for a title, but has been a longtime fan favorite due to his immense propensity for finding himself in exciting fights that routinely end in spectacular and/or brutal fashion, whether he is on the winning side or not.

After competing on Season 5 of The Ultimate Fighter, Lauzon submitted Brandon Melendez via Triangle Choke (where he also won the Submission of the Night bonus), and the previously undefeated Jason Rinehardt via Rear Naked Choke shortly thereafter. Following a Fight of the Night TKO loss to Kenny Florian, Lauzon went on to get a TKO win over Kyle Bradley and a Submission of the Night win over Jeremy “Lil Heathen” Stephens via Armbar. From 2010-2011, Lauzon went 3-2 in the UFC, winning a post fight bonus in every single contest. While he faced setbacks with a widely panned Decision loss to Sam Stout, and a submission loss via Kimura to George Sotiropoulos, his victories during this timeframe most definitely cemented him into the hearts of MMA fans worldwide. Lauzon’s victories during this time period were all first round submission victories that won him the Submission of the Night bonus in every contest. Lauzon absolutely obliterated Gabe Reudiger, submitting him via Armbar at UFC 118 in Boston, defeated Curt Warburton by submission via Kimura at UFC Live: Kongo vs. Barry, then submitted the highly touted Melvin Guillard via Rear Naked Choke in under a minute after dropping him with a punch.

Despite Joe Lauzon’s obvious prowess in the realm of submissions, he has often engaged in thrilling stand up wars to preface either his submission victories or his defeats. This has only further endeared him to MMA fans everywhere. While Lauzon is currently mired in a two-fight losing streak, including a recent lopsided Decision loss to Michael Johnson, I firmly believe that his upcoming fight against Mac Danzig should see him return to form. After all, being tied with Anderson Silva for having the most post-fight bonuses in UFC history generally means you have a profound propensity to find yourself in awesome fights. Let us hope that his upcoming match at UFC on Fox 9 on December 14^th sees “J-Lau” return to his entertaining ways!

Photo courtesy of www.sbrforum.com.

5. Chan-Sung Jung – After amassing a 10-1 record fighting in South Korea and Japan, Chan-Sung Jung was introduced to the majority of MMA fans when he fought Leonard “Bad Boy” Garcia at WEC 48. The fight ended in a widely decried Split Decision win for Leonard Garca; but saw both fighters win the Fight of the Night honors, as well as spawning Jung’s future moniker, “The Korean Zombie”, due to his ability to take damage and keep advancing forward. After suffering a second round head kick KO loss to George Roop at WEC 51, The Korean Zombie then made his way over to the UFC upon the official merger of the WEC’s roster with that of the UFC.

Filling in for an injured Nam Phan, Chan-Sung Jung stepped up to face Leonard Garcia in a rematch, and step up he did. After thoroughly handling Garcia on the feet, Jung ended up submitting Garcia with a Twister in the final second of the second round. Aside from winning Submission of the Night from the UFC, Submission of the Year from the World MMA Awards, and being the first person to ever utilize the submission in the history of the UFC, Jung stated that he had learned the technique from watching Eddie Bravo videos on YouTube. If the aforementioned fact doesn’t make Chan-Sung Jung awesome, I don’t know what does! Generally speaking, if you are able to utilize knowledge gleaned from YouTube to submit a fighter at the highest level of MMA, you are pretty awesome!

The Korean Zombie’s next opponent was Mark Hominick, who was fresh off a loss (with a particularly gruesome hematoma therein!) to UFC Featherweight champion Jose Aldo. Jung promptly tied the UFC record for the fastest knockout, dispatching Hominick in just seven seconds, netting him the Knockout of the Night bonus in the process, however short it may have been.

Jung’s next opponent was the uber-talented Dustin Poirier, in a match where the winner was all but assured a title shot against Jose Aldo. In a Fight of the Night contest, Jung ended up submitting Poirier with a D’Arce choke in the fourth round, netting him Submission of the Night as well. After an injury to Anthony Pettis, Jung was pulled from a bout with Ricardo Lamas and faced Jose Aldo for the UFC’s Featherweight Championship. Jung and Aldo were absolutely neck and neck after a full three rounds of action, but Jung dislocated his shoulder while he threw a punch in the fourth round. Aldo saw Jung wince in pain and favor his shoulder, and subsequently pounced on him and hit him with a barrage of strikes to secure the TKO victory.

Despite the unfortunate ending to his latest contest, I’m sure MMA fans the world over are looking forward to the next time they get to watch The Korean Zombie fight. I know I most certainly am.

Photo courtesy of the UFC.com

6. Ian McCall – Last but not least, I could not write this list without including Ian “Uncle Creepy” McCall on it. I will concede that I may be slightly biased due to the fact that Ian McCall has an awesome mustache, but I believe that such a thing makes him even more exciting and awesome. Sporting a look that is reminiscent of an old-school prizefighter, Ian McCall has been one of the most entertaining fighters on the UFC’s Flyweight roster since the division’s inception.

After a 1-2 stint in the now defunct WEC at bantamweight, Ian McCall signed with Tachi Palace Fights, which at that time was the main promotion that was showcasing the Flyweight (125 lbs.) division. After a three fight winning streak in TPF that saw him defeat a whose-who of flyweight fighters en route to winning the Tachi Palace Fights Flyweight Championship belt, Ian McCall was finally called up to the UFC to take part in their inaugural Flyweight tournament to determine the initial UFC Flyweight Champion.

In McCall’s first UFC contest, he faced Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson. The fight was very competitive throughout, but it seemed like McCall was pulling ahead in the third round, going so far as to imitate riding a horse as he ended the round having taken Johnson’s back. McCall was then heartbroken to be on the wrong end of a Majority Decision that was later found to be miscalculated and was changed to a Draw. Despite the anticlimactic ending to the fight, Ian McCall and Demetrious Johnson received Fight of the Night for their entertaining bout, and the UFC immediately set about scheduling a rematch in order to readily crown a UFC Flyweight champ. While Johnson beat McCall in their rematch, “Uncle Creepy” put on an entertaining fight, routinely chasing Johnson about the Octagon. McCall next faced Joseph Benavidez, losing by Unanimous Decision but still putting on an awesome show, with McCall and Benavidez sharing some entertaining banter during the fight. Despite being 0-2-1 since joining the organization, the UFC gave the perennial fan favorite another fight, where McCall faced Illiarde Santos. The bout itself was a stand up battle for the ages, with both fighters exchanging lots of heavy leather and refusing to give ground. After a barnburner of a fight that also netted the two combatants the Fight of the Night bonus, Ian McCall’s hand was finally raised for the first time in the UFC, as he won the fight by Unanimous Decision.

While his fan friendly, brawling style has netted him more defeats than victories in the UFC, it has certainly entertained the masses and UFC brass alike, meaning that we still have the privilege of watching “Uncle Creepy” compete in the UFC’s Octagon and engage in thrilling fights with a sense of style and panache that is rarely seen in MMA today. I will always root for an awesome guy with an even more awesome mustache, as that is most definitely in spirit with the motives of this website in general. In short, Ian McCall rules!

Honorable mentions for other fighters who fall under this category include: Leonard Garcia, Chris Leben, Nick Diaz, Nate Diaz, Ben “Killa B” Saunders, and “Filthy” Tom Lawlor.

Richmond Rumble Media

Posted by :jcastle On : October 2, 2013

Category: Doombeard Exclusive, Fighting Style, Richmond Rumble

Tags:Doombeard Exclusive, Fights, Interviews, Mike Wade, MMA, Nah-Shon Burrell, Richmond Rumble

I’ve got the best pre-fight and post-fight interviews from the Richmond Rumble up on my YouTube channel. Plus, I’ve got some of the best fights and TKOs from the event!

Cristian Rodriguez vs. Arthur Parker

Umit Yilmaz vs. Chris “The Magi” McNeil

Keyon Williams vs. Louis Johnson

Diego Peclat vs. Emmanuel Walo

Mike Wade vs. Nah-Shon Burrell

Richmond Rumble Play-by-Play

Posted by :jcastle On : October 2, 2013

Category: Decisions, Fight Recap, Fighting Style, Richmond Rumble

Tags:Richmond Rumble

JoJo Stringfield vs. Randy “Doubletime” Campbell (145 lbs.)

Randy Campbell was a no show to the event. There was talk indicating that he is currently incarcerated (again). After a less than stellar Amateur career (1-?), and a pro career that saw him on the wrong end of several one-sided beat downs, Randy Campbell could potentially be done. As it stands, his erratic behavior has not left his reputation in a good place with local promoters.

JoJo Stringfield will apparently be paid his show money, but will not be able to fight due to an absence of an opponent.

Cristian Rodriguez vs. Arthur Parker (125 lbs.)

Major style points for Rodriguez, who walked out to “Gasolina” by Daddy Yankee.

RD1: Cris pumps a double jab, and is looking to get comfy at distance. Parker responsds in kind. Cris briefly comes in for a takedown. Parker lands a leg kick. Cris lands what seems like a five-punch combination to the face of Parker, then puts him up against the cage and gets a slamming takedown. Cris takes the back, works some punches and then starts working for an RNC. Parker gamely defends and gets up. Cris then jumps up and takes his back from the standing position. Parker tries to slam his head on the ground to break it, but Cris eventually gets the tap by Rear Naked Choke at 2:55 in the first round.

Cris then jumps over the cage wall, jumps down to the ground, and went to hug his father. Awesome stuff.

Umit Yilmaz vs. Chris “The Magi” McNeil (200 lbs. Catchweight)

RD1: Umit lands a leg kick. Chris responds in kind. Umit lands two leg kicks, then Chris lands a series of hard punches to the chin of Umit. Umit crumples to the ground. Chris lands another few punches before Referee Mike King waves off the fight. Umit lay on the ground and took a few moments to begin to move again. A 29 second KO victory for Chris McNeil in the first round.

Keyon “Hands of Stone” Wilkins vs. Louis Johnson (145 lbs.)

RD1: Keyon responds to leg kicks with heavy punches to the head over Johnson. Johnson comes around, runs the pipe and gets a takedown after being pressed up against the cage by Wilkins. Johnson gets into mount and starts raining down punches, with Wilkins rapidly scrambling to avoid them and improve position. Wilkins ends up on the bottom in guard, trying to throw his legs up to work for a sub while he is taking punches from Johnson. Johnson is postured up throwing punches, then goes back down to the ground and lands a few audibly hard punches to the face of Wilkins. Johnson postures up and throws another series of punches to the face of Wilkins. Wilkins tries to lock up his wrists but they both stands up. Wilkins throws a series of punches to Johnson, who responds in kind and secures another takedown. Johnson gets a hold of Wilkins’ neck and ends up in a half guard of sorts, while looking for punches to Wilkins’ face. The round ends with Johnson throwing punches at a grounded Wilkins.

RD2: Wilkins pumps a jab, Johnson throws a few head kicks, then looks to throw what looks like a kick to sweep Wilkns’ leg. Wilkins steps in close and gets on top of Johnson in half guard, but they soon return to the feet. Johnson lands a few hard leg kicks and a knee to the head of Wilkins. Wilkins shoots for a take down against the cage, but Johnson does a great job of defending it and ends up on top in mount. Johnson starts raining down punches on Wilkins at a rapid pace. The ref waves off the fight as Wilkins remains crumpled up and facing down on the canvas.

Louis “Goosebumps” Johnson wins by TKO in the second round.

Mark “The Predator” Strickland vs. Colby Covington (170 lbs.)

Originally scheduled to be a Welterweight contest, this fight ran into a snafu at weigh-ins that ended up seeing the fight called off at the last minute. Both Mark Strickland and Colby Covington missed weight. Normally, the fight would proceed as a Catch-weight fight at that point, but Colby Covington would not consent to fight. This understandably upset Mark Strickland, who had plenty of fans who had already bought tickets and had planned on watching him compete. Strickland began to offer Covington increasing sums of money, which would come out of his purse, in order for him to take the fight. Covington continually refused, even after Strickland offered him his entire purse.

In one of the more bizarre fight cancellations I’ve seen in a while, Colby Covington refused to take the fight, despite the fact that he (accompanied by UFC Lightweight fighter Jorge Masvidal) came all the way up from Florida to take the fight. It would have made a bit more sense had Covington made weight and didn’t want to fight an overweight Strickland, but given the circumstances, I’d consider it a reasonable assertion to question the motivation behind such a course of action.

Sadly, Mark “The Predator” Strickland vs. Colby Covington was yet another fight on the card that never came to fruition.

Diego Peclat (is a Blackzilian) vs. Emmanuel Walo (Team Renzo Gracie/ All Star BJJ) (175 lbs.)

Diego Peclat had a big loud cheering crowd of supporters

RD1: Walo lands a leg kick, some punches and a kick to the body, with Peclat responding in kind. Walo gets a takedown, but they quickly return to the feet, with Peclat pressing Walo up against the cage working some knees top the legs of Walo. Walo lands a knee to the body of Peclat, but they are then separated. Peclat wings an overhand right, then soon secures a takedown that sees him landing on top in half guard. Walo gets back up to his feet, but Peclat stays in close and keeps him pressed up against the cage. Walo then gets a takedown and looks to lock up Peclat’s neck, but Peclat gets back up and presses Walo against the cage yet again, working short punches to Walo’s body. Walo and Peclat are battling for better position in the clinch, exchanging low kness. Peclat tries for a trip takedown, then looks for a single leg but doesn’t get it, then lands a knee to Walo’s thigh at the advice of his corner. Ref Todd McGovern separates them. Walo lands a high kick, then wings a series of punches. Peclat doesn’t like this obviously, and presses Walo up against the cage to end the round in the clinch.

RD2: Peclat lands a kick, then Walo responds in kind. After a brief exchange of kicks, Walo looks for a standing Guillotine but Peclat avoids it, and gets on top against the cage. They both soon return to the feet and resume an entertaining striking battle. Peclat lands a hard leg kick, with Walo looking to land hard counter punches, but Walo is missing on them by mere inches. Walo then lands a series of punches, to which Peclat responds with a spinning backfist. They clinch with each other and Peclat presses up against Walo, pinning him to the cage. Peclat is fishing for a trip, but Walo savvily stays clear of such attempts. Peclat’s corner is calling for him to try to take the back. Walo gets a brief takedown, but Peclat is keeping him pinned against the cage, smothering him and throwing just enough strikes to “stay busy” and not get separated. The ref separates them right before the round ends.

RD3: Peclat pumps a jab, then Walo responds with leg kicks and punches. Walo lands a head kick that stuns Peclat, then Walo takes him to the ground and throws some punches, before Peclat gets a hold of him and reverses. Both fighters quickly return to their feet, with Peclat resuming his strategy of smothering Walo against the cage. Peclat lands an elbow to the face of Walo, but continues to throw just enough strikes to not get separated by the ref. Ref separates them after a low blow that Walo suffers. They resume shortly after. Walo and Peclat exchange kicks, and Walo wings some hard punches to Peclat, but Peclat again presses him up against the cage. Peclat throws some short punches to the body of Walo, then the ref separates them. Walo lands a combo then takes Peclat down, landing on top in Guard. Walo starts to work some short elbows to the head of Peclat. You can tell that Peclat is attempting to sweep, but Walo keeps him in place, hitting him with elbows and a few punches for his efforts. Peclat opens up his guard to sweep, but Walo gets into half guard and throws punches and works for Peclat’s neck as the round comes to a close.

Unanimous Decision victory for Diego Peclat. Many in the crowd did not agree, probably due to Peclat’s clinch heavy style. Peclat was very gracious in victory, thanking his fans, as well as congratulating his opponent.

Keith Bell vs. Paul Waremecki (Heavyweight)

Paul Waremecki walked out to a version of “Ave Maria” done by a male opera singer. Definitely not typical walk out music, but gets him some style points all the same.

RD1: Touch gloves. Waremecki throws a leg kick that lands to the groin of Bell. The ref separates them, but Bell soon recovers. Waremecki is looking to pump some shots, but is at a severe reach disadvantage. Waremecki shoots in, but Bell reverses and pins him up against the cage and works some good knees in the clinch before they separate. After a furious exchange of hard punches, Bell ends up pressing Waremecki against the cage briefly. Waremecki is gamely throwing hard punches, but Bell is effectively countering. Bell lands a stiff jab, then clips Waremecki with a two punch combo that causes Waremecki to go stiff and start to fall to the side. Bell pounces on him, knocking him to the ground and remaining on top of his back, raining down hard punches until the referee stopped it, as Waremecki was laying unmoving on the ground at the time of stoppage. Great slug fest.

TKO stoppage for Keith Bell in the first round.

[INTERMISSION] MC Giovanni Lemm then brought UFC matchmaker Joe Silva into the ring to interview him. Joe Silva urged people to support local MMA.

Mike Wade vs. Nah-Shon Burrell (170 lbs.)

RD1: Wade lands a leg kick, Burrell responds with two leg kicks, then a left hook. Wade ducks under some punches from Burrell, goes for a takedown against the cage, and then jumps up and takes Burrell’s back, looking for a RNC. Burrell is moving around and fighting it, but Wade stays tight and keeps working for it, mixing in some punches to the head of Burrell. Burrell keeps mocking but eventually stands back up. Burrell wings a hard right, then starts to mix some leg kicks in with some punches. Wade throws a head kick, but Burrell blocks it, then responds with a leg kick. Burrell is able to get in quickly with punches. Burrell throws some punches, then Wade shoots for and gets a brief takedown. Burrell gets back up and gets free, then looks to land kicks. Burrell lands a leg kick, then throws a high kick in quick sucession, but Wade blocks the high one. Both fighters throw leaping knees to end the round. Both fighters exchange heated words right after the bell rings.

RD2: Wade comes in with a punch, then lands a punch to Burrell’s face. Burrell throws a kick and Wade jumps in and gets a brief TD against the cage and throws a knee to the head of Burrell. They separate, and Wade lands two leg kicks in a row. Wade throws a 1-2 that is just short, and Burrell backs away from it. Both guys guage distance. Burrell lands a leg kick then a body kick, Wade responds with a high kick. Burrell darts in with a combo, but Wade evades it, then shoots for a TD against the cage. Wade takes him down, keeping Burrell’s legs together, but Burrell pops back up, only to be slammed to the ground again. They get back up and separate, with Burrell throwing a left hand, then Wade landing a leg kick, then a series of good punches to the head of Burrell, who briefly buckles against the cage. Wade continues to throw hard punches to Burrell, then takes him down against the cage again. Burrell is throwing hard punches to the body of Wade. The round ends with both fighters showing signs of having taken some hard punches to the face. Burrell’s leg kicks have the side of Wade’s leg very red and bruised up already.

RD3: Wade lands a leg kick. Burrell lands with a left hand, then lands an uppercut as Wade comes in. Burrell lands a leg kick, then another. Wade lands a thudding kick to the body of Burrell. Burrell eats two hard punches from Wade, then responds with two of his own to the face of Wade. Wade then shoots for a TD against the cage, successfully getting a single leg. Burrell pops back up and is throwing punches to the head of Wade, but Wade keeps him pinned to the cage, working knees to the legs of Burrell. Wade then transitions to the other leg, but Burrell is adequately defending his TD attempts, throwing elbows to the side of Wade’s head. They separate, exchanging hard punches. Wade shoots for a TD but Burrell sprawls out and gets up. Burrell lands a right hand, then Wade shoots for a TD against the cage again, with Burrell throwing hard punches and elbows to the side of Wade’s head. Wade absorbs some hard elbows, but is doggedly continuing to work for the TD until the end of the round.

Nah-Shon Burrell wins by Split Decision.

Terrell Hobbs vs. Jeremy Myers (145 lbs.)

RD1: Myers wings some hard punches, but Terrell evades them and counters effectively. Terrell lands a leg kick, then Myers comes back with a kick of his own, then a high kick. Myers lands another leg kick, then Terrell briefly takes him down, but Myers pops back up, pressed against the cage. Terrell then gets a slamming takedown, ending up on top in side control. Myers is scrambling to improve his position, but Terrell is staying tight on top in half guard, landing short strikes. Myers tries to get up, but Terrell then gets into mount, Myers briefly reverses but Terrell ends up on top in mount again, and starts raining down hard elbows that I can hear from here. Myers is covering up, but Terrell is relentless with his GNP. Myers rolls over, and Terrell sinks in a RNC almost immediately, forcing Myers to tap.

Submission victory via RNC for Terrell Hobbs in the first round.

Downtown Ground and Pound 10: Event Recap and Full Fight Play-by-Play

Posted by :jcastle On : September 19, 2013

Category: Downtown Ground and Pound, Fight Recap, Fighting Style

Chris Harris vs. Daniel Bryan (185 lbs.)

RD1: Harris throws two right hands in a row, Bryan then clinches and throws Harris to the ground, taking his back. Harris gets back up, but is immediately taken down again. After getting back up, Harris eats a series of punches and is taken down, where Bryan looks to work punches from within the guard. Bryan transitions to Harris’ back and starts to work for a Rear Naked Choke, getting a body triangle to help the submission’s effectiveness. Harris is gamely trying to fend off the submission attempts by continually rolling from side to side, but he is unable to get out of the body triangle. Bryan continues to work for the Rear Naked Choke but the round ends.

RD2: Bryan nails Harris with two punches, and then shoots in for a takedown against the cage. Harris gamely reverses and briefly holds top position, but Bryan handily gets back up. Bryan throws a series of punches and successfully gets another takedown against the cage. Harris attempts a Guillotine choke, but it is quite hard to achieve since Bryan is in side control. Bryan then transitions to a high side mount and is trying to work short elbows but is essentially just holding position at this point. The round ends with Bryan holding onto a headlock of sorts and throwing a few punches.

RD3: Harris lands a front kick to the body of Bryan, but the ref briefly stops the round because Harris forgot to put in his mouthpiece. When the fight resumes, Harris is throwing bombs, but Bryan catches him with some hard punches and drops him. The ref is paying close attention and stops the fight after Harris continues to eat punches while grounded. Harris briefly attempts to protest the stoppage, but it definitely seemed like a timely one.

Daniel Bryan wins by TKO (Referee Stoppage due to Strikes) at 0:46 in the third round.

Tyus Thomas vs. Christian Maultrie (185 lbs.)

RD1: Thomas pumps a jab, but eats a few punches from Maultrie, and is then taken down. Thomas is taken down again, and immediately has his back taken. Maultrie works for a Rear Naked Choke, but Thomas is able to get back up. Thomas is looking to strike, but is repeatedly on the wrong end of the striking exchanges. Thomas pushes Maultrie against the cage and is looking to work for knees and a takedown, but Maultrie is effectively neutralizing his attempts. Maultrie then throws Thomas to the ground and looks for strikes, but Thomas reverses and gets on top. Thomas throws a few short punches from with Guard and shucks off an Armbar attempt as the round ends.

RD2: Thomas lands a jab to the face of Maultrie, and then lands a successful body kick. Thomas gets the better of a punching exchange and presses Maultrie up against the cage, and is then reversed and pressed up against the cage himself. Maultrie briefly loses his mouthpiece, but the ref deftly gives it back to him while the fighters are in the clinch. Maultrie then takes Thomas down, where Thomas attempts to hold onto a Guillotine of sorts from side control, but Maultrie then Mounts him and begins to throw bombs from the Mount. Thomas is attempting to shrimp out and improve his position, but Maultrie keeps him pinned to the ground until the round ends.

RD3: Thomas lands a high kick, and then backs Maultrie up against the cage and knees him in the stomach. Thomas then backs Maultrie up again and lights him up with another series of punches, knees, and a kick to the head. Maultrie then executes a hip toss and almost immediately achieves Mount. Despite his position, Maultrie seems hesitant to rain down strikes, and Thomas does a great job of gaining wrist control and mitigating the potential damage. Thomas then sweeps Maultrie with nothing but brute force and ends up on top in Guard. Maultrie looks tired, and the round ends with Thomas raining down elbows and punches on Maultrie. Despite the gameness that was shown, it may have been too little too late for Thomas to change the outcome of the fight.

Christian Maultrie wins by Unanimous Decision with all scores at 29-28.

Charles Hayes vs. Jere Amidei Jr (145 lbs.)

The fight was delayed when UFC fighter and referee Tom Lawlor told Amidei that his shorts were not ok to use, as they were Nike basketball shorts with pockets, as opposed to any type of shorts meant for combat sports. After an unsuccessful search for an appropriate pair of shorts, the other ref taped Amidei’s pockets up and the fight was able to commence.

RD1: Hayes lands a quick 1-2, then Amidei attempts a takedown from long distance. Hayes attempts a standing Guillotine, but Amidei gets out. After another takedown attempt, Hayes ends up on the bottom while Amidei looks to be working for a submission. Amidei locks in a Rear Naked Choke and forces the tap. Apparently the tape on his pockets did him some good and sent some positive vibes his way.

Jere Amidei wins by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 1:19 in the first round.

Easton Scarbrough vs. Kyle Myrie (185 lbs.)

Scarbrough seems to be rocking a “Hairrow” style of chest hair, a la Brian Ebersole. Style points for Scarbrough, major style points.

RD1: Scarbrough feints for a punch and immediately gets a takedown and ends up in side control. Scarbrough is clearly the superior wrestler, as Myrie doesn’t seem to be trying to improve his position at all. Scarbrough lands a barrage of punches and hard elbows to the body of Myrie, and is repeatedly attempting to transition to mount. Scarbrough looks to lock up some sort of head-arm choke from side control, but instead just continues to throw short but hard strikes to the body of Myrie. The round ends with Scarbrough on top with his knee on Myrie’s belly.

RD2: Myrie looks for some pawing jabs, but is almost immediately taken down again. Scarbrough gets side control and looks to throw short strikes. Scarbrough locks up Myrie’s arm in a crucifix position and starts throwing punches with an increasing frequency. Myrie is unable to get out and improve his position, and is also unable to protect himself, forcing referee Tom Lawlor to call a TKO stoppage due to Myrie’s inability to defend himself in such a position.

Great usage of the Crucifix position by Scarbrough, Roy Nelson would be proud.

Easton Scarbrough wins by TKO (Referee Stoppage due to strikes) at 1:03 in the second round.

JT Stewart vs. James Hicks (155 lbs.)

RD1: Both guys immediately start throwing punches at a rapid pace, with Hicks getting a trip takedown from the body lock. Hicks lands in his guard, working a few strikes before they both stand back up. Stewart misses with a head kick and Hicks gets a takedown, landing in Mount, where he begins to try and rain down punches. Hicks is then swept by Stewart, who seems to be content to just stay in Guard and throw short strikes, and Hicks seems unable to improve his position on the bottom. The round ends with Hicks throwing punches from the bottom.

RD2: Stewart lands a body kick, but is then essentially taken down by a Guillotine attempt from Hicks. Stewart immediately gets out and transitions to Mount, where he throws some punches and elbows and then unsuccessfully tries for a Rear Naked Choke. Hicks then ends up on top in guard, then immediately transitions to half guard, where Stewart holds him close. Hicks attempts to take Stewart’s back, but Stewart scoots out and ends up on top in half guard against the cage. Both fighters seem to be stuck in position with no clear option to improve their position.

RD3: Hicks immediately lands a 1-2 flush, and ends up on top after a loose takedown attempt from Stewart. Hicks begins to rain down punches and elbows until Stewart manages to get a hold of him. Hicks continues to work short strikes, many of which are landing hard and flush to the face of Stewart. Stewart seems unable to do anything more than just take the strikes, and Hicks does not relent in his strikes, no matter how powerful or short they may be. Stewart attempts to hold onto Hicks’ body, but is pushed back down and starts eating more punches to the face with very little defense given as the round comes to a close.

Unanimous Decision victory for JT Stewart, who despite taking a hard beating in the third round, clearly won the other two rounds.

Richard Thacker vs. Nic Nicholas (165 lbs.)

RD1: Nicholas lands a series of hard right hands that drop Thacker and have his arms stiff as he hits the canvas. Nicholas steps away and begins to celebrate, as Thacker gets back up to the ground and staggers in the opposite direction towards the cage. The referee mercifully stepped in and stopped the fight, as Thacker clearly had no idea where he was at that time.

Nic Nicholas won by KO at the 0:11 mark of the first round.

Roy Smith vs. Randy Gibson (165 lbs.)

Major style points for Gibson, who walked out to “In Constant Sorrow” from the movie, Oh Brother Where Art Thou.

RD1: Smith touched gloves and immediately and cheaply shot for a takedown, showing poor taste. After a brief scramble and Armbar attempt, Gibson swept him. Gibson went for a Triangle choke, but Smith slammed him and eventually got out and moved into side control, where he looked for short strikes. Despite the shots seemingly lacking much power, they were enough to force a TKO stoppage by referee Tom Lawlor, since Gibson was not mounting any form of defense or improving his position.

Roy Smith wins by TKO (Referee Stoppage due to Strikes) at 1:38 in the first round.

John McNaughton vs. Jason Harris (155 lbs.)

Serious style points for John McNaughton, who walked out to a classic 90’s R&B song, “Return of the Mack” by Mark Morrison. It seems that the fighters from Total Victory MMA are definitely approaching their walk-ins with a fine sense of panache, which is nice to see for once in an age of goofily dyed hair, cliché tattoos, and even more cliché entrance songs.

RD1: Harris lands a leg kick but then eats a punch, prompting him to shoot for a takedown. McNaughton presses him up against the cage and is working knees to the body, and then trips him to the ground and gets on top in Half Guard. McNaughton lands a few short punches to the body of Harris while he is looking to advance his position. McNaughton postures up and lands a series of hard right hands to the body of Harris. McNaughton seems to be looking to isolate one of Harris’ arms, but gives it up and continues to throw strikes from Half Guard. Round ends with McNaughton on top.

RD2: Harris misses with a kick, and then clinches up with McNaughton, where he is then tripped in the clinch and taken down. McNaughton lands on top in Half Guard, and is held in place by Harris. Taking sound advice from his corner, McNaughton postures up and resumes his ground and pound, landing a particularly thunderous elbow to the head of Harris. McNaughton continues to remain on top and smother Harris, until Harris reverses with about 15 seconds left in the round. Harris lands a few strikes before the bell rings, but McNaughton solidly won that round for sure.

RD3: McNaughton misses with a kick, and Harris quickly moves in with a flurry of punches that are all too shortly aimed. Harris attempts a long- range bull-rush takedown of sorts, but it’s easily shucked off. McNaughton nails Harris with a knee strike to the body and knocks him down, where he pounces on Harris and lands a flurry of hard strikes that eventually forces referee Tom Lawlor to call an end to the action.

John MacNaughton wins by TKO (Referee Stoppage due to Strikes) at 1:02 in the third round.

Ashley Smallwood vs. Jasmyn Arnold (145 lbs.)

RD1: Smallwood pumps a jab, and then gets a solid Muay Thai clinch and begins to work some great knees to the body. Smallwood then gets a leg and drags her opponent to the ground, where she then postures up and starts to throw punches. Arnold then slaps on a Triangle Choke and is trying hard to finish it, but Smallwood is doing a good job of fending off the sub attempts, including a subsequent Armbar attempt, and then eventually gets up. Smallwood then closes the distance and essentially bull rushes her opponent to the ground, but Arnold quickly returns to her feet. The round ends with both fighters standing up in the clinch.

RD2: Arnold misses with a kick, and Smallwood pounces on her and throws a series of hard punches and a knee to the body. Arnold rushes her and gets into the clinch against the cage, but Smallwood is doing a solid job of negating any real offense on the part of Arnold, and sneaks in a knee to the body before the separate. Arnold misses with a kick and Smallwood catches it and takes her to the ground. Arnold looks to isolate Smallwood’s arms and then sweeps her and takes her back. Arnold is working for a Rear Naked Choke, but Smallwood seems to be fending it off. Arnold is working hard to finish the choke, but the round ends and Smallwood was quite possibly saved by the bell.

RD3: Smallwood pumps a jab from long distance, and then wings two hard punches that land to the face of her opponent. Arnold darts in for a flurry, but Smallwood then counters with strikes of her own. As Smallwood comes in for a strike, Arnold lands a spinning backfist flush to the face of her opponent, and the strike drops Smallwood briefly. Smallwood gets back up and barely avoids a subsequent spinning back kick. Smallwood then ends up clinched against the cage and jumps onto Arnold’s back, looking for a Rear Naked Choke. Smallwood postures up and throws punches from back mount, with Arnold eventually getting out and going for a takedown against the cage as the round ends.

Ashley Smallwood wins by Unanimous Decision (29-28 scores by all Judges). Smallwood collapses to the ground in elation, as she maybe wasn’t expecting the win after such a hard last round.

Joey Patterson vs. Melvin Terry (165 lbs.)

RD1: Patterson misses with a kick, but clips his opponent with a punch and drops Terry. Patterson immediately begins looking for a Rear Naked Choke, but Terry rolls and defends and Patterson ends up in Mount, then Half Guard, looking to land strikes. Terry is trying to keep Patterson held in close, but is otherwise not being very active. Patterson briefly looks for a head-arm choke from within the Guard, but lets go. Patterson then scoots Terry up against the cage, but is throwing strikes sparingly until the last 10 seconds of the round. The round ends with a flurry of punches from Patterson.

RD2: Patterson slips a few strikes from Terry and lands a few very effective counter punches that wobble his opponent. Patterson then takes the opportunity to pick his opponent up and slam him to the ground. Although Patterson lands in a brief Guillotine Choke attempt, he immediately gets out and tries to posture up to land strikes. Terry tries for a Triangle Choke, but Patterson eventually just gets up. Patterson pulls a kick at the last moment as Terry is getting up; as you cannot kick a grounded opponent in the head, as such a thing is usually illegal and generally frowned upon. Patterson then takes Terry down yet again up against the cage and finishes him with a quick flurry of punches on the ground.

Joey Patterson wins by TKO (Referee Stoppage due to Strikes) at 2:28 in the second round.

Donnie Orr vs. Patt Rice (145 lbs.)

Rice missed weight by 14 pounds, as he weighed in at 159 lbs. The fight is therefore technically a catch-weight fight. On a side note, Donnie Orr walked out to a very solid metal song, which should send some positive and manly vibes his way.

RD1: Orr misses with a kick to the body, and after a brief striking exchange, they end up against the cage. Orr literally rag dolls Rice to the ground several times, finally hip tossing him to the ground and immediately moving into mount. Orr postures up and begins to throw strikes, but Rice is doing a decent job of protecting himself. Orr then really begins to open up on Rice with a rapid flurry of punches, forcing referee Tom Lawlor to declare an end to the fight with a TKO stoppage.

Donnie Orr wins by Submission (Strikes) at 1:59 in the first round.

Todd Welle vs. Avron Williams (155 lbs.)

After Todd Welle walked out to the cage, a scuffle that evolved into a brawl erupted between a group of spectators and the club’s security personnel. This brawl, and the ones that subsequently followed, severely marred what was otherwise a fine event with some entertaining fights. It is a sad reality that some people are so insufferably stupid that they cannot simply show up and have a good time while watching actual fighters do their job in the cage. An MMA event is supposed to be safe and family friendly, as there were children and older people who came to watch their friends and family members fight, and some of them were almost run over during all of the ruckus. All of the aforementioned idiots who thought it a good idea to start and/or participate in fights outside the cage should be ashamed of themselves, as they are an embarrassment to themselves, the sport, and humanity in general. Just because you have had a few light beers or mixed drinks does not make you a fighter or a badass if you decide to get aggressive and start a fight at an MMA show, it just makes you a gigantic ignoramus. For future reference, it is my fervent hope that all of the aforementioned folks with such suspect intelligence remain at home, sit on their couch, and remember to keep their helmets on.

Avron Williams decided he didn’t want to proceed to the cage fight when he walked out to the cage and saw the brawl that was taking place, a brawl that was also blocking his path. Given the circumstances, I cannot really blame him or his corner for exercising their judgment that their surroundings were unsafe at the present time. Consequently, referee Tom Lawlor waved off the fight before it even began. After all of the effort that both fighters assuredly put into their training for the fight, both fighters were denied their chance at competition by a raggedy assortment of prize idiots.

Championship Fights

Marcus Levester vs. Ronnell “Rock” White (125 lbs. Championship)

RD1: White counters with a hard kick to the body. Levester gets a quick takedown, but White reverses and gets Levester pressed up against the cage. Levester goes for a Guillotine, but White appears to be defending, as he has Levester pressed up against the cage, not allowing much space, and eventually pops his head out. White then postures up and starts looking to land strikes, but Levester is doing a decent job of keeping tight and locking White’s arms up. Levester throws up a Triangle choke attempt, but White is punching whilst in the Triangle, showing great gameness, eventually posturing up and lessening the chokes effectiveness. The round ends with White postured up within a loose Triangle choke attempt, throwing hard punches.

RD2: White pumps a double jab to gauge distance. White kicks a bit low and stops, but his opponent signals that he is fine and to continue the fight. White then gets a takedown, but is eventually kicked up. White misses with a high kick and falls to the ground, with Levester closely following him to the ground with some punches, but White scrambles and gets on top in Guard. White is staying close on top, with Levester gamely throwing elbows from the bottom. White starts to pass Levester’s Guard, but Levester grabs onto his arm and starts to go for a Kimura from the bottom. White gets through it and passes to Half Guard, where he stays tight and works short strikes and elbows. Levester then sweeps White and starts looking for a Rear Naked Choke, but White is doggedly defending it. Levester lands a glancing elbow to the back of White’s head right before the round ends. This leaves White’s coach Rick McCoy incensed and the referee deducts a point from Levester for the illegal blow. Levester respectfully apologizes to White before the round begins.

RD3: Both fighters shake hands at the start of the round. Levester lands a solid

right hook, but White counters well with a shot of his own. Levester lands another solid series of strikes to the face of White, but White again counters well. Levester misses with a high kick, and White throws a 3-punch combination, chasing him in return. Levester lands a possible low knee to White, who falls down and is grimacing in pain. After a few moments pass, White gets up and starts trying to shake it off and recover. White signals he is ready to continue and the fight resumes. Levester immediately shoots for a takedown and gets it. After posturing up, Levester then uses an esoteric guard pass to end up on White’s back, looking for a Rear Naked Choke and then a Straight Armbar for a brief moment. White eventually gets up and pushes Levester against the cage, taking him down with a sweeping double leg takedown. White is staying tight against Levester. White then gets up and hits Levester with a knee to the body and locks on a Guillotine Choke, holding onto it tightly until the round ends.

Ronnell White wins by Majority Decision, becoming the new Downtown Ground And Pound Flyweight Champion.

Daniel Leake (Champion) vs. Hakim M Bey (135 lbs. Championship)

RD1: Leake throws a kick, but it is checked. Bey attempts to counter but ends up just shooting for a takedown, landing in Guard. Leake almost immediately slaps on a Guillotine, but Bey pops out and is exploding into back side-mount, hitting Leake with several hard knees to the body. Leake gets up and both fighters start exchanging punches again. Leake lands a hard right hand, but Bey clinches up with him against the cage and takes him down, landing in side control, then transitioning to back mount. Leake then sweeps and gets on top in half guard, landing a few short elbows. Leake then transitions into Mount and starts to rain down punches and elbows, and goes for a Rear Naked Choke. Bey deftly gets out and ends up on top in Leake’s guard. After throwing a few strikes, referee Tom Lawlor takes a point from Bey for striking Leake in the eyes. Leake is sent to a neutral corner to get a chance to recover. After taking a few minutes, the fight resumes. Leake throws some punches that miss, and Bey counters with a few hard kicks to the body. Bey presses Leake up against the cage, but both fighters separate and resume their respective striking attempts. The round ends with Bey landing several hard punches to the now bloodied face of Leake.

RD2: The fighters meet in the middle to touch gloves, but then Bey signals that he forgot his mouthpiece, causing a brief pause while his corner gets it to him. Bey misses with a kick and Leake lands a 1-2 combination, then a leg kick. Leake throws a spinning back fist that glances Bey, then follows up with punches that seem to briefly wobble Bey. Bey looks to throw some hard right hands, but Leake avoids them and looks to counter, eating a punch in the process. Leake then lands a hard shot to the head of Bey and pounces on him, but Bey weathers the storm and returns fire. Wildly coming in close, Leake ends up on the ground with Bey one top, with Bey landing several hard strikes to the head of Leake. Bey gets in

to Mount, but Leake is holding him tight, thus limiting the effectiveness and power of Bey’s strikes. Bey remains on top in Mount, but Leake gets back into Guard. Leake tries to scramble out, but Bey grabs a hold of him and lands a few elbows and kicks to Leake’s buttocks as the round comes to a close.

RD3: Both fighters touch gloves; but Bey immediately punches Leake in the face mere milliseconds after the glove touch, showing a seeming lack of good form and respect, which I would hope was just a brain-fart on Bey’s part. Bey then pounces on Leake, throwing a flurry of punches. Both fighters end up on the ground after a scramble, with Leake on top of Bey looking for a submission or a better position. After both fighters were in a strange low version of the North/South position, they eventually rolled out with Bey landing on top of Leake in Guard. Bey throws some punches and elbows, but both fighters seem tired and they are eventually stood up by referee Tom Lawlor. Leake throws and connects with a hard couple of punches that prompt Bey to clinch and close the distance. Bey gets Leake down to the ground and ends up on top as the round ends.

Hakim Bey wins by Majority Decision to become the new Downtown Ground And Pound Bantamweight Champion.

“Badass” Bubba Williams vs. Anthony Tisdale (155 lbs. Championship)

RD1: Tisdale lands a snapping leg kick, which prompts Williams to go for a takedown. After a few reversals from each fighter, Williams ends up on top in Tisdale’s guard. Williams is staying tight in Tisdale’s guard, eventually standing back up and clinching up with Tisdale. Williams seems to be trying to get a single leg ankle pick, but ends up falling short and is grounded in a vulnerable position as a result, and Tisdale responds to said position by belting Williams with punches to the body. Both fighters eventually get up, with Williams throwing a few knees in the clinch. Tisdale then craftily takes advantage of the position to trip Williams to the ground, but both fighters soon return to their feet. Williams and Tisdale start to throw punches in the pocket, and then Tisdale takes Williams to the ground again. Tisdale ends up taking Williams’ back and starts working for a Rear Naked Choke. Williams ends up tapping to the Rear Naked Choke with about 1-2 seconds left in the round.

Anthony Tisdale wins by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 4:58 in the first round to become the new Downtown Ground and Pound Lightweight Champion.

Carter Kraus vs. John Calloway (Heavyweight Championship)

RD1: Calloway and Kraus meet in the middle of the cage and start throwing hard punches. Kraus and Calloway clinch up against the cage and are pushing each other back and forth. Kraus eventually takes Calloway down and seems to attempt some sort of arm lock, but lets go. Calloway starts to be on the receiving end of some knees to the body from Kraus. Kraus begins working for and eventually gets the Submission win with a Straight Armbar.

Carter Kraus wins via Submission (Straight Armbar) at 2:42 in the first round to become the new Downtown Ground and Pound Heavyweight Champion.

Q&A with Mike Wade

Posted by :jcastle On : August 21, 2013

Category: Doombeard Exclusive, Fighting Style, Mike Wade, MMA Fighter Profile, Richmond Rumble

Question: What brought you to MMA?

Answer: I wrestled my whole life. I was a competitor early on. I found it as an escape from the real world… I controlled my progress in wrestling and no one could stop me but me. When I graduated high school, I had been undefeated in wrestling for two years and I still had my drive. At first I had some personal issues that kept me from taking advantage of a D1 scholarship to VMI and without competition my life fell apart a bit. I felt lost without the goal setting and motivation that the sport brought.

Where did you finish your collegiate wrestling career? Did you graduate? If so, what was your degree?

King University in Bristol, TN. Yeah I graduated with a degree in History and a minor in coaching and secondary education. After moving to Harrisonburg I pursued a Masters Degree in Secondary Education at Liberty University but never finished. I dropped everything when I moved to Richmond to “shoot for the stars” as they say. I can go back to school at any time. I can’t say that about MMA.

Where did you begin your training?

I found a small team in my hometown and began training in Jiu-jitsu. About three weeks into training, I jumped right into MMA competition and never looked back. I met Beau Baker at my first amateur competition and began traveling to Harrisonburg (then Valley Chute Boxe) five or six days a week along with training Jiu-jitsu, Judo, and boxing at VMI and BVFC (gym in my home town). I eventually went back to college to wrestle competitively and to finish my degree. I would continue training MMA in my wrestling off season and competed as well.

When I graduated college I moved to Harrisonburg (at the time had moved to MMA Institute) and began my professional career.

So you had your first MMA fight after only three weeks of training?

Yes sir. I was young and naïve but very motivated. I was an elite athlete already and this carried me through until I began to evolve as a mixed martial artist. I started training at 18… That means I’ve put in almost 10 years.

Your nickname is “Tailor Made”. There is usually a story behind how nicknames come about. What is yours?

No big story—I believe that my life experiences and ventures have “tailored” me perfectly for this sport; I was made for this. Also my style is “tailor-made” for any opponents. Plus it rhymes dude, you know?

My nickname in college was given to me by a kid named Patrick Spano. He called me the “buffet” short for “buffet of manliness”. He said when I fought I would “give them an all-you-can eat” buffet of beat down. He was a trip and I loved that kid. Another dude named Quinton “KB” Brown used to call me M-dot because my signature is M. Wade for everything.

Personally, I think you should use “The Buffet” as a second nickname, that’s pretty awesome. Ever thought of rocking a supplementary nickname like only the best (insert sarcasm here) rappers do?

No thanks, I thought Mike Wade was enough. My dad is Mike Wade too and together we have built somewhat of a badass reputation in our own respects. But I’m sure Patrick Spano will always call me “the Buffet”.

Was your first Amateur MMA fight a Submission loss against Andrew Zai? If so, what did you take away from that fight, and how did it impact your mindset going forward in your career?

Zai was my second and I learned a lot. Sometimes a loss teaches you more than a win. Wait you are right Zai was first… It was a long time ago. Most of my influential fights for me came as a Pro.

After racking up eight Amateur MMA fights in under two years, you finished with a record of 6-2. At what point did you make the move from MMA Institute in Harrisonburg to MMA Institute’s Richmond location?

I competed as an amateur for three years off and on…. I was 8-2 as a few fights were unsanctioned. I had a “difference of opinion” with the current coach in Harrisonburg and had been planning to make the move to Richmond eventually. I moved to Richmond after being in Harrisonburg for a little over a year. I took some time off after my last amateur fight (guy was 10-0 amateur and I TKO’d him) to finish school and finish strong in wrestling

How do you like training under Rick McCoy at MMA Institute, as well as living in the city of Richmond?

The only thing I like about Richmond is the people I’ve met and work with and the gym. I love training at MMAI in Richmond. Rick is a great coach. Lots of coaches teach technique and Rick is one of the best I’ve seen but his devotion to the fighters is what makes him great. I’ll end my career here I’m sure of it. There are always tough guys in the gym and I get better all the time. Now if I could just stay a little more active then my career would be perfect.

You happen to be a part of an experienced group of fighters at MMAI. You train daily with guys like Terrell Hobbs, Brian Nielson, Donny Ooton, and Keith Bell. MMAI has also recently added UFC fighter Tom “Filthy” Lawlor to its roster. How do you feel about the level of training that you get in the gym from your teammates?

We are getting better all the time. We are one of the best and it’s time to show the world. With the addition of the new equipment and space that Rick is working on, we will have everything we need to compete with any gym and any level of fighters. I’m glad to do my part in proving our worth in the overall MMA scene.

Tom Lawlor joined an already successful and experienced team and he will only add to the stable of badasses we already had. I’m excited to work with him to prepare him for his UFC fights and to get my ass in there.

Tom Lawlor has established himself as a very entertaining fighter with a colorful personality. How have you found your experiences training and interacting with him so far.

He is still recovering from knee surgery so he hasn’t been training so far but he is definitely a character. He is a great guy and fun to be around. He will make a great fit here in Richmond and is already making friends. Last conversation I had with him is how he can sneak in the UFC fighter thing to get girls…his ideas are funny!

Since beginning your Professional MMA career in November of 2010, you have only logged six fights that appear on your record. Given your statement on how you’d like to fight more often, what do you think is the reason for you having trouble getting fights?

Since the beginning of my career I’ve been taking really tough fights against tough guys. I believe I’ve accrued too much “street cred”. Fighters just won’t take fights against me. I’ve beaten fighters that have competed for all the “big” shows. There are some political issues as well but mainly fighters just won’t put their name on the dotted line versus Mike Wade. I don’t even think I’m that scary. I have holes in my game but I’ve proven to be tough and fearless. I guess that’s scary to some.

The first opponent that has “big show” experience that you beat was recent World Series of Fighting competitor Ozzy Dugulubgov. What are your thoughts on the outcome of that fight, and what it meant to you?

Beating Ozzy D. was huge for me mentally because I went in not knowing how I could beat him and I found a way. I think he looked good and the more he wins the better I look. He is a pretty good guy actually and I wish him the best. However, WSOF currently employs two fighters I’ve beaten and several “forfeit” wins (meaning they wouldn’t fight me so to me I won without even touching them). So no matter how nice they are I believe it should be me in there. McCray competed for WSOF directly after I beat him. Granted he took a tough fight and lost a split decision but I’m still a bit envious. Same with Chris Mierzwiak and Bellator, he had competed for Strikeforce before I fought him. Mike Winters was M-1/Strikeforce and Bellator vet. McCray won on Bellator before I fought him on top of TUF/UFC and went to WSOF right after. I think I’m ready to shine in the “big” shows myself soon… It’s my time. My turn…but it’ll come soon enough. As long as I’m active I’m happy.

Your most recent fight was a victory in CFFC against former TUF Runner-Up Kris McCray. After surviving adversity earlier in the fight, you came back and dominated him in the third round, doing enough for the judges to award you the Split Decision. What are your thoughts on that fight, and what it means for your career going forward?

It was a great fight. With every storm you survive you get stronger. My confidence has skyrocketed since. I specifically remember McCray having a tough fight with top 20 Welterweight John Hathaway in the UFC. Just shows me what level I’m on and how close I am to achieving my goals. I had 28 days to prepare for the McCray fight. I like to think about the fight had I prepared a full 8-10 weeks. Not to take anything away from McCray because I highly respect the guy and he is one tough SOB. In fact I think McCray is more well rounded and tougher mentally than my upcoming opponent.

I actually believe that I am a much better fighter since the McCray fight as well. My stand up has improved three fold and I am making leaps and bounds since starting with Danny Clark and Spartan Nutrition Systems.

Your next scheduled fight is a recently announced match-up against recent UFC and Strikeforce veteran Nah-Shon Burrell. What are your thoughts on how you are going to train with MMAI’s sterling team of Pro’s to prepare for this fight?

Actually nothing will change. My cardio will be phenomenal and I’ll be ready where ever the fight goes…..as far as game plan goes I do have one but he doesn’t scare me in any discipline. He is a tough guy but I’m much tougher…bigger and stronger and I guarantee you I want it more. I can’t wait.

If you had to make a prediction for how the fight will go, what would it be?

TKO win for me. First or second round depending on how quick I break him mentally. I just want the W and I feel I’m well rounded enough to stop him a number of ways. I sure do miss those TKO wins though. I will however (like always) be prepared mentally and physically for a 15 minute war.

Do you have another occupation besides fighting?

I bounce in a few bars and though I love the people I work with I am not a fan of bouncing. At Metro Grill and Society (previously Lucky Buddha). Soon I will be working for Rick at the gym with one of the new programs that will be offered.

Given that I have met my fair share of bouncers who claim to “fight UFC” and enjoy their jobs, what makes you not like being a bouncer?

I don’t have anything to prove. I literally spend all day beating up guys that know what they are doing. I have no desire to pick on drunken, wanna-be-tough-guys. I am good at it but I’d like to think of myself as a nice guy and I don’t like the drama involved. The bouncers that claim to “fight UFC” have already lost the intimidation battle in the eyes of anyone who knows anything about the sport.

How would you assess the state of your career at the present time? Where do you see your career going in the next few years?

Present time it’s hard to say… I have definitely made some noise and proven my worth in the sport. I would definitely like to fight for the UFC and that is my goal. Once I’m there my goals will obviously adapt and career goal is to become world champ or die trying.

What is your favorite method to end a fight?

By far TKO and I can’t really explain why. I haven’t ended a fight like this as a Pro (I was close several times) but had a few as an amateur. In the end though my goal is to win and I don’t care how it happens.

If you could fight anyone, whether they are currently active or retired, who would it be, and why?

Definitely GSP because it’s my goal to be world champ. Outside of that, all fights lead to that.

The career of a professional fighter can be an arduous one. Between the rigorous daily training, fights, the fights that don’t happen, and injuries..Some would consider such a career path a daunting one. What inspires you to be a fighter?

There is in fact a lot of B.S. that people don’t hear about and there is most definitely more to it than meets the eye. I fight because it is something that makes my family, my friends, and most importantly myself proud. The key in fighting is self-development and I feel like a stronger overall person with every obstacle I overcome…..and there aren’t too many obstacles worse than get punched or eating a knee on the button.

Fighting is my chance to make a mark and be remembered for something I think.

Would you like to thank anyone who has or is currently helping you in your career as a fighter?

Wow yes… The list is pretty long. A lot of people have and still do believe in me. I’ll stick to the current and all others know how I feel: MMA Institute, Rick McCoy, Pete Hatcher, GX Supplements, Rac-e-tol-ogy (Mike Cheatham, Mike Cullather, Shane, and the rest), Kevin Knight and other trainers at Crossfit Midlo, Jeff Evans and Fluid Fightworx, Beverly and the fam over at Investors Land Co. (a brand new sponsor), Metro Grill, and I can’t forget you and your site man. Appreciate your time.

Also my striking trainers John Ward, Tiger, and Dave S. over at MMAI for the extra work over the last few months.

Victorium II Play-by-Play

Posted by :jcastle On : August 14, 2013

Category: Doombeard Exclusive, Fighting Style, MMA Fighter Profile, Training, Victorium

Tags:fight reviews, fighter profiles, Fighting Styles, MMA, Victorium

Originally planned to be held in an outdoor pavilion, The Victorium II was moved inside to a smaller venue at the Fredericksburg Fairgrounds. After various factors (such as a tardy, goofy, and utterly unprofessional Fire Marshall) caused delays in the start of the event, Victorium President and Emcee Giovanni Lemm kicked off the event with a lively speech where he thanked all the fans for their patience and support. After a rousing rendition of the National Anthem by Isabelle Lemm, Giovanni Lemm’s daughter, the event officially kicked off at 8 p.m. Please enjoy the play-by-play of every single fight, from one of the more exciting local events I have seen in a long time.

Photo courtesy of Jessica Foster Photography

Jojo Stringfield vs. Nathan Miller (145lbs)

RD1: Both fighters touched gloves, and begin gauging each other for distance. Stringield is keeping a stance with his hands very low. A brief exchange sees both fighters battling in the clinch. Nathan Miller landed a flush head kick that dropped Stringfield. After a brief ground exchange, Miller allowed Stringfield to get back up. Miller then almost immediately floored him with a hard right hand, and Springfield was down for the count. The ref mercifully waved off the fight as Stringfield lay on the canvas.

Quick first round TKO victory for Nathan Miller. Check out my post-fight interview with JoJo Stringfield on Facebook.

Photo courtesy of Jessica Foster Photography

Soslan Abanakov vs. Shelby “Shogun” Graham (145lbs)

RD1: Gauging distance, Graham throws a few probing kicks, eats a few punches, then lands a spinning back-fist right on the button. Abanakov then gets a takedown after eating the punch, and lands in side control and starts working to improve his position. Graham is holding onto a Guillotine from half guard, but he looks to be holding position more than working for a submission. Abanakov is grappling well and achieves mount. Graham rolls out and gets back up. Both guys are measuring distance again. Graham lands a leg kick, then misses with another head kick, but connects with a punch. Abanakov ducks under a punch and gets another takedown and immediately lands in guard, with Graham working for a Guillotine. Abanakov handily passes his guard and goes between side control and North South, all while looking to land hard punches. He has a North-South Choke if he wants it, but doesn’t take it. Graham gets back up, then Abanakov goes for another takedown but Graham reverses him and lands on top right before the round ends, landing a few punches.

RD2: Both fighters begin the round by circling to establish their range. Both fighters exchange missing punches, Graham lands a few kicks, but is really telegraphing them. Abanakov is clearly looking to use his superior grappling skills to smother his opponent. Graham goes for a wild Superman punch, but is taken down at the end of it. Abanakov immediately drops back for an Ankle Lock, but Graham seems to defend it well enough to fend it off. Abanakov gets back into Graham’s guard, but isn’t striking with much power or frequency. Graham is keeping his guard wide open, and is gamely throwing short punches and elbows from the bottom position. It is clear at this point that Abanakov is a very skilled grappler who is looking to use positional control to win the fight. Graham deftly reverses and gets on top, fends off a good Armbar attempt, and then lands a thunderous air-to-ground punch. Abanakov then reverses and gets on top in to mount again, staying tight in the top position until the end of the round.

RD3: Both fighters touch gloves, then start gauging distance. Graham throws a telegraphed kick, then another. Both fighters are showing the signs of two rounds of solid grappling, breathing quite heavily from their exertion. Graham goes for a spinning back kick when he is backed up against the cage, but is quickly clinched and pushed against the cage by Abanakov. Abanakov goes for a Suplex of sorts but it is deflected, and he ends up on his butt. Graham goes for a wild spinning air-to-ground punch, but after a subsequent scramble Abanakov eventually gets on top and works ground and pound. Graham reverses and ends up in mount raining down hard punches, knowing that he might be behind on the scorecards as the round ends.

The judges scored a Unanimous Decision for Soslan Abanakov, who used a smothering grappling game to achieve victory. Shelby Graham was clearly disappointed in the result of the fight, as he surely felt that he was the aggressor in the fight. Check out my post-fight interview with Shelby Graham on Facebook!

After that fight, Giovanni Lemm graciously brought 135lb fighter Marcus Daniels and 170lb. fighter Brad Mountain into the ring to talk to them in front of the crowd, as both of them had opponents pull out of their fights at the last minute. Mountain’s opponent pulled out on the day of weigh-ins, notifying promoter Giovanni Lemm by e-mail that very morning.

Photo courtesy of Jessica Foster Photography

Angel Ortiz vs. Dusty Shaw (170lbs)

RD1: Both fighters begin the fight by circling and gauging distance. Ortiz is the shorter fighter (5’6”), and trying to find range he lands a leg kick. Shaw lands a leg kick in response. Both fighters seem to be taking their time while trying to find range. Shaw wings an overhand right, but it’s blocked. Shaw lands a really hard leg kick. Shaw then pounces on Ortiz, throwing a flurry of hard punches that drop Ortiz and have him turtled up against the cage on the ground. Shaw then takes his back and gets both hooks while looking for a Rear Naked Choke. Ortiz seems to be fighting it, but he is stretched out and eventually succumbs to the choke.

First round Submission (Rear Naked Choke) victory for Dusty Shaw at the (2:59) mark. Watch my interview with Dusty Shaw after his submission finish!

Photo courtesy of Jessica Foster Photography

Joe Hipps vs. Cris Rodriguez (125 lbs)

RD1: Both fighters touch gloves. Hipps feints for a takedown. Rodriguez presses him up against the cage in the clinch, looking to establish under-hooks and work some clinch strikes. Rodriguez gets a big slam takedown and lands in side control. Hipps tries to throw up his legs for some type of submission, but Rodriguez easily shucks them off and gets into mount. Rodriguez lands elbows and punches from the top with increasing frequency, causing Hipps to roll over and gives his back. Rodriguez handily takes Hipps’ back and immediately sinks in a Rear Naked Choke and forces the stoppage by the referee. Hipps tried to deny that he tapped, but it seemed clear he submitted either by tap or verbal submission, forcing Referee Todd McGovern to step in and do his job.

First round Submission (Rear Naked Choke) victory for Cris “Sugar Glider” Rodriguez at the (2:07) mark.

Photo courtesy of Jessica Foster Photography

Craig “C-Machine” Yerkey vs. Sam “ The Streetshark” Eure (145lbs, but it’s a 150lbs catch-weight fight)

RD1: Both fighters touch gloves. Yerkey wings an overhand right, but gets clipped on the way in by a hard combo from Eure. Eure immediately pounces on him and hammers him with tons of hard punches from the mount position. Yerkey attempts to roll over and give up his back to mitigate the worst of the incoming damage, but Eure just peels him back and continues to hit Yerkey in the face with numerous hammer-fists. With Yerkey rocked and no longer able to intelligently defend himself, the fight is waved off by Ref Todd McGovern, granting Eure the stoppage victory. Yerkey is bleeding profusely and remained on the ground for several minutes while being attended to by his coaches and the ring physicians. Craig suffered a broken nose that was fountaining blood.

First round victory for Sam Eure by TKO in just 21 seconds. He won exactly how he predicted he would during our weigh-in interview, via hard punches to the head. Check out my post-fight interview with Sam Eure on Facebook!

Photo courtesy of Jessica Foster Photography.

Jesse McBroom vs. Justin Rodger (185lbs.)

RD1: Both fighters touch gloves and begin gauging distance with punches. Rodger starts pumping a hard jab. McBroom throws a teep kick but it gets caught and he eats a hard punch. Rodger is landing his jab repeatedly. McBroom deftly lands a Superman punch, but Rodger eats it and responds with a hard uppercut. McBroom looks to be winging an overhand right, but keeps missing with it. Rodger then lands a hard uppercut that drops McBroom. Rodger follows him to the ground and after about two dozen hard, unanswered punches on the ground, Referee Todd McGovern steps in and waves off the fight.

First round TKO victory (Strikes) by Justin Rodger at the (1:23) mark. I’ve got post-fight interviews with both Justin and Jesse on my Facebook page – watch them now!

Photo courtesy of Jessica Foster Photography

David Perez vs. Jon “The Scarecrow” Hughes (155lbs.)

RD1: Both fighters respectively touch gloves and begin circling to gauge distance and range. Hughes misses with a leg kick. Both fighters are flicking out jabs to try to gauge distance, as well as exchanging leg kicks. Perez shoots for a takedown and gets one with a big slam. Perez lands in guard, Hughes looks to be throwing his legs up to work for a submission, but Perez is doing his best to keep his opponents legs down. Hughes then uses a guard sweep to great effect to get into mount. Hughes then proceeds to land a flurry of punches until Perez is able to work his way back to his feet. Perez then immediately shoots for, and gets, another takedown. Hughes then sweeps him again, getting on top in side control and starts raining down hard punches. Perez is doggedly trying to get up from the turtle position, but Hughes is holding onto him and forces him back to the ground, where he takes his back and sinks in a Rear Naked Choke, forcing the referee to call an end to the fight. Hughes gets a ton of applause from the crowd of supporters he brought to the show, with many of them sporting Disciple MMA (the home of UFC fighter Dustin Pague) shirts to show their allegiance.

First round Submission (Rear Naked Choke) victory for Jon “The Scarecrow” Hughes. Watch my post-fight interview with Jon on Facebook!

Photo courtesy of Jessica Foster Photography

Devin “The Omega” Izzard vs. Devon “The Silverback” Mosley (185lbs)

RD1: Both fighters respectfully touch gloves. Mosley quickly lands a leg kick. Izzard is throwing hard shots, but Mosley briefly clinches with him against the cage. Izzard throws another few hard punches followed by a kick and a successful takedown. Izzard’s takedown also happened to see Mosley get a hold of a Guillotine choke while he was on his way down. Despite landing a hard slamming takedown, Izzard was forced to tap because his takedown caused him to sink deeper into the Guillotine.

First round victory via Submission (Guillotine) for Devon Mosley in front of a huge hometown crowd, including his mother, who cried tears of joy as they announced her son’s victory. A great moment to watch!

Photo courtesy of Jessica Foster Photography

“Ruthless” Joe Ray vs. Tony “Father Time” Horn (Heavyweight)

RD1: Both guys immediately get to work, throwing a flurry of hard punches and elbows. Ray gets Horn up against the cage and is working short knees to the legs. Ray landed an accidental low blow, but Horn easily shook it off. Horn landed a hard leg kick, but Ray pressed him against the cage again and looked to work short punches and knees to the body. Both fighters separate briefly and throw a flurry of punches before Ray pushes Horn up against the cage again. Horn lands a few hard punches to the head of Ray, but Ray keeps him pressed up against the cage. Both fighters have kept a pretty fast pace of action so far, but do not seem to be waning one bit. Horn is winging leg kicks but leaves his head unprotected, Ray pounces on him and throws more hard punches and presses him against the cage to keep working his dirty boxing. Ray gets a leg trip takedown to end the round.

RD2: The round begins with both fighters gauging distance. Both fighters are showing no ill effects from the blistering pace that they set in the first round, and get right back to business. Ray gets a takedown and is postured up and raining down punches on Horn. Despite being mounted, Horn is gamely throwing punches from the bottom. The referee waves off the fight as Horn might be suffering from some sort of rib injury. The injury was quite possibly sustained during the takedown, as Ray is 264 pounds landing on top of him, and that cannot feel pleasant. Ray showed great speed and cardio for a guy of his size, which is very impressive. While I know enough about the sport and have seen more than enough fights to know that you should never judge a book by it’s cover, the crowd didn’t seem to understand such a thing. It therefore brought me great pleasure to watch Ray put up a pace that outstripped that of many lower weight fighters, and make those certain members of the crowd eat their words and maybe come to the realization that being an armchair-fighter is quite silly, to say the least.

Ray wins by TKO due to injury in the second round. Ray graciously offered Horn a rematch when he is healed from his injury, which is a very gentlemanly thing to do. Great post-fight interviews from both Ray and Horn are on the Facebook page!

Photo courtesy of Jessica Foster Photography

Samir Farid vs. Brian Robey (115 lbs) — First mens Strawweight bout in US MMA History

RD1: Both fighters touch gloves. Farid pumps a jab then lands a leg kick. Robey throws a one-two. Farid lands a snapping kick to the body. Robey misses with a push kick. Farid pushes Robey against the cage, looking to establish under-hooks, and then gets a takedown. Working on the top in guard, Farid moves into side control. Robey is trying to hold onto his head, but it’s not effective. Farid jumps for an Armbar, but Robey gets out and gets back to his feet. Farid pumps fast combos then a hard pair of leg kicks. Robey wings hard punches and backs Farid up against the cage, but Fareed reverses and pushes Robey against the cage where they are exchanging short knee strikes and battling for position within the clinch. Fareed briefly drops down for a takedown but abandons it, getting back up to work some short punches. Robey tries to jump for a standing Guillotine, but slips off. Farid then gets another takedown and ends in back side control as the round ends. Both fighters kept up a very fast pace for the round.

RD2: Farid pumps the jab, with both guys looking to gauge distance. Farid throws a kick then a flying knee to back Robey up against the cage, where they clinch. They separate then Robey rushes Farid and tries to clinch up, but is taken down by Farid who lands in side control again. Robey then rolls over, then Farid takes his back. Farid throws some punches and then goes for a Rear Naked Choke. He quickly stretches Robey out and sinks it in.

Second round Submission (Rear Naked Choke) victory (2:25) for Samir Fareed.

Photo courtesy of Jessica Foster Photography

John “Cage” Attia vs. Matt “The Barbarian” Douglas (Heavyweight), Co-Main Event

RD1: Both fighters touch gloves. Douglas lands a hard leg kick, and then another. Douglas pumps a jab. Attia continues to circle away, feinting well but not doing much offensively. Douglas gets a takedown and lands in guard. He intelligently pushes Attia against the cage and then practically steps into Mount. Douglas then starts to throw audibly hard strikes while John just holds onto him ineffectively. Douglas continues to rain down audibly hard strikes and then the ref waves it off due to a Verbal Submission from Attia due to strikes. The legion of fans Matt “The Barbarian” Douglas brought with him are cheering in celebration at a deafening level.

Matt Douglas wins in the first round due to Verbal Submission (2:28) due to strikes. Matt and John caught up at the Victorium II after-party to discuss the fight. See what they had to say to each other post-fight!

Photo courtesy Jessica Foster Photography

Brett “Unbreakable” Glass vs. Jeffrey “ The Glass Breaker” Peterson (155lb), Main Event

RD1: Both fighters start winging hard punches immediately. Glass pushes Peterson against the cage, but then Peterson gets a surprising takedown and lands in Brett’s guard. Glass is working his butterfly guard, but Peterson passes to side control. Glass then sweeps and rolls to the top, but then they both get up soon after. Peterson pushes Glass against the cage and gets another trip takedown, which drags Glass to the ground again. Peterson postures up to throw hard punches, but Glass uses a submission attempt to sweep and get back to his feet. Sensing a good opportunity, Glass pounces on Peterson and proceeds to batter him with dozens of unanswered punches, elbows, kicks, and knees. Glass has Peterson backed up against the cage where all he can do is cover up and attempt to avoid the worst of the blows. Glass unrelentingly continues to batter Peterson at a merciless pace against the cage, and the ref starts to take a closer look at the action. After watching Peterson absorb a huge volume of strikes, the ref separated the fighters and waved off the action with a TKO stoppage. Upon the separation, Peterson collapsed to the ground, clearly battered after absorbing a truly huge amount of strikes without being knocked unconscious. Great credit is due to both fighters for showing a great bit of skill and resilience. The fight truly embodied what a Main Event fight is supposed to be in every way possible.

Brett Glass wins by first round TKO stoppage in front of a huge hometown crowd. Check out my interview with Brett post-fight on the Facebook page!

Thanks to Jessica Foster Photography for the permission to use these photos.

To Play It Safe or Not Play It Safe in MMA — Part I

Posted by :jcastle On : August 8, 2013

Fighters seemingly “playing it safe” en-route to a (usually) Unanimous Decision victory has been a hot-button issue for both MMA promoters and fans alike for quite some time. Fans routinely fill up MMA forums decrying such performances, lambasting fighters with such terms like “Lay-N-Pray” and “Wall-N-Stall”. Fans are also very quick to criticize when a fighter’s style blurs the lines between an elusiveness and counterstriking style vs. continually circling away and not taking any chances. Being routinely accused of being a “boring fighter” is generally not looked upon favorably, and can be known to have some adverse consequences in regards to a fighter’s career. Conversely, fighters who throw caution to the wind and adopt a more “crowd-pleasing” style are not only beloved by MMA fans, but are also afforded more chances to right the ship by their employers if they happen to lose in an exciting effort. After all, UFC President Dana White commonly refers to the fact that exciting fights “…put asses in seats…”, so he has given numerous exciting fighters a lot more leeway, whereas a 2-3 fight losing streak is most definitely going to earn a less exciting fighter his release from the organization. I will save my thoughts on what this means for the sport itself for another article, as I can personally appreciate the various facets of MMA so as to enjoy virtually almost every fight I watch, with a few exceptions of course! This two article series will include lists of fighters on both sides of the aforementioned equation.

Five Fighters Who’s “Non-Exciting” Style Hurt(s) Their Career or Legacy

Photo courtesy of http://fightersxchange.com

1. Ben Askren — To most people, this will not come as a surprise. Ben Askren seems to be the most widely panned Champion in any major MMA organization. While I would personally sell my soul to possess his wrestling abilities, he hasn’t really managed to gain much of a fan-base outside of MMA fans that are also hardcore wrestling enthusiasts. Askren’s fighting style essentially consists of top-notch “funk” wrestling with some cursory ground striking and light submission attempts thrown in for good effect. Watching the average Askren fight for the past few years is often akin to watching paint dry. If I happen to have the urge to take a gnarly dump, I can get up and do so at the beginning of his fight and know that when I return in the 3rd of 4th round, he will still be wrestling his opponent to death. His latest victory against Andrey Koreshkov was a TKO victory in the 4th round, but only after wrestling his opponent for 4 ½ rounds until Koreshkov was essentially too exhausted to continue. While I applaud Askren for defending his Bellator Welterweight title once again, I doubt he has endeared himself to many new fans in the process.

Photo courtesy of http://www.mmamania.com

2. Jon Fitch — A longtime UFC mainstay in the Welterweight division, Jon Fitch’s tenure in the UFC lasted from 2005-2013. After a few finishes were achieved as part of an eight-fight winning streak to start his UFC career, he was granted a title shot against Georges St. Pierre, which he ultimately lost by Unanimous Decision. After that is when the proverbial wheels started to fall off, and his favor with fans really began to wane. His subsequent (and much maligned) wrestling-heavy Decision wins against Akihiro Gono, Paulo Thiago, Mike Pierce, Ben “Killa B” Saunders, and Thiago Alves lead many fans, and UFC President Dana White as well, to decry such a fighting style even though it was ultimately a victorious one. Soon after, people began to refer to someone getting “Fitched” if a fighter was wrestled and held down en route to an unentertaining defeat by Decision. After a lackluster Draw against BJ Penn, Jon Fitch was confronted with the fact that a large share of the MMA community did not even desire a rematch of the fight. Jon Fitch’s next fight saw him on the wrong end of a gnarly Knockout loss to Johny Hendricks in just 12 seconds. After going 1-1 in his next two fights, Jon Fitch was released from the UFC. Official reasoning that was given for his release included his high price tag for delivering losing efforts, but it doesn’t take a genius to realize that the UFC was quite ready to jettison Jon Fitch into the open market, despite his overall UFC record of 14-3-1.

Photo courtesy of http://www.bleacherreport.com

3. Yushin Okami — Despite an overall UFC record of 13-4, Yushin Okami has come under some fire in the past few years for his clinch-heavy fighting style. While his last victory by stoppage happened at UFC 150 against a clearly overmatched Buddy Roberts, Okami has still become widely known for getting his opponents up against the cage and utilizing his wrestling and dirty-boxing to stifle any of his opponents attempts at mounting much of any kind of offensive effort. This fighting style is what made him a hard sell for a Championship match versus Anderson Silva in the first place. After being handily dismantled at the hands of the (until recently) reigning Middleweight Champion of the UFC, Okami has certainly found himself in a position where he will be hard pressed to ever be granted a title shot again. His recent Split Decision victory over Hector Lombard did little to improve his prospects in the Middleweight Division, or his standing with fans in general.

Photo courtesy of http://fansided.com

4. Lyoto Machida — Before you decry my inclusion of Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida on this list, I’d ask you to hear me out. I am not necessarily saying that Machida is a consistently boring fighter, I am merely pointing out that he is the present-day poster child for how a conservative striking-based style can also sometimes be detrimental to a fighters efforts to achieve victory. While “The Dragon” has some highlight-reel finishes of Thiago Silva, Ryan Bader, Rashad Evans, and Randy Couture to his name…he also was a part of some of the worst fights I can remember in these past few years. He lost a Decision to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson by spending the majority of the fight circling away and sparingly throwing strikes at his opponent, demonstrating very little for the judges to even attempt to score in his favor. His most recent effort against Phil Davis was marred by the same overall strategy and outcome. Machida’s recent fight against Dan Henderson was, quite frankly, pretty awful as well. While he won a Decision victory against Henderson, he did very little to improve his stock in the Light Heavyweight Division because of it. His Karate-based counterstriking style is often described as “elusive” or “unpredictable”. While I give Machida all the credit that is due for being the only person to ever win a round against current Light Heavyweight Champion Jon “Bones” Jones, some of his recent outings leave a lot to be desired for the average viewer, as well as his prospects at getting another shot at the title.

Photo courtesy of http://www.theprovince.com

5. Georges St. Pierre — I will be the first person to say that Georges “Rush” St. Pierre is a future UFC Hall-of-Famer and will go down as one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time. His accomplishments in the UFC’s Welterweight division are second to none; as he has been competing in the UFC since 2004, with the majority of his fights being for (or mainly defending) the Welterweight Championship belt. Despite his overall record of 24-2 (18-2 UFC), GSP has seen his favor with some MMA fans wane in the past few years. Despite his utter dominance in the UFC’s Octagon, many have grown weary of Georges St. Pierre’s long streak of Unanimous Decision victories. Whether he utilizes his dominant wrestling skills to grind his opponents against the mat for 25 minutes, or uses his jab to set up a winning striking effort from a distance, GSP has the longest slew of Unanimous Decision victories of any Champion in UFC history by far. The last time GSP won via any form of stoppage was when BJ Penn refused to answer the bell in their title fight in January of 2009. While his accomplishments are certainly laudable, I have had a hard time finding many MMA fans that aren’t wishing that GSP would get back to his old ways of finishing the majority of his opposition.

Honorable mentions for other fighters who fall under this category include: Jacob Volkmann, Colton Smith, Cole Konrad, Kris McCray, Francis Carmont and Shane Roller.

My next article will cover a list of fighters whose careers have greatly benefited from being regarded as “exciting” by the MMA community at large.

Calvin Daniels vs. Zach Zeleick (156 lbs. Boxing bout)

Charles Tarvers vs. Chance Jones (165 lbs. Modified (no elbows) Muay Thai bout)

Oleksander “The Greek” Humen vs. Richard “The Outlaw” Thacker ( 170 lbs. MMA Bout)

Dakota Donivan vs. Antonio Ortega (130 lbs. Modified MMA rules)

Lashonda Hinton vs. Chelsea McCoy (135 lbs. Modified Muay Thai rules)

Roque Zapata vs. Carlos Martinez (135 lbs. MMA fight)

Robbie Lillard vs. Roy Smith (155 lbs. MMA bout)

Daryl Jones vs. Corey Brown (155 lbs. MMA Title Bout)

Donald Henshaw vs. Justin Hatcher (170lbs. MMA Bout)

James Speight vs. Nick Minton (255 lbs. MMA Bout)

Victor Rubli vs. Randy Fitzgerald (205 Modified (no elbows) Muay Thai bout)

Chris Rollins vs. Brian Rich (145 lbs. MMA Title Bout)

John Calloway vs. Kris Lewis (265 lbs. MMA bout)

Alan Stephenson vs. Dustin Goard (155 lbs. Muay Thai Title Bout)

Jon-Taine Hall vs. Dashawn Boatwright (205 lbs. MMA Title )

Ricky Painter vs. Robert Wolfe (190 lbs. Catchweight)

Marty “Mean Man” Doll vs. Richard “Boomer” Brown (265 lbs.)

Albert Ichelson vs. Terry Bartholomew (145 lbs.)

Chris Cowie vs. Donnie Orr (150 lbs. Catchweight)

Jason Hammack vs. “Berserker General” Grant Marrow (205 lbs.)

Drew “The Osteotome” Adamson vs. Todd Welle (170 lbs)

Andy “Tank” Knopp vs. Casey Woodburn ( 265 lbs.)

Eric Newton vs. Chris Harris (135 lbs.)

Charlie “Kevlar” Knuteson vs. Shawn Joffe (150 lbs. Catchweight)

Brandon “Skyscraper” Mason vs. Robert Brown (170 lbs.)

Will “The Warrior” Warrick vs. Thomas Smith (135 lbs.)

Bouasone “Bolo” Phonhsavath vs. Matt Skibicki (140 lbs. Catchweight)

Louie Buttice vs. Randy Ruger (230 lbs. Catchweight)

Winslow Wells vs. Stephen McBride (Defending BFC HW Champ) (BFC 265 lbs. Title)

Courtney “Damned Queen” Belcher vs. Krystal Cofone (BFC Female Heavyweight Title)

Chris “The Rocket” Rollins vs. Irvin “Nic” Nicholas (BFC 145 lbs. Title)

Eddie “Shuperman” Shupe vs. Robert Watley (BFC 155 lbs. Title)

Cristian Rodriguez vs. Arthur Parker

Umit Yilmaz vs. Chris “The Magi” McNeil

Keyon Williams vs. Louis Johnson

Diego Peclat vs. Emmanuel Walo

Mike Wade vs. Nah-Shon Burrell

JoJo Stringfield vs. Randy “Doubletime” Campbell (145 lbs.)

Cristian Rodriguez vs. Arthur Parker (125 lbs.)

Umit Yilmaz vs. Chris “The Magi” McNeil (200 lbs. Catchweight)

Keyon “Hands of Stone” Wilkins vs. Louis Johnson (145 lbs.)

Mark “The Predator” Strickland vs. Colby Covington (170 lbs.)

Diego Peclat (is a Blackzilian) vs. Emmanuel Walo (Team Renzo Gracie/ All Star BJJ) (175 lbs.)

Keith Bell vs. Paul Waremecki (Heavyweight)

Mike Wade vs. Nah-Shon Burrell (170 lbs.)

Terrell Hobbs vs. Jeremy Myers (145 lbs.)

Chris Harris vs. Daniel Bryan (185 lbs.)

Tyus Thomas vs. Christian Maultrie (185 lbs.)

Charles Hayes vs. Jere Amidei Jr (145 lbs.)

Easton Scarbrough vs. Kyle Myrie (185 lbs.)

JT Stewart vs. James Hicks (155 lbs.)

Richard Thacker vs. Nic Nicholas (165 lbs.)

Roy Smith vs. Randy Gibson (165 lbs.)

John McNaughton vs. Jason Harris (155 lbs.)

Ashley Smallwood vs. Jasmyn Arnold (145 lbs.)

Joey Patterson vs. Melvin Terry (165 lbs.)

Donnie Orr vs. Patt Rice (145 lbs.)

Todd Welle vs. Avron Williams (155 lbs.)

Championship Fights

Marcus Levester vs. Ronnell “Rock” White (125 lbs. Championship)

Daniel Leake (Champion) vs. Hakim M Bey (135 lbs. Championship)

“Badass” Bubba Williams vs. Anthony Tisdale (155 lbs. Championship)

Carter Kraus vs. John Calloway (Heavyweight Championship)

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