1) Jason Godsey vs. Chris Guillen: Godsey was one of the early guys to claim catch wrestling and was in every bad promotion of the period. Chris Guillen I know nothing about.
FIGHT: Godsey Submission Rnd 1. We get a weird RNC sorta choke from side control. Just a bulldog choke. Mr. 10th Planet thinks its a funny catch wrestling neck crank. (0)
2) Bobby Hoffman vs. Sam Sotelo: Sotelo somehow has a win over Buentello, but losses to Wellisch and uhh...OK. Let's not spoil this yet. Or maybe I did. Hoffman almost killed his wife.
FIGHT: Hoffman TKO Rnd 2. Competitive fight at first with Sotelo getting a takedown and landing some good shots. Hoffman makes a comeback and lands some brutal GNP at the end of the round, stealing the 10-9 for himself. Sotelo gets taken down off the bodylock and the resulting impact obliterates his right shoulder. He taps out and screams obscenities in pain. One of the more gruesome things in MMA history. (2)
3) Seth Petruzelli vs. Brian Hawkins: Hawkins is from Michigan, and Seth is at this point a guy with no name. His sister is all lumpy and shit and screaming for him. Man he looks young.
FIGHT: Petruzelli TKO Rnd 1. Impressive show from Seth who throws a ton of low kicks that Hawkins doesn't even try to block and then gets the takedown. The announcers didn't expect that. He ends up mounting Hawkins after a failed bodylock takedown by Hawkins and pounds him out. (2)
4) Joey Villasenor vs. Tony Galindo: Oh my god. Are you kidding? Joey Villasenor is like brand new in this fight. Galindo is from LIONS DEN, is obviously juiced up as a midget with tons of muscles, and has the record for shortest KOTC KO. Trebilcock joins the booth and gives some real insight on Villasenor being a serious prospect at the time in spite of being 7-3 and generally unknown.
FIGHT: Villasenor TKO Rnd 1. Galindo quits after round 1 saying that he injured his elbow. The fight itself consisted of Villasenor throwing a leg kick, Galindo looking scared, and then a monster double leg puts Galindo on his back the entire round. What is most interesting is the aftermath - Erik Apple and Eddie Bravo jokingly say, "Hey, another winner from New Mexico! California and Iowa, look out!" To wit, Trebilcock relates that Chris Cordiero had told him about the camp from which Villasenor came from and to run some non PPV shows in the area. Trebilcock did and stated that he was super impressed with the talent level. The camp? C'mon, you and I both know its Gaidojutsu and Greg Jackson. So consider this the show where Jackson's name entered the discussion. (2)
5) Shonie Carter vs. Fernando Vasconcelos: Carter was and is a cult figure that is beloved in the sport. Vasconcelos was a BJJ artist who went into RAW and was dominating Olympic wrestlers in the dojo and everyone believed that was going to dominate the future of the sport. Eddie Bravo also says that he hung out with Carter at the strip club the night before and that he has a "full stable and I respect that" but that he's rooting for Vasconcelos. And not only that, Eddie Bravo further details a story about how Carter has a feud with Manson Gibson in which they've fought in parking lots and shit. This show is more about outside the cage than in.
FIGHT: Carter TKO Rnd 2. Note: Carter looks to have Lance Gibson in his corner! I love this show! (2)
Vasconcelos: Well, he got the takedown and worked for submissions in the first as expected. He was all over Carter like a cheap suit and looked to have back control. And then it starts to go wrong. When Carter proves able to stand up, Vasconcelos loses his mental toughness. By round two, he starts to eat punches and even gets dropped to the mat with a double leg takedown. How does he react? Oh, he can talk to his corner, walks around a bit, and just quits. Wasn't made to fight in the cage, obviously.
Carter: A great effort by Carter - looking every bit the larger man, he pushes his opposition to the cage and puts weight on them to tire them out. He is by far the better man striking and ultimately his takedown defense and submission defense combine to be more than a match for what Vasconcelos can offer over the long run of the fight. Whereas average wrestlers might be surprised by the hip toss Vasconcelos tries in round 2, Carter, a former judoka, is well prepared. He is in his dancing prime too when Vasconcelos quits. Not a bad fight - Lee Casebolt told me to expect it to be terrible.
6) Jimmy Ambriz vs. Jonathan Ivey: Ivey is a fat dude who loves to roll for kneebars because guys don't train those and Ambriz is a product of the Ultimate Pro Wrestling gym. More relevant than Chris Modest! Yes, I went there. Apparently the guy teaching him most of his MMA stuff is Todd Medina. Wow.
FIGHT: Ambriz Submission Rnd 1. Ivey rushes Ambriz and gets taken down, and that's pretty much the entire fight. Ivey sorta goes for submissions but none of them are even close and Ambriz wins with a north/south choke. (1)
7) Javier Vazquez vs. Alberto Crane: A famous fight! Among the most in KOTC history. This is for the KOTC Lightweight title.
FIGHT: Crane Unanimous Decision. This fight is famous because it was, for a long time, Vazquez's last fight. He blows his ACL 20 seconds into the fight, and rather than scream and quit, he goes the entire 15 minutes. Crane ends up winning the first two round by getting Vazquez down on the mat and controlling Vazquez and escaping his submissions (much easier to avoid with the guard game being eliminated, so most of what is thrown at him are guillotines). Vazquez, amazingly, comes back in the 3rd round and gets the take down and dominates him with top control and continues to pursue guard passes and the like. This fight, BTW, is pretty darn good and the crowd is wild for it well afterwards. Vazquez is carried out of the ring by his manager. Dramatic stuff. (4)
8) Jason Godsey vs. Bobby Hoffman: Heavyweight title at stake in the tourney finals!
FIGHT: Hoffman TKO Rnd 1. Godsey gets taken down with a sort of trip takedown and does try to sneak around back with a rear naked only to get put on his own back and beaten silly. He tries to move to N/S and escape and just gets smashed out. Easy win for Hoffman, who the announcers state has been out for a year and a half while incarcerated. (2)
FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Vazquez/Crane
KO OF THE NIGHT: Sotelo/Hoffman
SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Ambriz/Ivey
OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 7 out of 10. There's a legitimately good fight on the card, and the mediocre stuff is at least not totally horrible. Freaks! Ex-Cons! Injuries! Star prospects being exposed! This has it all.
D&R Rating: 37.5% (15/40)
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