We're back in Amarillo...wait, no, Frisco, TX (?) for more Shark Fights action. Trigg and Schiavello are announcing. Main event if Jake Rosholt and Matt Horwich.
1) Alan Jouban vs. Andrew Goldthwaithe: Welterweight opener. 1-1 vs. 1-0. 3 minute rounds. Goldthwaithe is HUGE. like 6'4''.
FIGHT: Joubain TKO Rnd 3. Joubain trains at a big time gym in Legends MMA and he fights competently, for sure. Lots of takedowns and control on the mat, nearly ends this in the first with a triangle, and ends up pulling a huge KO in the 3rd round by doing EXACTLY WHAT YOU SHOULD DO - THROW COMBINATIONS. Just kept throwing and just kept landing on a 4 punch combo that followed a body kick that dropped the hands of his opponent. Joubain has a ways to go before being more referenced, but this was a good start. (1)
2) Erik Perez vs. Doug Frey: Down to featherweights for this one. Perez is from Jackson's gym, has a serious kickboxing record from down in Mexico, where that sort of thing actually matters. No, seriously. They watch kickboxing there. It is on TV and shit.
FIGHT: Perez Unanimous Decision. Perez is the more well rounded fighter - he gets many more takedowns compared to Frey (who only gets one in the early portion of the second) and he's the more technically adept striker, so he lands more. Still, Perez's striking doesn't seem to be too fearsome in terms of power. His wrestling is so so.
3) Emanuel Newton vs. Ilir Latifi: Light heavyweight contest. Newton I've seen approximately a million times. Latifi is a young buck looking to make his name. Apparently Newton's favorite band is Strife. Go figure.
FIGHT: Ilir Latifi Unanimous Decision: Terrible, terrible decision. Latifi lost every single round of the bout doing absolutely nothing on offense. Wait, OK, Newton actually won and they couldn't read the cards correctly. OK, that's better. Ridiculous. Newton uses his wrestling to totally block any attempts at shots from Latifi, and by the end of the first round, Latifi is basically just running from Newton's jabs and low kicks.
4) Ricco Rodriguez vs Doug Williams: Super late replacement to fight Rodriguez, who had a pretty nonimpressive opponent before who showed up 30lbs over the catchweight, apparently having thought it was just a heavyweight fight.
FIGHT: Rodriguez Submission Rnd 1. RNC after a KOTC special. I still think Rodriguez looks slow of foot in the ring and his hands are glacial too. I just can't see him having a big impact at this point of his career.
5) Jake Rosholt vs. Matt Horwich: This is actually a rematch of a fight Horwich won. Horwich is still lovably crazy that represents a different, dying era of the sport when it was filled with rejects of society. Rosholt is just sorta another meathead.
FIGHT: Rosholt Unanimous Decision. Boring fight, to be honest. Horwich has his grinding style of unorthodox punishment absorbing, but it doesn't work well as long as the opposition is willing to fight in spots, take what Rosholt gives him, and leave few openings. That was the case here, with Rosholt sorta jabbing and low kicking and punishing Horwich as he came forward. Horwich basically was begging for Rosholt to go to the mat with him and he never complied. Smart guy - good enough to know when he should put the wrestling in the defense column too. Horwich is too past it to be a real contender and Rosholt may be growing again as a fighter, but its a slow march back to the top.
No comments:
Post a Comment