NAAFS Cage Fighting (6/12/2011)

Skipping a couple episodes to come back to eventually.

1) Chandra Engle vs. Rachel Dovidio:Women's Amateur 135lb fight. Engle is from the dutch enclave of East Grand Rapids, MI. Dovidio is from North Carolina. Pretty amazing that NAAFS is attracting lots of out of state fighters for amateur bouts. Apparently Rachel is also a Marine.

FIGHT: Dovidio . Not a bad showing. Again, with the low amount of talent here in women's MMA, Dovidio kinda runs over Engle and forces her on the defensive at all times. You see better women's fighters (Jessica Eye or Rhonda Rousey, who may be announcing here on color) basically pulling KOTC specials on this level of card. Dovidio can't finish, gets flipped, and even gets taken down in the second. She's better in every way but doesn't show a clear difference in physical talents. Maybe Engle is just a tough, seasoned amateur MMA fighter who's gone through the fires of Michigan nightclub fights. But I feel like this is a fight Dovidio should have dominated. (0)

2) Bill Algeo vs. Aaron Bartow: Lightweight bout. Ammy fight.

FIGHT: Algeo Submission Rnd 1. Just ran over Bartow. Lands looping right hands over the lazy striking of Bartow, gets him down, beats him up, KOTC special with the RNC finish. (0)

3) Chris Lozano vs. Gerric Hayes: Bounce back fight for Lozano. Seems to be a catchweight around 175.

FIGHT: Lozano TKO Rnd 1. Still not a great showing from Lozano, who at one point gives his back and has his belly down on the mat defending a RNC about 30 seconds in. But he keeps himself out of big problems, gets on top, gets the fight stood up, hurts Hayes with a rabbit punch (unintentional) caused by Hayes bending over, and as Hayes tries to duck and stumble away he eats a high kick to the head and is out cold. (1)

OVERALL FOR THE SHOW: 4 out of 10. Bounce fight for a mid level guy and some prospect amateur fights that aren't offensively bad. Flat out comical horror response from the Algeo win when the crowd obviously was behind the other guy and went silent.

NAAFS Cage Fighting (5/22/2011)

Missed a couple episodes I think. Oh well. No great loss. Tonight's show is from the 4/16/2011 NAAFS Caged Vengeance 9 card in Cleveland and is headlined by Nick Duell vs. Kevin Knabjian.

1) Curt Lemmon vs. Mark Garcher: Garcher looks all stoked and muscular and Lemmon has fancy trunks with a sorta Spiderman pattern thing going on. Amateur fight among middleweights.

FIGHT: Lemmon TKO Rnd 2. Competitive bout with Garcher being a predictable face forward bruiser and Lemmon being more of a defensive BJJ guy with straighter punches, less of a mean streak, and some cool leg sweeps in the clinch. Garcher's physical strength and gorilla style determination keep him in the fight longer than it probably should have, while Lemmon eventually lands a left hook early on in the second and then follows Garcher to the mat, landing punches until we get a stoppage. Nothing spectacular. (0)

2) Brandon Saling vs. John Fields: Fields is a big lanky black guy and Saling is doing a Chuck Liddell impression in every way imaginable. Middleweight pro bout.

FIGHT: Saling TKO Rnd 1. Both guys suffer eye pokes and there's some sloppy grappling along with lots of power punching. Saling's stuff has more behind it, I would venture to say, and Fields drops like 5 times in this fight from right hands, left hooks, and lots of short uppercuts. He just crumbles time and time again. Eventually he gives his back after one of these crumblings and the RNC is applied with just 2 seconds left. Saling is doing his alpha male thing here and that's OK. Unfortunately he has a lot of defensive liabilities to make it very far in the sport. Fields, who has a .500 record pro and amateur mixed, is clearly going nowhere fast. (0)

3) Nick Duell vs. Kevin Knabjian: Knabjian almost got on TUF. Duell was never invited. Now we have this welterweight attraction.

FIGHT: Duell TKO Rnd 2. Monster KO from a high kick in the second round as Duell times the robotic wrestleboxer Knabjian coming in with a lead right hand. Duell looks much more fluid and competent as a striker - he's going to the body, the head, throwing liver kicks, all that stuff. But he does still pull straight back too often, his chin can be left high, he doesn't have the best balance, and I'm not sure he has anything on his punches. Is he closing his fists fully or just throwing stuff out there to have the handspeed advantage? He didn't dent Knabjian with anything until the kick landed. But land it did. There's a lot of guys I'd like to see Duell in with and some of them are reasonable picks. Meanwhile, there's Knabjian, who is going to be a journeyman or retire. (1)

OVERALL FOR THE SHOW: 6 out of 10. No great fights, but there's some entertainment here, particularly with the main event and some of the sloppy openers.

Fight Time 3 (2/18/2011)

I wish I could have brought a review of Fight Time 2, but it was not to be. And they want like $1o on Gofightlive. This, meanwhile was on Sun Sports. How nice of them! Alex Donno is announcing along with Din Thomas on color. I also reviewed this whole thing and then Blogger lost it in its outage. Piece of shit.

1) Caleb Archer vs. Aaron Cerda: Rhadi Ferguson is the guest commentator for this bout.

FIGHT: Caleb Archer Unanimous Decision. Not a terrible fight at all. (1)

Archer: Has wild hair and thai boxing shorts, so I know what is gonna happen. He's sorta robotic and slow with his stuff, his thai plumb is pretty good, and he gets hit a ton by Cerda in the first round. To be honest, Archer nearly gets stopped that round and takes a beating that only ends and reverses when a very nervous and overactive Cerda gasses out totally. When that happens, Archer keeps coming forward and grinding on Archer. The more effective blows are thrown by Archer from the second round on, and when someone needs a takedown to enforce their lead in the fight, that man is Archer. I don't think Archer's traditional style of muay thai mixed with some grappling prowess will win him a lot of fights as he moves up the ladder, but he might be in some more fun scraps as time goes on.

Cerda: Karate background as a striker is nice I guess when it works. This is a guy for whom strikes are very fluid. He throws and throws and throws and moves and moves and then, oh, wait, he did too much without doing enough damage and the tank is empty early on. You can't jump around if you aren't setting stuff up or moving to get position. Jumping to jump is a bad idea. Being technically superior and better minded to fight doesn't matter if you don't have the energy to work. Archer survives the first 3 minutes and then starts grinding away.

2) Bruce Bellochi vs. Sid Carlton: Fat heavyweights.

FIGHT: Bruce Bellochi TKO Rnd 1. Fat dudes swinging. One of them wins. Both are gassed. (0)

3) Rafael Dias vs. Chris Ensley: Dias is a prospect, Ensley is not.

FIGHT: Dias Submisson Rnd 1. Mugging as Dias comes right at his man throwing bombs, gets taken down with a headlock into a throw, but reverses position soon enough, gets the mount, and gets an armbar while Ensley tries to escape/gives up. (1)

4) Marcio Armeli vs. Doug Rossi: Dudes.

FIGHT: Armeli TKO Rnd 1. Rossi goes the Carlson Gracie route of flailing and clinching for a takedown. He's flipped straight out of side control and gets kimura'ed in like a grand total of 30 seconds. (1)

5) Hansel Calderon vs. Robb Chadwick: More dudes I don't know.

FIGHT: Calderon TKO Rnd 1. Another mugging with Calderon getting the stop by TKO in 22 seconds after throwing around Chadwick like a rag doll and rushing him. (1)

6) Mike Bruno vs. Avery McPhatter: Some guy against a former noted prospect. I have expectations here, gotta admit.

FIGHT: Bruno Unanimous Decision. I dunno, Bruno gets a lot of takedowns, gets tired, and McPhatter basically gets dominated in top position. He has some success in the third round as Bruno tires out but even then, he's still on the bottom pretty much that whole round too. (0)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Archer/Cerda

KO OF THE NIGHT: Calderon/Chadwick

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Dias/Ensley

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 3.5 out of ten. Some squashes, fat man fight, and a mediocre, boring decision in the main event against irrelevant guys. There's some prospects in bad fights here so that sorta matters but so much of this doesn't.

D&R Rating: 13% (4/30)

NAAFS Cage Fighting (3/20/2011)

Yet another show from NAAFS graces my screen. Tonight's main event for TV - John Hawk vs. Josh Watson at 205.

1) Tony Hodges vs. Tommy Deroia: Deroia looks like he aspires to be James Irvin.

FIGHT: Deroia Submission Rnd 1. Fast stuff as he jumps in with a push kick and punch and clinches, and Jesus, was that out of the Royce Gracie textbook? He gets this to the mat and gets the back very quickly and the choke. Not even really under the chin and hooks not really in, but still impressive as he goes to 5-0 as an amateur. No striking prowess really displayed. (0)

2) Ronda Gale vs. Holly Powell: 15 year age difference in favor of the 20 year old Powell. 115lb bout.

FIGHT: Ronda Gale. Ridiculous scoring has Gale winning 30-27 on one card and losing 29-28 on another. Solid who cares sorta fight between amateur women going nowhere fast. Powell just looks to close distance and get the clinch and stay there the entire time. Snore. The video had some choppiness to it, probably due to weather in the area. (0)

3) Josh Watson vs. John Hawk: Ridiculous hair as Watson is wearing the Roadkill/Amish beard and Hawk has a pink mohawk. I've seen Watson before elsewhere.

FIGHT: Hawk TKO Rnd 1. Again, I had some lousy video here but what I did see was an ass beating on Watson. Watson dropped his hands constantly. On defense, on offense, whenever. As soon as he'd move his hands, they would drop dramatically almost to waist level. Hawk comes out looking as sleek as he'll ever be at this weight and lands with his generic boxing, pushes Watson up against the cage, and delivers an elbow that actually fells the big goofy looking fella. A lot of GNP later and the ref steps in, way late, to call a halt to this bout. (1)

OVERALL FOR THE SHOW: 3.5 out of 10. I liked the John Hawk fight - not often I've said that statement in the last year or two. Deroia playing a hyper athletic version of undersized, nonathletic Gracie family member was interesting, but I don't think its a wise career path. The women's fight I've already forgotten.

Shogun Fights 3 (11/13/2010)

This is the third show from promotion Shogun Fights, with Show #2 getting the BShow treatment previously. Once again, its a one hour program taped at 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore. Why does every promotion have nu-metal intros? These guys do too. Announcers have the same sort of pairing here as the UFC: A color guy that announces everything and a PBP guy thad does nothing.

1) Tony Galeano vs. Dan Root: Dudes! Galeano is from Vegas. Middleweight. That's as much as I know.

FIGHT: Root Submission Rnd 1. Root is almost KOed immediately after slowing going for a single, but Galeano follows him to the mat, goes for a guillotine, and basically gets rolled onto his back and dooms himself. Root sits in the half guard forever, punches a bunch, passes and gets a head and arm choke to end it. I have no idea what Root can really do right now even after seeing that. (0)

2) Tim Wade vs. Ryan Macklin: Featherweights - Wade has good size for the division at 5'10''.

FIGHT: Macklin Submission Rnd 1. KOTC special with a bulldog choke after 1:30 or so. Trip takedown looks like Macklin just overpowered him more than beat him on technique. (0)

3) Russ Shiflett vs. Gemiyale Atkins: Shifflett is a club boxer turned MMA fighter. Atkins looks fat for the weight and small.

FIGHT: Atkins Unanimous Decision. This is hard to watch. Shifflett is terrified of the takedown, and also he's old. On top of that, Shifflett is clearly not a great boxer; hands are slow, punches are wide. As a result, he ends up absorbing the bigger shots in every round. When Atkins wants takedowns, he gets them, even if he can't hold the guy down. He also isn't particularly good on top - no real attempts to pass or go for subs or even throw solid shots. (0)

4) Frank Lester vs. Kevin Killian: Frank Lester was a guy on TUF 9 who kinda sucked but went down in history as a tough dude.

FIGHT: Lester TKO Rnd 1. Lester lands punches at will, drops Killian with a knee, and the fight is over. Killian does absolutely nothing right in a short and complete domination by Lester. (1)

5) Bobby Favors vs. Ryan McGowan: McGowan is big. 300lbs big. Love his muscles. Favors is "350" and looks closer to 400lbs. This fight even gets a big intro piece, and it features a ham beast. This sport. This fucking sport.

FIGHT: McGowan TKO Rnd 1. Favors is demolished with knees and punches. This fight is fucking terrible. I'm not sure what the deal with Ryan McGowan is and why they're so high on him, but whatever. He beat the shit out of a fat man. (0)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Lester/Killian

KO OF THE NIGHT: Lester/Killian

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Root/Galeano

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 2 out of 10. Some carnage makes this not the worst thing ever, but its darn close to it. There's time spent talking about how this show is "just below the UFC". Yeah. Right.

D&R Rating: 4% (1/25)

NAAFS Cage Fighting (3/13/2011)

After three weeks of repeat shows, a new show for NAAFS. Kalikas is still with John Strmac. This is from Caged Fury 14 held on 2/26/11. NAAFS has upgraded to a blue vinyl mat surface that they seem to admit they lifted from another promotion who "didn't need it anymore".

1) Cameron Ross vs. Josh Kallai: Interesting note is the sponsorship of each corner to a specific company. Amateur bout.

FIGHT: Kallai Unanimous Decision. Not a terrible showing from Kallai in winning. He gets takedowns over and over and does a solid job getting getting to dominant positions on the mat. Ross goes for some ill advised submission attempts in the bout (why pull guard to go for the guillotine if you can't win on the bottom?) and throws some really wild shots when he walks forward that Kallai counters. (0)

2) Victor Guarriello vs. Cody Garbrandt: Two 19 year old amateurs at 135. Guarriello has a weight of 129 on the scales.

FIGHT: Garbrandt TKO Rnd 1. Guarriello is so much smaller its ridiculous. Garbrandt comes in and stumbles himwith a right uppercut counter. He keeps throwing shots until the ref jumps in as Guarriello starts slumping down against the cage. Very short bout. (0)

3) John Myers vs. Bryon McCroskey: Lightweights. Both are 31 years old. In other words, probably not real prospects.

FIGHT: McCroskey TKO Rnd 1. Myers gives a good effort getting a takedown at one point and wading through some offense by McCroskey, but he gasses out and McCroskey's better conditioning takes over. He hurts Myers with punches on the mat and then follows it up with more standing. While Myers sees the bell, he's so beat up he needs to be carried out of the ring. Looks like he has some sort of leg injury. (0)

OVERALL FOR THE SHOW: 3.5 out of 10. I can't say it was totally bad because Kallai looked good and is a young buck with a lot of time to grow. But the rest is probably something you can skip.

NAAFS Cage Fighting (2/13/2011)

More from the 12/4/2010 Night of Champions show. Stipe Miocic headlines.

1) Bob Rech vs. Chase Owens: NAAFS Amateur Middleweight belt on the line.

FIGHT: Owens Unanimous Decision. Good decision. Honestly, Rech isn't that bad a fighter, but his ability to stay on top is not that great and his striking is nonexistent. He's got a decent shot and he's a solid athlete. Owens isn't much of a striker other, throwing haymakers with the right, but his ability to scramble and control the clinch is really impressive. He's out of breath after the fight (which is merely 9 minutes) so he probably needs to work on his cardio, but that's something to discuss for the future. He's not even pro yet. I was pretty impressed. Both guys have raw physical talents. They just need the right training. (1)

2) Mike King vs. Jeff Hughes: NAAFS Light heavyweight amateur title.

FIGHT: King TKO Rnd 1. King and Hughes box badly and clinch and there's a knee to the balls of Hughes. The fight starts again and they box badly some more until King eats a couple right hands on the end of 1-2 combos and he's on queer street. He takes a bunch more shots until the ref jumps in. So, Hughes has a good chin that won't last long taking those punches. (0)

3) Greg Maynard vs. Stipe Miocic: Maynard is said to be a Bellator vet. Like, so? Miocic is a guy that NAAFS has been hyping FOREVER.

FIGHT: Miocic TKO Rnd 2. Not much to discuss here. Maynard is much shorter and is tubby. Miocic lands a billion leg kicks and jabs and this is basically a sparring session in which the bag gets tired and drops after a right hand and a knee. One thing the announcers note, and I'll agree, is that Miocic is moving away from being more or less just a boxer/slugger type fighter and is now throwing leg kicks and looking like a more dynamic striker. He's young enough that this is still a reasonable thing to do as far as his career goes. He's only 4-0 as a pro, and those are the fights that really matter. (2)

OVERALL FOR THE SHOW: 5 out of 10. Opener was pretty fun to watch and it went downhill from there. Miocic is a good fighter but stuff like this where he basically practices stuff on a barely responding opponent isn't must see TV.

NAAFS Cage Fighting (2/6/2011)

Another episode of NAAFS from Night of Champions 12/4/2011.

1) Clint Musselman vs. Justin Steave: Featherweight bout.

FIGHT: Steave Submission Rnd 2. Musselman is a one dimensional top control grappler with middling takedown defense and who seems to react to being in the active guard by turning into a blanket. Standing he is barely comfortable either and just backs up and hopes for an opening to shoot. Steave's wrestling isn't that great, but he's got good active BJJ and he seems passable standing, though he does the same sort of "drop your hands and stand up square" thing that a lot of guys do when swinging. He tags Musselman hard at the bell in Round 1 thanks to the ref being late to come in (which also happened in the prior week's episode with what looks to be the same ref), but the rest of the fight is fought on the mat. Eventually Steaves gets an armbar locked up after a couple strong attempts. He doesn't even have both legs across the body of Musselman and yet gets extension. (0)

2) Jessica Zomcik vs. Tamikka Brents: I sorta remember the first fight and that it wasn't very good. This is a rematch in which Brents is the #2 fighter in the division by having beaten the #1 fighter (Zomcik) in their first encounter. What? 155 lb amateur title on the line.

FIGHT: Brents TKO Rnd 1. What I didn't expect was Brents pulling a KOTC special. Easy takedown, easy pass to mount, beats on Zomcik like a drum for a minute solid. Beatdown City, population Zomcik. (0)

3) Daniel Head vs. Nick Duell: Head is a late replacement for Steve Berger for this "big big fight". Duell holds the NAAFS welterweight title for whatever it is worth. Head lost to Jeff Lentz in the prelim rounds of the last TUF.

FIGHT: Duell Submission Rnd 2. Again, its a bit problematic watching this fight to sit here and talk about what it is that you see. Head is overwhelmed in general. Yes, he gets a takedown to start round two, but he's swept off an armbar attempt and this in turn leads to him taking a whomping the rest of the round. Plus he is beaten down comprehensively in round 2. Duell again has the problem that he is a strong, athletic guy who's wrestling technique lacks and tries to make up for some of that with his ability to go for submissions as well as to sweep and beat on people.

Against Daniel Head, hey, OK, you can do that. Against Mike Pyle? Against Brock Larson? Carlo Prater? I need to see a lot more that what I did here. (0)

FIGHT OF THE SHOW: Duell/Head

OVERALL FOR THE SHOW: 4 out of 10. You see some more one sided fights here, but at least that comes with the positive of fighters with more appreciable talent competing.

M1 Fighting Championship Episode 6 (?)

Amazingly, these programs have returned to TV, and with them, hey, it looks like a new show! Recorded off of Fox Sports South on 1/5/2011. DirecTV says this episode was originally shown 2/18/2010, which could make it #1, actually. Who knows?

1) Gerhard Ettl vs. Alexie Sitnikov: Who? Heavyweights. From 4/27/2001 (nearly 10 years ago!).

FIGHT: Sitnikov TKO Rnd 1. Ettl basically does nothing all fight effectively and Sitnikov punches and kicks and knees him. Not a huge shock that he's a striker since he's wearing Thai shorts.

2) Amar Suloev vs. Pedro Otavio: Seen this before. http://bshowassault.blogspot.com/2010/07/m1-fighting-championship-episode-5.html

3) Dave Vader vs. Sergey Kaznovsky: Also seen this before. http://bshowassault.blogspot.com/2010/07/m1-fighting-championship-episode-5.html

4) Ian Freeman vs. Stanislav Nuschik: !!!!! Freeman was young in this fight. Nuschik is a weird gatekeeper of the olden days. 4/27/2001.

FIGHT: Nuschik TKO Rnd 1. Goes maybe 10 seconds before Nischik lands a straight right/left hook and Freeman is flat on his back staring at the lights.

5) Alexi Vezelozorov vs. Dave Dalgiesh: Another strange fight to see on TV in 2011. Dalgiesh is rocking shoes. From 11/11/2001.

FIGHT: Vezelozorov Submission Rnd 1. Man, a squash. Like all the fights M1 shows. Dalgiesh is all sorts of awkward and gets hit a ton with punches, eventually getting cut and then being dropped and submitted with a RNC.

6) Patrick De Witte vs. Arslan Amatov: Who? De Witte I saw getting taken down and dominated in a fight with someone else I've never heard of. From 11/11/2001.

FIGHT: De Witte TKO Rnd 1. Bizarre brawl with De Witte throwing wild strikes and busting the nose of Amatov and cutting him over his eye. The doctor actually bandages up the eye and lets Amatov back into the ring to take more punishment before a stop eventually comes via doctor after a second stop. Highlight of the bout is De Witte following a right hand that drops Amatov by chasing him, trying to go for some sort of back control, and being hurled over the head of Amatov.

7) Denis Kang vs. Andrei Semenov: Hey now! From 12/5/2003.

FIGHT: Draw. (3)

I will save everyone the skills breakdown because, hey, this fight happened over 7 years ago. The fight plays out with both men looking to impose their superior ground control and shooting for singles and doubles throughout various portions of the bout. In my mind, the guy who does the better job is Kang. Its basically 4 takedowns to 2 by the time the one 10 minute period passes. Additionally, his straight punching is more effective standing than Semenov's more eastern european kickboxing styled standup. I think he basically gets jobbed by the hometown folk, and the rematch went similarly in PRIDE a couple years later.

What the real talking point is here is where Kang was compared to where he is now. His activity level has dropped off tremendously. Everything that he does is not the same. There are raw skills, but the motivation to win is gone. And that's a big problem. Semenov of course went on to suffer numerous losses in a row, get KOed badly, and eventually faded from memory.

OVERALL FOR THE SHOW: 5 out of 10. Lots of carnage but a good fight at the end with meaning behind it.

KOTC: Infusion (11/13/2010)

Televised via Fight Sports MMA on MSG+, this amazingly appeared on my DVR, apparently replacing the replays of Bodogfight. Only a couple fights are to be shown on this program, I think. This is at The Cannery, which is ridiculous to be holding a show. I merged a heavyweight fight shown on the PPV with this.

1) Todd Willingham vs. John Hahn: Lightweight bout between guys I know nothing about.

FIGHT: Willingham TKO Rnd 1. Jab-right hand and Hahn is OUT COLD. It was crisp, don't get me wrong, but 30 seconds into the fight to win that easily because you catch a guy cold and moving straight back, I don't know if there's anything to really decipher. (0)

2) Jack Montgomery vs. Chidi Njoukani: You gotta imagin Chidi is the brother of Anthony.

FIGHT: Njoukani Submission Rnd 1. Not a surprise that this is one sided, but yeah. Montgomery closes the distance and tries to take down Njoukani and is rudely rebuffed. He gets his back rode, he tries to get up and goes immediately into a guillotine that ultimately finishes the fight. (1)

3) Dave Hulett vs. Danny Davis Jr.: Dudes?

FIGHT: Hulett Submission Rnd 1. Davis gets dropped immediately with a right hand, Hulett is on top, eventually there's a sequence where they scramble and he locks in a guillotine. Not very competitive.

4) Tony Johnson Jr. vs. Boban Simic: Simic says in the prefight interview that he is fighting to make enough money that he can be frozen before death and be revived one day. I am serious. Johnson Jr. fought and lost to Daniel Cormier on a really awesome KOTC card.

FIGHT: Johnson Jr. Unanimous Decision. Guess what happens here? Johnson, a wrestler, gets double leg takedown after double leg takedown. Basically no stand up in this fight, while Johnson shows that he is a darn good wrestler, though perhaps not an elite one as Cormier proved. (2)

5) Josh Watson vs. Nick Gaston: Gaston has a huge afro and is awesome, while Watson is white, bald, and has tons of mean looking tattoos that make me think he could be a racist.

FIGHT: Gaston Submission Rnd 2. (1)

Gaston: At a distance, his striking is clearly better, but Watson lands knees and punches once he gets inside and to the clinch, and that's problematic over the long run for Gaston as he moves forward and fights other big or bigger guys. Bad sign. His grappling is better than Watson, which is expected, but again, it comes with the caveat that it wasn't exceedingly better. Yes, he's not Pe De Pano, but you want more than Dan Christensen with an Afro, which is what he may actually be.

Watson: Tough brawler type with minimal takedown skills, takedown defense, or ground work. Really, there was none. He had his back rode for most of the first and once he was taken down in the second, it was a matter of time until the RNC finish.

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Watson/Gaston

KO OF THE NIGHT: Willingham/Hahn

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Gaston/Watson

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 3.5 out of 10. Short show no matter how you see it, with some bad squashes and a couple mildly interesting heavyweight encounters. One interesting other prospect too.

D&R Rating: 16% (4/25)

KOTC: Excessive Damage (5/13/2010) {syndicated cut}

Another show cut to an hour for local sports affiliates, this time Comcast Sports California. BTW, Sean Kenoba (?) is the announcer

1) Dave Rivas vs. Lazar Stojadinovic: Two journeymen in a featherweight bout.

FIGHT: Stojadinovic Split Decision. (0)

Stojadinovic: When you come straight forward with punches and just march and march till you get to the cage, it tells me you don't know how to keep distance to maximize your power. Not just because you end up smothering your own shots, but because you can't generate the same sort of power with feet up in the air as you do when they are planted. This is a big issue for Lazar.

Rivas: Rivas is clearly larger and a better grappler. He counter punches about as well as an 11-9-1 guy on the regional level is going to, touching up the face of Stojadinovic with some slapping hooks and stuff like that. He also scores a big takedown in the 2nd that earns him the round. But he lets Lazar's aggression sorta control the pace of the fight, and that probably costs him the decision.

2) Adam Lynn vs. Ricky Legere Jr.: Legere had just been beaten up by Bobby Green a couple months prior. Lynn had a few fights with the IFL.

FIGHT: Lynn Unanimous Decision. (0)

Lynn: Lynn brings straight punches. That sounds like such a middling thing, but man, is it ever valuable. He hurts Legere Jr. and gets the takedown at one point and pretty much all the really effective shots are landed here by the journeyman.

Legere Jr.: When your first plan is to keep distance and strike, and that fails, you need a backup plan. When the backup plan is to close the distance and get takedowns off the clinch and that fails you lose fights. Stands too straight, hands too vertical. Chin rises up when he strikes and moves forward. Even when active he mostly lands on the arms, then in the third gets caught moving straight back and square on the chin.

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 4 out of 10. Passable fights, but meaningless. Works as background noise.

D&R Rating: 0%

NAAFS Cage Fighting (12/26/2010)

More from the 11/24/2010 NAAFS show.

1) Nick Kilian vs. Chris Green: Amateur series welterweight fight. Green has some belts or something and is huge. He's 5 lbs heavier than Kilian.

FIGHT: Green Split Decision. Crap call.

Green: Green is a house afire in round one and gets a takedown and even maneuvers into a near rear naked choke finish. Good body kick too. Then he is tired and spends most of the rest of his fight on his back. Somehow, he still wins.

Kilian: Plain fighter who looks like he has some sort of wrestling background. His shot sucks but he can get the takedown out of the clinch, which is nice. Unfortunately, his striking is just OK and that means be gets tagged as much as he lands. Between all that, he can't clearly dominate someone on technique.

2) John Myers vs. Rhett Northcraft: Lightweight bout; pros.

FIGHT: Myers TKO Rnd 1. Northcraft goes straight backwards as Myers comes forward with punches, ducks low, and gets a takedown. He's got back control for about 2 minutes, Myers uses wrist control to stop the RNC, and ends up rolling over into the guard. From there, he passes the guard, prevents Northcraft from scrambling, and sorta tosses him down and beats the hell out of Northcraft in the mount, forcing a stop some 3 minutes in.

3) Marc Bennett vs. Mickey Hughes: Welterweight bout; pros. Bennett is undefeated, Hughes has fought Chris Lozano and some other guys who aren't as good.

FIGHT: Hughes Submission Rnd 1. D'arce choke, ever popular, finishes the fight. Before that comes, Bennett had gotten this to the mat out of the clinch with a sorta bodylock takedown, but Hughes regains the full guard quickly and goes for an armbar. Bennett escaped it and stayed on top, but gets caught with the D'arce trying to move around. Oops.

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 4 out of 10. Lousy decision for a hometown guy with a huge weight advantage, a D'arce choke, and a KOTC special. NAAFS brings the watchable and not much beyond that.

D&R Rating: 0%

NAAFS Cage Fighting (12/19/2010)

Back to NAAFS fight reviews to open up the year of 2011 here on BShowAssault. John Strmac and Greg Kalikas are now the announcers for NAAFS. Ring announcer is now Jazz Securo. Changes everywhere! These fights were held on 11/24/2010.

1) Doug Wells vs. Rich Randolph: Dudes. One is 0-1, the other 1-3.

FIGHT: Randolph TKO Rnd 1. Some robot standup here between the two, and Randolph catches Wells as he is lazy with the jab and comes over the top with the right hand. Nice KO as Wells goes down and sorta crumples, then takes shots while face first on the canvas.

2) Andria Caplan vs. Janel Krafft: Andria Caplan is Sam Caplan's wife. Yes. Sam Caplan of 5 Oz of Pain and Bellator matchmaker fame. Krafft grew up going to the high school this event is being held at.

FIGHT: Caplan Unanimous Decision. Horrendously low level stuff grappling and striking wise from both, especially Krafft, who doesn't seem to have a gameplan that involves winning and turns and runs every time she is hit with a strike. She shoots a double at one point in the second and is swept immediately and gives up the back. That's what I'm watching. Caplan is essentially all basic stuff but that base technique is a lot better, and so she wins.

3) Mike Nesto vs. Dustin Kempf: Featherweights.

FIGHT: Kempf Submission Rnd 1. Nesto and Kempf uncomfortably strike, Nesto shoots, gets his head taken, and Kempf sinks in a super deep guillotine with a modified grip and forces the tap.

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 3 out of 10. All the points are for the cool guillotine.

D&R Rating: 0%

NAAFS Cage Fighting (11/15/2010)

No idea what the original airdate was. Was this it? Maybe. These fights were recorded on 12/5/2009 at NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS~.

1) Jason Butcher vs. Dane Bonningson: Butcher is a tattoo artist. Bonningson I had seen in his prior fight in this tournament. Since this is the finals of the light heavyweight amateur tournament, I am going to assume he wins.

FIGHT: Bonningson TKO Rnd 1. Bonningson lands a looping overhand right over the top of Butcher's low guard and drops him, forcing the stoppage like 10 seconds in. 14 seconds officially. (0)

2) Marie Colangelo vs. Jessica Eye: NATIONAL AMATEUR WOMENS CHAMPIONSHIP! yells the announcer. More Jessica Eye! Will I be sold this time?

FIGHT: Eye Unanimous Decision. Man, it is clear that these girls fighting Eye are just overpowered. All of them. Colangelo comes at her, clinches, then gets pushed into the cage and put in a guillotine attempt of sorts before eventually being pushed down and put in terrible positions. She survives the first and ends up immediately on the defensive practically running from Eye. She goes for a single in the second in desperation and just crumbles and ends up on the bottom. Same sort of domination continues in the third. (0)

3) Allan Weickert vs. Chris Lozano: Weickert beat Sean Salmon to win some sort of strap while Lozano was a generally unknown prospect here.

FIGHT: Lozano TKO Rnd 1. Lozano wins after throwing a lead left hook and following it up with a short inside uppercut that drops Weickert. Before that, Weickert tried to drag him down to the mat and do something there, but couldn't get it done. Standing, Lozano was far superior. (2)

OVERALL FOR THE SHOW: 4 out of 10. So much of the show is taken up by the women's bout, which while not terrible is not that good either. Its basically a one sided fight. Lozano wins in an early part of his career, and he's a legitimate prospect. The other fight is a throwaway historically.

Tuff-N-Uff Fights: Rags Stags (5/30/2010)

Dave Farra and John Morgan are announcing for this night of action from the Orleans Hotel Casino just off the Vegas Strip. Its basically an amateur card.

1) Justin Bonner vs. Damian Jackson: 170lbers. Jackson making his pro debut. 2 minute rounds in Nevada.

FIGHT: Jackson TKO Rnd 2. Furious pace to start and Bonner eats a front kick to the balls. After a break, back to wild swinging. In the second, Bonner ends up eating a high kick and he goes down. Jackson follows up and forces the stoppage.

2) Ashley Cummins vs. Gabriella Lakoczky: If Lakoczky is any good she's gonna be some sort of sex symbol in MMA with her mohawk and Swedish background. From Gothenburg, no less. She's also 12 years older than her opponent but trains with Wanderlei. She is like some merger of Wendy O Williams and Dimitry Wanderlei. 3X3 because its for a championship.

FIGHT: Cummins Unanimous Decision. No doubt whatsoever on the cards. Cummins takes down Lakoczky in every round and threatens with submissions from the mount, then retakes mount, and screws up again and retakes mount. Etc etc. On and on.

3) Alex Brooks vs. Kalino Yap: .500 guys. Lightweights.

FIGHT: Yap Unanimous Decision. Brooks is incredibly rangy - long, lean, but muscular. a 6' 155lb fighter generally is those things. Yap is amart enough to realize that trading with such an individual puts him at great disadvantage, so he consistently looks for takedowns. Brooks is a sucker for them too but does a good job of reversing position and punching. It doesn't matter though - while Brooks clearly wins the 3rd, the takedowns and top control from Yap wins the fight.

4) Rene Flores vs. Jace Crawford: Flores is really soft. Still like 145 or something like that.

FIGHT: Crawford TKO Rnd 1. Crawford uncomfortably stands with Flores, cuts him with a headbutt as they go to clinch, and then ends up taking him down and smashing him. Afterwards he paces around looking very hard. Whatever. You beat a guy who was probably 3 inches shorter than you and chubby at MMA tinyweight. You aren't some calculating killer. Hate dudes like that.

5) Tommy Gavin vs. Lee Henry Lilly: Slightly bigger dudes. 185?

FIGHT: Gavin TKO Rnd 1. BOMBZ AWAY. Lilly ends up getting dropped and taken out.

6) Autumn Richardson vs. Emily Peters-Kagen: 1-0 MMA amateur women fighter, forget the weight, don't care.

FIGHT: Peters-Kagen TKO Rnd 1. She lands a right hand that busts Richardson's nose and wins the fight in like 23 seconds as the ref separates them, sends over her opponent to the corner and they won't let it go on.

7) Barry Prevost vs. Zack Grossman: 1-0 lightweights.

FIGHT: Prevost TKO Rnd 1. Prevost with a leaping front kick and Grossman goes down straight backwards, Prevost leaps on him. Grossman tries to fight his way out. I dunno, this is the amateurs. You get clipped and dropped with a headkick, don't be shocked if the ref comes to save you.

8) Chris Simmons vs. Kevin Absher: Fat heavyweights. Absher is 40.

FIGHT: Absher TKO Rnd 1. Clubberin' fat man kickboxing. Zane Frazier fighting the white dude at UFC 1 was like this but better because there were headstomps and no stalling. That was like two dudes fighting for their lives. This was bad MMA. Very different on the sleeze scale. Absher wins with a right uppercut. Absher did go for a takedown, which was kinda cool of him.

Oh hey, that's actually the whole show. Only runs one hour, then they tack on a MMA 30 episode at the first UFC Fan Expo.

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Absher/Simmons

KO OF THE NIGHT: Gavin/Lilly

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 2 out of 10. You might have noticed that I didn't give D&R scores. I decided not to type any in because none of these fights mattered. All zeros. There was carnage and that is about all I can say that is good.

D&R Rating: 0%

NAAFS Cage Fighting (10/23/2010)

Looks like these fights are from Eve of Destruction, the NAAFS' first all women's show. Fun notes: NAAFS got some new graphics for this show, and in addition, I noticed that Intimidation Fight Wear (who are the same company as MMA promoter ICF, recently reviewed) are running commercials here.

1) Andria Caplan vs. Jenelle Bloom: 155lb amateur MMA women's bout.

FIGHT: Caplan TKO Rnd 1. The worst fight I've seen in years. Just lousy punching. Bloom was pushing her hand out and throwing behind it with these pushed punches and...god. It was so bad. So. Bad. (0)

2) Summer Artherton vs. Jordan McDonald: 115 lb bout.

FIGHT: McDonald Submission Rnd 1. Submission comes at the end of the round just as the bell rings. McDonald was on the bottom, goes for an armbar, pulls her down and straightens it. Standup wise there's nothing to speak of here, Artherton also just got suckered in and the way she got swept into the armbar was...unfortunate. (0)

3) Tera Carper vs. Tamikka Brents: 155 lb fight. Brents is listed as undefeated still so...yeah. No idea. She lost like a month prior.

FIGHT: Brents TKO Rnd 1. Brents drags her down and beats her with punches until the ref stops. Just that simple. Absolute mugging. (0)

4) Amanda Wilcoxen vs. Jessica Zomcik: Seen Zomcik before. Apparently this was her only loss. Fight's at 155.

FIGHT: Zomcik Unanimous Decision. Basically two rounds of Zomcik jabbing every 30 seconds, and occasionally landing a right hand. In the third she shoots and takes down Wilcoxen, operating in her guard for about a minute and a half until the bell rings. Not an entertaining fight. (0)

OVERALL FOR THE SHOW: 1 out of 10. I'll be the first to tell people that I don't really like women's MMA. This show was terrible stuff. One competitive fight and it was painfully boring and inactive.

NAAFS Cage Fighting (10/17/2010)

Another NAAFS episode from Rock N Rumble.

1) Manuel Villanueva vs. Bhrandon Poindexter: Amateur lightweight bout. Matt Brown is joining on commentary. Poindexter is related to boxing trainer Lorenzo Scott, I hear.

FIGHT: Poindexter Submission Rnd 3. Man, not much of a fight from Villanueva. He's not very good standing, he shoots from way outside and never is successful, and Poindexter stuffs him and hits him a lot. Poindexter pulls a switch in round 3 and chokes out Villanueva with an RNC.

(0)

2) Brandon Inskeep vs. Doug Kulbis: Pro featherweight fight. We get Dan Hornbuckle as the guest here.

FIGHT: Kulbis Submission Rnd 2. Kind of a sad fight to watch with Inskeep being game but totally overmatched by Kulbis, who takes him down, smashes him, nearly triangles him at the bell, then takes him down again and smashes then chokes him out with an RNC. Inskeep was active off his back but put himself in worse positions - side control not bad enough? OK. North-south, here we come! (0)

3) Jeremy Holm vs. Stipe Miocic: Miocic is being hyped by the crew as training by Ray Austin now in boxing. Who would say his name if it wasn't true? Holm is 1-0 as a pro, but 9-0 including ammy bouts. Who doesn't at this level of MMA?

FIGHT: Miocic Round 1. I've been sitting back watching the guy, waiting to be impressed with something he's done instead of just hearing about him getting love from his promoter. Miocic here comes out collected, calm, throws a clean uppercut that misses but looked great, and just blows Holm away with a beautiful straight right. Miocic has beaten everyone good in his region. I would agree with anyone who thinks he's about 3-4 fights away from the big time. I mean, what is the rush? At 28, he can wait another year before he gets to the top. (2)

OVERALL FOR THE SHOW: 3 out of 10. Another show with some beatings handed out, and then a really big beating handed out. None of the fights were competitive, but there's some points there for Stipe Miocic's big win.

NAAFS Cage Fighting (9/27/2010)

Is this a reairing? I have no idea. Usually these are on Sundays at 11PM, but this is on at 3:30AM on a Monday. This is from Rock N Rumble held on 8/28/2010.

1) Niko Boscarino vs. Kevin Zalac: Pro middleweight fight. Zalac is listed by NAAFS as 8-0-1, but who knows what he is as a pro. They mix pro and amateur bouts together for records.

FIGHT: Zalac TKO Rnd 1. This is a semicompetitive fight with Boscarino coming at Zalac and landing a lot of stuff in the clinch. However, Zalac can get the fight down with an armbar attempt and once it is on the mat, he's got the advantages. He eventually takes Boscarino's back and pounds him out to ref stop. Boscarino landed a lot though on a guy who isn't that great. Cut him too. (0)

2) Dan Spohn vs. John Hawk: Light heavyweight fight with NAAFS' beloved heavyweight turned light heavyweight.

FIGHT: Spohn Unanimous Decision. Ugh, this was terrible to watch. I don't even want to break down both men. As usual, Hawk ends up looking like a light heavyweight Tim Sylvia and fights that way too. They end up against the cage the majority of the time with Spohn landing by far the more telling blows within the clinch and even at distance. Spohn is terribly sloppy - he was landing arm shots with a foot in the air moving backwards and banging up Hawk - imagine if his feet were planted right! Hawk does persevere and get a takedown late in the fight but does basically nothing with it. Spohn is the best 205lb prospect in the NAAFS and I think Razak Al-Hassan fucks him up bad. Given that he's beaten everyone of value that promotion promotes, I'd like to see it. Why the hell not? (0)

OVERALL FOR THE SHOW: 2.5 out of 10. Again, a long bad fight after a short but semi exciting one featuring guys no one will remember ever having been MMA fighters except themselves and a couple family members in 10 years.

NAAFS Cage Fighting (8/22/2010)

This was recorded on it original airing on 8/22/10. Long delay as they started replaying a lot of stuff from Fight Night At the Flats VI. Frankly, this was also part of that same event, so it too is probably a replay. Whatever.

1) Frankie Perez vs. Kenney Jackson: Amateur MMA bout among lightweights. Perez is a fighter from the stable of Ricardo Almedia himself.

FIGHT: Perez Unanimous Decision. Perez is a legitimate prospect, and you see why watching this. Most of the fight is spent wit Perez having hooks or a body triangle on Jackson while holding onto his back. This is part and parcel of an issue with training - Jackson doesn't get the same level of help as does Perez. Clearly he's not any less explosive or athletic. I can see that. But one of these guys is from Ohio and the other is from New York, and the guy from the richer, more important city is unsurprisingly better. Not only is he better as an MMA fighter right now, he completely dominates Jackson the entire fight. Jackson wins maybe, and I mean, MAYBE 20 seconds of the bout, and even that leads to Perez taking the back (Jackson goes for a guillotine after a shot by Perez, picks up Perez, ends up having Perez go around the side and to the back).

Perez, meanwhile, is only a purple belt and pretty new at this MMA thing. Still not a pro. That's something. The announcers are struck dumb trying to say something about this fight that doesn't demolish their homegrown guy. (1)

2) Chuck Ellison vs. Gerric Hayes: Pro welterweight fight. Both guys well under 170.

FIGHT: Hayes Submission Rnd 1. Another fight where the announcers spend a long time talking about their hometown fighter only to see him get rolled. Hayes gets a takedown ASAP, Ellison does try to slip out the back and, oh, oops, he gets caught with a kneebar and it gets blown up. Hayes apparently didn't earn a second time up to Ohio for smashing their amateur star and lost at a Gameness Fighting Championships event. (0)

3) Dane Bonnigson vs. Josh Stansbury: Dane apparently wrestled D-1 for Western Michigan and was undefeated as an amateur. Supposedly cuts from 240 down to 205. Josh Stansbury is some dude I don't know much about and thought was Kyle Kingsbury for a first. Pro series light heavyweight fight, in case I didn't make it clear.

FIGHT: Stansbury Submission Rnd 1. Bonningson looked like an even more robotic Dan Henderson, gets sorta touched by a high kick or something (not even sure he was), gets thrown as he shoots in, and ends up caught in a guillotine that he gave up way too easily while trying to get back to his feet. Never even really recognized the problems he had either. Bonningson is so jacked muscularly that I wonder if NAAFS has to test. (0)

OVERALL FOR THE SHOW: 5 out of 10. There was a really real prospect on the show tonight, along with dudes who were claimed to be real prospects getting embarassed. Makes for not bad TV. Only problem is that it is awash in ads for shit like NAAFS: The Music Vol. 2.

NAAFS Cage Fighting (7/18/2010)

More fights from Fight Night At The Flats VI on 6/5/2010.

1) Mike Putnam vs. Clint Musser: Musser is from Penn State, Putnam might be but they aren't sure, so he almost certainly isn't. Its also Putnam's first fight in a nonsmoker in over 2 years. Putnam is from a hellasmall town called Bellefonte in Pennsylvania that has a bitchin' German restaurant. Pro tip in case you are near Altoona.

FIGHT: Musser Submission Rnd 1. Musser looks to set up the takedown, gets it, and Putnam tries to scramble right into a guillotine. Its with the arm in but Putnam still forces the tap as he rolls into full guard. (0)

2) Tamikka Brents vs. Jessica Zomcik: Women's MMA bout. Zomchik has won some women's BJJ tournaments....no idea what belt level, don't know if it was for novices or U-19s or anything like that, just only the weight for this fight is known (155). Further investigation tells me she won a NAGA title of some sort in 2009 in a no-gi division. What belt level? Pfff. No clue, yo.

FIGHT: Zomcik Split Decision. Close fight in which Zomcik proved more than capable opposition to Zomcik. She gassed out a little in the third but was a match standing and in the clinch. Honestly, the fight was completely forgettable stuff and I was reading about the American Le Mans Series race at Road America instead of completely paying attention. Tamikka threw a lot of single shots and Zomcik threw a lot of arm punch combinations. (0)

3) Zac Gobel vs. Milan Wesley: Gobel admits to only having trained for 3-4 weeks, which means he's really only trained about 2. Maybe. Wesley celebrated his last win, I am told, with the "Chocolate Thunder Dance", which upset a rural crowd. What is that supposed to mean? A bunch of drunk crackers screaming the N-word? Middleweight contest with both men well under the limit.

FIGHT: Gobel Submission Rnd 1. Pretty big upset they say. Gobel gets cut shooting for the takedown: actually, looks like he must have been cut as he took him down and his head hit the canvas. He promptly locks in a RNC from a sort of side position, a la Militech/Newton, but then gets in some hooks and pulls him back for the win. Fast stuff. (0)

4) Jason Jones vs. Brian Rogers: Jones is from Team Bloody Buddy, and no, its not the black dude from Holland. Rogers has some awesome dreds. Still reminds me of Jermaine Andre with that hair.

FIGHT: Rogers TKO Rnd 1. He gets kneed in the balls early on, needs to recover, then comes back hard and angry. Eventually he lands a really nice body kick and Jones is just like "I'm done". He ends up turtling up and Rogers lets him up, then levels him as he rises with an uppercut. Nice win, even if its not anything to major. (0)

FIGHT OF THE SHOW: Brents/Zomcik

OVERALL FOR THE PROGRAM: 4 out of 10. I don't think I've actively enjoyed a NAAFS program. Like, been yelling at the scream stoked. Ever. This just kinda follows along with that. Maybe Rogers becomes something beyond being a 4-2 fighter with a couple fun KOs, but he needs like several more wins at this level to show consistency, and then some wins against bigger names, and THEN maybe he can go up and fight a real name. I'd like to come back to him when he's something like 12-2. That's a year and a half or two years away.