Ring of Combat XIX (5/9/2008)

More Ring of Combat on GoFightLive. Once more, we're denied one of the relevant fights as Nick Catone vs. Mitch Whitsel for some title strap isn't shown. Production is two dudes with DV cams and streaming ability standing on the same side of the ring (set on a stage?) and no announcers. The ring isn't miced even.

EDIT: Funny thing today - I also reviewed a NAAFS show I had already reviewed. A first! So if you think you saw something earlier, you did. And now it is gone and this is in it's place.

1) Eddie Fyvie vs. Anthony Morrison: Morrison was in the WEC very briefly. Fyvie never really made it that far.

FIGHT: Fyvie Submission Rnd 1. (1)

Fyvie: Fyvie goes to buttscoot the second Morrison gets even a little close to him. Morrison though falls for it and ends up inside the active guard of a decent BJJ artist. Fyvie nearly locks up a triangle with not much of a setup, and while Morrison shrugs it off and powers through once, a second attempt later in the round is successful at a tapout.

Morrison: Strong guy who's standup was way too dangerous for Fyvie to consider engaging with for even a split second, but was also nowhere near enough of a grappler to take advantage of what is traditionally a dominant position.

2) Bill Scott vs. Joe Diamond: Two guys at light heavyweight, but well under the 205lb weight.

FIGHT: Scott Submission Rnd 2. Both guys come at each other so crouched over, you can tell they expect to grapple and not trade at all. Seriously, one uppercut and this show is over. (0)

Diamond: Diamond is the bigger guy and gets takedowns and whatnot for the most part in this fight, and wins the first round pretty comprehensively. But he leaves his head and arm out pretty often and Scott takes advantage of that.

Scott: Scott is a smaller, not terribly skilled but competent BJJ artist and wrestler who is overpowered by a bigger man but makes up for it with better technique, forcing an armbar submission in the first round. He has a few other moments - briefly resisting a takedown of Diamond in the first and almost reversing position. There's also a near sweep with a triangle attempt in the second before the submission that ends the fight.

3) Anthony Vetro vs. Chris Schlesinger: Weight max here is 198lbs? Both are lumpy still.

FIGHT: Schlesinger Submission Rnd 2. (0)

Vetro: Pudgy. Can defend the takedown for a couple minutes against a smaller man.

Schlesinger: Master of the wild right hand lead/shot into clinch against the ropes. He spent most of the first round there. Maybe 3 minutes worth, come to think of it. And so it was the small victory of him going to a single while pushing the man in the corner, then dropping to trip the other ankle and get the man down that brought me joy. He then rolled very loosely for some submissions he didn't get like a RNC and an armbar and the round ended. In the second he shoots right away again, but gets a big takedown and Vetro turns and gives the neck in little time.

4) Mike Medrano vs. Anthony LaDonna: Welterweight division. LaDonna is a passable fighter.

FIGHT: Medrano TKO Rnd 2. (0)

Medrano: Medrano looks a lot like Matt Serra. A lot. And he hits like him too, as can be judged with LaDonna being out cold after a single right hand to the head. He's a strong fireplug of a guy with a propensity to fire hooks and move linearly. That's like, I dunno, a lot of guys. Not a real BJJ "artist" so to speak. If he is, he's barebones into control and high percentage stuff.

LaDonna: Made the mistake of trading with Medrano when it didn't really serve his purposes and gets laid out with a right hook. During the fight he generally ends up underneath the stronger Medrano but is skillful enough to avoid getting hit too hard or anything like that.

5) Dave Branch vs. Alexis Aquino: Interesting middleweight bout with guys who are real prospects. Well, Aquino was. He's soft around the belly in this fight.

FIGHT: Branch TKO Rnd 1. Lots of feeling out here that turns out to be more uncomfortable standup than anything else. Both guys want to grapple, and their skills are negating each other. Branch eventually ends up closing the distance, getting underhooks, elevating and slamming Aquino, then moves to full mount to pound him out. And pound him out he does. (1)

6) Dom Stanco vs. Marc Berrocal: 175 lbs?

FIGHT: Stanco TKO Rnd 2. Berrocal had previously been seen getting run over at ROC 18 and this isn't that much different. To save myself writing more than I need to, Berrocal has some iota of talent. He escapes a RNC and a straight armbar that most would have tapped too. But he is in those positions because he's not a particularly great grappler, he lacks the core strength against a solid, well built wrestler like Stanco to get him down, and on the occasions he defends something and gets on top afterwards, he either doesn't have time to make anything of it or gets swept. Stanco keeps him grounded to the mat and pounds him out with punches in the second. (0)

7) Douglas Gordon vs. Levon Maynard: Journeymen locking horns. Both dudes are ripped physically.

FIGHT: Gordon TKO Rnd 1. In the early part of the round, Gordon takes down Maynard after catching a body kick in what looks to be a primarily standup fight. And that suspicion is affirmed as Gordon doesn't really do a whole lot with the top position. Certainly he created the idea in Maynard's mind that the takedown was a real possibility once the fight was stood back to the feet, and that probably played on his mind as, later on, Maynard ducked down into a clinch with Gordon and instead ended up eating a right hand to the temple and another right hand uppercut after it that dropped him and ended the fight. (0)

8) Ricardo Romero vs. Constantinos Philippou: Interesting fight! Nontitle bout for Romero's light heavyweight title. Romero comes in looking soft.

FIGHT: Romero Split Decision. (2)

Romero: Honestly, I came into this fight with no expectations, and I guess I have to say that anyone who picked Philipou to win is an idiot. Romero consistently got positions and takedowns throughout the bout, even opened the fight up with a slam. I wasn't that impressed with his finishing technique, but I suppose he has won 6 subsequent fights inside the distance. Didn't seem to like the mount at all - really preferred and chased after side control.

Philippou: Wanted to box, didn't want to grapple so much. Unfortunately then for him, he spent most of the fight on his back trying to defend kimuras and the like. I'm willing to entertaing the largely kickboxing based first round to Philippou because he was outworking Romero. Romero does strike like he's Frankenstein after all. And also important is the fact that he's really a middleweight and settled at 185 later in his career. I guess you can ask what the loss in the TUF opening round for season 11 meant when he got tapped by Joseph Henle. I'm not sure I put a lot of stock in that being terrible for him. It was so early in his career.

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Phillippou/Romero

KO OF THE NIGHT: Gordon/Maynard

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Fyvie/Morrison

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 5 out of 10. Quality issues that didn't bother me regarding production aside and the lack of the actual main event, this is a not so bad show in the great scheme of things. Finishes? Sure. Decision with quality fighters? Yes, actually. I liked not hearing terrible announcers and PBP men.

D&R Rating: 10% (4/40)

Ring of Combat XVII (11/30/07)

This was originally televised on HDNet and is somewhat notable for a fight of future UFC contenders. Interestingly, the event listing on GoFightLive is missing that fight. Great. Kenny Rice and none other than JEFF BLATNICK are on the mics. What sucks most about this show? The two good fights (Jim Miller/Chris Ligouri & Dan Miller/John Howard) aren't on GFL.

1) Nick Catone vs. Ben Knight: Catone was on TUF and still has a contract, so he can't be THAT bad.

FIGHT: Catone TKO Rnd 1. Catone rushes towards Knight to start with and doesn't even duck for a double. He eventually puts him on his back in side control with a brute force takedown and smashes him out with elbows. Sorta impressive? (1)

2) Marc Stevens vs. Alexis Aquino: Kinda interesting fight with a TUF fighter from season 12.

FIGHT: Aquino TKO Rnd 2. (1)

Aquino: Goes after a soft Stevens and wants the takedown. Stevens lands a nice knee in the clinch, but aside from that, Aquino is never really in any trouble. In the second round Aquino gets down Stevens, takes the back, flattens out Stevens, and pounds him out.

Stevens: Can sorta strike, which if you watched TUF you know. Can't grapple worth shit, which if you watched TUF, you know.

3) Richard Boine vs. Douglas Gordon: Don't know these dudes. Welterweights.

FIGHT: Gordon Submission Rnd 1. Gordon and Boine lock up early, Gordon gets a takedown, and then ends up dominating the fight there. He takes dominant position, forces Gordon to give up the back, and rides him for awhile throwing punches and eventually finishing by rear naked choke. (0)

4) Charlie Brenneman vs. Marc Berrocal: Welterweight tournament final thing for a belt.

FIGHT: Brenneman TKO Rnd 2. Just a beating. Brutal to watch, actually. Brenneman gets Berrocal down in both rounds from the very beginning and beats him down with GNP. Sure, it takes like 9 minutes to finally force a stoppage, and Berrocal does attempt to get up, shrimp, etc during the fight, but man he gets shellacked. Brenneman proves to be adequate with takedowns and punching people at his own pace. (2)

5) Lance Everson vs. Mark Massenzio: Middleweight tournament final and some sort of belt on the line. Massenzio got to the UFC.

FIGHT: Massenzio Submission Rnd 1. Massenzio asserts early his superior strength with a takedown and while Everson is able to fight his way up, his own takedown attempt falls way short and Massenzio ends up controlling the standup as well against a tenative opponent. Massenzio hurts Everson with a punch, forces the fight to a clinch, then gets a takedown. In the midst of that, Everson tries to escape and stand and ends up in a guillotine. Even with the arm in, Massenzio forces a tap. (1)

6) Gregor Gracie vs. Eric Henry: RANDOM GRACIE~

FIGHT: Gracie Submission Rnd 2. Henry is a karate guy with a funny stance and he's not a very good wrestler. Gracie shoots immediately and gets a takedown, and nearly gets an armbar in the first, but Henry breaks out. Still, Gracie runs pretty much the whole round even standing. In round two, Gracie is thrown to the side during a takedown attempt but gets it eventually and eventually moves to side control and wins with a kimura. (0)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Gracie/Henry

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Gracie/Henry

KO OF THE NIGHT: Catone/Knight

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 3 out of 10. Some prospects with easy wins but the fights I want to see aren't online and apparently no one is even selling a bootleg of this event. Awful.

D&R Rating: 17% (5/30)

Ring of Combat XIII (3/16/07)

Back to Ring of Combat as I continue that sort of retrospective series. Hey, its not the only one coming. Big issue with this show on Gofightlive? No sound. Looks like 4 minute rounds with IFL style rules.

1) George Sullivan vs. Dave Porter: Weight classes and stuff? Yeah, no idea.

FIGHT: Sullivan TKO Rnd 1. (0) Porter has a very karate influenced stance, but this fight goes to the ground early anyhow. He is on top, actually, but Sullivan sweeps him with a kimura attempt and ends up inside the guard. From there he just grabs the head, pushes down to create separation, and lands punches until Porter can't take it anymore.

2) Seth Tiringer vs. Anthony LaDonna: Who?

FIGHT: LaDonna Unanimous Decision. (0) Two men attempting to do very similar things, its just that one of the two does more and does more well. The big keys in this fight:

A: LaDonna has a guillotine attempt in the first round and Tiringer uses his strength to stand up and hold LaDonna while he does it. And he shakes LaDonna. Problem is that he resorted to small joint manipulation of the right thumb to do it. He loses a point. Basically doomed to a draw at best.

B: LaDonna shows an ability to both pass the guard and sweep from the bottom with an armbar attempt/omaplata transition. When Tiringer gets down there, he's tied up and a standup comes swiftly.

3) Marc Stevens vs. Landon Showalter: Middleweight semifinal fight as part of an ROC tournament. Stevens is on this season of TUF.

FIGHT: Stevens TKO Rnd 1. Stevens hurls Showalter to the mat to start and I have a sense of dread. He spends most of the round on top, and when they're separated to stand, he gets right back to business with a takedown and control. Showalter goes for an armbar very late in the round but Stevens escapes, lands some punches, and Showalter scrambles to his feet only to eat more punches and get stopped while getting ready to fall down in the corner. (1)

4) Jason House vs. Erick Tavares: Tavares is from Brazil, House from the US. Both aren't guys you are likely to recognize, but this was part of a middleweight tournament for ROC.

FIGHT: House TKO Rnd 2. Tavares is a terrible, terrible striker. He's an adequate wrestler who might be overly reliant on being a big middleweight, and he's swept and generally nullified on the mat even when on top. But standing, he doesn't even try to check any of House's kicks. He is getting chopped down from the start to the end. House drops Tavares' hands with all those leg kicks and eventually drops him with a series of punches, forcing a ref stop. (0)

5) Colin O'Rourke vs. Todd Moore: And now time for a welterweight tournament. These guys? don't know them at all.

FIGHT: Moore wins by stoppage. Doesn't matter because the video doesn't work.

6) Phillipe Nover vs. Jay Coleman: Coleman beat a young Mike Massenzio. Nover was supposed to be the next Anderson Silva and didn't really pan out. Now he is panning for change. He enters here with a samurai sword.

FIGHT: Nover Submission Rnd 1. If I had seen this before TUF, I would have bet everything on Escudero. Nover is a terrible wrestler here and now, and while he won with a kimura, it was from his back while Coleman was in half guard apparently dumbfounded as to how to not get submitted like he was Giant Silva. It was actually sorta embarrassing and sad. (1)

7) Ian Loveland vs. Richard Boine: Loveland is a Team Quest product I'm familiar with from Sportfight and IFL. Boine is a Tiger Schulman product I saw fight Joe Bentz in his debut. This, his third pro bout, is for the ROC Welterweight Title. DOIN IT RIGHT.

FIGHT: Loveland Submission Rnd 1. Boine rushes to clinch under a Loveland high kick at the start and gets put on his back for his trouble. He balls up and tries to go for a single, but this is a TQ guy. What is he thinking? He puts his neck into a guillotine and taps 1:22 in. (0)

8) Jay Estrada vs. James "Binky" Jones: Jones I saw on an EXC show years ago and will never forget the name of. Gofightlive couldn't tell the difference between Jay Estrada and Jason "Big Six" Estrada, the former US 2000 Olympian boxer. And actually, it seems that the video doesn't even work. So it doesn't matter. Jones won a decision, I guess?

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: The one with Nover

KO OF THE NIGHT: Pick one at random

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Loveland/Boine because I don't feel like searching

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 1.5 out of 10. Its tough to separate this from what I was able to watch because, hey, I'm missing at least two fights and the commentary and sound. So, yeah. Do you need to see this? No. Do you want to see Nover flop around on the mat and Marc Stevens wrestle a little? No, but I guess if you want to you can. You might want to at some point, right? Whereas the rest of this is irrelevant.

D&R Rating: 5% (2/40) I'm rating it against what I should have seen, yeah. Too bad for them.

Ring of Combat XI (8/18/06)

Skipping ahead a bunch of events because the video is unavailable, we go to Ring of Combat XI, held at the Tropicana in Atlantic City. Looks like its in a ballroom. Show is such a mess - it aires the "main event" first and then goes backwards I think? Rob Taliento and some other dude I don't know are announcing. The other guy is named Ralph? The event is taped with one camera that the quality of is galling. Tenyeh Dixon/Stephen Cloud is supposed to be watchable but doesn't work.

1) Israel Gomes vs. Adriano De Lima Periera: Some sort of super lightweight belt? Said to be the main event, and this is the start?

FIGHT: Periera Submission Rnd 1. He gets a takedown, punishes Gomes, forces him to flip, RNC. Blah. (0)

2) Radji Bryson-Barrett vs. Dave Rose: Middleweight contest of some sort.

FIGHT: Bryson-Barrett TKO Rnd 1. Stuns Rose early and then follows up as Rose falls to his back. Stop eventually comes in the first. (0)

3) Sean McCann vs. Scott Conlin: Heavyweights.

FIGHT: McCann TKO Rnd 1. Clubberin and someone falls down. Both guys are hurt at various points in the 30 seconds this lasts. (0)

4) Laura D'Auguste vs. Megumi Yabushita: Featured co-main event women's bout. This was actually a rematch of a split decision that occurred over in Japan. 3 5 minute rounds, which I didn't expect to be honest.

FIGHT: D'Auguste TKO Rnd 1. Close competitive fight in the first with Yabushita, a judoka, going for some cool looking throws but D'Auguste doing a solid job keeping herself in good positions and being on top or even taking the back after attempted throws. She also dominates the standup. Yabushita ends up injuring her wrist at the end of the round trying to go for a big throw and can't continue. Not that great to watch. D'Auguste doesn't fight again. (1) Semi relevant women's bout.

5) Richard Boine vs. Joseph Bentz: Lightweights. Boine is making his debut. This is the opening fight of the night, but shown in the middle. Uhhhh.

FIGHT: Boine TKO Rnd 2. Pretty much all Bentz shooting in, not getting doubles, and then Boine starts taking advantage by getting switches and top control. He hurts Bentz at the start of the second standing and then stops him not too long afterwards with a flurry of wild shots. Neither guy has done much of anything ever. (0)

6) Phillipe Nover vs. Dave Drago: The reason to watch this show.

FIGHT: Nover Submission Rnd 1. Easy fight for Nover, who tags Drago with punches early, hurts Drago, and gets him to the mat. When there, Drago tries to escape and gives up his back real fast. Submission comes after only mild struggle. (1)

7) Andrew Montanez vs. Steve McCabe: Montanez has a nickname of "Strong Island". He's also a career journeyman from Frank Shamrock's school.

FIGHT: Montanez Submission Rnd 2. Kind of an interesting fight. McCabe opens both rounds of this fight with shots that drop Montanez - head kick in round 1, wild right hand in the second. Both times Montanez immediately closes the distance and gets a clinch. He does a decent job of staying on top for much of the first and in the second he scrambles from underneath McCabe and gets a rear naked choke, taking the opponent's back as he tries to rise. (0)

8) Tom Pursell vs. Joseph Thompson: Bigger looking guys - 185.

FIGHT: Pursell TKO Rnd 1. He grazes Thompson with something that looks more like a thumb to the eye and Thompson goes down in a heap, then gets punched a ton while Pursell is on top. Whatever. Dumb fight. (0)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Montanez/McCabe

KO OF THE NIGHT: Pursell/Thompson (may even have been a dive)

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Periera/Gomes

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 2.5 out of 10. Interesting women's fight that is aborted as it gets good and Philipe Nover headlines an otherwise lackluster card of beatings and carnage.

D&R Rating: 5% (2/40)

Ring of Combat II (12/7/02)

Hitting the WAY WAY WAY back machine through gofightlive.tv, its Lou Negligee or whatever his name is and his MMA promotion from Joosey. How long ago is this from? The first round is 10 minutes. I don't even know if there IS a second round. Practically no one in the crowd. Matt Serra is one of the announcers. Other dudes? Chris Lewis, Ray something ("Martial Arts Expert") and Lou Neglia. Two bouts aren't uploaded but can be pulled up on Youtube. Both of those are kickboxing with dudes you do not know. The ring is straight out of the Everlast catalog. Maybe an 18ft ring?

1) Kadir Kadri vs. Mike Ryan: Kickboxing bout.

FIGHT: Kadri Decision. Didn't really pay attention. I don't care at all about western kickboxing, especially at a lower level like this and this old. I can watch much higher level stuff like this off of Altitude TV at like 2AM. Not rated.

2) Andy Ruggerio vs. Eric Certo: No idea who they are. Never heard of them ever. Ruggerio is some sort of judoka I guess?

FIGHT: Ruggerio Submission Rnd 1. Why break these dudes down too much? Both cannot punch or kick. Ruggerio is smaller, but he's a better grappler, and this being MMA? That matters. There's some weird stuff like a standup in side control because the fight is near the ropes...I think. Both are so unbelievably raw that by comparison to the modern day, you don't see stuff like this outside of amateur MMA events. Not only that - the submission comes almost 9 minutes in. That's like as long as amateur fights are over 3 rounds.

Back to talking about the fight itself. Ruggerio has a nice throw early in the round which is what impresses me most. He finishes the fight with a forearm choke across the throat, which is like the easiest submission to defend IN THE WORLD. Certo lost a following amateur bout, Ruggerio never again fought. (0)

3) Erick Shaver vs. John Rotendella: Heavyweights. Shaver has shoes on, Rotendella has a shirt.

FIGHT: Shaver Submission Rnd 1. Shaver and Rotendella clinch after some early bomb throwing that lasts for like 2 seconds, Shaver gets a trip takedown and then gets a really nice hammerlock from side control that forces a tap. Erick Shaver later lost an ammy bout to Jay White. (0)

4) Elvis Garcia vs. Themi Papadimitriou: Garcia is from TIGER SCHULMANN'S.

FIGHT: Garcia Submission From Strikes Rnd 1. Garcia is chased down by Papagreekdude to start as he tries to throw almost chambered kinda punches, gets grabbed, taken down, and Garcia pounds him out in short order. Papadimitriou never fought again and Garcia only did a couple times, the last time being in 2006. (0)

5) Pete Sell vs. Ted Govola Jr.: Drago in the early early early days. This is his second pro fight.

FIGHT: Sell Unanimous Decision. Ridiculously close fight, actually. Govola spent most of the fight/round on top while Sell was able to sweep with an omaplata early and later just a sort of basic sweep from butterfly. Govola meanwhile lands some tough shots to the head. More terrible reffing with Sell nearly extending a kimura from the bottom on Govola, but the ref breaks it up in the middle of it and forces them to restart from the center of the ring. Govola Jr. had a pretty extensive career for the next three years fighting mostly for Mass Destruction, a now defunct Massachusetts based promotion from the weird presanctioned prebanned presanctioned days. (1)

6) Kadir Kadri vs. Steve Anshelewitz: Wasn't Kadri already on this card in a kickboxing match? Kadri is a Kempo guy, it says on the profile.

FIGHT: Anshelewitz Submission Rnd 1. Not fun to watch. Kadri can't even come close to keeping Anshelewitz off him or from taking him down. He powers out of some submissions but that's about the best he can do. Anshelewitz no longer fights and might be working as an electrician. Kadri doesn't fight either. Interesting side note - Kadri's other MMA fight is a loss at the Mohegan Sun at ROC 1 to Luke Cummo of all people. That event exists on tape as "Martial Art World on MSG" with an airdate of 11/24/02. And no, I don't have a copy. Nor am I rushing to get it. Maybe one day? (0)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Sell/Govola

KO OF THE NIGHT: Some kickboxing fight you can only see on youtube

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Ruggerio/Certo

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 2 out of 10. I won't complain about shit like the production because it doesn't matter. This is a nothing event with nothing fighters aside from Pete Sell, who at this point looks and fights horrible. The fights themselves are not eyegougingly bad, so its a two, but the old school style karate favoring kickboxing is fucking mind blowing bad to watch. Every 30 seconds a spinning heel kick is thrown and none of them ever land. Remember, there is no kicking with the shin, just the foot. Ugh. Ugh ugh ugh I hate that. Plus the best commentator is Matt Serra.

MaxFights Ballroom Brawl IV (1/8/2010)

This is a bit of a well known event because of a major upset that took place during it. This is pretty much a two camera setup with both being DV cams. The show was held at the Val Air Ballroom in Des Moines, IA.

1) Justin Ford vs. Mark Henry: Ford is a judoka, I hear. Weight? Dunno at first. They keep calling the guy Killborg that Ford is fighting. Amateur bouts.

FIGHT: Ford Submission Rnd 1. Total domination. He's taken down early, but Ford sweeps with a kimura being the bait, and then he forces Henry to flip over and get choked out. (0)

2) Luis Saldana vs. Tony Crowder: 1-0 vs. 12-6. Featherweight amateur bout.

FIGHT: Saldana Submission Rnd 1. BTW, he was the 1-0 fighter. Looks almost like he uses that modified grip on a guillotine from half guard that Jason Von Flue used to choke out Alex Karalexis back in the dizzay. Realllllly cool. (1)

3) Casey Clayborn vs. Bryan Houston: Indiana vs. Nebraska. Dudes look a lot bigger.

FIGHT: Houston TKO Rnd 1: Houston tosses him to the mat early but Clayborn works his way back up. Once he gets separation from Houston, he's tagged with a total arm punch hook. Clayborn is basically done before he hits the mat. (0)

4) Anthony Kellen vs. RJ Harris: Kellen is so much smaller. SO MUCH.

FIGHT: Kellen Submission Rnd 3. Interesting fight - RJ Harris beats the hell out of him with strikes, but nothing has a lot of force on it and Kellen walks through all of it. He seems to get an armbar submission in round 2 that the ref breaks up, forces the fighters to the feet, and then restarts after. Weird. In round three, Kellen again wades through strikes and gets taken down by RJ Harris. Harris ends up getting triangled shortly thereafter and loses. Kellen has a ton of heart. Just a ton. But he needs a real camp to get him further, and fighters his size. Good fight but not exceptional and worth going out of your way for. (1)

5) Steve Hernandez vs. Rick St. John: 130lb fighters. St. John takes the fight on one hour notice.

FIGHT: Hernandez TKO Rnd 1. Ridiculous fight. St. John was unprepared completely and gets tossed around, and then gets mounted. Punches come in and this fight is over in about a minute. Most basic story in MMA. (0)

6) Corey Simpson vs. Brody Jay: Who? Simpson is a journeyman at the lowest level of the sport and the announcer seems to mention something about Simpson having made "bad choices". LOL. Okay. 3 minute rounds

FIGHT: Simpson Split Decision. Lousy decision IMO as Simpson does nothing but loop crazy punches a couple times in the opening two rounds and is otherwise pushed into the cage by Jay and gets low kicks and jabs landed on him. Lousy fight to watch, neither looks particularly interesting for the future. (0)

7) Josh Neer vs. Matt Delanoit: Delanoit is actually quite a bit heavier than Neer here. Still a low level journeyman to a higher level gatekeeper.

FIGHT: Neer TKO Rnd 1. Takes down Delanoit a couple times, fends off a misshapen heel hook attempt, and then finally gets the mount and smashes in Delanoit's head with elbows. (2)

8) Hermes Franca vs. Eric Wisely: Lightweight bout featuring Franca, who just a couple of years ago was competing for the UFC lightweight title.

FIGHT: Wisely TKO Rnd 1. Franca gets the takedown very early in the bout and does not much with it,. Actually, Wisely is throwing more off his back than Franca does from the top. Franca tries to transition to mount, but Wisely escapes the position and stands over Franca, allowing him to rise. Franca gets up and eats a slow looping left hand that everyone in the building saw coming but him. He falls to the mat and eats punches until the ref stops the bout. (3)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Kellen/Harris

KO OF THE NIGHT: Wisely/Franca

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Saldana/Crowder

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 3 out of 10. Its a really short event, so that is nice. The fights? Some really suck and are a waste, and there's a couple interesting amateur fights. The real reason you watch any of this is to see Franca get KOed by a nobody. Interestingly, I stated when I saw Wisely's fight in Mainstream MMA VIII that while he lost a fight in the post script, I think he could rebound. I'd like to A) pat myself on the back for that B) note that I almost NEVER EVER say that about guys who lose fights on this level.

D&R Rating: 17.5% (7/40)

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)

ICF: Breakout (4/11/2009)

The internet is an amazing place. With all the DVDs I have and all the TV shows I record, I've actually churned through pretty much the entire DVD and what I've recorded, leaving only a scant two programs left to watch for the 'ol blog here. I do have lots and lots of Shooto, but I've decided to try something else for a changeup, just to see how it works. www.gofightlive.tv has been around for a little while and is known for streaming, at a price, lots of mid and lower tier boxing events, but also MMA shows as well. They also happen to archive all the streams, and an enormous number of them are free. That means shows like this happen to be easy for me to access. And so, a review of an Intimidation Cage Fighting show.

This show, from about 18 months ago, features a double main event of ex-UFC talent. In the heavyweight division, Marcio Cruz takes on Dan Christiansen, and in the welterweight division, we've got Forrest Petz fighting Victor O'Donnell. Really, those are pretty interesting fights on paper. Curtis Gunner and some other dude are announcing I guess. Event is held at US Bank Area in Cinci. 7 sided cage with a few different cameras. After this event, they never held a show with the kind of talent they had here again, and were shut down for almost a year following a show they held in Octover of 2009. They recently reopened under "new management".

1) Justin Hunt vs. Alex Suhonsonov: Welterweights. Hunt is 3-1, the guy with the slavic last name is debuting. Oh, but MMA.tv says something totally different. Like that Hunt is 3-3. Oh. He's also now 4-10.

FIGHT: Suhonsonov TKO Rnd 1. Not much of a fight TBH. Guys just swing wildly when striking and Alex rushes him at the very start. He eventually gets a takedown into half guard and pounds on Hunt with elbows to the body that open up a ground and pound attack to the head. (0)

2) Matt Egner vs. Steve Muldrow: Lightweight bout. Egner is shown as 4-0. Apparently this is an amateur bout too,

FIGHT: Muldrow Unanimous Decision. (0)

Egner: Seemed to want to stand up but never got the opportunity, because Muldrow wanted the takedown all the time. He had guillotine attempts that really didn't go anywhere in the first and second and then had a triangle/armbar attempt in the third. None really came that close to finishing Muldrow - he always had space left around Muldrow, arms in with the guillotine, etc.

Muldrow: Good takedowns, not the best submission defense on this planet. Aside from that, not much to write home about here.

3) Taylor Ruschin vs. Chris Curtis: Ruschin is a Gurgel fighter, and Rich Franklin comes to visit his boy. Curtis enters to Living La Vida Loca. This is an amateur fight.

FIGHT: Ruschin Unanimous Decision. (1)

Curtis: Obviously a standup fighter based on the reputation of being exciting and the fact that he had no takedown defense at all.

Ruschin: Looks like a mini Franklin at first. Body kicks look exactly the same, stance is the same, even wears copies of Franklin's trunks. But where the difference lies is wrestling. Franklin prefers to stand and bang but can throw his hips around if he needs to and can sprawl. Ruschin pursues the double leg with frequency and gets it, as well as shows that he can transition to more dominant positions. He's not terrifying with GNP but looks like a threat to submit guys with armbars out of mount and RNCs. Kinda a merger of that old school Cesar Gracie style BJJ with more modern striking and wrestling. I like him quite a bit. Also, he slams down Curtis in the first round with a huge, huge spinebuster style slam.

4) Marcus Finch vs. Tyler Johnson: ICF Middleweight title fight. Amateur bout though.

FIGHT: Finch Unanimous Decision. Well matched bout. Hilarious fact - they cut during the between rounds corner action to show some random 12 year olds with INTIMIDATION FIGHT GEAR. This sport, I swear. (0)

Finch: Finch loses the first round in my book because he gets taken down and pounded on with punches, but Finch defends a kneebar well and ends up drilling Johnson with a few shots of his own. In round 2, he gets down Johnson and is on top, but nearly loses the round as Johnson comes back with strikes. Round 3 see Finch throwing a healthy number of strikes and landing a lot of them. One thing I didn't like? His footwork. Lead leg is square and too far out there not to get kicked. Johnson doesn't recognize it until late in round 3 but when he does land, Finch was bothered.

Johnson: Decent grappler, not much of a wrestler to be honest, not much athletically (no real explosive speed or anything like that), and his striking leaves a lot to be desired. If he had properly secured a figure four before dropping back on Finch for a kneebar attempt in round one, he would have one. Same with recognizing Finch's lead leg. Same with just keeping after the strikes rather than trying to look flashy with a leglock. Lot went wrong for the guy. Just looks...okay. Not a terrible fighter or anything, but he's just a guy who will be .500 on a regional level and probably never get the call up.

5) Tiffany Johnson vs. Jami Miller: 125lb womens fight. Both are 0-0 says the ICF. Tiffany, says MMA.tv, trains at the Western Hills Kungfu Center. TRADITIONAL MARTIAL ARTS ARE FOREVER.

FIGHT: Miller Submission Rnd 1. The amazing thing about this fight is that MMA.tv has this totally wrong. Apparently all black people look the same to the Ohio Athletic Commission. Miller with a KOTC Special of takedown/pass/RNC. Johnson tried to scramble up and gave up her back, so its a little different than the old formula, but not by much. (0)

6) Rob Galloway vs. Ron Mitchell: ICF Heavyweight World Amateur title. Yeah. Galloway comes in to the Hurt cover done by Johnny Cash. Mitchell looks old.

FIGHT: Mitchell TKO Rnd 1. Galloway is spent after 20 seconds in this fight as he rushes Mitchell and tries to put weight on him. Mitchell turns him, eventually they separate and Mitchell lands a knee and some big right hands. It takes 4-5 but Galloway is asleep before the end of the round, well inside the distance. (0)

7) Kevin Barton vs. Thomas "T.J." Ball: Light heavyweights. Looks to be an amateur fight by the length of rounds. Ball is all sorts of ripped.

FIGHT: Kevin Barton Split Decision. Enormous, questionably cut up striker faces not so immense grappler. Ball is able to stop the takedown attempts with his raw strength late in the fight but is taken down repeatedly in the first and second round. Apparently one judge gave him what must have been round 2 based on a few seconds of missed arm punches prior to a Barton double leg. Ball is a smaller and less interesting Dave Yost, while Barton is some guy. (0)

8) Luke Zachrich vs. Robert Thompson: This was a pain in the ass to watch because the video kept timing out and and buffering and dying. Odd. But I watched pretty much the whole thing anyways.

FIGHT: Zachrich Submission Rnd 3. This was after Zachrich had been on TUF and was basically the lamest fighter in the house for the seventh season. Thompson really offers nothing aside from a jab/right hand combination the entire fight, blocking low kicks with his thigh and being forced to change stances, getting a busted nose in round 1 and gasping the rest of the way, and having no real apparent wrestling ability. Zachrich however is slow to do anything. He's thinking way too much - the old Teddy Atlas saying of "he takes a picture when he lands" is completely true. Combos aren't even forced out of him. He just doesn't do them. When he sweeps Thompson down in the third, he easily passes the half guard to side control and crucifixes him before getting a kimura that was waiting for him for a good 15 seconds. Fight didn't need to leave the first. Zachrich didn't really step up the comp again after the Cramer fight until he was signed by Bellator, losing in the first to Eric Schambari earlier this year. (1)

9) Carson Gainey vs. Jeremy Pender: Gainey is rocking dreds and coming out to Marley. This dude is awesome. Looks like a MMA bantamweight Howard Eastman. Pender's promo pic sees him wearing an Oscar The Grouch cap.

FIGHT: Pender Submission Rnd 2. It becomes very apparent very quickly who is going to win when both men stand next to each other, because Gainey looks like he can make 115. Gainey has no apparent wrestling ability and can't strike with anything other than looping haymakers that he slaps with. He seems to have some defensive grappling ability and gets out of back control from Pender, but that's the bright spot. Pender is better at everything though you can't tell if he's really good at anything. Gainey hurts himself taking down Pender as he basically falls backwards with Pender on top of him into mount and slams his head into the mat. Pender punches him a bunch while he tries to weakly cover and gets choked out in the second. Not much of a fight. (0)

10) Daniel Straus vs. Mike Baskis: Straus is a pretty legit prospect.

FIGHT: Straus Unanimous Decision. Straus shows some good takedowns in the fight, as well as a willingness to roll with punches rather than just jump straight back. The one thing I don't like is that while he makes Baskis miss sometimes, he also gets tagged when he starts to drop his hands thinking that Baskis has stopped throwing punches. Baskis is tough and comes forward but he doesn't have a lot in his punching repetoire or as a grappler - he goes for an armbar in round 1 but that's pretty much it, and Straus is able to defend and escape that with not a ton of difficulty. (1)

11) Marcio Cruz vs. Dan Christison: Interesting heavyweight bout. Christison is big and not a lot else. Cruz is a great grappler on the mat, but not much to talk about in terms of his takedowns or striking.

FIGHT: Cruz Unanimous Decision. Both guys are baked pies - nothing can be added. You can put a scoop of ice cream on the side I guess, but that's not really changing the pie, you know? Christison stops the slow shots of Cruz early on, but gets suckered to get on top and then finds himself getting swept and his energy sapped. As the second and third go on, Cruz shoots from far away and eventually gets the takedown he desires by sucking up Christison, even if he gets full extension on his sprawl. Cruz has no reason to stop pushing. What is Dan going to do about it? He throws some weak punches and high kicks and that goes nowhere. (2)

12) Forrest Petz vs. Victor O'Donnell: Interesting prospect vs. gatekeeper showdown.

FIGHT: O'Donnell Submission Rnd 2. They're pretty even standing, but its on the mat where O'Donnell takes over. He's just a better all around grappler than Petz, scoring takedowns and also getting sweeps on the occasions that Petz ends up on top. He pops the nose of Petz and that leads to panic even with Petz being a veteran. O'Donnell secures a rear naked choke as Petz turns over and gives the back. Its his signature win right now. (1)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Finch/Johnson

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Petz/O'Donnell

KO OF THE NIGHT: Mitchell/Galloway

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 4 out of 10. Announcing was bad, production so-so, but really, this is about fights. The fights? Not so good. Petz/O'Donnell wasn't bad and neither was Finch/Johnson, but neither means much.

D&R Rating: 10% (6/60)