Fight Time 4 (4/1/2011)

Okay, time for the fourth in of the promotion's events. Main event is Tony Lopez vs. Jeff Monson, which is a pretty good ass fight. Alex Donno and Din Thomas announcing.

1) Harry Holton vs. Jeremie Wilson: Some dudes I know nothing about.

FIGHT: Wilson TKO Rnd 1. Holton gets taken down, laid on in side control, and then gets pounded out with short elbows. Shitty fight. (0)

2) Bruce Bellochi vs. Jesus Rodriguez: Heavyweight bout. Not excited about this either. Rodriguez is an ex-boxer or something with no Boxrec profile.

FIGHT: Bellochi TKO Rnd 1. Early stop I think intended to protect Bellochi, who has some sort of connection to the promoter. He was badly hurt earlier in the first during what was basically a toughman fight. Crap. (0)

3) Jay Ellis vs. Rafael Dias: Dias is a prospect of sorts that I've seen a few times now.

FIGHT: Dias Submission Rnd 1. Another easy, meaningless fight for Dias. He rushes Ellis, slams him, takes the back immediately, and gets a RNC inside of 30 seconds. (1)

4) Roy Bradshaw vs. Mike Bruno: Bradshaw at least has the nickname of "Precious". Sifl N Olly inspired?

FIGHT: Bruno Submission Rnd 1. Headlock or bulldog choke? Who can tell? Point is that it was another non-competitive fight in a fight promotion with lots of them historically. Bruno gets a takedown almost immediately and works to side control. Bradshaw tries to get out and gets grabbed by the head its torqued. (1)

5) Danceton Holcomb vs. Joe Watson: Watson is from ATT. This is really an ATT promotion, so....

FIGHT: Watson TKO Rnd 1. Holcomb throws wild shots and gets countered constantly by the straighter blows of Watson. (1)

6) Jeff Monson vs. Tony Lopez: YOUR MAIN EVENT. A 5 round ISKA MMA title bout. Am I excited to see this? Not really TBH.

FIGHT: Monson Unanimous Decision. Not much to break down in the fight because it was a consistent replay every round of the same thing; Monson shoots, takes down Lopez, gets dominant positions, can't finish, doesn't strike much to set up anything, Lopez breaks loose or changes the position with seconds remaining in the round, bell. The biggest difference was Lopez stopping a shot from Monson in the final couple minutes of the 5th and pancaking him, landing blows while on top of Monson. Did it win him the fight? No. (3)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Holcomb/Watson

KO OF THE NIGHT: Bellochi/Rodriguez

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Dias/Ellis

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 2 out of 10. Lots of meaningless squashes punctuated by a terrifically dull main event. Skippable in its entirety. Show was so bad it was a month to the day that I started this review that I finished it.

Art of Fighting 8: Fury (5/22/2010)

Tom Lawler, Ben Glossop, and Ron Yacovetti are announcing this show on Fightzone TV. And it looks like this was a two parter that I only got the 2nd, more important part of. Oh well.

1) Fred Weatherly vs. Sergio Rodriguez: Lightweights, both are debuting.

FIGHT: Weatherly Submission Rnd 1. Rodriguez is a wrestler and he gets down Weatherly early and often. But he's not that good at controlling Weatherly. Weatherly shrimps, gets up, wriggles free, gets up, and in round 2, he regains butterfly guard then sweeps, takes the back immediately, and sinks in hooks. A rear naked soon follows. I don't like his inability to wrestle. Bad sign. No striking really displayed either. (0)

2) Eric Reynolds vs. Travis Cox: Reynolds is a Bellator vet who lost to all the good fighters he has faced. Cox is some stubby wrestleboxer. (0)

FIGHT: Reynolds Submission Rnd 2. Again, we have a fight with a wrestler who only wrestles getting takedowns over and over and winning the first round as a result. Then he makes a critical mistake in the second and loses by tapout. He just keeps giving the neck up, especially as he tires in the second round. Reynolds spends quality time working his left arm under the throat and sinching in a funky sort of guillotine that causes Cox to tap very quickly. Cox has lousy standup; just capable of boxing sorta. Reynolds just has mediocre muay thai, but that's still a lot better than bad, short armed boxing.

3) Mike Buchkovich vs. David Yost: Yost looks (as always) like he is enjoying the benefits of TRT. Also, he shaves his head but has sideburns. Can you trust someone like that? The other guy has a funny haircut and a gut - but wait! He fought Butterbean in KOTC! And this is his first pro fight in like 4 years!

FIGHT: Buchkovich Submission Rnd 2. Beatdown. Absolute beatdown. Takedowns, straight punches, GNP, etc. Just demolishes Yost, who is so gassed out in the second round that his body is a shade of purple. Holds him down, has dominant position pretty much the whole time, etc. (0)

Look - Fighters like this exist here and there but they are often too dangerous to last for long in the sport because people run from them. Promoters hate guys who kill their ridiculous prospects like this. Buchkovich is a great journeyman. He's the poor man's Roy Nelson. But he's better than Tony Sylvester. Well, maybe not. But close.

4) Raul Amaya vs. Joe Robinson: Both guys have nice 4-0 records. Robinson is THIRTY. I sense one of these men is a real prospect.

FIGHT: Amaya Submission Rnd 3 (1)

Robinson: Wrestler I suppose. And like other wrestlers who are one dimensional, he gasses out early and after having tons of success in the first round looks screwed by the second. Thirty seconds into the fight, he has Amaya's back, but doesn't really know what to do with it. By the time we're halfway through the second and he's going for desperation shots after eating high kicks to the face. Amaya's gas tank isn't that much better, so this stretches out to the third round and nearly to the distance.

Amaya: Amaya had the back, flattened out Robinson, and was damn close to closing the fight in the first with a rear naked. Instead, it took almost 10 more minutes, largely of Amaya in control, before he finally got the rear naked choke. His strikes are really wild and its all about offense. Wrestling isn't that great. Decent size for the weight class I suppose.

5) Crafton Wallace vs. Waachim Spiritwolf: Oh man. This should be a thing. I hear Waachim Spiritwolf is the nicest dude and his wife is blazing. THE MOAR YOU KNOW.

FIGHT: Spiritwolf TKO Rnd 1. Spiritwolf takes down Wallace and lands some punches and elbows early. Wallace has some bleeding on both eyes and on the back of his head, and there's some puffyness on the right eye. And so the ref stops it. Not sure why? I mean, the cut on the left eye is under? Crafton Wallace apparently quit because he can't see right. Whatever. Lame. Does Spiritwolf only have fun fights every other bout? (1)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Amaya/Robinson

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Yost/Buchkovich

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 2.5 out of 10. Kinda lame show. No good fights. Lots of finishes and a sorta running theme for the show in terms of how fights went, but yeah. You don't need to run out and see this.

D&R Rating: 8% (2/25)

Fight Time 1 (8/21/2010)

As readers know, I have my favorites out there in terms of great B-Show fighters. One of them is Jeff Monson, and here he headlines against another classic B-Show fighter, Jason Guida. This event was held in Club Cinema on Pompano Beach in South Florida, and is the first effort of Elite Promotions...or Fight Time Promotions. Announcing is Alex Donno as PBP and Din Thomas is the color man. The promotion is an offshoot of ATT through Howard Davis Jr., who is a co promoter here. Jeff Gibson is the other promoter here and he's a former kickboxing champ and "hormone replacement" guy. Uhhhh.

1) Josh Mercado vs. Abraham Estacio: Missed the weight class but it looks like 155. THIS FIGHT IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY BRUS SPORTS BAR.

FIGHT: Mercado Submission Rnd 1. Mercado throws some cool looking kicks and is kinda wild but drops back for a guillotine. Not too much effort expended to win his pro debut. (1)

2) Jimmy Chaikong vs. Mike Benken: Chaikong is 1-5. ONE WIN FIVE LOSSES. Benken is debuting. Solid Gold Dental and Lamborghini Palm Beach are presenting this one.

FIGHT: Chaikong Submission Rnd 1. Incredible start as Chaikong goes into karate forms to start and then breaks from kata to shoot and take down Benken. Never seen anything like it. Chaikong passes to mount, goes for an armbar, and doesn't really do it right. Had bad position and crossed his feet, but Benken probably ends up getting hurt since Chaikong just pulled on the fucking thing till he forced a tap. (0)

3) Patrick Williams vs. Shaughn Koukos: Featherweight fight between a 1-0 guy and a debuting talent.

FIGHT: Williams TKO Rnd 1. Just a beat down. Williams gets a takedown and then just lays in with GNP. He celebrates after his 2:30 long fight with a standing backflip. Athletic dude with wrestling and punching with his wrestling. That's something, right? (1)

4) Dalton Hicks vs. John Chavez: Chavez trained in Thailand for awhile, the announcers say, and is touted by Wilson Gouviea. Sorta a welterweight fight?

FIGHT: Chavez TKO Rnd 2. Horrible mismatch talentwise. Chavez smashes the crap out of Hicks and should have submitted him in the first. He had full extension going for an armbar out of the mount and the arm controlled and isolated and couldn't get the thing straight. Ref should have stopped it before the bell. Instead, he lets Hicks take a ton of shots and then pulls him to his feet after stopping the fight almost immediately. (0)

5) Jerry Blackman vs. Chris Holcomb: Dudes who are big. Not sure how big though. Missed that.

FIGHT: Blackman Unanimous Decision. Blackman is much bigger, from a much bigger camp, and tosses around Holcomb early on. He cuts him over his eyes, he punches him, he goes for submissions, he gets a nice belly to belly to put him on the mat. And then in the second round, he gasses out and Holcomb tries to make a comeback while dodging triangle attempts and the like. Even then, Blackman wins the round by getting himself back on top in the final stages. The third is awful stuff, with two fully expended neophyte fighters staring at each other for the most part. The staring ends with Holcomb shooting for the takedown, pulling guard, and actually sweeping Blackman and being in side control for awhile. Not much happens though. Neither guy looked that good coming out of this. (0)

6) Boumny Somchey vs. Lazar Stojadinovic: Lazar I've seen before and he's really little. And not that great.

FIGHT: Stojadinovic Submission Rnd 1. Lazar drops him with the first punch of the fight, is all over him on the mat, forces him to roll over, and we get an RNC finish inside a minute. (0)

7) Dennis Hernandez vs. Stephen Jenetis: Yeah, no idea.

FIGHT: Hernandez TKO Rnd 1. Jenetis clinches to start, then gets taken down and mounted almost immediately. Just a wild grappling fest for a moment or two, then Hernandez gets the fight down again. Its not long till he gets the crucifix, and then he starts throwing punches and elbows. At some point, Jenetis goes out and then takes a few more elbows a la Orlando Weit. (1)

At this point, there's an intermission, some fat chicks are in the ring, Kimbo stops by and says hello.

8) Jason Guida vs. Jeff Monson: Main event time. Strange undercard for this, TBH.

FIGHT: Monson Submission Rnd 2. Man, this is sorta sad and disheartening. Monson shoots but is so slow at first that Guida actually defends it and takes top position, landing blows. Monson eventually sorta balls up and is able to force his way on top by taking a single on Guida. From then on, its generally all Monson. But he's really slow in this fight and Guida has some moments where he regains top position. Monson is big on leading with his head for the clinch and punching, which I think is probably as much why Guida gets cut as is the strikes he throws. Eventually he has a weird side back control on Guida and goes for a sort of crossface on him that Guida taps to. In the postscript Monson plugs his radio show that goes on back west. (2)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Guida/Monson

KO OF THE NIGHT: Hernandez/Jenetis

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Chaikong/Benken

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 3.5 out of 10. Monson looks muscular but age is definitely a factor now. He's very slow, not that he was ever super fast. Rest of the card features a lot of promising young talents, mostly from ATT, though they face really underwhelming opposition. The card is short and a bit of a throwaway, but its note totally terrible.

D&R Rating: 12.5% (5/40)

WFC 8: Battle of the Bay (7/10/09)

This is the third WFC show I've watched, and I didn't even have a tag for them. For shame. Now I do. This also catches me up on Fightzone TV cards for awhile, so I can turn back to NAAFS and boxing for a moment. Or perhaps Bellator. Whatever. Something. You know what you need to know about this? One word - RICCO. Benjamin Glossop is also announcing on this show.

1) Caleb Archer vs. Jean DeJesus: Caleb is from ATT.

FIGHT: Archer TKO Rnd 1. DeJesus is a basic wrestler who doesn't look to pass or strike. Archer doesn't have the most active guard on earth and is looking to purely stand. Lots of hanging on when on the mat. Lots of loading up on shots too. DeJesus was signaling that he was done 15 seconds before the fight was over. Archer is still undefeated now a year later but hasn't fought anyone really good (his last win was against chronic loser James Wynn). (0)

2) Rick Hunley vs. Eric Koveric: Ridiculous intros for this fight. 145lb fighters, no winning records. Koveric's nickname is WARFACE. What? Really?

FIGHT: Hunley Submission Rnd 1. Koveric knows how to pass guard sorta and is athletic enough to scramble to the mount at one point in this short fight. Then Hunley regains guard by being flexible and then gets a triangle. Koveric can't slam out and has to tap. (0)

3) Giovanni Moljo vs. James Wynn: Oh god. Wynn has an atrocious record, but isn't a bad fighter. He's clearly just there to collect paychecks as a "test". And he makes sure he's never that tough of one.

FIGHT: Moljo Submission Rnd 1. Wynn scrambles a lot and eventually this goes to the mat and his head gets caught in a triangle. End of the road there. (0)

4) Oscar Reyes vs. Joshua Bacallao: Who are these guys? Don't know.

FIGHT: Bacallao Submission Rnd 2. (0)

Reyes: Reyes has a gameplan - takedown, control, win. There is no B. Bacallao prevents the takedowns because he's a great athlete. In doing so, Reyes is doomed.

Bacallao: He has good enough takedown defense to stop the shots and bodylock, and on the mat he's capable of getting out of the guard and taking offensive positions. He's better standing too - he lands a big punch during a scramble early, and a huge head kick in the second. Reyes' best defense is to put a hand down and be a "downed opponent". RNC setup comes outside of having hooks in - kinda like that one time Militech did it in the UFC from the side.

5) Matt McCook vs. Alex Caceres: White trash dreds still on McCook.

FIGHT: McCook Submission Rnd 2. I'll be honest, I didn't pay much attention to this. McCook had some takedowns, when they were standing it was about equal, but on the mat McCook ran shit. He pulls a really cool armbar to win out of mount in the second.

6) Eric Luke vs. Ralph Acosta: Before this bout, we learn that The Dollhouse Gentleman's Club is supplying the night's ring girls, and entry is free with your ticket stub tonight. Chances this promotion is owned by an organized crime organization? 60%. 139lb catchweight.

FIGHT: Luke Submission Rnd 3. Called a "great standing and grappling fight". Why? Because there's lots of dudes hugging on the cage in round 1. (0)

Luke: Luke is capable of striking a little and he's got a little submission game. His opponent didn't come to fight though.

Acosta: Acosta is looking to just hold and run out the clock on top of pushing his opponent into the cage. His standup seems to be nonexistent compared to Luke and he's not active on the mat. Acosta starts going into guard pull mode in Round 3, and this fight falls into parody. When he does get the fight down, he just lays there. Well, then he's hit with an elbow in the head and starts to bleed and gives up his head IMMEDIATELY to be submitted. It takes a minute to set up the triangle though.

Not enough time remaining in the broadcast to show Ricco/Rinaldi. One relevant fight, and I don't see it. Fuck this.

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: I don't care. They all sucked.

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 1 out of 10. Terrible. Long interview segments wasted time that could have been Ricco/Rinaldi. This isn't even available for download. What the fuck is this? None of the fights are worth watching. Several nonperformances with no notable prospects.

D&R Rating: 0%

Real Fighting Championships 11 (2/23/08)

Allan Berube and Jay Adams are announcing. I have no idea who is on this card aside from the main event, which is headlined by CARL MALENKO. I mean CARL GRECO. I mean CARL OGNIBENE.

1) David Silva vs. Zach Barrios: Silva is undefeated and Barrios is a little soft.

FIGHT: Silva Submission Rnd 1. Total domination by Silva who gets the ref to stop the fight momentarily for a cut on Barrios' face, then finishes the job as Barrios tries to sweep out of half guard and ends up giving his back instead. RNC finish, Barrios claims he didn't tap, but who cares? Silva looked good but never fights again, instead choosing to run a school in Florida. (0)

2) Corey Swanson vs. Joe Robinson: Robinson is all sorts of shredded.

FIGHT: Robinson Submission Rnd 1. Another piece of domination. Swanson gets taken down a couple times, the second time he looks to scramble he gives up his back and gets choked out in about a minute. (0)

3) Dieulhomme Chera vs. Den Lyn: Featherweights. This is probably going to get a 0. Just a guess.

FIGHT: Lyn TKO Rnd 1. Completely wild - both guys went for flying knees at the same time from the clinch at one point. And this fight was under a minute. Ends as Chera goes for a leglock, Lyn breaks out, Chera tries to stand and he lands a wild looping right hook from way behind his body onto Chera's face. Never made it to his feet. (0)

4) Shawn Vaughn vs. Miguel Gonzalez: SUPER FAT HEAVYWEIGHTS.

FIGHT: Gonzalez TKO Rnd 1. Vaughn's cup starts falling down like 10 seconds in. They swing some. Vaughn looks like Bam Margera's dad. He gets dropped with uppercuts in the clinch. Embarassing shit. (0)

At this point, its Voodoo Child, there's fireworks, and yes, a Hulk Hogan appearance and interview. Like I care what he has to say. And then there's an interview with Yosmany Cabezas who won on an EXC show the week before.

5) James Austin vs. James Wynn: Both from the same camp and town. Huh.

FIGHT: Austin Submission Rnd 1. Want to see a thrown fight? Well, this is a candidate. Little striking in this bout, none effective, as a 4-0 fighter fights a 4-12 teammate. Lots of grappling as neither wants to hurt the either too badly. Lots of sub attempts though as they roll around - Wynn runs a fun sequence where he tries to lock in a triangle and Austin rolls around a little as he escapes. Austin gets full mount with little time left in the fight, throws nothing, goes for an armbar, transitions to a triangle and wins the fight. Up there with Charles/Belfort. (0)

Bunch more interviews, including one with Marcus Jones.

6) Ricky Bennett vs. Gilbert Burgos: 145lb bout.

FIGHT: Burgos Submission Rnd 1. I dunno if there's anything to say about Bennett. He got taken down early and worked on until he was choked out. Burgos is a pretty basic submission grappler best I can tell with some decent skills. Bennett took a year off and then lost. (0)

7) Gareth Joseph vs. Danny Babcock: Middleweights. Will this exit round 1? Magic 8 Ball says "Unlikely".

FIGHT: Joseph TKO Rnd 1. Monster KO as both men just trade for most of the fight. Joseph lands way more shots though, which shows Babcock's strategy to be particularly terrible. He's since gone onto lose in an unaired Strikeforce bout. Babcock lost to Trigg in that show that was run on a Daytona 500 weekend and then beat Ariel Gandulla recently. (0)

8) Tony Souza vs. Carl Malenko (or whatever): Somehow I am guessing that this dude is not meant to beat Malenko.

FIGHT: Malenko TKO Rnd 2. Souza was live for about 2 minutes, then gassed out. The ref probably could have stopped this in round one as Malenko traps the arm in a crucifix and started pounding on Souza. He takes down, mounts, and smashes out Souza in the second. (1)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Souza/Malenko

KO OF THE NIGHT: Babcock/Joseph

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Silva/Barrios

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 1.5 out of 10: This isn't a 1 because you can see Carl Malenko fight a fat guy and there's an example of a likely thrown fight to view.

D&R Rating: 2.5% (1/40)

Art of Fighting 4: (8/22/09)

I'm going back in time for this AOF review from their 4th show. Among the bouts? Seth Petruzelli vs. Chris Baten is headliner, with Tom Sauer vs. Marcio Pe De Pano Cruz as the co-headliner. Sauer in the prefight interview has a very noticeable tick. Like, its scary to see. Ben Glossop is working the announce booth with Jay Adams.

1) Ron Ritter vs. Gino Tutera: No idea who these dudes are, but they are heavyweights. Tutera is only 5'9'' and 210.

FIGHT: Tutera TKO Rnd 1. (0) KOTC Special with Tutera basically winning the fight with a single takedown. It all goes on from there as Ritter turns over and absorbs shots. (0)

2) BJ Gress vs. Carlos Gonzalez: Welterweights. Gress has a huge height advantage. Gonzalez is known as "The Rooster" and rocks a red mohawk. C'mon, for real?

FIGHT: Gonzalez TKO Rnd 1. (0)

Gress: Gress has a sloppy active guard he uses on the mat and Gonzalez just pops out of anything thrown at him. Gress should be overpowering his man based on the size advantage, but seems to fight safe more than anything. He lands solid knees in thai plumb but gives it up to go for a double...and do not much with it. In fact, he loses position and has to go for a loose heel hook. So often he tries to go for subs and none of the setups are very good and he ends up losing any solid position he gets. He goes for a kimura and Gonzalez ends up out of it and smashing him out as the round ends. Ref jumps in with 2 seconds on the clock.

Gonzalez: Some submission defense, doesn't react well to the clinch. Basically wins because he has a subpar opponent in the ring.

3) Nyantu Bolo vs. Joe Wissman: Wissman was a decent fighter on a bad card long ago during the only Bonecrunch Fighting League event. Bolo is someone I've never heard of and is already 35.

FIGHT: Wissman Submission Rnd 1. (0) Bolo is hopeless out there and gets tagged with a right hand with his guard being nonexistent. After getting dropped, Wissman jumps on him. Bolo surprises me by sweeping Wissman, but can't do anything inside of the triangle, and Bolo can only try to slam out. He fails and ends up asleep.

4) Keith McCabe vs. Kevin Abrante: Abrante is nearly 40. 185lb fighters. McCabe apparently trains at some Gracie Baha offshoot, and was noted in AOF 7 as having been matched in an attempt to make a slugfest.

FIGHT: McCabe TKO Rnd 1. Dudes slug. Little technique. McCabe is faster and more athletic, so he lands more. In this case, it just requires a 1-2. (0)

5) Mark Serkez vs. Corey Krebs: Serkez half the duo for the AOF 7 fight with McCabe mentioned earlier - and he's a Tom Sauer student! Krebs is a XFC vet, for whatever that's worth, and has like a foot height advantage.

FIGHT: Serkez TKO Rnd 1. (0) Dudes swing hard - I can see why that AOF fight was made now, though it was kinda boring. Serkez lands a couple looping shots as Krebs moves straight back and ends up out cold. Serkez throws his mouthpiece at his body after being tossed off by the ref and kicks at Krebs' corner. Classy dude.

6) Dave Yost vs. Chris Herring: Herring has a huge height advantage, but really now - no chance he wins.

FIGHT: Yost TKO Rnd 1/Sub from Punches. (0) Yost gets on top after Herring is totally gassed early on and smashes the crap out of him. Whatever.

7) Eric Reynolds vs. Greg Loughran: I missed what weight class this was in. Loughran is supposedly from Ireland? Reynolds is fresh off some losing efforts to real fighters in Bellator.

FIGHT: Reynolds TKO Rnd 1. (1) Both men trade standing and land flush. In fact, Loughran actually has some success standing. But in the end, Reynolds gets a takedown and pounds out his opposition.

8) Delson Heleno vs. Tyler Stinson: Stinson had time in the IFO and in Bellator. Heleno is a well known journeyman.

FIGHT: Heleno Submission Rnd 1. (1) Like this was gonna end any other way. Heleno takes down Stinson early and worked to get to the back, but Stinson escaped the RNC. Didn't matter; Heleno gets him back down, mounts, then gets the triangle from the top.

9) Seth Petruzelli vs. Chris Baten: Wow, this isn't the main event? OK. Baten is super ripped as always. Petruzelli has eschewed pink hair for a chinstrap.

FIGHT: Petruzelli TKO Rnd 1. (1) Kinda a lousy fight, SHOCKAH. Petruzelli catches Baten walking in with a right hand, lands a few shots on the mat as he looks a mess, and the ref jumps in. Of course, the announcers play it up like Baten was OK in spite of getting his head dribbled.

10) Tom Sauer vs. Marcio Cruz: Wooooooooow. For Cruz's hilarious heavyweight title. Sauer has a belly.

FIGHT: Cruz TKO Rnd 2. (2)

Cruz: I mean, if you told me this was the only fight that would go to the second, I'd be shocked. But it is. Still, Cruz by submission is like peanut butter and jelly or some shit like that. His striking is abysmal but its never gonna get better. His shots aren't too good either. This was something discovered in his UFC debut at UFC 55 where he was actually taken down a couple times and thrown. Anyhow, Sauer stuffs him twice and then he doesn't have the energy to do it again. The fight is then academic.

Sauer: Between the tick (only seen something like it in stroke patients), the poor conditioning, the fact that I know he's fighting for the money - this is really a sort of sad thing, to be honest. It keeps his name out there and he shows he has about 3 good minutes in the ring, but after that he's like a glorified grappling dummy taking punches while flat on his back. Worst yet, Sauer just covers up at the end of the fight and takes blows for like a solid minute. Why? Why?

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Loughran/Reynolds

KO OF THE NIGHT: Serkez/Krebs

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Stinson/Heleno

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 3 out of 10. Some upgrades in terms of the quality of guys up at the top of the card, and a legends fight of sorts main events. Still, the fights themselves aren't at all good. That is an issue.

D&R Rating: 10% (5/50)

Action Fight League: Rock-N-Rumble 2 (3/5/2010)

Most confusing promotion in history. Jay Adams, Din Thomas, and Jennifer Boronico are announcing. This event is known for a post fight riot, so you know it is good.

1) Jessica Aguilar vs. Valerie Coolbaugh: 120lb catchweight. Aguilar is a highly ranked women's MMA fighter at this weight, but that doesn't mean much. Her opponent is 4-4 and 35.

FIGHT: Aguilar Submission Rnd 2. Much more competitive than expected. Coolbaugh is game and has solid submission defense. She fends off more than one RNC and a head and arm choke to land solid punches standing. In the end, she taps to a triangle choke. (2)

Aguilar: Really short, though maybe not for this weight specifically. Excellent grappling on the mat. Oh, she's wearing Aoki pants.

Coolbaugh: Throws straight punches, defends submissions fairly well, but more than anything is just tough.

2) Joe Ray vs. Yoandi Inchaustegui: Middleweight bout. Inchaustegui is listed as being Cuban.

FIGHT: Ray TKO/Submission from Strikes Rnd 2. One sided contest. Inchaustegui didn't do anything of value and was banged out from mount when he tapped. (0)

Ray: Not terrible at grappling I suppose. Against a guy with such limited talent, its tough to tell.

Inchaustegui: Brought Ray to the mat into mount more than once in the fight. Apart from bucking out of being mounted, he did nothing offensively or defensively that was effective.

3) Dahfir Harris vs. Cedric James: Heavyweights. Big boys too. Billed as "street fighter vs. street fighter".

FIGHT: Harris KO Rnd 1. Horrible showing. Just dudes swinging with some hugging action. Cedric James actually gets a takedown seemingly by accident. Standup by ref out of mount? Huh? Back to swinging and Jacobs is knocked out after having mounted Harris. Oh, let me mention that the ref for this is Frank Gentile. (0)

4) Alilton Barbosa vs. Keith Johnson: At a 170/175lb weight limit of some sort. Barbosa is claimed as a BJJ world champ and is 33.

FIGHT: Barbosa Submission Rnd 1. Barbosa is transitioning through tons of stuff at rapid fire pace from his back and taps Johnson with a triangle choke. (1)

5) Michael Bernhard vs. Ariel Gandulla: Gandulla has dropped to 185 for this but is still so old. No idea who Bernhard is. Apparently there is bad blood because Gandulla asked for money at ATT and didn't pay anyone back. OOOH.

FIGHT: Bernhard DQ. What a joke of a fight. Bernhard is poked in the eye repeatedly and hit with a knee to the groin, forcing a stoppage. He actually threw around the amateur star Gandulla in the fight and was on top, but nothing else could really be picked up with all the breaks. (0)

6) Oscar Encizo vs. Brian Fuery: Main event. Heavyweights. Fuery is huge and looks like a failed football player. Oh, he was! Former player for the U.

FIGHT: Fuery Submission Rnd 1. Fuery wins with a side headlock after holding it for about 90 seconds. Nothing to note here - Encizo landed a nice low kick, then got taken down, and that was the end of the fight. Fuery I'd seen getting beaten by David Yost, so its not like I think much about him anyhow. (0)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Aguilar/Coolbaugh

KO OF THE NIGHT: James/Harris

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Fuery/Encizo (how often do you see a side headlock finish in MMA?)

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 3 out of 10. I can't say this show is a total waste of time because the women's fight wasn't shabby and neither was Barbosa. Everything else should be skipped though.

D&R Rating: 10% (3/30)

Action Fight League: Unconquered Begins/Rumble at the Rock ??? (9/25/09)

Jay Adams, Din Thomas, and AJ Benza announce this show from the Seminole Hard Rock that has the names of 3 promotions but is really only one. Cage and unified rules.

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)

Real Fighting Championships 8 (2/23/07)

Another installment of RFC from Tampa. Guy Mezger and Jay Adams on the mics.

1) Mike Foster vs. Jorge Boechat: Welterweights I've not heard of I don't think. Foster is a lot bigger.

FIGHT: Foster TKO 2. Boechat pulled guard and later in the second goes for a toehold. Foster gets around to the back and throws punches that land on the shoulder and gloves, but Boechat doesn't really defend it or anything, so its stopped even though he's not the least bit hurt. Boring fight. (0)

Foster: Big. Avoids submissions. Not much else.

Boechat: No standup to speak of, not the most active off his back, but relies heavily on it anyways. His last fight was for EXC and he got tapped with a reverse triangle.

2) Josh Powell vs. Dieulhomme Chera (J Lee): 140lb bout. Powell is Team Punishment I think?

FIGHT: Chera Submission Rnd 1. Total ownage by J Lee, who nearly ends it in under 20 seconds with a guillotine. Then he transitions to a triangle after that when Powell's head pops out, and then to a straight armbar. That's it. Nothing really to review other than that Powell has an active guard but also a losing record now. (0)

3) Patrick Barrentine vs. Jon Schall: Heavyweights. Barrentine is from Jorge Gurgel's school and FAT. Schall got a easy KO his previous fight.

FIGHT: Barrentine Submission Rnd 1. Total domination from the 5'11'' 265 lb Barrentine. He gets Schall down on his back and Schall is useless there. In an attempt to push away Barrentine while Barrentine is looking to pass (he does the entire 4 minute fight), his leg is caught and he ends up tapping to a heel hook. (0) Neither has done anything.

4) Chris Oddo vs. Miguel Gonzalez: More heavyweights! Oh gee. Gonzalez is 290.

FIGHT: Ugly fight with dudes hugging, doing throws, getting incredibly dominant positions, and just losing them with complete ease. Gonzalez went from mount directly to standup without even his opponent bucking. Oddo had a rear naked given to him, misses, and then has his back taken in 5 seconds time. Sloppy grappling everywhere. Somehow they make it to the end of the first, and I am forced to see a second round. Oddo gets his eyesocket messed up in some clinch fighting and basically turns away and the ref is forced to step in. Gonzalez may be undefeated, but hasn't fought in 27 months. (0)

5) Courtney Martell vs. Liz Posener: This is the main event? Are you for real? 135. Neither of these girls are top anything right now in female fighting. Martell is way outsized.

FIGHT: Posener Submission Rnd 1. Martell gets her down to the mat and then promptly gives Posener her arm. After failing 3 times, Martell finally taps to an armbar. (0) Posener can sorta do submissions I guess and Martell should find a different hobby.

Oh, wait, it appears that this was the typical hour and a half program, but Sun Sports told me it was 1 hour. GREAT. So the real main events aren't even on here. If I ever watch this again, I'll update it.

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Foster/Boechat

KO OF THE NIGHT: Oddo/Gonzalez

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Powell/Chera

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 1 out of 10. Total waste of time.

D&R Rating: 0%

Unconquered 1: November Reign (11/20/09)

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)

Real Fighting Championships 7 (11/4/06)

Fightzone TV went way back in time. This I think got screwed up by some sort of time issue too, because there's an educational program on to try and fit the quote. RFC has a fancy ramp. Jay Adams is your announcer, and the event itself is at Sun Dome in Tampa. Oh! Your color man is Stephan Bonnar.

EDIT 3/30/2011: Indeed there was a time issue! And so, I present to you the complete review now, finally. Original post date was 5/12/2010.

Show opens and we have a bunch of chicks from the local strip club and Jay Adams on the entrance ramp while a lot of pyro goes off and a third filled Sun Dome looks on. This show is already amazing.

1) Ralphy Garcia vs. Omar Chebali: Uhh, some lightweights.

FIGHT: Garcia Submissin Rnd 1. Couple guys trade wild punches and then try to trade leg locks. Garcia breaks out of that, moves to mount, and then goes for an armbar. He stretches it and gets it. This fight, honestly, was stupid. (0)

2) Kim Predmore vs. Elizabeth Posener: Posener has an almost 10 lb weight advantage.

FIGHT: Posener TKO Rnd1. Posener drops Predmore with a knee early, mounts, and rains down shots. Ugly. Stopped way too late and it was still only a minute long. (0)

Won't bother doing much more in describing. Neither is a factor. Suffice it to say that Predmore doesn't belong in MMA.

3) Josh Powell vs. Allen Berube: MONSTAH LOBSTAH. Jay Adams gets pushed by the pro wrestling inspired Berube.

FIGHT: Berube Submission Rnd 1. Berube runs at him and throws some bad punches, then grabs his head and drags him down for the guillotine. Powell did nothing. (1)

Berube: Wide punches, wild submission attempt - yeah, not surprised he didn't last in the UFC.

4) Chris Adams vs. Jon Schall: Heavyweights. 4 years later, I've heard of neither. Not a good sign. Adams is all sorts of chunky.

FIGHT: Schall TKO 1. Schall hurts Adams with a punch early and then drubs him. Adams is tapping for like 3 seconds before the ref jumps in to stop the fight. (0)

Schall: Was KOed in next fight, just wild and crazy for the 30 seconds this goes.

5) Chris Holder vs. Chris Manuel: 145lbers. Holder is apparently a top wrestler. Manuel is from ATT.

FIGHT: Manuel Submission Rnd 1. You could see it coming throughout the fight. Holder wanted it down but didn't know how to defend submissions when in top control. An Imes speed triangle attempt finishes the job. (1)

Holder: Holder is throwing around Manuel, and that's impressive, but he's leaving himself so wide open for submissions when he does it. Manuel gets back to his feet after almost armbarring Holder, and while Holder gets the takedown again, his work inside the guard bears no fruit. Manuel ends up taking him down and Holder has no guard.

Manuel: Manuel seemed to have decent work off his back but there was nothing to establish his ability standing. Mixed success since in international level competition.

6) Lew Polley vs. Chris Baten: Polly drops lots of weight to make the 205 limit. Baten doesn't.

FIGHT: Polley Submission Rnd 3. Such an ugly fight to watch. Polley is huge and muscle bound, and its lay and pray for 1 and a half rounds. But he gasses totally and when there's a standup in the second Baten throws a single high kick and lands it to the mush. Polley is a mess and loses the rest of the second round and is nearly finished with a rear naked choke. He almost eats another high kick in the third, but a desperate shot gets down Baten and he ends up with a kimura to finish. (1)

Polley: Strong guy, but technically not very good. At all. Really, he has strength and not much more. Don't want to see him fight ever again. Too bad the world will through the magic of Ultimate Fighter.

Baten: Not a particularly great fighter either. Had the chance to spin out and escape the kimura for about 20 seconds and didn't.

7) Mike Van Meer vs. Carl Greco (Malenko): 185lbs. Van Meer is a fat ass. Carl Malenko was in PRIDE, as you might remember, as well as Battlearts.

FIGHT: Greco Submission Rnd 1. Pathetic effort by Van Meer. (1)

Greco: takes down Van Meer with shocking difficulty, then screws up one armbar attempt only to get another. Terrible to watch.

Van Meer: An insult.

HIGHLIGHTS SHOWN: Briefly shown are victories for Joe Lane, Mike Ortiz, James Austin, Danny Ruiz, and Lucas Code. Also shown? Matt Brown beating Matt Arroyo. Yes, the most relevant fight on this card today wasn't shown. Oops.

8) Chris Mickle vs. James Edson Berto: Mickle actually made it to the WEC for a cup of coffee. Berto is the brother of a much better fighter, as you may know.

FIGHT: Berto Submission Rnd 1. Berto is bigger, gets taken down immediately after a leg kick, then Mickle goes for a leg lock. Berto counters with his own and forces the tapout. (1)

No real perspective I can give. Berto is a sucker for takedowns here and Mickle is still nothing more than a journeyman.

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Manuel/Holder, though that says nothing

KO OF THE NIGHT: Schall/Adams, even if it might not really count

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Berto/Mickle

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 2 out of 10. Not worth going out of your way to see, even if it is short in fast forward.

D&R Rating 10% (4/40)

WFC IV: Cage Wars (7/13/07)

Another Fightzone TV special. Jay Adams and Benjamin Glossop are announcing.

1) DANIEL COSTELL vs. SEAN BARTLETT: Coming right out of a commercial break into this. No idea about weights.

Costell gets this down early off a botched head kick attempt and Bartlett is trying constantly for a triangle. Costell's defense is a Hammer House special (slam). Costell is bleeding from the nostrils and eventually gets tapped. I'm guessing this is not the ESPN writer. (0)

2) JOE WISSMAN vs. BRANDON COOLEY: Wissman was undefeated in another show I've seen him in, and this was before it.

Cooley gets a clinch and takedown even with a pathetically slow shot. Wissman goes for a triangle choke and throws some nice elbows too. Ref stops it as Cooley goes out. (0)

3) CHRIS NUCKOLLS vs. NICHOLAS TORTORA: From commercial right into it:

Fairly sloppy bout. Both are gassed after two minutes. Nuckolls then falls into controlling the fight thanks to his superior conditioning, size, and striking talent. Tortora takes a beating for over a minute and then somehow survives and gets a desperate takedown that brings him to mount. Nuckolls is stopped. Post fight, we learn this was at 205. Tortora is 2-0 with no fights in 15 months. (0)

4) JAMES WYNN vs. DIEGO LANDER: Another zero second setup for this.

Lander is the better grappler, as displayed with his takedowns and ability to pass. Well, I thought that until Wynn flipped him over. I learn its a 145lb match 2 minutes in. Standup after a couple minutes of boredom, and neither looks very good standing. Lander pulls guard and I am thinking about bedtime. Lander off his back is a guy who thinks he's better than he is. Lots of sub attempts, none of them are finished. He just takes forever to set things up.

After a commercial break, round 2. Wynn likes flashy shit but sucks at fundamentals. Somehow he gets Lander down without much, if any effort, mounts, and then punches and elbows come. Really high guard from Wynn. Lander gives up his back to defend and he's flattened out. You'd think this is not gonna last long, but Wynn goes for an armbar instead of working towards the RNC, and gives up the position. Lander gets a leg and Wynn obviously trains somewhere that thinks leg locks are "cheap", as he doesn't even really try to defend it. Lander has not fought since. (0)

5) TOM LAWLOR vs. ???? : Uhh, theres this fight and they don't tell you who it is. I think its Tom Lawlor? And some chubby dude?

Lawlor defends a takedown, is cut, and goes for a kneebar, but chubbs defends and gets up on his feet. There's some brief clinch fighting, and they separate for slow kickboxing. BRANDON SENE is apparently the Tom Lawlor lookalike, and he gets an armbar when it goes back to the mat on JASON BARLOG (the chubby guy). Sene went on TUF 7, lost to Dante Rivera, and then got stopped by punching bag Brent Beauparlant at an XMMA show. (1)

6) RYAN MURPHY vs. JEFF LA SANTA: 145, I think?

All over the place. Murphy gets a takedown and the back early. Pretty brutal RNC attempts fail, and La Santa is able to buck Murphy off him. Honestly, pretty amateurish. La Santa just sorta throws Murphy to the side and throws punches to the dome. He gets put on his back again and Murphy looks like he should have brutal jewfro GnP. It never really develops.

The announcers note with round 2 that the fighters are tired because they fought at such a crazy pace. Partially true. Of course, they fought like that because they aren't prepared to be pro fighters. Murph goes to sleep rather than tap when La Santa puts him in a rear naked.

7) TOM CZERWINSKI vs. DANNY RUIZ: A contract weight of some sort. Danny Ruiz I've seen plenty of.

Ruiz gets a takedown, is in mount within 45 seconds and there are elbows and punches. This is oddly similar to the fight between Ruiz and Antonio Grant. Czerwinski gets armbarred and its pretty awesome looking, to be honest. (0)

8) ADRON MORRISON vs. ERIC REYNOLDS: Reynolds I've seen before, and like Ruiz and Wissman before him on this show, he was undefeated going in then later in his career.

Huge right hand drops Morrison early and Reynolds follows it with plenty more punches on the ground. Pretty impressive KO. He calls out Allen Berube, because Monstah Lobstah is such a serious contender. Sadly, the fight has not come off. (1)

9) BENJAMIN JORDAN vs. DAVID VIEIRA: Black dude vs. Portuguese Last Name.

Vieira goes to pull guard and somehow ends up taking Jordan down and is in mount. Jordan sweeps for mere seconds and is returned to his back not long after. Easy transition for Vieira as Jordan gives up his back to put on an RNC. Vieira apparently doesn't like the position and basically flips Jordan on top of him to get a submission from his back. Smart move: Vieira with a triangle choke not more than 10 seconds after. (1)

Fight of the Night: Tough to say, but I go with Reynolds/Morrison. Had it all - lame cameo, very fast, cool knockout.

KO Of the Night: Morrison/Reynolds

Submission of the Night: Vieira/Jordan

Overall for the Event: 2.5 out of 10: Reynolds looks like a world beater here, but that's matchmaking for you. Vieira's win is credited to "David Silva" on Sherdog's fightfinder.

D&R Rating: 7% (3/45)

REALITY COMBAT CHAMPIONSHIP (4/28/07)

This is a show from Jacksonville. Rob Kahn and Jay Adams are announcing this event from a studio, I believe. The announcers are talking about how one of the talents will be moving onto Bodog. Oh, Bodog. Matches are in a ring.

1) RAFAEL REBELLO vs. TARO ITO: Rebello is from ATT, so I'm interested. Bout is at 135. 

Ito rushes Rebello and gets taken down very early. Ito doesn't know how to use his guard offensively and so Rebello easily bypasses it. Ito tries to roll away or something and gets his back taken by a leaping Rebello. Rebello has a body lock and prevents Ito from escaping, and is in mount, though the fight is moved to the center of the ring due to it being in the ropes. Ito absorbs a bunch of punches and elbows and in an attempt to defend it, gives up an arm. Rebello takes the easy armbar. Rebello looks good but hasn't fought since 2007. (0)

2) DAN FUNES vs. JARRED CARD: Fight is at 145. Sorta. Looks more like a catchweight of 147. Card is 3-1-1.

Funes and Card dirty box to start and Card, being the bigger of the two, is able to ultimately attain dominant position on the ground. He loads up with most of the punches he throws inside the guard and Funes is dumb enough to get caught with many of them. Funes tries to get out of the position but ends up getting thrown around by Card for his trouble before being deposited on his back again. Card is dominant in round 1.

Kahn says that Funes' best shot is on the feet, where he promptly takes a punch to the face early in the round. Basically, what I get from this is that Funes is simply not good enough to be competitive. Funes finally ends up on top when he's in a guillotine. The announcers are a little late in noticing that Card wins as they talk about Funes being in trouble as Card is already celebrating. Card's big moment came as part of the Cage Force tourney when he was KOed by Takaya. (0)

3) JOE BENJAMIN vs. ARIS MONTEMAYOR: Fight is at lightweight, but Montemayor is giving up 7 lbs. Apparently Benjamin is a boxer and significant time is spent hyping this. His pro record according to Boxrec? 1-17. Clearly, this is a monumental battle in the boxing/bjj wars.

Montemayor gets a takedown and Benjamin is able to get up briefly. Montemayor with a five finger choke, Benjamin defends and throws him off. Joe Benjamin eats a leg kick and nearly drops. Benjamin throws some decent knees. Benjamin apparently doesn't know anything about kickboxing, says Kahn, though he does a great traditional thai sweep. Montemayor pulls guard, and Benjamin gets caught in a triangle. Benjamin eventually taps. (0)

4)  CHRIS MANUEL vs. STEVE MCDONALD: This is at 145. Manuel I've heard of and don't remember why.

The video is horrible. It looks overexposed with a digital reflection off of McDonald. Manuel throws an accidental low blow and some time is eaten up with that. Manuel shoots a takedown, pulls guard, and then gets a leg lock. And he ruins McDonald's leg. Manuel recently competed in WEC. (1)

5) EBEN OROZ vs. SHANE WELNISCHKE: This is at 145. Oroz is on his way to Bodog, apparently. 

Welnischke actually hands a nice punch early and nearly wobbles Oroz, but ends up getting taken down and tries to lock in a guillotine while the other guy is flying past his guard. Oh geez. Oroz is swept from half guard by Welnischke, but he is caught in a guillotine shortly after, dropping him to 1-4. Oroz's win to Daiki Hata that was mentioned here in commentary actually took place like 6 months after this fight. He lost 3 of his next 4. (0)

Jay Adams is in the ring now and he does some interviews with Josh Barnett, Sean Sherk, and Erik Paulson, for whom Shooto matches are shown. 

6) TRAVIS MILLER vs. JOSH SAMMAN: Samman is the younger of the two by 5 years, and Miller is hardly an old man at 24. This is a 185 lb fight.

Samman goes with the flying knee immediately, and he gets taken down in the ensuing clinch. He is able to get on top by sweeping with a front headlock, and somehow doesn't get his back taken. Miller has some minimal BJJ skills and tries to go for an armbar from the bottom and doesn't really come all that close. Standups just do not come here, sadly. Painful to watch.

A second round opens and Samman just wading through shots and he drops Miller with an elbow. Miller throws his hips up like someone twice his weight (at the same height). More of Samman laying in the guard and throwing punches. Amazingly, there is a standup at around the halfway mark of the round, and so we get more of Samman just walking forward with his hands up like he's entered a really cold lake (n. Celtic Frost) instead of a fight. Miller gets a takedown and the fight then enters such a state that the announcers discuss how sad it was that Gracie lost to Hughes.  

Third round opens with Samman throwing a axe kick and being taken down. He follows that with a kimura attempt from like his knees or something and its enough to put him on top in side control. The fight continues on the downward slide from there. Miller might have won the fight just off of the final minute and a half of laying on Samman. Little technique, mediocre athleticism. Samman won by unanimous decision, he loses in under a minute a year later. (0)

7) DAVID MEWBORN vs. BEN JONES: 200lb catchweight, it seems. Jones is apparently the favorite say the announcers. 

Jones just comes in winging hooks and he drops Mewborn. Announcers are now like 5 seconds ahead of the action, as they call a slam by Jones well before it happens. Another slam of Mewbown as he tries to hold onto closed guard and Mewborn is out cold. Oh, wait, turns out they rule it was because Jones' dome crashed into Mewborn's face. No contest. (0)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Montemayor/Benjamin

KO OF THE NIGHT: Wasn't one.

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Manuel/McDonald

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 1 out of 10. A lot, and I mean a lot, of these Fightzone events are KOTC level shit, and not the good ones. I basically pay $1o a month for this and taped boxing from DirecTV, and when I need to change my package at the end of the month, I may find myself needing a lot less of this. 

D&R RATING: 3% (1/35)

Bonecrunch Fighting League 1/12/08

This is another fight card from Fightzone's TV series on Sun Sports. Bonecrunch Fighting League attempted to capitalize on the failure of the IFL by basically being like an Arena Football League to them. Points are awarded for stoppages over decisions here, unlike the IFL. Well, they were. The League shuttered up two weeks after this card. The first portion of the show features a battle between Gracie Black Belt Rob Khan's team and one brought by Din Thomas. Randy Harris and Benjamin Glossop are the announcers. 

Khan's fighters are on the left, Thomas' on the right.

1) GILBERTO BURGOS vs. PAT SEIDEL: This is at 135. Burgos is 1-0, Seidel is 1-1.

Burgos shoots in for a takedown, sweeps the leg and is in guard. Seidel gets a high guard and goes for an armbar. Burgos slams him twice and gets out, but gets locked into a triangle. He tries to punch his way out against the cage. Seidel transitions to an armbar then back to a triangle. Burgos starts going for a slam but Seidel releases and Burgos continues with punches. Really nice punches against the cage by Burgos. He finally breaks through and is in the full guard dropping 'bows. Seidel tries to sweep with butterfly guard and Burgos takes him down with a slam again. Seidel regains guard and goes for another triangle, then transitions between it and an armbar attempting to get a submission. Burgos is still single minded in looking for a stoppage by strikes. Another armbar attempt fails and Burgos probably wins the round.

Second round opens with Seidel dropping for a shot and just pulling guard when that fails. Both men have abrasions, but Seidel is far worse off with a pretty decent on his nose, over by his left eye. The submission attempts have slowed to barely happening; Seidel looks burned out. He does go for a gogoplata and is easily defended against and Burgos moves to side control. There's some rolling that goes on and Seidel ends up on his back holding Burgos in guard. Seidel has some pretty solid BJJ and goes after lots of submissions, but he's awful at finishing them. He's had so many good opportunities that if he loses, he has no one to blame but himself. Burgos probably outstruck Seidel 50 to 1. 

A third round and Burgos goes for a takedown off a very lazy Seidel punch. After some time inside the guard, he passes momentarily, but Seidel is good enough to regain it. Problem with both: Burgos is a decent wrestler who would be submitted by a better grappler, and Seidel is a decent grappler with no standup with too much willingness to pull guard and take shots. Seidel goes for a triangle and Burgos easily breaks through it. Not much more to the fight. Burgos wins by unanimous decision. (0) Decent fight, neither man means much in the scheme of things.

2) JOHN TURNER vs. RALPH ACOSTA: This is at 145. Bass is 1-0, Turner is making his debut. Acosta goes for a body lock and take down early. Acosta goes for an armbar and is successful with it. (0)

3) JOE "BAMBOO" WISSMAN vs. MIKE HYMAN: What an unfortunate last name. Welterweight fight, with Wissman being the more experienced of the two with a 1-0 record. 

Bamboo has apparently quit his job to fight full time.  He has a horrible haircut and an even worse tattoo of a spinal cord on his back. Hyman stuns and drops Wissman with a punch, and then drubs him a bunch on the ground as Wissman sorta flops around. Wissman survives and Hyman stands up out of his loose guard before diving back in. Sloppy fight on ground and standing. Hyman is nearly caught in a bad triangle but pulls loose and forces the ref to stand up Wissman. "Awesome action" says the announcers. I suppose. Seeing some M level talent in a slug fest is not the greatest thing ever. Dana would give these guys bonuses on TUF. Wissman lands some pretty stout looking knees but Hyman doesn't buckle too badly and he ends up on top inside of Wissman's guard. Wissman uses a omaplata to sweep and crucifix the arm as the round ends and just blasts some punches into Hyman's face, and the ref stops the fight with about 5 seconds left in the round. Somewhat questionable stop from Jorge Alonso. Wissman has gone onto lose his next fight. (0)

4)  MIGUEL SHOFFNER vs. MITCH HARRIS: This is the fourth fight for this team bout and its not listed on the card for this post weighins. Its at 185.

Miguel has some karate style kicks and apparently is a pro wrestler of some sort in Mexico. Harris is bothered by something, complains to the ref, and gets bombed by Schoffner. Harris just falls down and the fight is over. Schoffner does the post fight interview with a lucha mask on. 

5)  ALONZO ROANE vs. JOE STUTZMAN: Heavyweights! Who doesn't love fat men pummeling each other? Oh, me.

Stutzman is hella active standing in place, which means he will gas if this goes more than 4 minutes. Roane is looking for takedowns and gets a big slam, starting in side control, eventually going to north south. It ends up back in side control and Roane locks up a kimura but can't finish. Roane is a poor man's Wayne Cole, which gives you some idea how exciting watching him lay on top of a guy is. 4:40 of Roane laying in side guard in this round.

Round 2 opens and both are gassed. Alonso takes lots of time cleaning the ring up. Roane goes for a single and eventually gets a takedown and is in half guard. Nothing happens and Alonso finally stands this up. Both have awful standup. Stutzman throws a big right hand lead and gets bodylocked, pushed into the cage, and then takes him down, right back into side control. Roane locked up the arm and throws some punches, and Stutzman just sorta moves and gets out of it and gives up his back. Roane doesn't put the hooks in and Stutzman stands up, only to get slammed Rock Bottom-style to the mat. Stutzman survives and gets up to throw lazy punches which land and seem to affect a gassed Roane. Roane is able to grab a leg and get a single and return to side control. Stutzman's most effective strikes are knees to the head on the ground from his back that he is warned for. Another strong round for Roane.

A third round? Oh man. Why did I pick this? Roane gets a single leg takedown after Stutzman throws a shitty right hand. I fast forward because this fight is shitty. Roane wins with a sort of reverse STF. (0)

Now its onto Tim Riddle's Cinci team to face Ross Kellin's Lakeland Blaze! I know, I can't believe this promotion is out of business either. Kellin's guys are on the right.

6) RYAN MCINTOSH vs. STEVEN WEEKS: Pro debut vs. guy with 0-2 record.

McIntosh throws Weeks with a front headlock, lands 'bows, knees when they stand again, another takedown, slams his way out of an armbar, and just outclasses him in every aspect for the first 90 seconds. Weeks reverses position and gets lasts in dominant position for roughly 20 seconds before McIntosh bucks and gets on top. Weeks gets an arm and acquires an armbar that McIntosh cannot slam his way out of. Tapout win for Weeks. (0)

7) MATT TERLAU vs. JOHN SCHALL: Heavyweights. Terlau is listed as 4-0 and has some meaty man tits.

Schall with a takedown early. Is he related to Meat Truck? Perhaps. Terlau reverses position and gets armbarred. He tries to stack up and defend it, but fails. Schall with a w. (0)

8) ANTONIO GRANT vs. DANNY RUIZ: Final fight for the night. No idea what weight this is.

Ruiz with a shot early and he can't get a takedown thanks to Grant's holding of the cage. He pulls him away and gets him down with a double and then punches him a bit. Grant doesn't know what to do other than to keep a closed guard and hope the other guy gets tired. Ruiz doesn't. Ref stoppage and Ruiz is your winner. He reappears shortly after to fight Spirit Wolf in the WFC show I've already reviewed. (0)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Burgos/Seidel

KO OF THE NIGHT: Ruiz/Grant

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Roane/Stutzman

Overall for the Night: 1 out of 10. Really, this is a pointless show. No one looks like a prospect here, the promotion is dead, the production is mediocre, etc. There were some awful fights to boot.

D&R RATING: 0%. 

WFC 6 (3/22/08)

This is from the Fightzone TV broadcast courtesy of Sun Sports. Jay Adams and Benjamin Glossup. Lots of hype about how awesome this is gonna be and I know nothing about any of these dudes.

1) MATT MCCOOK vs. GABE MALDONADO: This is at 155. McGirt is 2-0 and has white trash dreads. Other dude is making his debut. Maldonado lands a right early and is taken down shortly after. McCook pushes him against the cage and gets locked into a triangle. McCook doesn't really do a good job defending it and while he hangs on for awhile, and gets swept with it. Maldonado ends up tapping him less than two minutes in. (0)

2) DANIEL PEREZ vs. MARCUS JONES: Two undefeated heavyweights. Perez is a lumpy guy, Jones is pretty cut. Neither has more than 2 pro fights.

Marcus has that old school BJJ stance and I'm stunned that he's going with that. So is Perez, who punches him in the face and drops him very early. Jones never recovers and is stopped shortly after. (0)

3) YORK ASH vs. ERIC REYNOLDS: At 155. Reynolds is 7-0, Ash is from TRAVERSE CITY, MI. Holla at me, Cherry Capital.

Reynolds rushes across the ring and gets caught in the clinch after doing nothing. Apparently Reynolds is a kickboxer or something and that will matter, but right now its all about greco clinch. Ash pulls guard but gets slammed hard. Reynolds throws some strikes and then stands up. Great front kick by Reynolds. Ash looks gassed at the 1:30 mark. Clinch again. Reynolds with karate style kicks. Also catches a roundhouse by Ash and punches him a couple times. Ash is cut over the left eye pretty badly. Ash ends up just giving up his back and goes to the mat. Easy submission for Reynolds. (1) because Reynolds will probably end up getting thrashed in TUF eventually.

4) PATRICK MIKESZ vs. JOE WISSMANN: At 185. Wissman is undefeated, Mikesz is from the Czech Republic and 4-3.

Joe gets a takedown early and the czech dude who is supposed to lose sweeps him. Apparently Wissmann wins off his back, so I'm guessing he's okay with this. Rubber guard from Wissmann. Nothing really happens and Mikesz stands out of the guard and then goes for stomps to the stomach. He is pulled back into the guard for his trouble and nearly leglocked. After that, Wissmann doesn't do much of anything and Mikesz does little to actually cause damage. Mikesz stands up periodically and on one occasion in the first, Wissmann shoots for a single. Mikesz spins off that, takes his back, and sinks in a RNC. (0)

5) JESSICA AGUILAR vs. ANGELA MAGANA: 120lbs. Women. Who cares?

Magana pushes her punches and Aguilar is counter punching with the hooks. Solid right hand shakes Magana and Aguilar uses the opening to clinch and get a takedown. The announcers like women's MMA because they "listen to their corners". Even in MMA, there are gender roles. Aguilar assaults the senses by laying in half guard and waiting for a standup. Of note: 5 minute rounds in this. This is not a good thing because I don't care about this and want to move on. Wild swinging occurs. Aguilar with a Matt Hughes style slam. And yes, they lay in half guard doing nothing. Round eventually ends.

Round 2 starts like most of the rest except that Magana pulls guard instead of getting slammed. She sweeps Aguilar and it is seemingly in slow motion. Aguilar sweeps her and is in mount. Aguilar is bleeding and I don't know how. Magana escapes out the back after hellaslow GNP, but apart from surviving, there's nothing to be said about this great success. We end up with more half guard and more slow motion lesbian rape. Dan Severn is apparently calling this bout too but you can't tell because the mics sound so bad.

Yes, there's a third round. Clinch with Magana going for the guillotine. Since this fight sucks, she does not succeed. It gives her an opening for knees and her first effective offense of the fight. Aguilar with a double leg takedown. More painfully slow submission wrestling style ground work. Fight is stopped while Magana is going for an armbar because of a small cut on her face. (0) One of the more horrible fights this year.

6) TOM LAWLER vs. SHANE PRIMM: Yes, you read that right. Dudes from TUF against each other before TUF.

Standup in the early going, with Lawler getting a strong position in the clinch following a superman punch. He backs off but uses the opening from another punch to clinch and takedown Primm. Primm goes for a triangle and Lawler goes for a power bomb to get out. He doesn't actually get the slam off, but Primm does end up releasing it. Lawler has a D'arce in pretty tight and then throws a knee to Primm's head with all 4 points down. Primm sells it well and wins by DQ. Interesting historical footnote, just like Kyle Kingsbury's similar fight in KOTC. (1)

7) RICH ATTONITO vs. RYAN HODGE: I feel like I've seen Attonito before.

Attonito drops Hodge right away with a right hand and ends up in his guard. Attonito pushes him up against the cage and lands some more blows. Hodge gives up the back to try and improve position and actually returns to a standing position before being slammed back to the mat with Attonito in side control. Hodge eventually regains guard but is not terribly offensive off of his back. When he's able to get back to a standing position he just gets slammed again. Hodge gets the fight standing again and while he tries to steal the round, he gets taken down once more.

Hodge lands a nice flying knee at the start of the first, but a second attempt at one gets him taken down. The next 2:3o are all about Hodge getting punched in the face from his back. It ends when he gives up his back and continues to be punched with less resistance. Attonito is looking for a suplex or choke and neither is really present, so be just keeps throwing punches. The round ends with Attonito landing punches while in back control.

The third is a replay of the other two combined. Hodge takes some punches standing, gives up his back and is pounded for awhile until submitting verbally. (1)

8) EFRAIN RUIZ vs. DAVID VIEIRA: Vieira has a really nice backdrop. Both are welterweights.

Ruiz came out swinging, Vieira clinched and then pulled guard, then stood up. Vieira is a wikdman on the mat and its pretty awesome to watch him transition between various attempts. Standing d'arce/anaconda for awhile, then Vieira pulls guard. Boring grappling battle for much of this round. Its a battle of positioning with Ruiz trying to be on top and Vieira allowing it. Ruiz gives up his back for a moment and gets choked out. (1) for Vieira.

9) WAACHIIM SPIRIT WOLF vs. DANNY RUIZ: Welterweight title fight.

Spirit Wolf goes for a single at the start and Ruiz defends it against the cage for awhile. Ruiz reverses and has underhooks. They end up separated once more and back into a tenative striking bout. Ruiz with some strong punches and he stuns Spirit Wolf, then later hurts him quite badly. Spirit Wolf has some serious heart though and keeps on going. After some strikes are landed between the two, the lights go out. Pentagon Combat? Spirit Wolf claims he hurt Ruiz with some punches at some indeterminant point I'm sure was before the lights went out. Spirit Wolf gets the takedown and Ruiz responds with a high guard and some triangle/armbar setups. Spirit Wolf stands up out of the guard and then drops some bombs down on his opponent. Ruiz is out cold and the native american is your new champ. (0)

Fight of the Night: Attonito/Hodge

KO of The Night: Spirit Wolf/Ruiz

Submission of the Night: Maldonado/McCook

Overall: 1.5 out of 10: Seriously, none of the fights were actively good, no high level fighters, even the production was bad with audio issues the entire time.

D&R Rating: 9% (4/45)