World Combat Championship 1: 10/171995

The one and only show from WCC occured in North Carolina. Sherdog says Charlotte, I thought they said Raleigh Durham, in the end, does it matter? This is a phenomenal promotion as far as MMA goes: Boom Boom Mancini is their chairman, some dude named Christopher Peters is their figurehead president guy/money mark, none of the announcers are recognizable, and the fighters are quite the assortment. We've got Ben Spijkers, Renzo Gracie, Erik Paulson (w/long hair), James Warring, Bart Vale, Jerry Flynn, and so many more. There's these hilarious video intro pieces for everyone, which show Bart Vale punching bags and shit like that.

Also, we've got two sets of rules. Grapplers division features Renzo and Bart Vale, and they have a 22 minute single round with a 10 minute time limit on the mat. Strikers have a 2 minute ground limit and you cannot win by joint lock or choke.

1) BEN SPIJKERS vs. RENZO GRACIE: You might know this fight already. Spijkers is rocking a gi and is a judoka from the Netherlands. Gracie is Renzo.

Spijkers gets a gnarly slam early on and is inside the full guard of Gracie. Renzo sweeps him though and gets it standing. Gracie gets the takedown this time, and Spijkers tries to counter on the ground with a gi choke. Gracie pushes him into the cage and moves to side control. Spijkers tries to get up by flipping over onto his stomach and Gracie retaliates with some elbows to the base of the skull. Oh, the irony. Gracie then chokes him out, holds on a little long, and then in his celebration of getting the tap out, decides to cross the ring by stepping on the back of Spijkers neck. Renzo ended up coming across as a super nice guy years later on 60 Minutes. How times have changed. (2) for the outrageous finish.

2) SEAN MCCULLY vs. ERIK PAULSON: McCully is supposedly a boxer. Paulson is in the striker's division for some ungodly reason.

Clinch early, and McCully gets a takedown. Paulson is constantly trying for submissions but he can't do them without getting DQed, making this a bizarre bout of Paulson fighting his best instincts. McCully, on the other hand, is actually doing some decent GnP and cuts Paulson before the fight is stood up at the end of the 2 minute mark. They clinch again and Paulson lands some nice knees before taking down McCully. Paulson is in mount and just blasts McCully with punches until the ref stops it. (1)

3) MIKE BITONIO vs. BART VALE: Vale is everyone's favorite shootfighting redneck, even if he was rarely ever in shootfights. Bitonio is a teammate to John Matua.

Bitonio gets a takedown to start but is sweeped fast. Vale just headbutts the shit out of Bitonio, busting his face up. Vale is beating Bitonio silly and the announcers are wondering why the fight isn't being stopped. Vale tries for a kimura in the mount and Bitonio sweeps using the cage. Vale is on the bottom but gets a side choke from there and Bitonio is finally done. Brutal 7 minutes of Bitonio having brain damage inflicted on him. (1)

4) JAMES WARRING vs. JEROME TURCAN: Turcan was the favorite of the strikers division, being a well known muay thai and savate talent. Warring was himself a kickboxing champion in the late 80s/early 90s and also won the IBF Cruiserweight title.

All standup, kinda tenative given the distance and what not. Turcan threw a lot of kicks and Warring some weak punches. Suddenly, Warring lands a monster rabbit shot to the back of Turcan's skull. Turcan drops and Warring follows it with a stomp and several punches. Cecil Peoples was the ref, and like now, he ended it late. (1)

Bart Vale is apparently injured and unable to continue, so let's watch the alternate bout from earlier!

5) JERRY BELL vs. PHIL BENEDICT: Benedict is a big muscled up wrestler guy and Bell is a boxer who boxrec shows as having stopped fighting in 1998 with a 9-0(9KO) record.

Benedict charges straight at Bell, takes him down, but ends up with Bell on top by accident. Benedict knows to sweep and ends up winning early with a RNC. (0)

6) PHIL BENEDICT vs. RENZO GRACIE:

Benedict tries to keep the fight standing, recognizing that his strength is a benefit for throwing strikes. He is able to defend one takedown but fails with the second attempt and Gracie quickly attains mount. Lots of nasty elbows and punches and Benedict taps. (1)

7) ERIK PAULSON vs. JAMES WARRING: This is the only time a former world champion/titlist in boxing faced a champion (Paulson was a Shooto champ) in MMA history. The rules help out Warring a huge deal though.

This was a close contest almost entirely standing, mostly in the clinch against the cage. Warring realized about midway through that holding Paulson's long hair could be a key and used it to control Paulson's movement. Warring has a better gas tank than Paulson and uses his weight to push him around and tire him. Eventually, Warring lands an uppercut in the 17th minute and Paulson is dropped hard. Warring stomps him until the towel is thrown in. (2) for historical importance.

Another prelim fight!

8) JERRY FLYNN vs. FRED FLOYD: Floyd is a fat black man that was once decimated by Igor Vovchanchin after this in that Russian IFC event that the mob tried to take the tapes of. Flynn was a wrestler in WCW.

Flynn is dropped early with a right hand and Floyd gets on top. Flynn is semicompetent and sweeps him and is in side control, and tries to get a kimura. Flynn decides to give up the arm and goes for a leg and toe hold, but Floyd rolls him and tries to stand. Flynn goes for a heel trip and Floyd defends it, spins to north/south, and gets a front choke that forces a submission. (0)

9) RENZO GRACIE vs. JAMES WARRING: This is with grappler's rules.

Gracie with a single, goes to half guard, then mount. Gracie wins with a neck crank. Nothing special. (1)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT(S): McCully/Paulson

KO OF THE NIGHT(S): Warring/Paulson

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT(S): Renzo/Spijkers

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 7 out of 10 - What a fun ass show. The rules were frustrating with the strikers, but it was a talent filled event. The only sad part is that there was a very real chance of Gracie having to fight Spijkers, Vale, and then Paulson in one night. That would have been the toughest overall draw of any one night tourney during the time frame.

D&R RATING: 11%(5/45)