Tuesday, March 31, 2009

SHOXC: 3/21/08

Another show of prospects from Chumash. Ranallo and Quadros are announcing.

1) MARK OSHIRO vs. CHRIS CARIASO: First Oshiro fight I've seen since 2005. Weight is 140lbs.

Mix of striking with some grappling and then Oshiro lands a huge elbow. Cariaso ends up on his back and doesn't recover. (2)

2) SHANE DEL ROSARIO vs. ANALU BRASH: Some heavyweight meatheads.

Del Rosario has a moment of trouble when he's hit with a right hand in the clinch early. That was about it. He drops Brash with a low kick, then drops punches on him until he is stopped in the first. Basically total domination. (1)

3) AARON ROSA vs. JAIME FLETCHER: Fletcher I know I remember and I have no idea why.

Fletcher is doing a good job defending the rushes of poor man's Bonnar in front of him. Good leg kicks as well, but he's also undersized. The best Rosa seems able to do in the first is push him into the cage. Bit boring, in fact. Fletcher continues this in the second round; he's taken away the lead leg with low kicks and is capable enough to jab and punch without leaving his jaw hanging. He's also evasive...well, he runs when Rosa throws stuff, really. But Rosa ain't landing or cutting off the cage.

Rosa is coming out with the jab, but remember what I said about punching without leaving your chin out? Fletcher throws a right hand over the top of it and drops Rosa hard. He doesn't do much with Rosa on his back, and following a standup for inactivity by Peoples, Rosa gets his first takedown of the entire fight. Why does Rosa go here though? He hates the ground, says Mauro. And we see shortly after why: He's gassed. After another standup, Fletcher with a combination to the head started with a left hook. Fletcher, the natural middleweight, definitely looks to be the winner of the fight. He is. (1)

4) MARLON MATHIAS vs. CONOR HEUN: Lightweight fight with Mathias being a Chute Boxe talent.

Mathias is way smaller, actually. He comes out hot though trying to overwhelm Heun at the very start and....doesn't succeed. Knowing Chute Boxe, he's probably already gassed now to boot. Much of the opening two minutes are set in the clinch against the cage with not a lot happening. Mathias is very wild when he jumps in with stuff like knife edge chops and shit. Maybe a strike with real force would be better? Heun gets a take down, passes the guard, and ends up getting the back. This is not the most impressive fight. Heun gets swept out of mount and Mathias doesn't really capitalize. Round ends.

Mathias is much less offensive in the second round and gets a sweep takedown early. Better choice than wild backhands. There's a standup after inaction, and Heun fails at a big judo throw and falls down. Mathias doesn't capitalize and gets taken down anyways. Heun is way more effective at passing and landing GnP. Heun does have one big negative and its a cut inside his mouth (or broken nose, on second hand) that gushes blood from the first round on. Hopefully that is not what is being scored all on its own. D'arce choke with almost no time left in the second, and there's no tap out.

Heun shoots and fails miserably, pulling to half guard. Mathias is landing stuff on top but nothing is really effective and he gets stood up. Heun and Mathias trade some blows and Mathias gets the better of it before Heun with another takedown attempt is successful. Mathias tries to escape out the back door and is ultimate successful in getting the fight stood up and getting separation. Heun gets another takedown and, again, doesn't really do a proper job on finishing this one, failing big time with a kimura. Heun ends up being forced to stand as Mathias stands up out of that and Heun just slings him down again. Heun wins all 3 rounds on the judges score cards. (2) Heun thinks his jaw is broken in the post fight interview.

5) MALAPEIT TEAM DIAMOND vs. THOMAS DENNY: Denny is a legend and Malapeit is a dude.

Denny gets this down immediately and is looking for a RNC real early. Malapeit is trying to escape and amazingly does. Denny is still in the mount though and stays there like, the entire round. Malapeit is getting straight fucked up with punches and elbows; Denny did not come to lay down. Malapeit escapes and then drops a bunch of elbows to the back of Denny's head. Oops. Denny can't continue and the fight is over. Malapeit loses not by KO or submission, but by DQ. (1)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Rosa/Fletcher

KO OF THE NIGHT: Oshiro/Cariaso

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 4.5 out of 10. Ehhh. Skippable show all the way around. Del Rosario might be the most interesting name on the show.

D&R Rating: 28% (7/25)

Monday, March 30, 2009

ShoXC: 10/26/07

Al Bernstein! Oh, how I loved you, ShoXC.

1) MUSHIN CORBBREY vs. BOBBY MCMASTER: Corbbrey was rejected for TUF, so says the internet. This was probably because he was too good for season 9. Have you seen the lineup? It is horrible.

Some good leg kicks early in the round by Corbbrey but McMaster with the take down. Good clean right hands by McMaster on the ground. Actually, some good left hands too. Corbbrey is taking a beating. Good variety of punches from inside the guard, and then a horrid standup by the ref. McMasters clinches, but is thrown by Corbbrey. He locks in a guillotine and is forced to tap by Corbbrey even after slamming him. Fun to watch, but awful standup hurts this. (2)

2) SHAYNA BASZLER vs. JENNIFER TATE: Baszler is a tough girl and Tate was undefeated coming in. BIG FIGHT~

Tate throws shit punches, gets hit in the face, and Baszler gets a takedown. Side control, mount, armbar, over. (2) Lower ranking because, hey, its women's fighting.

3) MALAPEIT TEAM DIAMOND vs. KALEO KWAN: Malapeit is one of the few top kickboxers to transition to MMA from Thailand. But you probably know that already.

Crazy hard low kicks by Malapeit. Really, that is most of the round. Kwan is backing up and is standing with him for reasons I do not understand. Probably because he was paid off or something. Malapeit is not really throwing a lot of combinations though. Maybe he's afraid of the shot? I don't know. Malapeit isn't really showing the ability to easily finish either. Oh, wait, now I remember: He doesn't finish it. Lots of low kicks and single shots for 15 minutes. Malapeit wins. (0)

4) JAVIER VAZQUEZ vs. J.C. PENNINGTON: Vazquez is a legend. I mean that in the best way. Back in his prime before major injuries, his skills were off the chart. He's still great here.

Vazquez with a takedown early in this one. Pennington has 10 submission wins and so he's probably capable, but this is JAVY. Pass for Javy, mount, back control, RNC. Beautiful. Vazquez retires after the bout having given about the best advertisement possible for Millennia Jiu Jitsu. (2) Those who love this sport will always miss Vazquez's class and skill.

5) JARED HAMMAN vs. AARON ROSA: Rosa is a Team Punishment guy, Hamman is more of a striker. 

Hamman gets hit a couple times early but shrugs them off and takes down Rosa. Rosa is not training somewhere I'd think that working off your back is trained all that well. Hamman passes to side control and mount and I'm feeling justified. Hamma has the back and throws some more shots. Rosa gets out though and survives. God, Rosa looks like Machida. Too bad he can't fight like him. Rosa and Hamman clinch and this is better for him. Good punches land as they separate. Hamman jumps in with a left hook and goes for a takedown. Rosa defends momentarily, but Hamman regains the mount. Rosa bucks him off, and Hamman comes back into half guard. This is not a good round for Rosa. Hamman does look eminently hittable, however. Hamman looks like he's tiring a little, to be honest. Rosa gets back on his feet after Rosa stands and separates, and has his own takedown and big right hand. They stand again after Rosa stands out of guard, clinch, and the round is over. Hamman wins round 1.

Rosa clinches and Hamman lands some shots and takes him down at the start of Round 2. Hamman is in total control this round and punishes him with strikes from the top: knees to the body, punches, elbows, pretty much everything legal. Rosa rolls to try and escape and gives his back up. Bad move. Hamman locks in a rear naked choke. (3)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Hamman/Rosa

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Baszler/Tate

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 6.5 out of 10. Nothing too amazing, but Hamman looks good here and is still a legit prospect/top 30 205er, Baszler shows off some serious skills against a very good women's fighter, lots of quality ground work to boot, something EXC was never really known for. 

D&R Rating: 36% (9/25)

SHOXC: 8/25/07

CHEATING: I've already seen this show when it originally aired. But then, that's true for so many of these. This is, in reality, a King of The Cage show in every way but the recorded name on Sherdog. Even the music is that same generic canned metal.

1) OMAR LUV vs. BRENDAN TIERNEY: Tierney I can't remember having watched, actually. But he's undefeated here.

Some decent striking before Tierney and Luv clinch and spin each other around. Luv gets the takedown and ends up on top, but he rises to his feet. The announcers miscall a trip as a hard left hand that drops Tierney, and he's off and looking for rubber guard. Luv goes back for a leglock and Tierney defends, only to give up his back to Luv.  Luv lands some hammerfists and Tierney ends up giving up the choke. Luv is emotional. Of course, as documented here, he lost his next fight and was outta town. (0)

2) RAY LIZAMA vs. HECTOR URBINA: Lizama got his fight at Affliction cut against Levens. Then Levens committed suicide. Catchweight fight at 205.

Urbina wants a takedown, that is certain. Urbina is good enough to stop that. Lizama is doing a good job minimizing the value of Urbina's striking as well. Very tenative stuff. Urbina looks soft, actually. Lizama's hands are decently fast and Urbina is just telegraphinc the hell out of his kicks. Urbina throws a high kick and knee and he doesn't connect, but gets in a good body kick. Lizama only really throwing jabs. With a minute left, Lizama lands a straight left and it hurts Urbina a little. There's some good straight punches that land near the end of the round for Lizama. Close round. 

Lead left hook off the jab by Lizama at the early part of the round stumbles Urbina. Urbina really not looking good, just walking forward throwing this limbs around, shooting and failing miserably over and over. Urbina keeps pushing with one single leg attempt and trips up Lizama, but doesn't really capitalize. In fact, Urbina loses top position and while he goes for a guillotine, he's totally unsuccessful. Lizama on top is inactive and the standup is forced. Urbina is landing shots standing even as flawed as he is and Lizama's limited boxing is not doing him many favors as he is gassing out. Urbina throws an elbow and misses, seems to maybe get headbutted, and then falls down. Lizama is on top and just rides out the round. I'd have it 2-0 Urbina into the 3rd.

They are swinging in the third and Lizama is actually landing clean punches. Urbina shoots and forces down the fight, but Lizama does get up fairly quickly. Lizama lands an uppercut as Urbina comes in and he stuns him again, but there's no followup. Lizama is just way too tired. Urbina with the clinch and a belly to the stomach is the best strike of the round up through the first half. Some more decent punches inside and he is pushing Lizama around. Lizama is absolutely gasping. When they separate, there's a nice right hand from Urbina, but its slapping and possibly open. A sloppy takedown attempt by Urbina fails and gets him down on his back. Urbina goes for a gogoplata, but fails. Fight is stood up. Lizama really needs to come forward and does not. Some nice knees and elbows at the bell. I think its a shutout and the judges all think its a 29-28. Either way, goes to the same person. (0)

3) DAVID HUCKABA vs. JON MURPHY: Oh shit. Huckaba was among the greatest heavyweights in Gladiator Challenge history. Murphy is known for very questionable fights and a thunderous beating at the hands of Brett Rodgers. 

Murphy and Huckaba just sorta dance around, then they clinch. Huge suplex by Murphy and Huckaba recovers and they throw some leather. Huckaba is on top trying to throw elbows. Murphy covers up and Huckaba lets him up. Murphy goes for a shot and is thrown into the cage. Huckaba gets up and punches Murphy as he is down on all fours. Huckaba knees to the side of Murphy. They're swinging wildly! Huckaba with another sorta throw thing and Huckaba lands more shots. They are stood up, and Murphy jumps into guard with a guillotine. He mounts Huckaba and throws a ton of punches, then tries to float into an armbar....AND FORGETS THE ARM. Huckaba does nothing to stop a blown up Murphy at this stage and he grabs it and extends it....but Huckaba defends as the horn sounds. That was, well, something.

Both are dead ass tired at the start of the second. Hard right hand lands on Huckaba, and he's hurt. Huckaba then takes two more big punches and the man who has never been KOed is KOed HARD. Fun fight to watch between two bad but not miserably bad heavyweights. (1)

4) SETH KLEINBECK vs. JAIME JARA: Jara has a tattoo that says "HATE" across his throat. He is awesome, as you may know. Kleinbeck is a hospitalist: that's code for "doctor who works in a ER". Video of him fucking up Metcalf from a show I've already reviewed is shown.

Patient standup, to be kind. Way too much respect being shown by both. Crowd is not pleased. Jara has his chin way out there. Can't say that's too wise, but then again, can't say that about those tats either. "Feeling out process" says Moron Ranallo. That is code for "bullshit". Three minutes in, no landed strikes. Oh, there's a low kick at 1:47 left.  One! A second 25 seconds later. This is the worst Jara fight ever. Another low kick. Kleinbeck looks sorta worried, Jara looks like an MS-13 Liddell. Awful. 

The only strikes to have landed cleanly in the entire fight as we enter a minute into the 2nd are low kicks. 5 of them, in fact. A clinch! The crowd is happy because there is a change in the status quo. Both guys pummelling around in the clinch, Kleinbeck with a big slam. Jara was thinking about pushing off but then brings the hips up. God, I hope they don't stand this up. Kleinbeck with a pass but he's back in guard before you can blink. "Let's keep it moving" says the ref. Or what? We go back to standup? Oh, we are. Greaaaat. More leg kicks, more circling, more of the same. Wild swinging exchange at the 4:30 mark, no one lands. The crowd is like "fuck this" and I'm like "shit, sleepy" and then BOOM. Kleinbeck with a left hook and Jara is down in a heap at the bell. I can't say this was too entertaining, but Jara borders on being top 50 still. (1)

5) CHARLES "CRAZY HORSE" BENNETT vs. VICTOR "JOE BOXER" VALENZUELA: A rematch years in the making. If only we knew....

Bennett is waiving at the crowd and Joe Boxer is pissed. Bennett lands a left hook and tries to finish Joe Boxer very early with punches on the mat. Joe Boxer recovers and he's really heated. Bennett looks stoned. He lands a jab and Bennett seems to pretend being hurt. Except punches keep coming. They are swinging HARD. Boxer drops him and Bennett is not doing so well anymore. His hands are by his waist and he's getting tore up. He ends up face down on the mat and taps out from strikes. Victor hates him still. (1) 

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Bennett/Valenzuela

KO OF THE NIGHT: Huckaba/Murphy

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Tierney/Luv

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 4 out of 10. Pretty fun to watch, short, some inoffensive fights. No one on the program has gone onto anything of value really. 

D&R Rating: 12% (3/25)

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

King of the Cage: Final Chapter I & 2 (12/2/07) and Underground Soldiers Final Review

Outdoors at Soboba. Brian Warren is apparently back after retiring for not very long. Inman and someone else (Aram?) are doing the announcing The reason for the name of this event is that its the last event on some contract they have with Soboba that had started with their very first event years prior. To add to the comedy of this boxed set, the event has been split into two sides of the disc and then is promoted as two different shows on the box. I am not so foolish: This is one 23 fight show, and so I'll review it as such.

1) PAUL WEBB vs. TOM PERALTA: Lightweights of mysterious skill.

Peralta all about takedowns in the early part of the fight. Webb fires some punches after stopping the shots and lands square on the head, but doesn't drop Peralta. Peralta throws some hard shots then goes for the shot again, and big surprise, when you set it up, you can get the takedown. The fight goes the whole distance, with Peralta being more and more successful as time goes on. No surprise when he gets the decision. (0)

2) SEAN MCCAFFERTY vs. PATRICK DOTY: McCafferty lost to Melvin Costa. Not a good sign. Doty is from LA Boxing.

McCafferty and Doty go back and forth with sloppy everything. Eventually Doty begins to start wearing his man down. There are some uppercuts in the clinch by Doty and McCafferty can't take them in the second. He finally goes down and absorbs more blows on the mat. (0)

3) DAVID AGUIRRE vs. RUBIN DURAN: As these fighters walk in, we're told Brian Sesma will fight someone other than Mike Bourke, who has decided not to fight at the last minute.

Really good first round. Both men are active on the mat looking to pass or submissions, and when standing, there's a variety of techniques other than looping punches. Aguirre throws some really cool submissions from his back and Duran does a good job striking and slamming his way out of them. He gets slashed by an elbow though and it changes the second round drastically: Duran ends up on his back the majority of the final round and his brief moments of success with submission attempts and punching don't make up for Aguirre's control. The fight ends up a draw. (1) I think Duran has more upside, personally.

4) JASON JONES vs. MELVIN COSTA: I can't begin to assess how excited I am for this. Jason Jones is straight out of Amsterdam from MIKE'S GYM. He, a black man is to fight "racialist" Melvin Costa.

Jones goes for an armbar early on in the fight from mount and somehow, Costa gets out of it. The fight is briefly stopped for a cut over Costa's eye and when they stand up and get separation, but this is argurably a worse place for him. Costa gets a takedown and mounts/takes the back of Jason Jones, proving he has some skill, but Jones is able to buck him off and be on top inside the guard. Jones starts throwing 'bows (NA NA-NA NAH) and Costa is hella gassed. Jones again goes for the armbar and this time is successful. Costa shoves him after tapping and Jones talks some shit back before raising his arm to the crowd. Why? Because Jones decided not to let go. LOL. Awesome stuff. (1)

5) CHRIS CULLEY vs. KACEY ROBERTS: Culley I've seen before and he's not too bad for being a .500 fighter. Roberts? Not so good.

Cheap shot by Cully with the knee to the face instead of touching gloves. Takedown by Cully and he's got the back almost instantly. RNC. (0)

6) AJ PACE vs. JESUS MORALES: Welters. Pace is an INDEPENDENT FIGHTER~ and Morales is from Millennia Jiu Jitsu.

Oh boy, 'ol Thunderfoot is the ref. Morales chases down Pace and hurts him. Pace basically turns and runs, ends up in the corner, and Morales knocks his block off with some combinations. (0)

7) ANTHONY GUERRA vs. GREG GUZMAN: Bantamweights, so automatically, both guys may end up in the WEC. Trebilcock apparently said something between fights that the announcers are reacting to and that we as fans don't see.

Cecil Peoples is still in the cage refereeing. Awful. Guerra with a big takedown early and Guzman is working off his back. Goes for an armbar but gets slammed out of that, so he transitioned into a triangle and back to the armbar. Guerra taps. (1) Guzman is 5-2 now.

8) NAPOLEON LECHUGA vs. RICK LEGERE: Lechuga is from Todd Medina's school. Legere has done a release body slam in MMA.

Legere with a big ass slam and then mount. Then he lets him up and slams him again and gets mount. Punch punch punch, eventually an armbar. (0)

9) ILLIUMS GOGLIA vs. REGGIE ORR: Orr is a TUF reject. Goglia looks like an extra chubby Parisyan.

The first couple minutes are painfully dull. Orr pushes Goglia into the cage and lands the occasional short punch or knee and actually busts up Goglia's nose with one of those weak shots. In fact, during the clinch, Goglia ends up separating himself some to try and reverse position and finds himself eating knees and elbows. Orr finally decides to stop sitting there on the fence and start beating up Orr with strikes from distance. Maybe he should have done that 2 minutes earlier? Goglia shoots again at the start of the second, and he's not able to keep Orr on the mat. Orr holds the fence and gets a point taken away, but he gets to stand and have distance. Goglia sucks: His shot is a bullrush with his hands nowhere near defending himself, he is terrible in the clinch striking, and his conditioning isn't very good either. Goglia has a single leg takedown near the end of the round and Orr goes for a triangle. Goglia with a pass and he ends up losing position and, in fact, stands. Orr throws a single right hand then clinches, immediately ending his advantage. Why? No idea. Orr wins the decision. (0)

10) TIM HUMPHREY vs. TONY CRUZ: 175lb fight.

Cruz and Humphrey are in a boring grappling battle for the first round and then in the second round Humphrey takes down Cruz and ends up in an armbar. Blah. (0)

11) PAUL ARRAS vs. BRIAN WARREN: MR. UNBREAKABLE!

Arras with a shot and head kick attempt. Warren is clinching and trying to get a takedown. Arras is all about wasted motion, throwing slapping punches in the clinch, and is taken down. Warren actually throws a headbutt but the ref misses it. Warren tries for a fake kneebar to sweep. Arras spins out himself and gets to his feet. Warren then is stunned by a left hook and Warren drops in sad fashion. Arras drops back for a heelhook and then, when he feels like he can't lock it, goes back and returns to the inside of Warren's guard. Clearly, he's not very afraid of the longtime gatekeeper's BJJ. Arras sweeps to half guard and then bashes poor Warren with some elbows. Warren gets up and he's dropped with punches again. Warren looked like shit. (0)

12) ALAN ZUNNER vs. BRIAN SESMA: Its not often you start a DVD with a world title fight, but here we go. Zunner and Sesma are brawler types, neither has a good chin, and this is for the KOTC super heavyweight title.

Zunner shoots in and the sumo fight is on. Sesma gets this down and is in half guard and Zunner is blown up. He quits after like 6 hammerfists. Embarassing. (0)

13) OMAR LUV vs. KEITH BERRY: Actually kind of an interesting fight. Luv is a long rangy guy and Berry is just, well, sorta there and not too bad. This is another title fight. Remember: there are 10 fights to come.

Wild and crazy standup to start from both. Luv takes this one down to the mat first. Berry is cut by an elbow on the ground on the corner of Berry's right eye. Luv gets to side contron and is raking him over with stuff but Herb Dean stands them up. Luv ends up getting caught with a right hand and is getting chased all over the ring, but he goes for a single leg. Luv pulls back a little inside the guard and gets an upkick to the chest. It looks like its over but Luv's knee is on the mat, and Herb Dean misses the call. The fight continues and Luv isn't given the proper 5 minutes rest based on what Herb thinks the foul was. Luv barely makes it out of one.

Luv starts the second the way he started the first: Takedown, elbows, pass to side control, standup, Berry hurts Luv standing. Omar gets stuck in a reverse triangle after getting shook up by some punches and Luv looks like he is in trouble. Berry with punches and Luv taps. Unfortunately, neither man has done very much in the last 18 months worth writing home about. (0)

14) JOHN LOBER vs. RUBIN TAGLE: Legends! Well, not really. Lober is a running joke in MMA two decades in the making. Tagle is some guy.

Tagle lands a right hand to Lober as he jumps in and Lober goes straight into the mat. LOL. (0)

15) NOUFEL AMELLOUK vs. DAVE CRYER: I like Dave Cryer plenty. Amellouk is from Mike's Gym.

Amellouk finds a home for the right hand early and often, but Cryer drags him down and passes to side control. Amellouk isn't too bad though and gets back to his feet only to be slammed back down into the same position. In fact, that is what happens for virtually the entire fight. Cryer wins the decision. (1)

16) JOHN BROCK vs. TYRONE CRANE: Heavyweights!

Brock gets a takedown and is in side control shortly. Brock gets back control and lands a ton of shots and the ref just bulls him over with a shoulder block, kneeing the downed fighter. Nice. Brock has since lost to Tony Lopez. (0)

17) ANDY BALMORE vs. MIGUEL ESPARZA: Featherweight bout.

Both guys look like they just started kickboxing. Andy gets a takedown after deciding that his Royce Gracie circa 1994 style stance wasn't gonna work. Balmore is a quantum leap ahead on the mat compared to Esparza. Esparza is game but he's basically impotent in that realm aside from throwing punches. Balmore is in danger of drawing in this one because he spent way too long trying for an armbar from his back in the second and got punched a few times. Fears were unfounded: Balmore with the decision. (0)

18) MIKE SIMMS vs. NEIL COOKE: Heavyweights.

Cook with a takedown and he throws bombs that stop Simms. Blah. (0)

19) HUGO SANDOVAL vs. BRANDON BENDER: 155lbers.

Bender with a nice leg kick and then a takedown. Triangle from the top and he wins by tapout. Impressive, but nothing since. (0)

20) DOMINIC VERDUGO vs. DAN PRIBLE: A welterweight fight of sorts.

Wild striking at the start, and Verdugo ends up countering Prible's takedown attempt with a guillotine. Prible ends up going to sleep. (0)

21) ADAM WOODS vs. WILL RICHEY: Light heavyweight fighters. Adam Woods looks like a total nerd and reps Hammer House. Richey is from Millennia Jiu Jitsu and wears a mask to the ring.

Woods throws punches, Richey goes for the takedown. What happened to the Hammer House I knew and loved? Oh, wait, Woods reverses position and then slams Richey, and then Richey reverses position and slams Woods, and this time Woods is in real trouble, having given his back. Richey gets his win. He is now 3-0 with a win over Severn in Canada. (1)

22) DANIEL GIBBONS vs. FABIAN DIAZ: Diaz looks like a retarded hipster.

Okay, maybe Diaz ain't so bad. Gibbons is holding onto headlocks and that's not wise against someone who actually knows how to do submission holds. He's taken down over and over and over. Decision goes to Diaz. (0)

23) NICK ALVARADO vs. VICTOR SALCEDO: The final fight of the night.

Alvarado with a takedown and lots of punches to the sides of Salcedo. Salcedo is game and lands some slapping blows standing due to Alvarado's low hands, but that's about it in terms of offense. Overall, its mostly Alvarado with knees and punches standing and lots of ground and pound on the mat. (0)


FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Luv/Berry

KO OF THE NIGHT: Lober/Tagle

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Jones/Costa

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 3 out of 10. For like two events in one, there's so much filler its hard to watch. Over four hours when you combine both halves of the DVD.

D&R Rating: 3% (5/115)

KOTC UNDERGROUND SOLDIERS:

Final Chapter: 3 out of 10 (3%)
Damage Inc.: 3.5 out of 10 (2%)
Subzero: 1 out of 10 (0%)
Hierarchy: 4.5 out of 10 (18%)
Point of No Return: 2 out of 10 (6%)
Brimstone: 1.5 out of 10 (3%)
Jawbreaker: 2 out of 10 (4%)
River Rage: 3 out of 10 (7%)
Unstoppable: 2.5 out of 10 (3%)

AVG: 2.55 out of 10 (5.1%)

To compare:

Underground Enforcers: 2.78 (8.2%)
Underground Worldwide: 2.7
Underground Warriors: 3.55
Combat Collection: 5.9

At some point, you just have to admit a promotion is beyond saving. KOTC is in that place right now. This is a strong regional, smaller show, and god almighty, its not worth watching anymore. The talent is completely gone and its actually shameful at this stage to keep on trying on my part. I inevitably will for reasons I cannot fully grasp, but I do have the exceptional luck of having DVRed ShoXC events to document on this here blog in the next week or so. This is the quickest I've torn through a KOTC boxset since the first one, and I can't say it was for the same reasons.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

King Of The Cage: Damage Inc. 11/17/07


This is supposedly from 11/17/07 in Chicago, but the first fight on the list of bouts is one I've reviewed like twice now from '05. Oh, its a "classic match".

1) MAC DANZIG vs. TAKUMI NAKAYAMA

Why even review this fight? I think most of the boxed sets have it now. Nakayama gets beat up bad and goes back to ZST. Won't even score it.

2) RODNEY SLEEPERS vs. KENNY MARTIN: Just saw Sleepers making his debut...3 months after this fight when he's 2-1.

Clinch early, Sleepers with the takedown. Rounds are short so nothing happens. Second round is the same thing. And the third. Sleepers wins. (0)

3) JASON CABLE vs. STEVE CAMPBELL: Heavyweights of the SUPER variety.

Whales rolling around. Defecation. Campbell is the fatter of the two and wins in spite of nearly being stopped in the last round.

4) ADAM BASS vs. ANTHONY GOTT: I have no idea whoy they are. Gott is from Saginaw, is undersized by ten lbs, is 8 years older, and is debuting against a 9-2 fighter.

Gott is obliterated. (0)

5) ANDY HAHN vs. SAM JACKSON: Jackson is from bumfuck, TX and has a record of 3-13.

Jackson with some body punching and a takedown, and he's oddly enough winning this fight early. Oh, he just got swept. Mounted. Survives to the bell though. The second starts and, well, its the same deal, except this time the fight is stopped. (0)

6) DARIUS TURCINSKAS vs. ANTONIO CANAS: No idea who these guys are. 

Darius is on his back early and then goes for a armbar from guard and its over. (0)

7) BILLY KIDD vs. MYRON NEISLER:

Kidd is trashing Neisler with punches on the mat and standing. Neisler can only go for takedowns. Not the most competitive beating. Pretty comprehensive though.  (0)

8) JEREMY GENIN vs. NATU VISINA: Heavyweights. One of them in gi pants.

Genin beats up the guy in pants who just covers and falls when touched. (0)

9) MATT JAGGERS vs. LAZAR STOJADINOVIC: The guy with the long name is making his debut against a guy who was just in Sengoku for a very short run.

Jaggers with a takedown and he's in side control soon enough. Stojadinovic locks a triangle choke in though somehow and....wins? I look up the guy's record and he actually has a win over Jaggers already. Oh, MMA. (0)

10) BRYCE FRANCK vs. TROY KING: Another mismatch according to the records listed in favor of King.

There is like one camera being used for this shoot and its all over the place and bouncing around. This fight is starting out as a primary standup fight and its actualy not bad. King lands a sweet right hand and Franck is dropped for a flash knockdown and survives the first. Wild exchanges in the second with Franck landing a bunch of punches to King's head against the cage, but King pushes him around in the thai clinch. Fight ends after 6 minutes and Franck wins the decision. (0)

11) RYAN STURDY vs. TONY BONELLO: Bonello was last seen ruining untrained kids in a warehouse for MTV.

Bonello with a body kick, then a takedown with back control. Seems like this will be all Bonello, but Sturdy actually stands up and gets a takedown of his own. He then mounts Bonello and lands some punches. This is why Bonello doesn't fight decent fighters more often than not. Bonello goes for a leg lock and ends up eating more punches. All Sturdy. Good combination punching from Bonello begins to dent up Sturdy, who reacts by running briefly and then shooting for a takedown after Bonello loses focus and decides to look to the crowd for inspiration. Sturdy has a bunch of cuts now and the doctors are out to look at him. After they allow him back in, Sturdy goes for an immediate shot and Bonello defends. Much of the round is spent from then on with Bonello in dominant positions and landing punches to Sturdy. The round could be legit scored a 10-8, but with both winning a round cleanly, the pair of offsetting 10-9s hardly shock. (1)

12) JOE KENNEDY vs. HECTOR URBINA: Another Urbina/nobody fight to see today. 

Urbina went for a big takedown and Kennedy puts his feet on the mat before he's flipped over. Then he's taken down with a trip takedown instead. Urbina with hammer fists and punches and Kennedy is clearly very lost in there. Urbina lands some punches in the clinch and Kennedy just shuts down and sorta melts. (0)

13) ZACH JENKINS vs. ROB MENIGOZ: Jenkins is 12-5, supposedly, Menigoz is making his debut.

Trip takedown by Jenkins into half guard. Menigoz looks like he's got no future in this one being put on his back, but when he gets back to the standup, he hurts Jenkins very quickly, and its Menigoz in back control and throwing bombs till Jenkins is out. (0)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Bonello/Sturdy

KO OF THE NIGHT: Kennedy/Urbina

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Stojadinovic/Jaggers

OVERALL FOR EVENT: 3.5 out of 10. Not too special because of all the mistmatches but some decent fighters are on this show and the Bonello draw was good.

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

King Of The Cage: Subzero (1/12/08)

This is being held up in Wisconsin at Lake of Torches again. Steve Inman doing PBP, and its Papa Schnocky in the ring announcing, who is beginning a strange transformation into Paul Heyman.

1) JOSH BARNES vs. KEVIN WILL: I have no idea who Will is. Barnes I have seen and not been terribly impressed by. 

Awful. Barnes throws some punches and Will just falls down. He has no skills whatsoever and taps out later while being tapped in the skull. (0)

2) BRIAN JONES vs. JAIME JOHNSON: Jones is a scrappy looking white guy. Matter of fact, so is the other guy. Middleweights.

Seriously one of the worst fights I've ever seen. Horrid striking and Johnson wins by RNC after Jones falls over or something. (0)

3) JIMMY ZIDEK vs. MIKEY BENNETT: "NOW ENTERING THE STEEEEEL". Oh fuck. Lightweights. Schnocky even gets in the sponsors for the fighters. 

Bennett with a monster slam into side control. Zydek gets RNCed. (0)

4) SAM ALVEY vs. RODNEY SLEEPERS: Alvey is one of many debuting fighters on the card. Sleepers is 1-0 and is cornered by some dude that was with Bennett a few seconds before.

Sleepers is pretty clearly a wrestler and regularly goes for takedowns, but has not been successful. On one prevented takedown, Alvey retaliates with Mongolian chops. Doesn't really matter. Nor does it in the second as Sleepers takes him down with a headlock and then lies on top of him for the rest of the round. As you might sense, this is not a great exhibition of skill. Alvey looks less wasted when the third starts,  and is able to defend the repeated attempts by Sleepers to take him down before ending up on top himself. Sleepers absorbs a knee, but then turns over and goes to take down Alvey. Nothing happens for the rest of the round. Awful fight. Alvey wins a decion and I'm not sure why or how. Don't care either. (0)

5) ANTHONY GRAHAM vs. JUSTIN KRUMPLICK: More fighters I don't know. Welterweights. 

So awful. Graham taps out from a RNC like on his knees after some punches. Basically a schoolboy choke. (0)

We get promos for shows coming to the ballroom at this casino from Schnocky. Why was this not cut out? Seriously. Who the fuck cares about when Gallagher is coming to some shit casino in 2008?

6) ISMAEL PONCHERO vs. JOSH BARNES: Wait, what? Ponchero is a lumpy mexican dude. Josh Barnes is fighting, uh, again? Wait, what the fuck? Ismael's opponent dropped out and this dude is back to fight an hour later.

Huge takedown by Barnes out of the clinch. He lands a knee to the spine and Ponchero gets five minutes to recover. When the fight restarts, Ponchero basically takes a dive. Barnes with another W on his way to lose to Donell Sykes. (0)

7) JEREMY HEMMRICK vs. MIKE SIXEL: Sixel is a STAR locally. Which is to say he isn't too shitty. 

Sixel with a takedown, side control, punches, back control, and....well he'll finish eventually I think. Oh, they called it now. Brought to you by STEVE'S CHEESE~(0)

8) LEON TYREE vs. MATT JAGGERS: Tyree is 0-2, Jaggers was just a loser in Sengoku. 

Jaggers with a takedown, mount, elbows, punches, the usual for KOTC. (0)

9) WHISPER GOODMAN vs. HECTOR URBINA: Goodman is making his debut. Urbina is 10-3 and this is the main event. I wonder what might happen? Urbina took the fight on 20 minutes notice because Tony Bonello is a bitch or something.

Surprisingly competitive fight between a noname prospect and a well known gate keeper. First round sees Goodman taken down a couple times but coming back and gaining top position. The second round is not nearly as good: Urbina gets the takedown after some brief standup and that goes nowhere exciting. Another close third round consisting of Urbina shooting and Goodman sorta defending until he isn't able to anymore. Then there is like 10 minutes of apologizing for how fucked up this show's promotion was. Unreal. Whisper loses and gets a three fight contract with KOTC, which is tantamount to toilet paper. (0)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Urbina/Goodman

KO OF THE NIGHT: Jaggers/Tyree

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Zydek/Bennett

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 1 out of 10. About the best thing you can say about it is that it was short.

D&R Rating: 0% 

Monday, March 16, 2009

KOTC: HIERARCHY 10-13-2007

This show is from the Isleta Casino/Resort in New Mexico. Amateur bout, apparently. 

1) BILLY DOZIER vs. KEVIN FOLSE: Dozier was a karate champion, I guess. He is also fat.

Dozier and Folse trade in an awful contest, Folse is hit with a left hook, is hurt, and Dozier just kinda pulls him into a guillotine. (0)

2) BILL TURPIN vs. JOE COCA: Bantamweight fight. 

Turpin immediately takes down Coca and my expectations are low. He does nothing for a little while, Coca goes for a triangle, and then elbows the shit out of Turpin, using the triangle as a sweep, and then pounds out Turpin on the mat. Not too bad, but I don't like that he's so willing to go to his back. (1)

3) QUINN MULHURN vs. DOUG BROWN: Welterweight attraction. Mulhurn isn't someone Inman knows. Doug Brown is rocking a "bandito look". He is the most ethnic looking Doug Brown I have ever seen. Interesting note: Inman constantly talks about how "real" MMA is on a card with Tony Bonello.

Inadvertent slapboxing start followed by sloppy grappling. Brown's ineptitude on the mat is staggering. Straight armbar finish. (1)

4) ANGELO SANCHEZ vs. DAVID VALVERDE: Another featherweight bout. 

Valverde gets hit with a right straight shortly after the bell and I can just tell he's not prepared for this. Rear naked choke and its over real early. (0)

5) JOSH GROVES vs. FREDDY SANDOVAL: Middleweights I've seen before. Groves fought a bum and Sandoval got beat. 

Groves just rushes in and pushes Sandoval into the cage. He gets this down and begins punching inside the guard. Then he passes guard. In mount, there are many punches and Sandoval is stopped. (1) having now seen Groves twice. But his limitations mean that he may rise to the WEC/UFC level only briefly.

6) ISSAC VALLIE-FLAGG vs. ABEL VARGAS: 170 lbers. Vargas is from Abel Cullum's camp.

Flagg goes for a takedown and Vargas defends only briefly before pulling guard. It didn't work: Flagg passes guard, ends up taking Vargas' back, and things are not good. Vargas taps after not long. (0)

7) BRANDON HUNT vs. RONNIE HUIZAR: Hunt trains up in Michigan at MASH Fight Team. 

Huizar went for a takedown and got stuffed big time. Hunt has some decent hands. Huizar throws a 1-2 then shoots and is more successful. Unfortunately, Hunt is well trained enough to force this back to his feet and get a takedown of his own. Hunt is "unorthodox", which is of course code for "poorly trained". Hunt has decent form but I can feint to his punching and I'm watching from some grainy hand held DV camera. Huizar walks into a left at the start of the second and gets a takedown. Unfortunately, size plays a big role into the rest of this: Huizar is swept into mount/back control, and the ref is forced to stop it when he ceases to defend himself. (1) for Hunt, now the KOTC middleweight champ.

8) EDDIE ARMANDARES vs. ABEL CULLUM: Cullum just fought for DREAM. 

Good fight early. Cullum is relentless as always and gets a sweet slam on Armandares before leveling him with a roundhouse kick/right hand combo. (2) Cullum takes the mic after the fight, asks for a title shot, and Cullum is given just that.

9) VITO WOODS vs. DONALD SANCHEZ: Woods is a lightweight from MASH. 

Woods is the stronger of the two. He strongly moves into a guillotine and nearly gets finished with it, but Sanchez can't hold on after pulling guard. He's more cognizant of the submission attempts after this and is able to push his way through Sanchez's triangle attempts. Sanchez gets gashed with a few elbows. Some time is taken to check on the cuts and the crowd is not happy. Woods loses his position too. That change of status only lasts a few seconds, as there is another takedown and more blows at the end of the round. Second round starts, Woods shoots, more elbows. Sanchez with an armbar attempt that is worked at Imes speed. Sanchez makes a big comeback as Woods begins to gas out, getting the fight back to his feet and landing a number of big blows, and also counters a judo hip throw with a leg lock attempt. Sanchez with elbows to the inside knee while inbetween attempts at working a heel hook. Woods clearly wins the fight, however. (0)

10) TONY BONELLO vs. TONY LOPEZ: Bonello is a fraud extraordinare. The bout here is at heavyweight.

Lopez is actually on top early landing some nice elbows and punches. I mean, he's punishing Bonello from the half guard. Bonello is actually able to reverse the position and takes Lopez's back. Good punches from back control to Lopez. He tries for a rear naked choke but Lopez defends well. Herb stands up the fight, stunningly, and Bonello lands a couple blows of his own standing as well. Late punch to Lopez in the clinch after the bell.

Lopez is dead tired with the onset of round two. I throw faster kicks. Bonello's counter punching is hurting Lopez pretty badly in spite of a major size difference. In the clinch against the cage, Lopez makes a comeback and lands some of his own uppercuts and a knee. Both guys are trading; Rock 'em Sock 'em action here throughout the second.  Lopez actually scores a takedown later in the round and Bonello looks almost done. Good action all the way around. Bonello wins the decision, but I'd have had it a draw. (2)

11) DONNIE MARTINEZ vs. CHARLES "KRAZY HORSE" BENNETT: C'mon now. Bennett is with James Lee here. Also has dreads. He is posing to the camera during the final instructions.

Martinez is rushing in on occasion and Bennett isn't having much trouble avoiding it. Martinez goes for a takedown and Krazy Horse with a submission by guillotine. Wow. (2)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Lopez/Bonello

KO OF THE NIGHT: Cullum/Armandares

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Bennett/Martinez

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 4.5 out of 10 - Even slightly drowsy watching, Lopez/Bonello was a bit of a barn burner. Some solid prospects as well. 

D&R Rating: 18% (10/55)

Thursday, March 5, 2009

KOTC: Point of No Return (10/7/07)

Soboba! Inman and Aaron Witherspoon announcing.

1) JASON WENDEH vs. ISSAC NEWMAN-GOMEZ: Wendeh is a heavyweight cornered by Mike Bourke. Gomez is 6'something big'', 265. 

Gomez isn't rushing out there and that's a good sign. I think Wendeh landed a right hand rushing in which isn't a great sign. Wendeh is getting tagged with the jab and walks into a left high kick. Ouch. Gomez throws a few punches and Herb Dean stops it. (1)

2) TIM HUMPHREY vs.  ROB ROSALES: Welterweights.

Humphrey with a takedown, some punches, fight's over in a minute or so. (0)

3) SAL FARNETTI vs. ANTHONY MENDEZ: Super heavyweights. Or not. Mendez is 240 and trains with Romie Aram.

Mendez goes for takedowns early and eats punches from the fatter Farnetti. When he does get a takedown, he does nothing with it and ends up losing position. After gassing and struggling with singles, Mendez ends up getting laid out woth looping fat man punches. (0)

4) MATT BUCKLEY vs. FRANKIE GUERRERO: Bantamweights. Buckley is an "independent fighter", Guerrero trains with Omar Luv and some other dudes that aren't great.

Guerrero with a takedown early, Buckley weakly goes for subs, and get hit a bunch. Then he is laid on. Repeat this scenario. It seems like this is going to be the whole fight, and then Buckley makes a huge comeback late in the 2nd, landing the foot with a high kick and Buckley even thumps him with some punches on top. Guerrero lands a big right hand and takes down the poorly prepared opponent in front of him, mounts him, does not much, and then wins. Well, he gets a split decision, but honestly Buckley didn't come close to deserving it. (0)

5) ALEX RICKARDS vs. JESUS MORALES: Rickards is nobody and he is old. I have no idea who the other guy is and he's not much younger.

Morales lands some shots, Rickards uselessly pushes his way in with his chin up but grabs a single. Takedown eventually. Morales gets up though because he is not totally horrible. Morales looks like he boxed...15 years ago or something. Rickards ends up absorbing a bunch of shots and then just collapses. My thinking is that he's gonna have a stroke, but he eventually rises. (0)

6) ROBERT DOUCET vs. RICK LEGERE: Middleweight fight.

Legere is way bigger and scores a full tilt body slam. Mount, punches, fight over. Impressive win. Legere has lost twice though recently. (0)

7) GREG GUZMAN vs. GUNNAR HINSON: Lightweights: Guzman is 19. Hinson? 15. I previously gave a fight of his a 2, so clearly I think highly of him.

Clinch early and Hinson takes a couple knees and punches. Guzman is trying to show off with his striking. Hinson is much more orthodox and is counterpunching effectively. Hinson is cut badly about midway through the first over his left eye, and Hinson is forced to take down Guzman. The fight is paused to check on the cut, and Hinson has to work fast when its restarted on the mat. Really impressive transition by Hinson as he goes from halfguard to an armbar (I didn't know you could do that) in mid pass. He straightens it out and gets the tap. (2) Gunnar Hinson is one of the best prospects in the world today, bar none.

8) RICK JONES vs.  FRANK PARK: More welters. Park is talked up in advance. Why? I have no idea. Jones trains with Shad Smith.

Park is wild and frankly awful standing. Miraculously, Jones is worse, as he lacks athleticism. Eventually, Park drops Jones with a hard right hand, and Herb Dean is late with the stop, with Jones absorbing some unnecessary shots. (0)

9) PAUL ARRAS vs. GREG LEINAN: Bout at middleweight.

Arras with some punches after Leinan shoots and gets stopped. Leinan gets stopped. Not even 20 seconds. Leinan tries to take down Herb. (0)

10) DAMIEN GOMEZ vs. JOHN LOBER: Gomez is a ninjitsu fighter with some MMA skills, supposedly. John Lober is a legend, so if you've been watching MMA, you know who this is.

Lober with a takedown into side control. Knees to head on the ground and he's an idiot. Point deduction for Lober and we move on. Sloooooow standup follows the restart. Lober with another takedown and side control and instead of wasting it, he gets a straight armbar. After he can't finish, he hammer strikes Gomez into oblivion, in part because he seems to have an injured arm. (0) because Lober is famous for the talent he never channelled.

11) ROCH WORTHY  vs.  DAVE CRYER: Middleweights again. Cryer I've liked in the past.

Worthy with a wild right hand and Cryer is out cold almost instantly. Cryer has rebounded. (1)

12) MELVIN COSTA vs. ANGELO MCLEROY: Oh man. Costa is rocking a SS shirt tonight. 

Costa is thrown by McElroy, but Costa is able to get position anyways and is in mount, then side control. He can't hold him there for long, and the fight is back standing. Costa ends up going for the back during a clinch position, and Mcelroy is able to turn around and get inside his guard. Costa is, of course, useless there, and so McElroy has a huge opportunity in front of him and he's simply not capitalizing as he should, standing up and basically letting Costa mount him. Its a sure thing then: Neither guy is any good. If McElroy was, this would be over already, because he's had great position and done nothing well. Costa outlasts McElroy and stops him with punches. (0)

13) CHAI SIRISUTE vs. WILLIAM SRIYAPAI: Sriyapai I could watch forever. Always a blast. Sirisute has some wild braids and is also a kickboxer.

There was apparently a lot of bad blood coming in, and you'd never know watching. Sriyapai is just putting on a clinic of technical, controlled striking. Sirisute shoots in desperation and gets turned back. Just excellent shot selection from Sriyapai. Sirisute actually gets a takedown and then mounts Sriyapai, and the entire fight has swung in merely a few seconds. Sirisute with some big ground and pound, especially with elbows, but Sriyapai does regain half guard just before the end of the round. With the fight vertical in the restart, Sriyapai again dominates with combinations and counter left hooks. Just as the previous round, Sirisute desperately goes for the takedown and gets mount, landing tons of blows and even going for an armbar, which Sriyapai just gets out of. Just a two rounder. Sriyapai wins the decision. (1) for an entertaining but somewhat slow clash of styles.

14) RICKY GUNZ vs. JEREMY BENNETT: Smallerish dudes.

Bennett just drags down Gunz at the start and punches him till Cecil stops it. (0)

15) TRAVIS HAVENS vs. DANIEL NOVA: Welters. Havens is 2-0, Nova is from Brazil.

Havens shoots early after some tenative standup from both men, and Nova clinches with him. Nova drops to the mat and goes for a heel hook. Havens KOs Nova cold while sitting on his ass. Can't say either impresses me. (0)

16) EDGAR IRIZARRY vs. ANDY JEWETT: Irizarry trains with Cecil Peoples. 

Jewett gets a big slam and Jewett is ruining Irizarry with stuff until he gets hit with a penalty for an illegal elbow. Doesn't matter: When the fight is restarted, he gets another take down and smashes him some more. (0)

17) GENO SALOMONE vs. FABIAN DIAZ: Final fight of the night! Phew, thank god. 

Geno with a takedown, Fabian gives up the back, and while Diaz defends that, he ends up caught with an armbar not long later. (0)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Sriyapai/Sirisute

KO OF THE NIGHT: Havens/Nova

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Hinson/Guzman

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 2 out of 10. Entertaining scrap between journeymen and a solid performance by a hot prospect. And lots of bad.

D&R RATING: 6% (5/85)

Monday, March 2, 2009

KING OF THE CAGE: BRIMSTONE (10/6/07)

Another event at Lake of Torches Casino in Wisconsin, same guys announcing, NEW INTRO~, Papa Schnocky is the ring announcer. 

1) JUSTIN JAYNES vs. JUSTIN CHUVEN: Chuven is making his debut in this welterweight fight. 

Jaynes is all over Chuven from the start, stopping a takedown attempt, taking his back, and choking him out. (0)

2) BRANDON BUELL vs.  MICHAEL BURKE : Middleweights. Burke is debuting, Buell is 1-0.

Burke gets a takedown early and is throwing leather, is just thrown off and Buell takes his back and chokes him out. (0)

3) BENNY VINSON vs. MUJIBAR ABDUL-SALAAM: Black dude trains with Hussein Rashad in the Detroit area. 

Vinson opens with a drop kick? Sloppy ground work from both. It slows down and Vinson is in mount, but he gives it up for a guillotine? Then he ends up on top again but in a guillotine with the arm in. Nothing happens for the last minute in that position. 3 minute rounds (thankfully)?

Second round and I'm barely paying attention at this point. Salaam is in the slowest triangle attempt ever. Its like at 1/4 Imes speed. Salaam slams his way out and Vinson goes back for the single. They lie on each other, but the fight is restarted standing! High kick by Salaam. Left hand by Salaam. If only they were in combination. Vinson CHARGES him and Salaam just side steps him. What the hell was that? 

Salaam is picking apart the white boy standing. He'd do better if he threw in combination or really went for a finish. Capioera sweeps? James Toney stance? Vinson with a takedown. He jumps back from inside the guard and goes for a leglock. Too bad he fails and gets punched in the face. Ref is way late jumping in at the bell and Vinson eats a heavy knee after the fight is over. Salaam wins. (1) for capioera. Vinson gets to do an interview afterwards? Lame.

4) MIKE SANCHEZ vs. TIM BRADLEY: Timothy Bradley is a world class boxer. Tim Bradley is some white guy with a beard from Indiana and a 0-1 record. 

Bradley with the takedown into half guard. Goes into a guillotine. Sanchez taps. (0)

5) ISMAEL PONCHERO vs. BEN LAGMAN: Heavyweights. Lagman is from Detroit and is making his pro debut.

Lagman drops the fat boy with a right hand. He survives and gets knocked down again a few moments later. Lagman is 3-0 as a pro, but does have a loss as an amateur to a 0-2 pro. (0)

6) STEVE ZOROMSKI vs. JOSH BARNES: How many Barnes fights are there on this set?

Zoromski takes a lot of punches and quits in under a minute. Crap. (0)

7) LUIS ALVARADO vs. ZACH KIDD: Two debuts.

"Averado" gets a take down and eventually acquires the armbar from the bottom. Nothing too special. (0)

8) JUSTIN KRUMPLICH vs. BRETT SPARDELLA: Inman is talking about how Krumplich is excellent on his feet. That means he probably wins by KO. I mean, c'mon, like he's really seen this kid in the gym. Spardella is from Dragon's Karate Dojo. Holy shit.

Very excited dudes scrapping out and clearly to gas if this makes it out of the first. Spardella with a takedown, actually. Krumplich doesn't know what to do from his back either. Spardella just keeps grinding down Krumplich too when the fight is stood up. Spardella screws up taking the back and Krumplich is in half guard. That is how the round ends. 

Second round! Spardella with a takedown. Standup by ref follows. Krumplich with a hiptoss sorta thing of his own to get this to the mat. Strange amateurish ground work follows. Nothing happens during it. Third round starts with a top end clinch followed by a world class trip takedown into a top of the food chain set of punches to the head by Krumplich. Spardella is gassed. He survives it and this goes the distance. Who cares? Fight sucked, honestly. Krumplich wins. (0)

9) MUHAMMAD EL UNMARI vs. BILLY KIDD: Featherweights. Kidd is listed as 8-0. Note; that is a lie.

The black dude from Detroit is doing some wild shit standup wise. He gets kicked in the face though. Then he dances some. Then he is taken down. Kidd gets mount and this is over after some punches to the face. (0)

10) MATT JAGGERS vs. HUSSEIN RASHAD: Rashad displayed some skills in his debut. Jaggers is fighting in Sengoku. What do you think happened here?

Jaggers is closing in without any headmovement or anything because it is not necessary. Rashad goes for the single and doesn't get it at all. Jaggers terminates the fight later after some separation is made between the two with combination punching. (1)

11) JEREMIAH DAVENPORT vs. MIKE SIXEL: Sixel is from Gresham, OR. Davenport is 1-1. This is the main event, BTW.

Sixel with the takedown, Inman with the hype up for EXC on CBS. Oh man. If they only could have known. Sixel with some taps to the body that are called "heavy shots" by Inman. Lots of strikes, rolls him over into a guillotine, fight over. BUT THERE IS MORE: Sixel then ends up asking for his girlfriend to marry him. How sweet and voyeuristic. (0)

Another fight? Really? 

12) SHELDON SPROESSIG vs. ANTOINE SKINNER: Sproessig is 0-1. Skinner is 17-7 supposedly and a Gary Myers product.

Clinch early, wild punches from "Little Rampage", a high kick, Sproessig lands a right hand and drops Skinner in retaliation. Sproessig is in the full guard, but loses the position. In fact, Skinner just gets out from under him and nearly takes his back. They end up standing and Skinner goes for a guillotine, but all that happens is Sproessig's mouthpiece falls out. After its put back in, skinner gets a takedown, back control, some punches, blah blah blah. Sproessig gets stopped as the round ends, and in getting knocked off his opponent, the ref blows out Skinner's knee. (0)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Vinson/Abdul-Salaam

KO OF THE NIGHT: Sproessig/Skinner

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Sixel/Davenport

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 1.5 out of 10. Just not enough of value to keep me interested. I knew nothing more about Jaggers than when I started. Otherwise, lots of no-names and journeymen.

D&R RATING: 3% (2/60)