1) John Kelly vs. Nico Parella: Welterweights. Both guys are so shredded, you wonder what kind of synth is in the water in South Florida. Announcers don't say so much, maybe they can't tell the difference between the two bald white guys in the ring.
FIGHT: Kelly TKO 2. Strange fight. Early on it looks like its gonna be a standing slugout war. Then Kelly gets a takedown and spends pretty much the entire round in top control. Second round, Parella gets the takedown and is actually in crucifix position pounding on Kelly. Kelly bucks like he's trying to break out of mount and succeeds, and actually ends up in top position in half guard. He lands a single right hand on Parella from inside the full closed guard and its lights out. Kelly just lost in Bellator. (0)
Kelly: Very strong, seemingly a decent grappler, but I'm unsure of his takedowns or striking. Seemed a little robotic on his feet.
Parella: Also unnaturally strong for the weight class. Big dude, no bottom game. Zero.
2) Rodrigo "Baga" Ramos vs. Ben Merrell: Welterweights making their debuts. Din Thomas recognizes Ramos because he was supposed to fight him somewhere around 12-13 years ago.
FIGHT: Ramos Submission Rnd 1. Merrell lands a right hand very early, and Ramos ends up stepping way back and then countering as Merrell rushes in. Neither guy was that good standing. Ramos, meanwhile, was pretty solid on the mat, getting dominant position on Merrell. Merrell does escape and gets on top, but shortly thereafter, he's swept and tapped with an armbar. (0)
3) Jessica Pene vs. Angela Magana: Women's bout at 115. Both are top ten ranked at the weight.
FIGHT: Pene Submission Rnd 2. Magana was game and fought decently. But Pene's submission attempts and superior standup was too much. (2)
Pene: Good submissions, decent clinchwork, decent striking. In a weight class that is bereft of talent, she's not bad.
Magana: Looked smaller, but was strong enough to try to powerbomb out of an armbar attempt.
Michael Moorer appears in the ring, announces that he's once and truly retired, and working with ATT guys to train them. Kimbo shows up and Michael is asked if he'd fight Kimbo, responding with his demands of $5 million.
4) Steve Bruno vs. Clayton McKinney: Bruno was once in the UFC for 2-3 minutes. McKinney has a fun haircut. Apparently there is bad blood between these two dudes I don't really care about.
FIGHT: Bruno Submission Rnd 2. Looks like a d'arce choke that ends the fight. Bruno then talks in a cut up postfight interview about being a world champion and UFC vet and....that's all we get to see. (0)
Bruno: Top control grappler. Stocky. Not much on the feet and not really an incredible wrestler or anything. Better than your average dude on the street, but that's a meaningless statement when assessing someone's ability to compete on the world stage. He's what he is, and that's not a top 50 fighter.
McKinney: A striker who is outpowered the entire fight and eventually choked out while trying to get away and to his feet from the bruising Bruno. Decent kicks and I can't give him much else.
5) Bounmy Sonchai vs. Rene Martinez: Martinez is a street brawler hyped as a welterweight Kimbo. Sonchai is 0-2. Oh, they're building him like Kimbo. As previously review on Unconquered 1 from a couple months after this, Martinez was then undefeated. So, no surprise as to what happens here. (0)
FIGHT: Martinez Unanimous Decision
Martinez: Watching Martinez is like seeing later era Kimbo. He is taught to grapple and suddenly thinks he is good at it. Sonchai looks a full weight class smaller than Martinez and yet he never attempts to engage, though when he punches Sonchai just ends up running. Like, full sprint. Martinez goes for a guillotine and its sad - he doesn't seem to know how to extend Sonchai for leverage, he has the arm in, he's moving his legs all over the place...and of course he uses a lot of energy for an attempt that doesn't work. When given the back totally by a gassed fighter, Martinez can't get the hooks in and flatten him out...even when the guy flattened himself out. This is referred to as a "beatdown" and "good test" by the announcers.
Sonchai: Didn't do anything good. Had the Ken Shamrock 1996 stance. No bottom game. No top game. No striking. Never won. But he is "not a tomato can". Sure.
FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Pene/Magana
KO OF THE NIGHT: Kelly/Parella
SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Bruno/McKinney
OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 3.5 out of 10. Aside from the women's fight, which I didn't really care about because, well, its women's MMA, the fights were pretty lousy. Lots of dudes laying on each other and not really rushing for positional changes/submissions/strikes/etc. The main event was particularly terrible. One of the worst main events for an MMA show I've ever seen, to be frank. The most important and best fight on the card were a couple women no one has ever heard of. Sometimes that's how it works.
D&R Rating: 8% (2/25)
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