1) ERIC WISLEY vs. MICAH WASHINGTON: Did you know that Micah is a horrible name? Horrible. Lightweight bout, BTW.
First round shows two well matched young competitors operating decently on the mat and in standup. Washington ends up on top for most of the second half of the round but was getting tagged by the occasional punch standing. Wisely is even a pretty solid BJJ artist off his back in addition to being competent standing. Pretty even.
Washington is able to get a takedown early in the round and throws some solid blows. Wisley is able to force the fight to a standing position and ends up taking down Washington with a trip takedown and moves immediately to mount where he bashes his head in with elbows. I like both guys, actually. Rare you see two fighters of this competency fighting each other on the b-shows in 2008. Wisley lost his last fight, but I think he can rebound. (1)
2) TRAVIS NATH vs. MARSHALL BLEVINS: Nath is very young, Blevins is holding a couple hilarious looking titles.
Monster belly to back suplex turned into an urange from Blevins puts Nath on the mat and gives him Nath's back. Nath tries to bridge out of that (!) and gets slammed down very hard by Blevins. He tries to go for the knees, doesn't really connect, and Blevins lands within the clinch with punches and then a big knee of his own. Nath crumples and Blevins rides his back and hammerfists him into oblivion. (0), as neither is really very good or moving forward.
3) SAM JACKSON vs. ROD MONTOYA: Catchweight fight around 160?
Jackson is able to put himself on top early but is cut by an elbow. Montoya tries to go to a high guard and....oh. Jackson picks him up Rampage style but cradles him on the rise, and then drives him in very, very hard. Like a combo power bomb/spine buster. Montoya is stone cold out as the shoulder drives itself deep into Montoya's face. (1) for the slam. Jackson's problem? He is not very good. Apparently this was a rematch that Montoya won the first bout of. Jackson is 5-18 as a pro/amateur combined with losses to Sam Morgan, John Halverson, Jason Black, Joe Jordan, Brian Gassaway, and Chase Beebe, among others.
4) ERIC POLING vs. KEN MCCLELLAND: Another McClelland fight? Oh jeez.
A brief exposition of clubberin'. McClelland may be fatter and older, but he is tougher. Poling is dropped with some punches and McClelland hurls more shots on the ground to earn his stoppage. (0)
5) TED WORTHINGTON vs. TOM GRUBB: I know who's gonna win this. Worthington possesses similar awful belts to another guy earlier in card.
Pearson points out how awesome Worthington is as he spends the opening 15 seconds throwing various strikes. Grubb just moves backwards, waits till after a missed high kick and gets a trip takedown. Hah. Worthington is solid off his back and can at least put himself in positions to perhaps get a submission. Grubb, though, is on offense and is able to defend all the subs while punching his foe. Strange standup late in the round as both were active. Worthington throws a nice flying knee standing but Grubb gets a takedown off it.
Grubb has another nice takedown at the start of this round and lands some pretty beastly punches. Worthington nearly picks up the armbar and Grubb just pulls out of it. A standup (again, early) follows not long after. Worthington with a near home run leg kick, but again he's taken down afterwards. Horrible standups in this event as a second one comes up. Worthington with a desperation combo seems to stun Grubb, and he pulls guard. Not ten seconds passes and another standup? Ridiculous. I see more mat work in San Shou. Grubb gets another takedown, lands some more shots, and Worthington is tired.
Some strikes start coming from Worthington and Grubb, believe it or not, shoots in for a double. Grubb really wants to pass and Worthington does a great job maintaining the guard. Right after that stops, a standup. Solid right hand from Worthington, clinch, and, lemme guess, a takedown by Grubb? Well, Worthington pulls guard. Same end result. Pretty vicious ground and pound from Grubb, as if he stops for a second, he is gonna get stood up. Doesn't really bother to try and pass as a result. Fucking ridiculous standup as Worthington's guard is passed. Oh, hey, Grubb gets a takedown. You know how this fight would be over already? If Grubb was allowed to just pulverize Grubb on the mat. Oh!, another standup! Oh, another takedown! Worthington goes for an armbar with merely seconds remaining and nearly sinks it. (1) because Grubb is a solid
prospect and because the fight was actually entertaining and competitive. Would have been a (2) with decent reffing.
6) RYAN THOMAS vs. JESSE LENNOX: "He's a superstar!" says Adams re: Lennox. Uh huh.
Thomas tries to get a throw and Lennox doesn't budge and ends up in mount. Ouch. Apparently, it may have been a "signature throw" for Thomas to boot. 4 5 minute rounds with a potential 5th round. Interesting. Lennox moves to side control and lays there. Oddly, this does not merit a standup for about a minute. When it happens, there's a clinch, some dancing, and then Jesse Lennox with a single leg shot into the slam. Thomas is clearly the larger man but is unable to do anything to stop Lennox. Lennox puts the exclamation mark on the round with a nearly successful guillotine.
Lennox is blasting with low kicks early and Thomas goes for the takedown. Nearly has success, but Lennox sprawls out and ends up trying to stand back up. Thomas lands a knee while there's a point down, so the ref jumps in. Short pause in the action and we're back to it. Lennox shoots for a body lock and uses that for a takedown of his own. Most of the round is then spent on the mat, with Lennox throwing occasional shots and going for some exotic chokes. There's a standup with about 20 seconds left that doesn't really push the fight in any direction.
Thomas is very wild with his punches. He reminds me of a wild Rick Cheek, which is an absurd statement to make for a hundred reasons. The standups are coming much faster in this final round also, and they do little to change the complexion of the bout until the final minute. Thomas gets a single leg takedown and is in half guard looking to try and steal the round with strikes. Lennox regains guard and then locks the arm up for an armbar. The submission comes with less than 3o seconds on the clock.
I liked how Lennox looked here against a serious grappler. Still, I will need to rewatch Adrenaline II to see how his striking has progressed. (1)
FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Grubb/Worthington
KO OF THE NIGHT: Jackson/Montoya
SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Lennox/Thomas
OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 6 out of 10. When things should have been bad, they were shockingly interesting. The main event was a bit of a bummer in that so much of it was dominating top game/borderline lay and pray, but that's a small caveat. For what the show had, it was worth watching.
D&R Rating: 13% (4/30)
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