NAAFS Cage Fighting (6/12/2011)

Skipping a couple episodes to come back to eventually.

1) Chandra Engle vs. Rachel Dovidio:Women's Amateur 135lb fight. Engle is from the dutch enclave of East Grand Rapids, MI. Dovidio is from North Carolina. Pretty amazing that NAAFS is attracting lots of out of state fighters for amateur bouts. Apparently Rachel is also a Marine.

FIGHT: Dovidio . Not a bad showing. Again, with the low amount of talent here in women's MMA, Dovidio kinda runs over Engle and forces her on the defensive at all times. You see better women's fighters (Jessica Eye or Rhonda Rousey, who may be announcing here on color) basically pulling KOTC specials on this level of card. Dovidio can't finish, gets flipped, and even gets taken down in the second. She's better in every way but doesn't show a clear difference in physical talents. Maybe Engle is just a tough, seasoned amateur MMA fighter who's gone through the fires of Michigan nightclub fights. But I feel like this is a fight Dovidio should have dominated. (0)

2) Bill Algeo vs. Aaron Bartow: Lightweight bout. Ammy fight.

FIGHT: Algeo Submission Rnd 1. Just ran over Bartow. Lands looping right hands over the lazy striking of Bartow, gets him down, beats him up, KOTC special with the RNC finish. (0)

3) Chris Lozano vs. Gerric Hayes: Bounce back fight for Lozano. Seems to be a catchweight around 175.

FIGHT: Lozano TKO Rnd 1. Still not a great showing from Lozano, who at one point gives his back and has his belly down on the mat defending a RNC about 30 seconds in. But he keeps himself out of big problems, gets on top, gets the fight stood up, hurts Hayes with a rabbit punch (unintentional) caused by Hayes bending over, and as Hayes tries to duck and stumble away he eats a high kick to the head and is out cold. (1)

OVERALL FOR THE SHOW: 4 out of 10. Bounce fight for a mid level guy and some prospect amateur fights that aren't offensively bad. Flat out comical horror response from the Algeo win when the crowd obviously was behind the other guy and went silent.

NAAFS Cage Fighting (5/22/2011)

Missed a couple episodes I think. Oh well. No great loss. Tonight's show is from the 4/16/2011 NAAFS Caged Vengeance 9 card in Cleveland and is headlined by Nick Duell vs. Kevin Knabjian.

1) Curt Lemmon vs. Mark Garcher: Garcher looks all stoked and muscular and Lemmon has fancy trunks with a sorta Spiderman pattern thing going on. Amateur fight among middleweights.

FIGHT: Lemmon TKO Rnd 2. Competitive bout with Garcher being a predictable face forward bruiser and Lemmon being more of a defensive BJJ guy with straighter punches, less of a mean streak, and some cool leg sweeps in the clinch. Garcher's physical strength and gorilla style determination keep him in the fight longer than it probably should have, while Lemmon eventually lands a left hook early on in the second and then follows Garcher to the mat, landing punches until we get a stoppage. Nothing spectacular. (0)

2) Brandon Saling vs. John Fields: Fields is a big lanky black guy and Saling is doing a Chuck Liddell impression in every way imaginable. Middleweight pro bout.

FIGHT: Saling TKO Rnd 1. Both guys suffer eye pokes and there's some sloppy grappling along with lots of power punching. Saling's stuff has more behind it, I would venture to say, and Fields drops like 5 times in this fight from right hands, left hooks, and lots of short uppercuts. He just crumbles time and time again. Eventually he gives his back after one of these crumblings and the RNC is applied with just 2 seconds left. Saling is doing his alpha male thing here and that's OK. Unfortunately he has a lot of defensive liabilities to make it very far in the sport. Fields, who has a .500 record pro and amateur mixed, is clearly going nowhere fast. (0)

3) Nick Duell vs. Kevin Knabjian: Knabjian almost got on TUF. Duell was never invited. Now we have this welterweight attraction.

FIGHT: Duell TKO Rnd 2. Monster KO from a high kick in the second round as Duell times the robotic wrestleboxer Knabjian coming in with a lead right hand. Duell looks much more fluid and competent as a striker - he's going to the body, the head, throwing liver kicks, all that stuff. But he does still pull straight back too often, his chin can be left high, he doesn't have the best balance, and I'm not sure he has anything on his punches. Is he closing his fists fully or just throwing stuff out there to have the handspeed advantage? He didn't dent Knabjian with anything until the kick landed. But land it did. There's a lot of guys I'd like to see Duell in with and some of them are reasonable picks. Meanwhile, there's Knabjian, who is going to be a journeyman or retire. (1)

OVERALL FOR THE SHOW: 6 out of 10. No great fights, but there's some entertainment here, particularly with the main event and some of the sloppy openers.

Raging Wolf 11 (12/30/2010)

Dan Funes (who once sent me a critical email!) and Jen Boronico are announcing this MMA event from Western NY. Main event - Nuri Shakir vs. Tom Egan. Really? Oh, and did I mention its a title fight?

1) Antonio Smith vs. Frank Scalzo: Amateur bout at 145. Scalzo looks like he has a karate background?

FIGHT: Smith Unanimous Decision. Here's the fight in a nutshell; two guys clinch, one goes for an arm in guillotine, doesn't get it, gets controlled on the bottom, loses the round. This is rounds one and two. In rounds three, two guys clinch, the one with the crazy stance drops levels and gets a takedown. Very little happens. They stand, they clinch some more, the fight ends. Scalzo is the one who got the takedown in the 3rd and was on top most of the 2nd, but loses the decision. Why? How? I have no idea. (0)

Ben Saunders and Jonathan Brookins have been paid appearance fees for this event and come into the ring to waive and shit. I read not long ago that Mark Coleman was charging $2K per appearance, so I'm guessing these guys got something similar. Maybe not as good.

2) Chris Robinson vs. TJ Sumler: I feel like I've seen Sumler's name in the past. Survey says: I have! He lost to Allen Arzeno in a amateur title fight. Welterweight bout that has 3 minute rounds - still amateurs?

FIGHT: Sumler TKO Rnd 1. Sumler drops Robinson rushing in with a right hand and gets folded. So Robinson then gets hit square in the back of the head with an illegal shot, stumbles up and gets highlight KOed with a right hand. Ref jumps in and he complains. Sumler moves on. So do I. (0)

3) Luigi Fioravanti vs. Mike Guerin: Luigi is extra fat. Guerin is 10-1 and clearly more built.

FIGHT: Fioravanti Unanimous Decision. (2)

Fioravanti: There's not a lot to be said here about Fioravanti - his hands seemed to be faster, and while he's wide, he can still hit a non-moving target like Guerin's chin. Also, he's still good enough on the mat to stop Guerin from being able to do much in top control aside from throw headbutts. He's calmer in the ring and that helps him have better stamina. I dunno, he's a veteran with some skills but who physically doesn't look the part of a world class fighter and who lacks the results too, this win aside.

Guerin: What I know about Guerin is that he lacks commitment standing, throws straight shots with not a ton of force, has a decent takedown but really can't set it up, and leaves his chin out while he bends over and gives up his height. Uhhh, yeah. I just can't see much long term potential in a middleweight Jonathan Brookins, minus the lateral drop.

4) Nuri Shakir vs. Thomas Egan: YOUR MAIN EVENT for the RW Welterweight title. One guy has a career losing record who won the title against a 3-2 no name. Now he fights s 4-2 fringe name to defend.

FIGHT: Shakir TKO Rnd 3. Egan never answers the bell for the 3rd, stating that the weight cut of 16lbs was so severe, he can't continue. Even Dan Funes is shaking his head. Shakir is still a blown up featherweight who gets multiple takedowns on Egan and controls him by consistently getting the clinch and forcing the fight to the cage rather than exchange with Egan, which is Egan's lone strength. This was a chance for Egan to show that he was ready for the next level, and he's not even close. (1)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Shakir/Egan

KO OF THE NIGHT: Sumler/Robinson

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 2 out of 10. Sumler has a wicked KO, some boring decisions, a boring decision is cut short by one of the participants having laughably bad cardio.

NAAFS Cage Fighting (3/20/2011)

Yet another show from NAAFS graces my screen. Tonight's main event for TV - John Hawk vs. Josh Watson at 205.

1) Tony Hodges vs. Tommy Deroia: Deroia looks like he aspires to be James Irvin.

FIGHT: Deroia Submission Rnd 1. Fast stuff as he jumps in with a push kick and punch and clinches, and Jesus, was that out of the Royce Gracie textbook? He gets this to the mat and gets the back very quickly and the choke. Not even really under the chin and hooks not really in, but still impressive as he goes to 5-0 as an amateur. No striking prowess really displayed. (0)

2) Ronda Gale vs. Holly Powell: 15 year age difference in favor of the 20 year old Powell. 115lb bout.

FIGHT: Ronda Gale. Ridiculous scoring has Gale winning 30-27 on one card and losing 29-28 on another. Solid who cares sorta fight between amateur women going nowhere fast. Powell just looks to close distance and get the clinch and stay there the entire time. Snore. The video had some choppiness to it, probably due to weather in the area. (0)

3) Josh Watson vs. John Hawk: Ridiculous hair as Watson is wearing the Roadkill/Amish beard and Hawk has a pink mohawk. I've seen Watson before elsewhere.

FIGHT: Hawk TKO Rnd 1. Again, I had some lousy video here but what I did see was an ass beating on Watson. Watson dropped his hands constantly. On defense, on offense, whenever. As soon as he'd move his hands, they would drop dramatically almost to waist level. Hawk comes out looking as sleek as he'll ever be at this weight and lands with his generic boxing, pushes Watson up against the cage, and delivers an elbow that actually fells the big goofy looking fella. A lot of GNP later and the ref steps in, way late, to call a halt to this bout. (1)

OVERALL FOR THE SHOW: 3.5 out of 10. I liked the John Hawk fight - not often I've said that statement in the last year or two. Deroia playing a hyper athletic version of undersized, nonathletic Gracie family member was interesting, but I don't think its a wise career path. The women's fight I've already forgotten.

Tuff-N-Uff Fights: Future Stars of MMA 3 (1/7/2011)

John Morgan and Dave Farra are announcing this event from the Orleans' Mardi Gras Ballroom. All bouts are amateur fights. 2 minute rounds all around and judging by the referee's shirt, sanctioning comes through the ISKA.

1) Casey Picard vs. Cody Hamm: Uhhhh. Some people. They aren't even of drinking age, these two. 160lb bout.

FIGHT: Picard TKO Rnd 1. KOTC special, basically. Hamm complains about the stoppage, but whatever. Picard is picking off Hamm's wild shots and then slams him down out of a bodylock, immediately taking side control. He mounts Hamm and punches him until the ref stops it. (0)

2) Joshua Morgan vs. Tyler Jeppsen: Again: More guys I don't know. Morgan is 29. 185lbs.

FIGHT: Jeppsen TKO Rnd 1. Wild grappling from both early on and Morgan cuts himself from what looks to me to be either A) contact his face makes with the canvas less than 30 seconds in or B) an accidental headbutt when the two clinch. Nothing is learned about either aside from that Morgan's stance for striking reminds me of Dan Severn in 1997. (0)

3) Raul Sandoval vs. Jesse Romero: Romero is from Couture's gym.

FIGHT: Romero Unanimous Decision. Sandoval is the better fighter standing and trading, but that's not all MMA is, right? Romero takes down Sandoval over and over again, attains dominant positions, and lands OK GnP, particularly in round 1 (where he mounts Romero). In rounds 2 and 3 he spends almost the entire round on top. (0)

4) Jessamyn Duke vs. Ashlee Evans-Smith: Evans-Smith is the "local" favorite having sold a few tickets to friends and being from California. Duke is from KY. Why did she come all the way to Vegas to fight for no money? Hmmmm.....

FIGHT: Evans-Smith Unanimous Decision. Duke is a kickboxer sorta. I say sorta because she can kick and that's about the only evidence of skill. Zero takedown defense. I mean, she gets taken down off an armdrag. Duke is "active" from the guard but so loose, she comes nowhere near actually locking anything up. Later in the fight, Evans-Smith is landing punches repeatedly and doesn't even have to do anything but walk forward to get to the range she wants with Duke. Evans-Smith is a top control grappler, but compare her to like Jessica Eye (who is only recently a pro) and I'm not horribly impressed yet. Still, she is young. (0)

5) Lee Henry Lilly vs. Joey Angelo: These guys each have 5-6 ammy fights - welterweights.

FIGHT: Lilly Unanimous Decision. Angelo and Lilly threw wild stuff at each other that didn't connect, but Lilly had takedowns in every round. When the rounds are 2 minutes, being on top for 1 minute pretty much guarantees you won. Angelo has good size but I don't think much of his technique or athleticism. Lilly seems to be a wrestleboxer type but that's not a bad thing. No idea what his credentials are. (0)

6) David Tompkins vs. Troy Remer: 10th Planet vs. Xtreme Couture in this one.

FIGHT: Remer Unanimous Decision. Competitive fight. Tompkins is much taller and should be working from long range on Remer. Unfortunately, he keeps on kicking against the wrestler, and when he does that, Remer closes the distance and gets to the clinch. The fight is fought in the clinch or the mat probably 75% of the time, with Remer getting the takedown in every round. Based on his control of Tompkins by pushing him around the ring or taking him down, Remer wins the first and second, but then loses the third when Tompkins immedately sweeps him and lands a number of blows in the closing seconds. (0)

7) Jon Gorton vs. Jonathon Rodeffer: Rodeffer is a Team Tompkins disciple. LW bout.

FIGHT: Gorton Unanimous Decision. First round is an exhibition of wild striking, but the second and third are all about takedowns from Gorton. Rodeffer is a dirty fighter - he grabs almost every rope at the same time to prevent a takedown, and also claims to be hit in the groin when he's taken down with a double. (0)

8) Cesar Campos vs. Josh Grevas: LA Boxing vs. Xtreme Couture. Campos has an appreciable height advantage. Grevas has been off from fighting for 3 years.

FIGHT: Campos Unanimous Decision. Grevas goes for takedowns and gets them on occasion, but has trouble dealing with the submissions thrown back at him by Campos. Standing, its not even close. Grevas throws wide punches from the outside and gets tagged coming in. Grevas kinda stinks the fight out with his style, unfortunately. (0)

9) Ronda Rousey vs. Taylor Stratford: Women's bout. Both are undefeated. Rousey is a Olympian judoka.

FIGHT: Rousey Submission Rnd 1. So, here we have the most impressive performance of the show. Rousey and Stratford end up close enough for the clinch early and Rousey gets an outside trip and then starts going for submission after submission and submission. She gets a straight armbar and its all over. (1)

10) Giovani Zavala vs. Gabriel Garzon: Heavyweights - in shape ones! Zavala is 31, however.

FIGHT: Zavala TKO Rnd 1. Garzon and Zavala swing and swing and then they clinch. Zavala gets pushed to the corner and after a lack of action, they work to separate themselves. Garzon does it all wrong, leaving straight out and with his hands down and head up. He gets clocked behind the ear with a punch and goes down hard.

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Rousey/Stratford

KO OF THE NIGHT: Garzon/Zavala

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Rousey/Stratford

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 2.5 out of 10. Man, aside from Rousey's fight, nothing to get excited about here. The only potential pro prospects I really saw from this show based on where they are now are Casey Picard, Lee Henry Lilly (as a lightweight), and Jon Gorton. None of those I feel too strongly about. They could be the random 6-5 guys fighting on any generic club card in this country just as well as they could develop into UFC level gatekeepers and FOTN chasers.

D&R Rating: 2% (1/60)

NAAFS Cage Fighting (3/13/2011)

After three weeks of repeat shows, a new show for NAAFS. Kalikas is still with John Strmac. This is from Caged Fury 14 held on 2/26/11. NAAFS has upgraded to a blue vinyl mat surface that they seem to admit they lifted from another promotion who "didn't need it anymore".

1) Cameron Ross vs. Josh Kallai: Interesting note is the sponsorship of each corner to a specific company. Amateur bout.

FIGHT: Kallai Unanimous Decision. Not a terrible showing from Kallai in winning. He gets takedowns over and over and does a solid job getting getting to dominant positions on the mat. Ross goes for some ill advised submission attempts in the bout (why pull guard to go for the guillotine if you can't win on the bottom?) and throws some really wild shots when he walks forward that Kallai counters. (0)

2) Victor Guarriello vs. Cody Garbrandt: Two 19 year old amateurs at 135. Guarriello has a weight of 129 on the scales.

FIGHT: Garbrandt TKO Rnd 1. Guarriello is so much smaller its ridiculous. Garbrandt comes in and stumbles himwith a right uppercut counter. He keeps throwing shots until the ref jumps in as Guarriello starts slumping down against the cage. Very short bout. (0)

3) John Myers vs. Bryon McCroskey: Lightweights. Both are 31 years old. In other words, probably not real prospects.

FIGHT: McCroskey TKO Rnd 1. Myers gives a good effort getting a takedown at one point and wading through some offense by McCroskey, but he gasses out and McCroskey's better conditioning takes over. He hurts Myers with punches on the mat and then follows it up with more standing. While Myers sees the bell, he's so beat up he needs to be carried out of the ring. Looks like he has some sort of leg injury. (0)

OVERALL FOR THE SHOW: 3.5 out of 10. I can't say it was totally bad because Kallai looked good and is a young buck with a lot of time to grow. But the rest is probably something you can skip.

NAAFS Cage Fighting (2/13/2011)

More from the 12/4/2010 Night of Champions show. Stipe Miocic headlines.

1) Bob Rech vs. Chase Owens: NAAFS Amateur Middleweight belt on the line.

FIGHT: Owens Unanimous Decision. Good decision. Honestly, Rech isn't that bad a fighter, but his ability to stay on top is not that great and his striking is nonexistent. He's got a decent shot and he's a solid athlete. Owens isn't much of a striker other, throwing haymakers with the right, but his ability to scramble and control the clinch is really impressive. He's out of breath after the fight (which is merely 9 minutes) so he probably needs to work on his cardio, but that's something to discuss for the future. He's not even pro yet. I was pretty impressed. Both guys have raw physical talents. They just need the right training. (1)

2) Mike King vs. Jeff Hughes: NAAFS Light heavyweight amateur title.

FIGHT: King TKO Rnd 1. King and Hughes box badly and clinch and there's a knee to the balls of Hughes. The fight starts again and they box badly some more until King eats a couple right hands on the end of 1-2 combos and he's on queer street. He takes a bunch more shots until the ref jumps in. So, Hughes has a good chin that won't last long taking those punches. (0)

3) Greg Maynard vs. Stipe Miocic: Maynard is said to be a Bellator vet. Like, so? Miocic is a guy that NAAFS has been hyping FOREVER.

FIGHT: Miocic TKO Rnd 2. Not much to discuss here. Maynard is much shorter and is tubby. Miocic lands a billion leg kicks and jabs and this is basically a sparring session in which the bag gets tired and drops after a right hand and a knee. One thing the announcers note, and I'll agree, is that Miocic is moving away from being more or less just a boxer/slugger type fighter and is now throwing leg kicks and looking like a more dynamic striker. He's young enough that this is still a reasonable thing to do as far as his career goes. He's only 4-0 as a pro, and those are the fights that really matter. (2)

OVERALL FOR THE SHOW: 5 out of 10. Opener was pretty fun to watch and it went downhill from there. Miocic is a good fighter but stuff like this where he basically practices stuff on a barely responding opponent isn't must see TV.

NAAFS Cage Fighting (12/26/2010)

More from the 11/24/2010 NAAFS show.

1) Nick Kilian vs. Chris Green: Amateur series welterweight fight. Green has some belts or something and is huge. He's 5 lbs heavier than Kilian.

FIGHT: Green Split Decision. Crap call.

Green: Green is a house afire in round one and gets a takedown and even maneuvers into a near rear naked choke finish. Good body kick too. Then he is tired and spends most of the rest of his fight on his back. Somehow, he still wins.

Kilian: Plain fighter who looks like he has some sort of wrestling background. His shot sucks but he can get the takedown out of the clinch, which is nice. Unfortunately, his striking is just OK and that means be gets tagged as much as he lands. Between all that, he can't clearly dominate someone on technique.

2) John Myers vs. Rhett Northcraft: Lightweight bout; pros.

FIGHT: Myers TKO Rnd 1. Northcraft goes straight backwards as Myers comes forward with punches, ducks low, and gets a takedown. He's got back control for about 2 minutes, Myers uses wrist control to stop the RNC, and ends up rolling over into the guard. From there, he passes the guard, prevents Northcraft from scrambling, and sorta tosses him down and beats the hell out of Northcraft in the mount, forcing a stop some 3 minutes in.

3) Marc Bennett vs. Mickey Hughes: Welterweight bout; pros. Bennett is undefeated, Hughes has fought Chris Lozano and some other guys who aren't as good.

FIGHT: Hughes Submission Rnd 1. D'arce choke, ever popular, finishes the fight. Before that comes, Bennett had gotten this to the mat out of the clinch with a sorta bodylock takedown, but Hughes regains the full guard quickly and goes for an armbar. Bennett escaped it and stayed on top, but gets caught with the D'arce trying to move around. Oops.

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 4 out of 10. Lousy decision for a hometown guy with a huge weight advantage, a D'arce choke, and a KOTC special. NAAFS brings the watchable and not much beyond that.

D&R Rating: 0%

NAAFS Cage Fighting (12/19/2010)

Back to NAAFS fight reviews to open up the year of 2011 here on BShowAssault. John Strmac and Greg Kalikas are now the announcers for NAAFS. Ring announcer is now Jazz Securo. Changes everywhere! These fights were held on 11/24/2010.

1) Doug Wells vs. Rich Randolph: Dudes. One is 0-1, the other 1-3.

FIGHT: Randolph TKO Rnd 1. Some robot standup here between the two, and Randolph catches Wells as he is lazy with the jab and comes over the top with the right hand. Nice KO as Wells goes down and sorta crumples, then takes shots while face first on the canvas.

2) Andria Caplan vs. Janel Krafft: Andria Caplan is Sam Caplan's wife. Yes. Sam Caplan of 5 Oz of Pain and Bellator matchmaker fame. Krafft grew up going to the high school this event is being held at.

FIGHT: Caplan Unanimous Decision. Horrendously low level stuff grappling and striking wise from both, especially Krafft, who doesn't seem to have a gameplan that involves winning and turns and runs every time she is hit with a strike. She shoots a double at one point in the second and is swept immediately and gives up the back. That's what I'm watching. Caplan is essentially all basic stuff but that base technique is a lot better, and so she wins.

3) Mike Nesto vs. Dustin Kempf: Featherweights.

FIGHT: Kempf Submission Rnd 1. Nesto and Kempf uncomfortably strike, Nesto shoots, gets his head taken, and Kempf sinks in a super deep guillotine with a modified grip and forces the tap.

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 3 out of 10. All the points are for the cool guillotine.

D&R Rating: 0%

Caged Combat MMA (10/3/2009)

This is another amateur show, more local to me and televised exclusively on Fox Sports Detroit. The event is hosted, MCed, and promoted by former Toughman promoter Craig Ahrens. Ahrens occasionally promotes pro boxing as well and is famous regionally for basically being willing to put anyone who can pass a blood test in the cage. Consider the moral implications if you will, then remember you are watching cage fighting.

Also notable is the fact that this is a show I started a review of back in March and never finished. So there is that too. But now it is done! Since its old, its in the CLASSIK style of pseudoPBP.


Since this is MI, all rounds are 3 minutes, no elbows allowed.

1) JOSHUA ARSENIDEGA vs. TODD KELLY: This is a catchweight of 130, I think.

Competitive first round of the fight: Kelly goes for takedowns and seems to be more comfortable on top, whereas Arsenidega's somewhat archaic looking BJJ is effective enough to nearly armbar Kelly and sweeps him into mount. The second round is cut short for a commercial break almost right after it starts. When we come back, its round 3; Arsenidega gets a takedown, and its back to commercial. We return and Kelly is basically on the verge of tapping out, which he eventually does to a rear naked choke. (0)

A commercial is then shown for the 11/25/09 show: Ahrens promises $1.99 beer specials! Yeah, I'm glad I stayed home.

2) ENRIQUE CASTANEDA vs. CASEY RIFE: There aren't really weight classes here. Rife is 143 and Castaneda 141. Its like if you're at least in the ballpark, there's a fight.

Beyond terrible; neither has a lick of skill at this point. Rife's boxing stance is converted from boxing, but without any of the things that make a proper boxing stance work. Castaneda drags him down for a RNC. (0)

3) MATT BOBBIO vs. JONATHAN SCHRIER: RUN WITH THE BULL~ a banner tells me. However, it tells me to train with the tatted up white dudes of Team Murcielago rather than drink Schiltz. They're around lightweight, how's that sound?

Dudes imitate an MMA fight and it ends with Schrier losing to a arm and head triangle from the bottom. (0)

4) JEFF SHAW vs. GREG PAGGEOT: another bout that is kinda a lightweight bout.

KOTC Classic: Paggeot loses by RNC after being taken down and worked over. (0)

5) GARY FISHER vs. TYLER GILLESPIE: A legitimate lightweight contest.

Gillespie slams Fisher big early, hurts his arm, fight is over. A sorta cool slam. (0)

6) ANDRE WILLIAMS vs. TRAVIS COOK: A welterweight contest; Williams is 6 lbs under.

The first round is pretty good with Cook looking competent in the clinch and Williams a decent grappler himself. Then there is a commercial break. We don't see round 2. Round 3 starts with Williams shooting after getting hurt by a body kick. Cook tries to lock the triangle and the armbar, but Williams spins and defends. Cook works off the cage and ends up nearly getting Williams back after having attempted to sweep him due to an error in judgement. Williams turns over into mount and Cook lands bombs until the end of the round. He wins a decision. Uh, okay? (0)

7) JOSH BROWN vs. TREVOR MORRIS: Morris is 17. That's a story that's getting old, isn't it?

Terrible action through all 3 rounds that one endures. Entry level striking and grappling ends in the third with a huge right hand by Morris. The highlight aside from the KO is a jumping side kick by the teenager. (0)

8) BOYD GUZMAN vs. LOWELL FRISBIE: Frisbie has an incredible name. As best I can tell on the net, he's like 5-1 as an amateur and has a background in kempo or TKD or some shit. Welterweights.

Crazy strikes, Frisbie lands a head kick flush, and Guzman is hellaunconscious. Do promoters in MI have to pay for any insurance before a fight? I'm guessing not. (0)

9) DAVID ROHM vs. THOMAS WHITE: Welterweights, White has some bitchin' cornrows.

Rohm has no standup whatsoever. Its all about rushing into the clinch for him. Sometimes he does something, other times he prefers to push White into the cage. Rohm does throw some wild looping haymakers in the second that hurt White: Can't say I'm impressed. There's an interview in between the second and third rounds...on the PA. IN THE RING. More Rohm domination in clinch or top control in the third round with White not mustering up anything but a failed throw early on. Rohm wins the decision. I lose dignity. (0)

10) JAKE SEILER vs. JOHN MONTGOMERY: Light heavyweights now. Seiler has some sort of karate background.

Seiler works a single into an RNC and forces the tap out. See that play out in your mind. Not "Single into a takedown, passes guard to side control, mount, opponent flips and gives neck". Exactly what I said. (0)

11) JOSH PONDER vs. TEMAIN CUNNINGHAM: Heavyweights. Big boys. Untalented large men scrapping.

Hockey fight, Ponder is hurt with a knee, Cunningham fails to capitalize, gasses, ends up choked out. (0)

12) LUKE GRUMMET vs. ART DE LEON JR.: Relation to Ron De Leon of Lansing ammy MMA fame? Like I really know.

Bad striking leads to a body lock takedown, full mount, and strikes stop it for Grummet. Whatever. During the fight slo-mo replays are spliced in without warning. (0)

13) COREY KRINGS vs. DAMIAN VERCETTI: Lightweight title fight.

Krings gets a takedown off the clinch, mounts, and Vercetti turns over. You expect RNC...but you expect wrong! Or not. He defends some and rolls a bit, then gets tapped with it. (0)

14) ERIC PRICE vs. CALEB GRUMMET: Middleweight title on the line. Why does it matter?

Grummet is far bigger, outweighing Price by 16 lbs. He slams Price after having overhooks (!), but they get up and trade nervous winging shots. Neither is very good. Grummet has another takedown, and eventually it leads to a stop by strikes after Price tries to roll around a little and doesn't even come close to really bucking him. (0)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: LOLOLOLOL

KO OF THE NIGHT:Frisbie/Guzman

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Bobbio/Schrier

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 0 out of 10. Literally the worst MMA I've perhaps ever endured. That I went something like 9 months without finishing the review tells you everything you need to know.

Ultimate Warrior Challenge (UK)13 (6/6/2010)

For the first time in awhile, its time to watch MMA from the UK! Yay! From the Tennis and Leisure Centre in Garon Park, Essex, we have this lineup of fights featuring people I have likely never heard of for my amusement. Ian Freeman is the ring announcer, which means that there are good odds that organized crime could be involved. Yay again! Josh Palmer and Pierre Guillett announcing. Lots of dudes from Storm Gym and Evolution Gym.

1) Andy Wilson vs. Chris Phillips: "Semi Pro MMA" is the billing for this with two four minute rounds at 77KG. Oh god. Apparently since this isn't a real pro fight, there are RINGS style rules.

FIGHT: Phillips Submission Rnd 1. Gets on top a couple times, eventually gets a sort of ugly mount position and has a head/arm choke against the cage that forces Wilson to tap. There was a bit of a weird standup in this fight by the ref as Phillips was in top control fresh out of looking for something from the mount. (0)

2) Will Butler vs. Sam Yinka Redin: Redin is 0-1 and Butler is 3-0. This is at least full blown "Pro MMA". Little guys.

FIGHT: Butler Submission Rnd 1. Technical submission as the ref stops it before Redin's arm explodes in a straight armbar. Butler had shot in and was stuffed, but then pulled guard and immediately went to the armbar, sweeping Redin over and getting full extension on it. (0)

3) Mathew Walker vs. Sean Childs: 73KG guys from schools I don't know in the UK. Childs has dyed red hair that is downright fluorescent.

FIGHT: Childs Submission Rnd 1. Clearly from the get go Childs is gonna dominate. He slams Walker twice, even holding him up, spinning 360 degrees, then dropping him at one point. Childs goes for a heel hook without thinking twice, because apparently its illegal in semi pro MMA here. Childs eventually locks a guillotine in standing on Walker and then like pulls guard and rolls backwards over into mount, which was pretty sweet. Fun domination. (1)

4) Tom Webb vs. Chris Stebbads: More semi pro action at 82KG. Webb is supposedly an ex boxer of some sort.

FIGHT: Stebbads Submission Rnd 2. Stebbads screws up an easy armbar from mount and transitions to a triangle at least to save face by winning soon afterwards. Webb keeps going for guillotines and ends up mounted after pulling guard for leverage. Horrible game plan. Nothing to be excited for here. (0)

5) Joe Boobyer vs. Iian Martel: Boobyer. Really. REALLY. 93KG semi pro bout. What the hell am I watching this for again?

FIGHT: Martel TKO Rnd 1. They throw out the semi pro rules as Martel drops Boobyer early in the fight as he lets him up from a takedown against the cage and then smashes him on the mat. Boobyer is like, "Hey, that's a DQ!" and no one cares. The announcer and the color guy both are from the same gym as Martel, so I'm guessing this isn't an even playing field. (0)

6) Murrey Fullerton vs. Jefferson George: Semi pro bout at 83KG. Jesus can I see someone that doesn't suck and is worthy of being paid?

FIGHT: Fullerton Submission Rnd 1. Fullerton rolls on George with the classic KOTC special and RNC finish. (0)

7) Stuart Davies vs. Dave Hardiman: 70KG fight in the PRO DIVISION. Phew. Thank god.

FIGHT: Hardiman Submission Rnd 2. Davies wears thai shorts but doesn't really kickbox. Instead dudes grapple. Davies has great position for an armbar in the first from the bottom but keeps crossing his feet and doesn't extend. He then goes to kick himself off the fence and he loses the grip and ends up having to roll for a desperation leg lock to try and save face. Hardiman gets the takedowns throughout the fight, fends off the submissions, and eventually moves to mount and gets an armbar in the second round. (0)

8) Matteo Piran vs. Alfie Slade: Pro MMA with 6-6 Italian vs. a debuting Brit.

FIGHT: Piran Submission Rnd 1. Basically a KOTC special with some uncomfortable standup, a belly to belly suplex, punching and a RNC finish. (0)

9) Panikos vs. Terry Montgomery: Yes, the dude is named "Panikos". Welterweights. Panikos has shaggy hair. He appears to use a separate conditioner. Or maybe Wen.

FIGHT: Montgomery Submission Rnd 1. You can tell moments in with Montgomery's tight standup and explosive speed that this is not going to go Panikos' way. Montgomery gets this to the mat early on when Panikos is knocked down (sorta) going backwards off balance. Montgomery goes for the mount and then ends up being sort of flipped while going for a kimura. He holds onto it and eventually forces a tap with Panikos inside his full guard. Montgomery is kinda interesting but I think he was using a lot of energy early on. (1)

10) Will Jackson vs. John Hales: 80KG fight, so middleweights I guess?

FIGHT: Hales Submission Rnd 1. Hales rolls this guy - it looks like your standard KOTC special with Hales taking the mount after a successful double leg thanks to Jackson trying to shrimp out and leaving the pass open to do so and then turning over, but Jackson does escape and gets back up. Too bad he is taken down immediately again. Hales is all over him like a wet blanket and Jackson can't even come close to getting this to half guard before a modified head and arm choke is applied. Doesn't even look like much of one - kinda like a head crank where one side of the carotid is closed off by the shoulder blade and the applying fighter's arm does the other side.

11) Tim Wise vs. Colin Macdairmaid: THE BATTLE OF SOUTHEND ON SEA - Revolution Gym vs. TSG Fight School.

FIGHT: Wise TKO Rnd 1. Man, this is ugly stuff. Dudes just throwing wild shots, eventually MacDairmaid (who is OLD) drops and Wise blasts him with punches dead in the face over and over and over again until the ref finally stops it. Just to clarify, MacDairmaid wasn't like "out cold" but more like "mouth agape and sucking wind like an asthmatic" after like 2:30. Not the sport's finest moment. (0)

12) Philly San vs. Shane Omer: San fought at Cage Rage 1. CAGE RAGE 1. But he like never fights and is listed as "independent".

FIGHT: Omer Submission Rnd 1. KOTC special. San is taken down, pounded, cut, turns over, RNC. Omer is still 5 and 0. (1)

13) Shane Kavanah vs. Andrew Tate: 84KG. These guys are debuting. Tate looks HUGE.

FIGHT: Tate TKO Rnd 1. Tate LOVES lead leg high kicks. Sure, they touch, but they do no damage. Tate gets a takedown and does nothing with it, and Kavanah gets out of it. Still, this is a pretty dominant performance. They clinch, Kavanah tries to get some separation and Tate prefers to stay in the pocket. He lands a hard right hand to Kavanah that causes him to fall to the mat and he drives another punch him to a Tate that is laid out on the mat. (0)

14) Ivan Serati vs. Shawn Lomas: Serati got in the UFC once because, hey, they needed someone to lose to Drwal. He beat Lee Hasdell in 2007 during his short lived comeback. Lomas has lost 7 fights in the last TWO MONTHS as of today. Only 2 wins in his last 13 fights and has fought 36 times in a career lasting all of about 17 months.

FIGHT: Serati Submission Rnd 1. Ends with a RNC after yet another KOTC special. Serati actually had the Gary Goodridge/Tatsu position with the wrist control behind the back and apparently decided to not kill Lomas, instead being inactive to the point where there was a standup. Didn't matter since Serati just got another double immediately. (0)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Childs/Walker

KO OF THE NIGHT: Tate/Kavanah

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Montgomery/Panikos

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 2.5 out of 10. So much filler. No really great fights. Nothing even too competitive. Lots of first round finishes. But some kinda interesting prospects very early into careers.

D&R Rating: 4% (3/70)

NAAFS Cage Fighting (11/15/2010)

No idea what the original airdate was. Was this it? Maybe. These fights were recorded on 12/5/2009 at NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS~.

1) Jason Butcher vs. Dane Bonningson: Butcher is a tattoo artist. Bonningson I had seen in his prior fight in this tournament. Since this is the finals of the light heavyweight amateur tournament, I am going to assume he wins.

FIGHT: Bonningson TKO Rnd 1. Bonningson lands a looping overhand right over the top of Butcher's low guard and drops him, forcing the stoppage like 10 seconds in. 14 seconds officially. (0)

2) Marie Colangelo vs. Jessica Eye: NATIONAL AMATEUR WOMENS CHAMPIONSHIP! yells the announcer. More Jessica Eye! Will I be sold this time?

FIGHT: Eye Unanimous Decision. Man, it is clear that these girls fighting Eye are just overpowered. All of them. Colangelo comes at her, clinches, then gets pushed into the cage and put in a guillotine attempt of sorts before eventually being pushed down and put in terrible positions. She survives the first and ends up immediately on the defensive practically running from Eye. She goes for a single in the second in desperation and just crumbles and ends up on the bottom. Same sort of domination continues in the third. (0)

3) Allan Weickert vs. Chris Lozano: Weickert beat Sean Salmon to win some sort of strap while Lozano was a generally unknown prospect here.

FIGHT: Lozano TKO Rnd 1. Lozano wins after throwing a lead left hook and following it up with a short inside uppercut that drops Weickert. Before that, Weickert tried to drag him down to the mat and do something there, but couldn't get it done. Standing, Lozano was far superior. (2)

OVERALL FOR THE SHOW: 4 out of 10. So much of the show is taken up by the women's bout, which while not terrible is not that good either. Its basically a one sided fight. Lozano wins in an early part of his career, and he's a legitimate prospect. The other fight is a throwaway historically.

NAAFS Cage Fighting (10/31/2010)

Time to catch back up on NAAFS, isn't it? Argh. More fights from Eve of Destruction.

1) Lettia Suchevich vs. Shawna Browne: Lettia is 100lbs and has a ton of tats. Browne is 103. Am I really watching hayweight women's MMA?

FIGHT: Suchevich Unanimous Decision. "Not the most technical fight you'll ever see" say the announcers. That's an understatement. Suchevich has the only tangible ground work seen out of the two in round two, and otherwise its all bad standup. (0)

VIDEO PROMO~ for the following bout.

2) Jessica Eye vs. Marissa Caldwell: Main event of the evening. Eye demolished some random girl on an NAAFS fight card I saw in the past. OH! Super special guest on the mic - Tara LaRosa! Really!

FIGHT: Eye Unanimous Decision. Jessica isn't just the more physically more attractive fighter. She's the technically better fighter in every single way. While Caldwell's braids get opened up, her face bruised, and lip and nose bleeding, Jessica dominates the feet with her striking and also takes down Caldwell at will. I will say that Eye's kicks and punches are kinda slow, not much snap behind them. But this is women's MMA and so what. (0)

OVERALL FOR THE SHOW: 3 out of 10. Not that great a show to watch. Eye might be a fighter to watch in the women's MMA scene but with the lack of talent there and the random nature of matchmaking, who knows?

Tuff-N-Uff Fights: Rags Stags (5/30/2010)

Dave Farra and John Morgan are announcing for this night of action from the Orleans Hotel Casino just off the Vegas Strip. Its basically an amateur card.

1) Justin Bonner vs. Damian Jackson: 170lbers. Jackson making his pro debut. 2 minute rounds in Nevada.

FIGHT: Jackson TKO Rnd 2. Furious pace to start and Bonner eats a front kick to the balls. After a break, back to wild swinging. In the second, Bonner ends up eating a high kick and he goes down. Jackson follows up and forces the stoppage.

2) Ashley Cummins vs. Gabriella Lakoczky: If Lakoczky is any good she's gonna be some sort of sex symbol in MMA with her mohawk and Swedish background. From Gothenburg, no less. She's also 12 years older than her opponent but trains with Wanderlei. She is like some merger of Wendy O Williams and Dimitry Wanderlei. 3X3 because its for a championship.

FIGHT: Cummins Unanimous Decision. No doubt whatsoever on the cards. Cummins takes down Lakoczky in every round and threatens with submissions from the mount, then retakes mount, and screws up again and retakes mount. Etc etc. On and on.

3) Alex Brooks vs. Kalino Yap: .500 guys. Lightweights.

FIGHT: Yap Unanimous Decision. Brooks is incredibly rangy - long, lean, but muscular. a 6' 155lb fighter generally is those things. Yap is amart enough to realize that trading with such an individual puts him at great disadvantage, so he consistently looks for takedowns. Brooks is a sucker for them too but does a good job of reversing position and punching. It doesn't matter though - while Brooks clearly wins the 3rd, the takedowns and top control from Yap wins the fight.

4) Rene Flores vs. Jace Crawford: Flores is really soft. Still like 145 or something like that.

FIGHT: Crawford TKO Rnd 1. Crawford uncomfortably stands with Flores, cuts him with a headbutt as they go to clinch, and then ends up taking him down and smashing him. Afterwards he paces around looking very hard. Whatever. You beat a guy who was probably 3 inches shorter than you and chubby at MMA tinyweight. You aren't some calculating killer. Hate dudes like that.

5) Tommy Gavin vs. Lee Henry Lilly: Slightly bigger dudes. 185?

FIGHT: Gavin TKO Rnd 1. BOMBZ AWAY. Lilly ends up getting dropped and taken out.

6) Autumn Richardson vs. Emily Peters-Kagen: 1-0 MMA amateur women fighter, forget the weight, don't care.

FIGHT: Peters-Kagen TKO Rnd 1. She lands a right hand that busts Richardson's nose and wins the fight in like 23 seconds as the ref separates them, sends over her opponent to the corner and they won't let it go on.

7) Barry Prevost vs. Zack Grossman: 1-0 lightweights.

FIGHT: Prevost TKO Rnd 1. Prevost with a leaping front kick and Grossman goes down straight backwards, Prevost leaps on him. Grossman tries to fight his way out. I dunno, this is the amateurs. You get clipped and dropped with a headkick, don't be shocked if the ref comes to save you.

8) Chris Simmons vs. Kevin Absher: Fat heavyweights. Absher is 40.

FIGHT: Absher TKO Rnd 1. Clubberin' fat man kickboxing. Zane Frazier fighting the white dude at UFC 1 was like this but better because there were headstomps and no stalling. That was like two dudes fighting for their lives. This was bad MMA. Very different on the sleeze scale. Absher wins with a right uppercut. Absher did go for a takedown, which was kinda cool of him.

Oh hey, that's actually the whole show. Only runs one hour, then they tack on a MMA 30 episode at the first UFC Fan Expo.

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Absher/Simmons

KO OF THE NIGHT: Gavin/Lilly

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 2 out of 10. You might have noticed that I didn't give D&R scores. I decided not to type any in because none of these fights mattered. All zeros. There was carnage and that is about all I can say that is good.

D&R Rating: 0%

Ring of Combat XI (8/18/06)

Skipping ahead a bunch of events because the video is unavailable, we go to Ring of Combat XI, held at the Tropicana in Atlantic City. Looks like its in a ballroom. Show is such a mess - it aires the "main event" first and then goes backwards I think? Rob Taliento and some other dude I don't know are announcing. The other guy is named Ralph? The event is taped with one camera that the quality of is galling. Tenyeh Dixon/Stephen Cloud is supposed to be watchable but doesn't work.

1) Israel Gomes vs. Adriano De Lima Periera: Some sort of super lightweight belt? Said to be the main event, and this is the start?

FIGHT: Periera Submission Rnd 1. He gets a takedown, punishes Gomes, forces him to flip, RNC. Blah. (0)

2) Radji Bryson-Barrett vs. Dave Rose: Middleweight contest of some sort.

FIGHT: Bryson-Barrett TKO Rnd 1. Stuns Rose early and then follows up as Rose falls to his back. Stop eventually comes in the first. (0)

3) Sean McCann vs. Scott Conlin: Heavyweights.

FIGHT: McCann TKO Rnd 1. Clubberin and someone falls down. Both guys are hurt at various points in the 30 seconds this lasts. (0)

4) Laura D'Auguste vs. Megumi Yabushita: Featured co-main event women's bout. This was actually a rematch of a split decision that occurred over in Japan. 3 5 minute rounds, which I didn't expect to be honest.

FIGHT: D'Auguste TKO Rnd 1. Close competitive fight in the first with Yabushita, a judoka, going for some cool looking throws but D'Auguste doing a solid job keeping herself in good positions and being on top or even taking the back after attempted throws. She also dominates the standup. Yabushita ends up injuring her wrist at the end of the round trying to go for a big throw and can't continue. Not that great to watch. D'Auguste doesn't fight again. (1) Semi relevant women's bout.

5) Richard Boine vs. Joseph Bentz: Lightweights. Boine is making his debut. This is the opening fight of the night, but shown in the middle. Uhhhh.

FIGHT: Boine TKO Rnd 2. Pretty much all Bentz shooting in, not getting doubles, and then Boine starts taking advantage by getting switches and top control. He hurts Bentz at the start of the second standing and then stops him not too long afterwards with a flurry of wild shots. Neither guy has done much of anything ever. (0)

6) Phillipe Nover vs. Dave Drago: The reason to watch this show.

FIGHT: Nover Submission Rnd 1. Easy fight for Nover, who tags Drago with punches early, hurts Drago, and gets him to the mat. When there, Drago tries to escape and gives up his back real fast. Submission comes after only mild struggle. (1)

7) Andrew Montanez vs. Steve McCabe: Montanez has a nickname of "Strong Island". He's also a career journeyman from Frank Shamrock's school.

FIGHT: Montanez Submission Rnd 2. Kind of an interesting fight. McCabe opens both rounds of this fight with shots that drop Montanez - head kick in round 1, wild right hand in the second. Both times Montanez immediately closes the distance and gets a clinch. He does a decent job of staying on top for much of the first and in the second he scrambles from underneath McCabe and gets a rear naked choke, taking the opponent's back as he tries to rise. (0)

8) Tom Pursell vs. Joseph Thompson: Bigger looking guys - 185.

FIGHT: Pursell TKO Rnd 1. He grazes Thompson with something that looks more like a thumb to the eye and Thompson goes down in a heap, then gets punched a ton while Pursell is on top. Whatever. Dumb fight. (0)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Montanez/McCabe

KO OF THE NIGHT: Pursell/Thompson (may even have been a dive)

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Periera/Gomes

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 2.5 out of 10. Interesting women's fight that is aborted as it gets good and Philipe Nover headlines an otherwise lackluster card of beatings and carnage.

D&R Rating: 5% (2/40)

MaxFights Ballroom Brawl IV (1/8/2010)

This is a bit of a well known event because of a major upset that took place during it. This is pretty much a two camera setup with both being DV cams. The show was held at the Val Air Ballroom in Des Moines, IA.

1) Justin Ford vs. Mark Henry: Ford is a judoka, I hear. Weight? Dunno at first. They keep calling the guy Killborg that Ford is fighting. Amateur bouts.

FIGHT: Ford Submission Rnd 1. Total domination. He's taken down early, but Ford sweeps with a kimura being the bait, and then he forces Henry to flip over and get choked out. (0)

2) Luis Saldana vs. Tony Crowder: 1-0 vs. 12-6. Featherweight amateur bout.

FIGHT: Saldana Submission Rnd 1. BTW, he was the 1-0 fighter. Looks almost like he uses that modified grip on a guillotine from half guard that Jason Von Flue used to choke out Alex Karalexis back in the dizzay. Realllllly cool. (1)

3) Casey Clayborn vs. Bryan Houston: Indiana vs. Nebraska. Dudes look a lot bigger.

FIGHT: Houston TKO Rnd 1: Houston tosses him to the mat early but Clayborn works his way back up. Once he gets separation from Houston, he's tagged with a total arm punch hook. Clayborn is basically done before he hits the mat. (0)

4) Anthony Kellen vs. RJ Harris: Kellen is so much smaller. SO MUCH.

FIGHT: Kellen Submission Rnd 3. Interesting fight - RJ Harris beats the hell out of him with strikes, but nothing has a lot of force on it and Kellen walks through all of it. He seems to get an armbar submission in round 2 that the ref breaks up, forces the fighters to the feet, and then restarts after. Weird. In round three, Kellen again wades through strikes and gets taken down by RJ Harris. Harris ends up getting triangled shortly thereafter and loses. Kellen has a ton of heart. Just a ton. But he needs a real camp to get him further, and fighters his size. Good fight but not exceptional and worth going out of your way for. (1)

5) Steve Hernandez vs. Rick St. John: 130lb fighters. St. John takes the fight on one hour notice.

FIGHT: Hernandez TKO Rnd 1. Ridiculous fight. St. John was unprepared completely and gets tossed around, and then gets mounted. Punches come in and this fight is over in about a minute. Most basic story in MMA. (0)

6) Corey Simpson vs. Brody Jay: Who? Simpson is a journeyman at the lowest level of the sport and the announcer seems to mention something about Simpson having made "bad choices". LOL. Okay. 3 minute rounds

FIGHT: Simpson Split Decision. Lousy decision IMO as Simpson does nothing but loop crazy punches a couple times in the opening two rounds and is otherwise pushed into the cage by Jay and gets low kicks and jabs landed on him. Lousy fight to watch, neither looks particularly interesting for the future. (0)

7) Josh Neer vs. Matt Delanoit: Delanoit is actually quite a bit heavier than Neer here. Still a low level journeyman to a higher level gatekeeper.

FIGHT: Neer TKO Rnd 1. Takes down Delanoit a couple times, fends off a misshapen heel hook attempt, and then finally gets the mount and smashes in Delanoit's head with elbows. (2)

8) Hermes Franca vs. Eric Wisely: Lightweight bout featuring Franca, who just a couple of years ago was competing for the UFC lightweight title.

FIGHT: Wisely TKO Rnd 1. Franca gets the takedown very early in the bout and does not much with it,. Actually, Wisely is throwing more off his back than Franca does from the top. Franca tries to transition to mount, but Wisely escapes the position and stands over Franca, allowing him to rise. Franca gets up and eats a slow looping left hand that everyone in the building saw coming but him. He falls to the mat and eats punches until the ref stops the bout. (3)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Kellen/Harris

KO OF THE NIGHT: Wisely/Franca

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Saldana/Crowder

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 3 out of 10. Its a really short event, so that is nice. The fights? Some really suck and are a waste, and there's a couple interesting amateur fights. The real reason you watch any of this is to see Franca get KOed by a nobody. Interestingly, I stated when I saw Wisely's fight in Mainstream MMA VIII that while he lost a fight in the post script, I think he could rebound. I'd like to A) pat myself on the back for that B) note that I almost NEVER EVER say that about guys who lose fights on this level.

D&R Rating: 17.5% (7/40)

NAAFS Cage Fighting (10/23/2010)

Looks like these fights are from Eve of Destruction, the NAAFS' first all women's show. Fun notes: NAAFS got some new graphics for this show, and in addition, I noticed that Intimidation Fight Wear (who are the same company as MMA promoter ICF, recently reviewed) are running commercials here.

1) Andria Caplan vs. Jenelle Bloom: 155lb amateur MMA women's bout.

FIGHT: Caplan TKO Rnd 1. The worst fight I've seen in years. Just lousy punching. Bloom was pushing her hand out and throwing behind it with these pushed punches and...god. It was so bad. So. Bad. (0)

2) Summer Artherton vs. Jordan McDonald: 115 lb bout.

FIGHT: McDonald Submission Rnd 1. Submission comes at the end of the round just as the bell rings. McDonald was on the bottom, goes for an armbar, pulls her down and straightens it. Standup wise there's nothing to speak of here, Artherton also just got suckered in and the way she got swept into the armbar was...unfortunate. (0)

3) Tera Carper vs. Tamikka Brents: 155 lb fight. Brents is listed as undefeated still so...yeah. No idea. She lost like a month prior.

FIGHT: Brents TKO Rnd 1. Brents drags her down and beats her with punches until the ref stops. Just that simple. Absolute mugging. (0)

4) Amanda Wilcoxen vs. Jessica Zomcik: Seen Zomcik before. Apparently this was her only loss. Fight's at 155.

FIGHT: Zomcik Unanimous Decision. Basically two rounds of Zomcik jabbing every 30 seconds, and occasionally landing a right hand. In the third she shoots and takes down Wilcoxen, operating in her guard for about a minute and a half until the bell rings. Not an entertaining fight. (0)

OVERALL FOR THE SHOW: 1 out of 10. I'll be the first to tell people that I don't really like women's MMA. This show was terrible stuff. One competitive fight and it was painfully boring and inactive.

NAAFS Cage Fighting (10/17/2010)

Another NAAFS episode from Rock N Rumble.

1) Manuel Villanueva vs. Bhrandon Poindexter: Amateur lightweight bout. Matt Brown is joining on commentary. Poindexter is related to boxing trainer Lorenzo Scott, I hear.

FIGHT: Poindexter Submission Rnd 3. Man, not much of a fight from Villanueva. He's not very good standing, he shoots from way outside and never is successful, and Poindexter stuffs him and hits him a lot. Poindexter pulls a switch in round 3 and chokes out Villanueva with an RNC.

(0)

2) Brandon Inskeep vs. Doug Kulbis: Pro featherweight fight. We get Dan Hornbuckle as the guest here.

FIGHT: Kulbis Submission Rnd 2. Kind of a sad fight to watch with Inskeep being game but totally overmatched by Kulbis, who takes him down, smashes him, nearly triangles him at the bell, then takes him down again and smashes then chokes him out with an RNC. Inskeep was active off his back but put himself in worse positions - side control not bad enough? OK. North-south, here we come! (0)

3) Jeremy Holm vs. Stipe Miocic: Miocic is being hyped by the crew as training by Ray Austin now in boxing. Who would say his name if it wasn't true? Holm is 1-0 as a pro, but 9-0 including ammy bouts. Who doesn't at this level of MMA?

FIGHT: Miocic Round 1. I've been sitting back watching the guy, waiting to be impressed with something he's done instead of just hearing about him getting love from his promoter. Miocic here comes out collected, calm, throws a clean uppercut that misses but looked great, and just blows Holm away with a beautiful straight right. Miocic has beaten everyone good in his region. I would agree with anyone who thinks he's about 3-4 fights away from the big time. I mean, what is the rush? At 28, he can wait another year before he gets to the top. (2)

OVERALL FOR THE SHOW: 3 out of 10. Another show with some beatings handed out, and then a really big beating handed out. None of the fights were competitive, but there's some points there for Stipe Miocic's big win.

ICF: Breakout (4/11/2009)

The internet is an amazing place. With all the DVDs I have and all the TV shows I record, I've actually churned through pretty much the entire DVD and what I've recorded, leaving only a scant two programs left to watch for the 'ol blog here. I do have lots and lots of Shooto, but I've decided to try something else for a changeup, just to see how it works. www.gofightlive.tv has been around for a little while and is known for streaming, at a price, lots of mid and lower tier boxing events, but also MMA shows as well. They also happen to archive all the streams, and an enormous number of them are free. That means shows like this happen to be easy for me to access. And so, a review of an Intimidation Cage Fighting show.

This show, from about 18 months ago, features a double main event of ex-UFC talent. In the heavyweight division, Marcio Cruz takes on Dan Christiansen, and in the welterweight division, we've got Forrest Petz fighting Victor O'Donnell. Really, those are pretty interesting fights on paper. Curtis Gunner and some other dude are announcing I guess. Event is held at US Bank Area in Cinci. 7 sided cage with a few different cameras. After this event, they never held a show with the kind of talent they had here again, and were shut down for almost a year following a show they held in Octover of 2009. They recently reopened under "new management".

1) Justin Hunt vs. Alex Suhonsonov: Welterweights. Hunt is 3-1, the guy with the slavic last name is debuting. Oh, but MMA.tv says something totally different. Like that Hunt is 3-3. Oh. He's also now 4-10.

FIGHT: Suhonsonov TKO Rnd 1. Not much of a fight TBH. Guys just swing wildly when striking and Alex rushes him at the very start. He eventually gets a takedown into half guard and pounds on Hunt with elbows to the body that open up a ground and pound attack to the head. (0)

2) Matt Egner vs. Steve Muldrow: Lightweight bout. Egner is shown as 4-0. Apparently this is an amateur bout too,

FIGHT: Muldrow Unanimous Decision. (0)

Egner: Seemed to want to stand up but never got the opportunity, because Muldrow wanted the takedown all the time. He had guillotine attempts that really didn't go anywhere in the first and second and then had a triangle/armbar attempt in the third. None really came that close to finishing Muldrow - he always had space left around Muldrow, arms in with the guillotine, etc.

Muldrow: Good takedowns, not the best submission defense on this planet. Aside from that, not much to write home about here.

3) Taylor Ruschin vs. Chris Curtis: Ruschin is a Gurgel fighter, and Rich Franklin comes to visit his boy. Curtis enters to Living La Vida Loca. This is an amateur fight.

FIGHT: Ruschin Unanimous Decision. (1)

Curtis: Obviously a standup fighter based on the reputation of being exciting and the fact that he had no takedown defense at all.

Ruschin: Looks like a mini Franklin at first. Body kicks look exactly the same, stance is the same, even wears copies of Franklin's trunks. But where the difference lies is wrestling. Franklin prefers to stand and bang but can throw his hips around if he needs to and can sprawl. Ruschin pursues the double leg with frequency and gets it, as well as shows that he can transition to more dominant positions. He's not terrifying with GNP but looks like a threat to submit guys with armbars out of mount and RNCs. Kinda a merger of that old school Cesar Gracie style BJJ with more modern striking and wrestling. I like him quite a bit. Also, he slams down Curtis in the first round with a huge, huge spinebuster style slam.

4) Marcus Finch vs. Tyler Johnson: ICF Middleweight title fight. Amateur bout though.

FIGHT: Finch Unanimous Decision. Well matched bout. Hilarious fact - they cut during the between rounds corner action to show some random 12 year olds with INTIMIDATION FIGHT GEAR. This sport, I swear. (0)

Finch: Finch loses the first round in my book because he gets taken down and pounded on with punches, but Finch defends a kneebar well and ends up drilling Johnson with a few shots of his own. In round 2, he gets down Johnson and is on top, but nearly loses the round as Johnson comes back with strikes. Round 3 see Finch throwing a healthy number of strikes and landing a lot of them. One thing I didn't like? His footwork. Lead leg is square and too far out there not to get kicked. Johnson doesn't recognize it until late in round 3 but when he does land, Finch was bothered.

Johnson: Decent grappler, not much of a wrestler to be honest, not much athletically (no real explosive speed or anything like that), and his striking leaves a lot to be desired. If he had properly secured a figure four before dropping back on Finch for a kneebar attempt in round one, he would have one. Same with recognizing Finch's lead leg. Same with just keeping after the strikes rather than trying to look flashy with a leglock. Lot went wrong for the guy. Just looks...okay. Not a terrible fighter or anything, but he's just a guy who will be .500 on a regional level and probably never get the call up.

5) Tiffany Johnson vs. Jami Miller: 125lb womens fight. Both are 0-0 says the ICF. Tiffany, says MMA.tv, trains at the Western Hills Kungfu Center. TRADITIONAL MARTIAL ARTS ARE FOREVER.

FIGHT: Miller Submission Rnd 1. The amazing thing about this fight is that MMA.tv has this totally wrong. Apparently all black people look the same to the Ohio Athletic Commission. Miller with a KOTC Special of takedown/pass/RNC. Johnson tried to scramble up and gave up her back, so its a little different than the old formula, but not by much. (0)

6) Rob Galloway vs. Ron Mitchell: ICF Heavyweight World Amateur title. Yeah. Galloway comes in to the Hurt cover done by Johnny Cash. Mitchell looks old.

FIGHT: Mitchell TKO Rnd 1. Galloway is spent after 20 seconds in this fight as he rushes Mitchell and tries to put weight on him. Mitchell turns him, eventually they separate and Mitchell lands a knee and some big right hands. It takes 4-5 but Galloway is asleep before the end of the round, well inside the distance. (0)

7) Kevin Barton vs. Thomas "T.J." Ball: Light heavyweights. Looks to be an amateur fight by the length of rounds. Ball is all sorts of ripped.

FIGHT: Kevin Barton Split Decision. Enormous, questionably cut up striker faces not so immense grappler. Ball is able to stop the takedown attempts with his raw strength late in the fight but is taken down repeatedly in the first and second round. Apparently one judge gave him what must have been round 2 based on a few seconds of missed arm punches prior to a Barton double leg. Ball is a smaller and less interesting Dave Yost, while Barton is some guy. (0)

8) Luke Zachrich vs. Robert Thompson: This was a pain in the ass to watch because the video kept timing out and and buffering and dying. Odd. But I watched pretty much the whole thing anyways.

FIGHT: Zachrich Submission Rnd 3. This was after Zachrich had been on TUF and was basically the lamest fighter in the house for the seventh season. Thompson really offers nothing aside from a jab/right hand combination the entire fight, blocking low kicks with his thigh and being forced to change stances, getting a busted nose in round 1 and gasping the rest of the way, and having no real apparent wrestling ability. Zachrich however is slow to do anything. He's thinking way too much - the old Teddy Atlas saying of "he takes a picture when he lands" is completely true. Combos aren't even forced out of him. He just doesn't do them. When he sweeps Thompson down in the third, he easily passes the half guard to side control and crucifixes him before getting a kimura that was waiting for him for a good 15 seconds. Fight didn't need to leave the first. Zachrich didn't really step up the comp again after the Cramer fight until he was signed by Bellator, losing in the first to Eric Schambari earlier this year. (1)

9) Carson Gainey vs. Jeremy Pender: Gainey is rocking dreds and coming out to Marley. This dude is awesome. Looks like a MMA bantamweight Howard Eastman. Pender's promo pic sees him wearing an Oscar The Grouch cap.

FIGHT: Pender Submission Rnd 2. It becomes very apparent very quickly who is going to win when both men stand next to each other, because Gainey looks like he can make 115. Gainey has no apparent wrestling ability and can't strike with anything other than looping haymakers that he slaps with. He seems to have some defensive grappling ability and gets out of back control from Pender, but that's the bright spot. Pender is better at everything though you can't tell if he's really good at anything. Gainey hurts himself taking down Pender as he basically falls backwards with Pender on top of him into mount and slams his head into the mat. Pender punches him a bunch while he tries to weakly cover and gets choked out in the second. Not much of a fight. (0)

10) Daniel Straus vs. Mike Baskis: Straus is a pretty legit prospect.

FIGHT: Straus Unanimous Decision. Straus shows some good takedowns in the fight, as well as a willingness to roll with punches rather than just jump straight back. The one thing I don't like is that while he makes Baskis miss sometimes, he also gets tagged when he starts to drop his hands thinking that Baskis has stopped throwing punches. Baskis is tough and comes forward but he doesn't have a lot in his punching repetoire or as a grappler - he goes for an armbar in round 1 but that's pretty much it, and Straus is able to defend and escape that with not a ton of difficulty. (1)

11) Marcio Cruz vs. Dan Christison: Interesting heavyweight bout. Christison is big and not a lot else. Cruz is a great grappler on the mat, but not much to talk about in terms of his takedowns or striking.

FIGHT: Cruz Unanimous Decision. Both guys are baked pies - nothing can be added. You can put a scoop of ice cream on the side I guess, but that's not really changing the pie, you know? Christison stops the slow shots of Cruz early on, but gets suckered to get on top and then finds himself getting swept and his energy sapped. As the second and third go on, Cruz shoots from far away and eventually gets the takedown he desires by sucking up Christison, even if he gets full extension on his sprawl. Cruz has no reason to stop pushing. What is Dan going to do about it? He throws some weak punches and high kicks and that goes nowhere. (2)

12) Forrest Petz vs. Victor O'Donnell: Interesting prospect vs. gatekeeper showdown.

FIGHT: O'Donnell Submission Rnd 2. They're pretty even standing, but its on the mat where O'Donnell takes over. He's just a better all around grappler than Petz, scoring takedowns and also getting sweeps on the occasions that Petz ends up on top. He pops the nose of Petz and that leads to panic even with Petz being a veteran. O'Donnell secures a rear naked choke as Petz turns over and gives the back. Its his signature win right now. (1)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Finch/Johnson

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Petz/O'Donnell

KO OF THE NIGHT: Mitchell/Galloway

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 4 out of 10. Announcing was bad, production so-so, but really, this is about fights. The fights? Not so good. Petz/O'Donnell wasn't bad and neither was Finch/Johnson, but neither means much.

D&R Rating: 10% (6/60)

NAAFS Cage Fighting (8/22/2010)

This was recorded on it original airing on 8/22/10. Long delay as they started replaying a lot of stuff from Fight Night At the Flats VI. Frankly, this was also part of that same event, so it too is probably a replay. Whatever.

1) Frankie Perez vs. Kenney Jackson: Amateur MMA bout among lightweights. Perez is a fighter from the stable of Ricardo Almedia himself.

FIGHT: Perez Unanimous Decision. Perez is a legitimate prospect, and you see why watching this. Most of the fight is spent wit Perez having hooks or a body triangle on Jackson while holding onto his back. This is part and parcel of an issue with training - Jackson doesn't get the same level of help as does Perez. Clearly he's not any less explosive or athletic. I can see that. But one of these guys is from Ohio and the other is from New York, and the guy from the richer, more important city is unsurprisingly better. Not only is he better as an MMA fighter right now, he completely dominates Jackson the entire fight. Jackson wins maybe, and I mean, MAYBE 20 seconds of the bout, and even that leads to Perez taking the back (Jackson goes for a guillotine after a shot by Perez, picks up Perez, ends up having Perez go around the side and to the back).

Perez, meanwhile, is only a purple belt and pretty new at this MMA thing. Still not a pro. That's something. The announcers are struck dumb trying to say something about this fight that doesn't demolish their homegrown guy. (1)

2) Chuck Ellison vs. Gerric Hayes: Pro welterweight fight. Both guys well under 170.

FIGHT: Hayes Submission Rnd 1. Another fight where the announcers spend a long time talking about their hometown fighter only to see him get rolled. Hayes gets a takedown ASAP, Ellison does try to slip out the back and, oh, oops, he gets caught with a kneebar and it gets blown up. Hayes apparently didn't earn a second time up to Ohio for smashing their amateur star and lost at a Gameness Fighting Championships event. (0)

3) Dane Bonnigson vs. Josh Stansbury: Dane apparently wrestled D-1 for Western Michigan and was undefeated as an amateur. Supposedly cuts from 240 down to 205. Josh Stansbury is some dude I don't know much about and thought was Kyle Kingsbury for a first. Pro series light heavyweight fight, in case I didn't make it clear.

FIGHT: Stansbury Submission Rnd 1. Bonningson looked like an even more robotic Dan Henderson, gets sorta touched by a high kick or something (not even sure he was), gets thrown as he shoots in, and ends up caught in a guillotine that he gave up way too easily while trying to get back to his feet. Never even really recognized the problems he had either. Bonningson is so jacked muscularly that I wonder if NAAFS has to test. (0)

OVERALL FOR THE SHOW: 5 out of 10. There was a really real prospect on the show tonight, along with dudes who were claimed to be real prospects getting embarassed. Makes for not bad TV. Only problem is that it is awash in ads for shit like NAAFS: The Music Vol. 2.