Located at Bank United Center. Jay Adams, Din Thomas, and Jen Boronico announcing this show. "Top Level Fights" promised. Big round cage.
1) Felice Herig vs. Michele Gutierrez: Women's bout. I've never been hot on women's MMA, but whatever. Din tells us he's excited to see this after the last bout. What last bout?
FIGHT: Herig Submission Rnd 2. Lots of hugging at the cage, Gutierrez tires and gets taken down. Eventually this leads to an armbar. The most interesting people in this fight are the corner workers - Phil Davis and Kit Cope. (0)
Herig - Superior grappler, nothing jumped out in terms of the standup game from either that was exceptional.
Gutierrez - Seemed to be at a similar level as Herig with standup, but just didn't have the grappling chops to succeed in MMA.
2) Allen Arzeno vs. Patrick Mikesz: International flair, as Mikesz is from the Czech Republic and has a ten lb weight advantage. He's also an ex-hockey player and 35. This match was made because the promoter saw both men in crazy wars previously and thought it would be fun to have them fight each other. I can love that.
FIGHT: Mikesz Submission Rnd 2. Wild Neanderthal stand-up, both guys faces are torn up. The fight goes to the ground by Mikesz both in round 1 and 2, and in the second he finishes Arzeno after some wild rolling with a rear naked choke. (1)
Mikesz: Mikesz is a throw back to when MMA was awesome. I mean, this was not a technical masterpiece, but his voice and demeanor together along with his fighting style...its like Olaf Alonso or something, you know? You can't put your finger on precisely why its so awesome, but it is and you just learn not to ask questions about it. He's got some takedowns that are half decent, his stance is straight kempo, he doesn't jab, and because his hands are so low, he is tagged with right hands with ease. But whatever. He's a great journeyman.
Arzino: Would have won if he could jab, especially as a southpaw. But he couldn't. Being the smaller man didn't help on the mat, where he clearly lacked skills. Didn't really move his hips around at all. Might have been gassed.
3) Joshua Lee vs. Yuri Villefort: Villefort is 18 and brother of Danilo. Lee is late notice and has a 1-7 record. Welterweights.
FIGHT: Villefort TKO Rnd 2. Villefort is just way too much for Lee on the mat and standing. (2)
Villefort: First, the negatives. Lee has too lousy a record to be pushing around Villefort and powering out of submission attempts and bad positions. When Villefort is on top, he should be looking to get to dominant positions and stay there. No reason to leave side control to go for an Anaconda. Just get the job done. Second, his standup was a little shaky. Nothing to spectacular to get excited about, just very basic muay thai.
Now, the positives - he's in a good team. He's very young; only 19. On the mat he's definitely at least good. His takedowns aren't too great, just like a lot of BJJ players, so I can see him being a guy who ends up resorting to pulling guard. Not a fast shot. Good straight right hand dropped Lee, and he followed up and finished.
Lee: Has physical strength and heart, but is currently 2-8 for a reason.
4) Rene Martinez vs. Charlie Champion: Welterweights. Martinez is a street brawler. Flat out. Champion's first bout as a professional. Lots of backne on Champion. Lots. Do they test for synth in Florida? Martinez is touted as a new Kimbo. Oh boy. In fact, they go so far as to say that Kimbo met him and said he has all the necessary tools. For what? To get KOed by a gatekeeper in 14 seconds?
FIGHT: Martinez TKO 1. Champion shoots, nearly loses by guillotine, then gets taken down and beaten up until there's a stoppage. (0)
Martinez: Who knows? He is a big strong guy who can take down a nobody and punch him a lot.
Champion: Is this even really his name? Its probably some 38 year old journeyman who was dodging suspensions.
5) Luis Palomino vs. Rafaek Dias: Dias is an IFL and Bodog vet. Palomino was fun in Bellator. Together, will it be magic?
FIGHT: Palomino TKO Rnd 3. Diaz winning a grappling battle for all 3 rounds, but Palomino is able to get on top late in the 3rd and starts punching. Jorge Alonso steps in as Palomino is trying to get out of the situation with a mere thirteen seconds left. Horrid stoppage. In addition, the ref let Palomino land late shots after the bell in both the first and second rounds. (1)
Palomino: Was dominated the entire fight until the end. His low kicks were decent but didn't do enough to keep Dias off him and repeatedly taking him down. He's got intestinal fortitude, that is for certain.
Dias: Dias doesn't have standup that can stop anyone. Because of that, he's dependent on his grappling totally. He's too easily hit standing to be competitive at the world class level, and his grappling simply isn't so "wow" that he can submit someone like Palomino, much less dominate top echelon wrestlers or BJJ artists on the mat. He's a benchmark.
FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Arzeno/Mikesz
KO OF THE NIGHT: Martinez/Champion
SUB OF THE NIGHT: Herig/Gutierrez
OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 4.5 out of 10. Most of the fights were boring. The bright spots were an amateurish brawl and an appearance by an elite prospect in Villefort.
D&R Rating 20% (4/20)
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