1) Kris McCray vs. Ronnie Wuest: Couple of local boys at 185. Neither is really big for the weight. Wuest is some scrappy white guy with bad tats; generally this means he is not good. Note: This fight shows up incorrectly in fightfinders.
FIGHT: McCray Sub Rnd 1.Total domination by McCray against an overwhelmed opponent. (1)
McCray: Easily dominated a guy with a slow shot who looks pretty old. A little soft around the middle.
Wuest: Did nothing right, completely dominated. Hasn't fought since.
2) Frank Camacho vs. James "Binky" Jones: Binky fought for EXC at one point and his win against Al Buck was reviewed here a couple years back. Camacho I'm not familiar with. Lightweights hovering around .500.
FIGHT: Camacho TKO Rnd 2. Decent grappling bout that the fans are mildly into that ends suddenly with a right hand to Binky Jones. (0)
Camacho: Camacho is young and a decent wrestler but nothing too exceptional on the mat. He got up from Jones' takedowns and defended all the submission attempts, though against a better practitioner, he might have gotten submitted with the armbar when he slammed his way out of it early in the first. Camacho had pretty generic boxing but that was enough to stop Jones cold. Landed shots after Jones was clearly out and tried to kick him while he was down as the ref was jumping in late.
Jones: He is a solid enough hand that he'll test whoever he's in with, and that was the case for most of the bout. He was getting tagged during the second round where all the standup action occurred, and pushed his punches. Solid sweep takedowns, but the small cage was helpful in Camacho getting to the fence and climbing back up to the standup position.
3) Jose Villarisco vs. Mikey Lovato: No idea who they are. 125lbs.
FIGHT: Lovato Unanimous Decision. A turd of a fight; Villarisco is a much larger kickboxer while Lovato is a tiny midget who seems like he might be soft at 115. Yet, in spite of the physical disadvantages, Lovato takes down Villarisco repeatedly and easily wins round 1 and 2. In round 3, Lovato is dropped with a punch and Villarisco is on him like white on rice. Lovato is tired, but continues to shoot after recovering from the punch with no success. The horn goes off early because the time keeper screws up, and we go to the cards, where Lovato wins because the fight isn't scored 10-8.
Luke Thomas is incensed later and writes up lots of angry things on his website as a result, stating that its a "robbery" of the young Villarisco. Its as if the embarrassing nonperformance turned in by Villarisco for most of the fight would have otherwise gotten him a WEC contract and had the 125lb weight class built around him. (0)
Villarisco: Decent size for 125, I guess, since it is barely a weight class in MMA. Some OK striking that would get torn up by M-16.
Lovato: Chubby wrestler with a penchant for gassing and head kicks. Might have success if there was a 115lb weight class like in Shooto.
4) Damian Dantibo vs. Ron Stallings: Stallings is the local product and probably being set up to win. 185.
FIGHT: Dantibo KO 1. Dantibo lands a left high kick early and Stallings is out. (1)
Dantibo: From LA, where people train for real reals. Stallings gets levelled.
Stallings: Has awesome corn rows.
5) Marcus Foran vs. Joey Kirwin: Foran is from Greg Jackson's camp. 185. Foran also looks real soft.
FIGHT: Kirwin Submission Rnd 1. Domination from the start on the part of Foran, but he kept up working for submissions and got the guillotine. (0)
Foran: Strong guy who could probably drop a weight class, but too much force used to defend the submissions (pulling leg straight out of a figure four position, for instance) rather than technique. Kirwin is able to lock in a guillotine when Foran gets to aggressive for top control.
Kirwin: Decent submission guy. Can't tell much more than that. Not a strong wrestler.
6) War Machine vs. Reshad Woods: Woods has a huge height advantage in this 175 lb catchweight fight.
FIGHT: War Machine Submission Rnd 2. Back and forth scrap that was fought loose and fast but ended with War Machine getting the rear naked choke in the second. (1)
Woods: Positives for Woods are that he's tough and has really cool muay thai shorts. Negatives: Stamina is questionable, since he was worn out in the second round. Can't wrestle. Defensive grappling exists to such an extent that he can buck a guy like War Machine out of mount, but does that mean much in a global context?
War Machine: Same guy he's always been. He's exciting to watch against guys at this level because he will always struggle, but any dude who gets hit in the head like this with his psychological issues isn't gonna get better.
7) Mike Easton vs. Josh Ferguson: For the 135 lb belt in the promotion. Easton has some ridiculous tiny trunks on. Ferguson is the smaller man by a clear degree.
FIGHT: Easton Submission Rnd 1. Ferguson is too small to really hurt Easton, and while he gets on top, he gets stuck in a guillotine with the arm in and taps. Easton's strength made that happened. (1)
Easton: Solid grappling and had some good hip movement, but you can see how tough a time he has in the clinch with Ferguson, who is active and not much else in terms of throwing punches, knees, and shoulders.
Ferguson: Decent fighter from what I can see here, but nothing is really proven about his standup. He gets on top of Easton in full guard but its only by defending a throw and countering it with his body weight. Flat overpowered.
FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: War Machine/Woods
KO OF THE NIGHT: Dantibo/Stallings
SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Foran/Kirwin
OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 4 out of 10. This is the War Machine show. Anytime he appears, you know its a spectacle and this is no different. But he also makes for exciting fights and frankly, on shows like this, that's not so bad. The rest of the show is filled with AKSHUN! mismatches and a couple outright terrible fights.
D&R Rating 11% (4/35)
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