RETRO REVIEW: KOTC Redemption On The River (2/17/2006)

#7
Redemption On The River (2/17/06)

After another stinker, back to a PPV card. This time it eminates from the Mark Of The Quad Cities in Moline, where the IFL has run twice and is in a pretty serious MMA lovin' area. Lots of stupendous talent on this card to get excited for also and some realy intruiging matchups. Announcers are Eric Apple and JENS. Oh, and Terry Treblecock. Rounds are 3 minutes because we're in Illinois and it is February 2006.

1) BILLY AYASH vs. DENNIS REED: Ayash has a couple bullshit belts and trains with Franklin. Dennis Reed is cited as "growing all sorts of stuff in the background."

Reed gets the takedown and Pulver and Treblecock note that he's really good at getting takedowns and then gassing out after 45 seconds. This is exactly what happens. As he gasses, Ayash is able to get out from underneath, and as they scramble, Reed is plunked out with a right hand to the jaw.

2) MATT JAGGERS vs. JUSTIN ROBBINS: Robbins is 5-0 but naturally the smaller man in this 145lb bout to Jaggers, who is making his pro debut and looks about 12.

This is another short but glorious bout. Jaggers gets the take down and gets in side control. His attempt to move to mount is easily nullified and Robbins gets guard. Not long after comes a triangle attempt, and Jaggers fully elevates Robbins for a power bomb escape. It breaks the hold momentarily but he's so far in it Robbins is able to reapply the triangle before Jaggers can reassess his position and escape.

3) WAYNE WEEMS vs. BART PALASZEWSKI: Its hard to believe that of the two, Weems is the dude who was in UFC. Bartimus will eventually. Or the UFC will collapse like a house of cards. Who knows?

Weems lands a single right hand that breaks Palaszewski's nose. After that, Bartimus turns it up, takes down Weems and beats the living shit out of him as Weems gives up his back and does nothing to defend himself. Short, but its something.

4) JASON REINHARDT vs. MIKE LINDQUIST: Reinhardt was tooled badly in his UFC debut recently and is pretty old. Lindquist is said to be 10-4 coming in.

Reinhardt throws a knee to the nuts early in the fight and is pissed that Lindquist complained and got time, so he takes him down, beats on him a little, and then gets the choke out. Reinhardt is an intense competitor but ridiculously limited strategically. Lindquist has gone 2-11-1 since this fight.

5) CLAY GUIDA vs. TRISTEN YUNKER: Yunker is huge at 6'3'' and Guida is a dude you should damn well know already. Yunker has had a mixed bag of success since being on one of the IFO's shows (though I don't remember his bout with Rob Kimmons) and recently on HDNet Fights losing to Pete Spratt.

Another short fight, but not at all as expected for me, having not looked up the results ahead of time. Yunker goes for the single leg and gets it, picking up Guida and slamming him (though Guida almost pushes off the cage to get a reversal tornado DDT style). Yunker quickly gets the back and both hooks, and though Guida struggles with him for a few seconds, Yunker eventually gets under the chin and wins the fight. Wow.

6) JOHN STRAWN vs. JOE JORDAN: Both men have fought basically all over the place. They don't usually win when they're far from their hometowns though in the midwest.

Mediocre fight for the first two round with Jordan dominant in top position. Round three is a significant change of pace as Jordan decides, for whatever reason, not to engage Strawn for takedowns and control but rather in a Dana White favorite: the pier six standup brawl. Jordan eventually gets the win with a highlight reel KO via looping overhand right. Decent fight though, automatically FOTN thus far because it went past 1 minute.

7) JOEY CLARK vs. BRIAN GASSAWAY: Clark is a pretty experienced local fighter and Brian Gassaway has been in MMA since the dawn of time, initally appearing on awful IFC shows and shit like that.

First round is short but interesting with Joey Clark getting a Sashimi Ippon Mothra (or something) early on and then tries to get a north/south choke. Failing that, he lets it back up to the feet where they clinch up. Gassaway tries to suplex him but doesn't have enough strength and Clark lands back in side control. He holds on there until Gassaway somehow pulls around him and nearly gets a rear naked choke. Round ends pretty soon after.

Rounds 2 and 3 fall into a pattern in which Clark gets the takedown, gets mount, gets bucked off or moves to side control, and then back to mount, and then cycles again. Dull stuff. The crowd boos the end of the fight and Clark gets a unanimous decision. Andrei Arlovski is in the crowd.

8) GIDEON RAY vs. BRENDAN SEGUIN: Ray’s been in pretty much all the big shows and Seguin is making another appearance on these reviews.

First round sees Seguin get the takedown and take top position with Ray against the cage. Not a lot of offense gets put in by Seguin in the dominant position, and with the round winding down, Ray scissors the leg of Seguin and rolls for a kneebar. Seguin defends and Ray does it again, this time going for a heel hook and succeeding.

9) TREVOR BARRETT vs. TERRY MARTIN: Barrett is a career loser and Martin worships Mike Tyson in copying his nickname, towel, and black trunks.

Martin wins by KO in the first round. I’m shocked. He also does get a nice takedown/slam in also.

10) VICTOR MORENO vs. LAVERNE CLARK: Victor Moreno is a mediocre fighter and Laverne Clark is a name those watching for eons should know from the olden days of UFC as a “professional boxer” turned MMA fighter. FUN NOTE: Clark faced 5 future or past world champions as a boxer. He lost to all of them. In fact, he never went the distance with any.

This is actually a pretty fun fight that Clark largely controls. The first round is almost all standup but subsequent ground fighting is primarily consistent with Clark in control on top and Moreno largely ineffective with the guard. Clark also lands some wild shots at times. No worse than most of the UFC’s recent major fights, as Clark wins a 3 round decision.

11) CHARLES “CRAZY HORSE” BENNETT vs. JEFF CURRAN: Intros not necessary.

Short but immensely entertaining. Some decent standup with Bennett throwing body punches that surprised Curran and the two trading slams early with Bennett throwing a SHOOT BACKDROP DRIVER~! No real shock that Bennett gets tapped with an armbar in the first round but it was great while it lasted.

12) SHONIE CARTER vs. JASON BLACK: Another fight where no real introduction is necessary. That always rules.

Another short but unsatisfying fight. Carter and Black tussle in the clinch early, and Carter gets the takedown. In doing so, Black is injured and Carter gets a W. I have to admit in thinking about it that I’m shocked Carter isn’t in the UFC still. He could provide decent tests for young 170lb fighters and he’s someone the crowd can get into.

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Bennett/Curran - Fun fight, though short. Lots of great action throughout.

KO OF THE NIGHT: Jordan/Strawn - Brutal KO.

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Ray/Seguin - I'm a sucker for leg locks when they actually happen.

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 7 out of 10. Probably the high water mark for these shows. Unfortunately there's 18 to go. Fuuuuuuuck.

RETRO REVIEW: KOTC Raging Bull (12/26/2005)

Yet another MMA event from the archive.

#5
Raging Bull (12/16/2005)

I started this last night and fell asleep during the second round of the Sean Salmon fight. Oops.

Production values go WAY downhill here with a two camera Handicam shoot in a nightclub. Erik Apple is announcing via overdub, the lighting sucks, Pappa Schanke or whatever that annoying dude's name is does ring announcing (GEE THANKS I NEED THE TWO MINUTES TO GO SIGN) and shit. Your refs are Rich Franklin and Matt Hughes.

1) LEREMY JOHNSON vs. ROB KERWIN: Not listed on the insert card. No background about the fighters given. No weightclass given. 4 minute rounds because we are in the Ohio of many moons ago, in fact in the Agora Ballroom, which is like where Motorhead would play in Cleveland.

Decent back and forth action as Johnson gets the takedown, Kerwin reverses it and gets in his guard, then Johnson locks up a triangle and holds on through a few attempted power bombs out of it to get the chokeout.

2) JOSH SHOCKMAN vs. KEITH MCINTOSH: This isn't listed either. No history on either. McIntosh is a fat kid and Shockman has a bad haircut.

As is a general standard for MMA, the white dude with the worst hair wins. McIntosh absorbs a ton of well placed wide arcing, unorthodox shots from what must be a top level kickboxer (with a Naseem Hamed fetish) in the midwest in about 20 seconds and falls down. Shockman ended up in the UFC not long after and lost to Jake O'Brien. Interestingly, I've heard nothing really about either one since. Does it matter?

3) LOREN BRADLEY vs. DOMINIC QURAZZO: Another super special bonus fight not listed! Bradley has a lame tribal tattoo across his shoulder blades. Not to be outdone, Qurazzo has a bootleg Punisher skull on his back and American flag trunks. I bet he drives a pickup truck.

This goes two rounds, is primarily standup, and what happens there is with all the grace of Rosier/Frazier. Eventually the sloppy punching downs Bradley and Dominic wins for AMERICA.

4) JOSH MARTIN vs. SESSHOURMARU TAMASHII: That is an outstanding name for that one dude. I bet he loses though.

Martin gets a clinch, lands a knee, and then a bunch of elbows and bunches and the fight is done within 20 seconds. Perhaps it was "OCTAGON SHOCK" or something.

5) SEAN SALMON vs. JERRY SPIEGEL: Salmon is now the losing part of two classic MMA knockouts. Spiegel isn't any good. He's 1-10-1 in his previous 12 coming in.

If you had shown me this prior to Salmon/Rashad and told me you thought he was gonna have a legit chance to win, as many here did, I would have laughed a lot. Salmon gets his takedowns and some decent ground and pound, but shows no ability whatsoever to take advantage of what is essentially a willing loser right in front of him. Two attempts to set up the armbar and kimura go wasted in side control. He can't finish twice having Spiegel's back. In all this, he even lets Spiegel gain confidence, sweep him, and take his back with both hooks in and so they go to round 2.

Round 2 is more of the same. Salmon gets the takedown from the start, gets mount almost immediately, doesn't throw much leather from the top position because he's already gassed, switches to side mount and spends a minute and a half going for a kimura and not even coming close. Then he gets back on top, rides Spiegel till he gets his back, and Spiegel defends the RNC until time runs out. Round 3 is 4 minutes more of Salmon in side control trying to hook up the kimura and failing. Salmon wins by decision and its way less than impressive.

6) TERRY MARTIN vs. RON FIELDS: Martin is now a UFC vet, but he's actually in better shape here than he was with Irvan. Fields is a journeyman who's fought a bunch of dudes and lost to pretty much all the good ones. Apparently its a rematch too.

Fields needs distance to strike with Martin and never gets it because he doesn't know how to move in the ring. Martin forces him back, throws right hands in close when he's smothered Fields' range, takes him down, punishes him, and so on. Not a particularly incredible fight but you can see some talent in Martin here. Martin ends up getting thai clinch and then instead of throwing knees is able to get Fields in a guillotine.

7) MIKE RUSSO vs. JIMMY BOYD: I was hoping this would be a misprint and really be Mike Russow, because then it would be sorta meaningful, what with Russow just beating a top 50 heavyweight a couple weeks back. It is not. Decent fight on the ground with Russo almost getting an armbar from the bottom on Boyd, and Boyd elevating him and somehow holding him in the air for about 10 seconds until Russo was forced to let go. Boyd was eventually able to get him against the cage following that and put enough strikes on his dome to end it in round 1 via GnP.

8) TREVOR GARRETT vs. BRENDAN SEGUIN: I've seen Seguin many times over the years, and this is my first exposure to Garrett, who is essentially a nobody. Garrett is wearing thai boxing shorts, which kinda telegraphs his background.

Seguin rushes in and gets the clinch immediately, and much of the round is spent there against the fence, with a couple takedowns by Seguin that Garrett is able to worm his way back to his feet following. A third takedown proves more difficult, and the final minute is pretty much Seguin laying in side control doing a whole lot of nothing. The second round falls into the same path, with Seguin shooting immediately and getting Garrett against the cage. Garrett is able to spin him and back him up, but falls into a guillotine attempt. He survives that, then gets swept. Somewhere in this, Seguin is cut. He continues to control the fight, but Hughes has the doctor take a look at it. When the fight is restarted, Seguin gets a double leg takedown and is in top control once more. In fact, this time he's punishing Garrett with strikes against the cage. Hughes decides that as Seguin is clearly in control and perhaps a minute from a stoppage win to end the fight due to the cut, and Garrett goes from being pounded to winning instantly. Either Hughes was on the take or is enormously inept. Your choice here.

9) DERECK KEASLEY vs. JEFF COX: Cox is wearing Aoki style pants and Keasley is some dude.

They trade sloppy punching early and Keasley falls down. Cox follows him there and ends up in a triangle choke. Thing is, Keasley can't quite lock it up and so this position stays the same for about 3 and a half minutes until Cox finally pulls his head up enough that Keasley can get his foot slotted behind his knee and complete it.

10) DAN BOBISH vs. JOEY SMITH: Bobish's second career in MMA will never cease to amaze me. Smith is some dude who sucks. Fight has Smith throwing punches, falling down on his belly for no real reason, and Bobish throwing strikes until its stopped 20 seconds in. The DVD then states: "Winner: Emerson Bobish". THANK YOU AND GOOD NIGHT.

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Terry Martin/Ron Fields: Pretty damn one sided because of Fields' various liabilites as a fighter, but as competitive as anything on the card and displayed some real skill

KO OF THE NIGHT: Shockman/McIntosh, I guess? No KO was really astounding or unexpected.

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Leremy Johnson/Rob Kerwin - Easily wins. The only submission that went down that didn't seem to take an hour to materialize and which had serious resistance.

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 4 Horrible camera work, lots of ghosting on the long shot from the poor digital handcam being used, but some name fighters and it was thankfully short at 1:30. Brevity sometimes trumps sheer volume.

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POSTSCRIPT:

Laverne Clark and Jake Ellenberger fought at this show, sayith the intarwebz, and it wasn't on here.

Dan Bobish is fat.

Terry Martin has no chin. Neither does S

Josh Shockman lost to Cale Yarborough at a Strikeforce show.

Josh Martin was with Bellator. then you blinked, and he wasn't any more.

RETRO REVIEW: KOTC Final Conflict (12/2/2005)

While I work on other reviews and finish them up, another review from the KOTC OF THE DAY series.

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Final Conflict (12/2/05)

Usual KOTC stuff here. We’re back to the beloved Soboba. Should be full of the usual KOTC formula bouts: either untalented dude gets tooled on the ground (Formula A) or the fight ends 15 seconds in by KO (Formula B). Erik Apple is rocking the mic along with John Alessio.

1) PAT WHITE vs. LAWRENCE GANT: Dudes that fight. Each weighs about 170. Gant rocks the rashguard.

Pat White sucks. He is taken down immediately and mounted before 5 seconds pass. He hugs Gant for awhile, then Gant punches him a couple times. White turns over and then gets submitted with an RNC.

2) KEN CADOY vs. MIKE GUYMON: Cadoy is from 808 making his debut, Guymon is from somewhere, I wasn’t paying attention. He calls himself “The Joker” and hangs out with Tapout Crew. Guess who I want to win?

Guymon rushes the shot, gets him down, Cadoy tries to get up, and Cadoy gets caught in a guillotine. Fight over. I read later that Guymon was in the IFL for a cup of coffee. Go fig.

3) BUCKLEY ACOSTA vs. DICK DELAWARE: Aaron Brink lives the life many of DVDVR’s lesser posters dream of. Acosta is some dude who is making his pro debut.

Fight lasts 10 seconds. Brink walks forward, throws a couple punches, Acosta throws him down, they scramble up, Brink walks into a right hand, its over. Acosta beats a dude who people know well in his debut.

4) RUBIN TAGLE vs. BRIAN WARREN: No idea who these guys are.

Warren wins via Formula A. GNP stoppage after a couple takedowns and Tagle gets mounted in Rnd 1. Cecil Peoples waits until Tagle as begged for a good 10 seconds to stop it. Maybe there were no verbal submissions in those karate styled kickboxing events in the 70s?

5) SHAWN BIAS vs. THOMAS KENNY: This isn’t a bad fight on paper, really. Kenny is clearly the much larger man. He also wears a shirt.

This is a shockingly good fight. Shawn Bias and Thomas Kenny slug it out through the early part of the second and then roll a plenty for the second half of the round. Round two opens with Bias almost knocking Kenny out with a right hand, but falls into Kenny’s half guard and somehow, Kenny gets a head and arm choke to win the fight. Bias taps and Herb just looks at it. And then he taps against and Herb seems confused and goes over to look. Eventually he goes out and its kinda ugly from there.

6) ALEX ZUNNER vs. MIKE BOURKE: Holy shit. Mike Bourke sighting! What else would he fight but some fat ass? I cheated and looked ahead and I will be able to share lots of moments for Alex Zunner moments with you.

Bourke and Zunner kinda swing at each other, hug, Zunner gets a takedown and side control, Bourke rolls him over, and then chokes him out Smith/Cikatic style. Wow.

7) FERNANDO ARREOLA vs. CUB SWANSON: Hahahahahahaha.

Arreola puts up some attempts at something and fails at all of it. He ends up being dropped by a right hand and then a series of kicks to the legs follow and Cecil runs in for a verbal submission a little over 3 minutes in. Swanson was way past this guy in skill and he must have known in early on.

8) GABE RIVAS vs. ROB MCCULLOUGH: Everyone and their mom has seen a hundred Gabe Rivas fights. Rob McCullough is another future WEC talent, champion in fact, who is in a fairly interesting match here on this disc.

You know, what made KOTC 7 unique is that it was the only MMA event in the wet ever done. Not intentionally, mind you, its just that they apparently ran an open air show without thinking it was a possibility. So, years later, here I am watching a KOTC show from late in ’05 and, whaddya know, it starts raining. The fight was controlled by McCullough standing and on the ground, but in Round 2 the rain starts coming down and Rivas is tripping all over himself, taking a leg kick that knocks him to the ground because he has no traction. When Rivas is knocked down for the last time, was it the right hand that did it or the fact that he was falling everywhere on a wet wrestling mat? How fucking bush league do you have to be to have rain and then not think about preventing it as an issue in the future?

9) MANNY TAPIA vs. ED NEWALU: Krazy Horse is on the mic! YES. Too bad he doesn’t really care that he’s here or supposed to entertain me, the viewer. Tapia is their 145lb champion and now is in the WEC. He’s really quite good. Newalu I’ve seen fight Ryan Diaz awhile back. They fought before in KOTC but no mention of it is ever made.

Fight goes the distance (first in a long time) and while decent is hardly the best thing ever. Some decent standup, Newalu looks capable on the ground, Tapia is good all the way around with his wrestling and standup, Newalu guarantees a loss in Round 2 by losing a point throwing a four point knee, and Tapia retains. I started to nod off during this and had to really work hard to stay conscious, honestly.

10) THOMAS DENNY vs. JAMES FANSHIER: I first mentioned Fanshier on the first show covered, and Thomas Denny is a dude who has fought on every B show there is, and thus not really needing an introduction. There’s a little highlight package that screams “XPW” and has Fanshier in the cage talking a ton of shit.

Round 1 sees Denny channel Tim Sylvia and push Fanshier into the cage. That’s pretty much all 5 minutes. Second round Denny lands a big right hand, Fanshier goes down, Denny follows with strikes, fight over.

11) KEVIN “Q-TIP” DONNELLY vs. NAM PHAN: Donnelly is listed as being from the “streets of Hisperia, California” instead of a school. He’s a white kid making his debut and he’s dyed his hair blonde. Nam Pham is a dude who has lost to all the good fighters he’s faced and beaten all the shitty fighters he’s been in with. Since many are like Donnelly, there’s a lot more Ws than Ls.

Donnelly shoots in, Phan takes guard, he gets the armbar, Donnelly taps out. 12 seconds officially. Maybe 6 in reality. They don’t even do any play by play for this.

12) BETTO CORNITA vs. BILLY BEARMAN: Cornita is coming from martial arts academy and this is his debut. Its also Bearman’s. Its also the only fight either will ever have in their careers. Obviously we’re into swing bouts here, and I’m debating why I should even watch it. Like, this is as unimportant as any match ever held. There’s episodes of I Love Lucy that are lost to time and shit like that, but this will be committed to tape forever and ever.

Then, this is all saved. Bearman wears a rashguard and Cornita is chubby, the fight ends by triangle choke for Bearman in round 1, and it doesn’t matter because Rampage has replaced Apple to do announcing. “I told you he was going to sleep. He ‘gon dream about training.”

13) AARON WETHERSPOON vs. VAL LEEDY: Aaron Wetherspoon is a bad dude and you know who he is. Leedy is a kickboxer, and Rampage says he fought him once and said he kicks hard and shit. I think I’ve seen this fight before, actually.

Fight is short and all clinch. Wetherspoon gets in close and gets underhooks, but isn’t able to take down Leedy. After a separation because of low blows, they clinch up again and a knee to the head drops Leedy a just short of 1:30 of round 1.

14) KEITH BERRY vs. JOHNNY VASQUES: Rampage almost leaves, and then apparently decides to stay, which is good, because without him, this shit becomes totally unwatchable. This is at 205. Vasques wears a shirt. Berry is a white dude who looks like someone I went to high school with.

Retardedly low level stuff with Berry winning by KO after some standup clubberin’ in short order. Rampage talks some shit about some unnamed shitty fight, and then gets a cell phone call and has to leave. You can hear him momentarily on the phone, in fact.

15) JOEY ALVARADO vs. JASON WHEAT: Alvarado comes out, and he has a shaved head and bad tattoos on his arms. SHOCKAH. CRAZY HORSE joins the crew. Alvarado wins by armbar and I'm barely paying attention.

16) LUCAS TABER vs. ROBERT DRIMI: Drimi looks way dorky. Taber looks like a high school JV football player. Drimi throws some lame sidekicks and Taber scissors the leg and gets an ankle lock. Crazy Horse and Rampage are commentating and there’s no way I can communicate how good it is.

17) ROBERT ZUNNER vs. ANTHONY MENDEZ: This fight is so awesome, its not even listed on the match list included with the DVD. Rampage regarding Zunner: “He so big, his weight isn’t even listed. He look like Bam Bam Bigelow!…If people gonna be wearing rashguards, he shoulda been one of them. He so fat, he got stretchmarks on his nipples!” Mendez wins by KO in a fight in which no talent is shown. Rampage and Crazy Horse continue talking shit about how fat Zunner is.

After the match, they continue to talk for like 3 minutes and its all gold. They’re still talking when the screen fades out and goes to credits. Rampage: “Join us next time at King Of The Cage. You get like, 20-30 fights, and from that, like, 18 good ones.”

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Rivas/McCullough - Decent midlevel stuff here with a developing McCullough and a vet in Rivas, plus weird circumstances and displays of skill from both.

KO OF THE NIGHT: Acosta/Brink - Sudden and surprising. I was taken aback.

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Zunner/Bourke - You don't see "forearm to throat" everyday.

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: pre Rampage/Bennett announcing: 6, during Rampage/Bennett announcing: 10. If I were a money mark running an MMA show, my crew is now lined up.

---------------------------------------------

POSTSCRIPT:

Nam Pham has somehow found his way to the UFC. For now, at least.

Keith Berry lost a setup fight on ShoXC and has been in collapse since then.

Rob McCullough was brought into Bellator...and promptly took a beating.

Thomas Denny got ripped off at the last Mark Pavelich promoted event.

Mike Bourke beat Ken Shamrock. Yes.

Mike Guymon went to the UFC, got a bunch of undeserved chances, and finally retired.

KOTC: Stand Off (2/22/2008) & Combat Collection Vol. 2 Final Review

Alright, FINAL disc of the Combat Collection Vol. 2, which seems at this moment to be the last KOTC box set ever produced for sale and distribution. This show is coming at you from Soaring Eagle Casino in Mount Pleasant. Inman and Cordiero are announcing this show.

1) Brian Karmolinski vs. Joel Paquette: Lightweight amateurs.

FIGHT: Paquette Submission Rnd 1. Karmolinski gets deep and has the hands locked around both legs of Karmolinski and still can't get him down. He keeps pushing for the double and then the single on the outside leg and Paquette comes around to his back and chokes him out. (0)

At this point, in enters Pappa Schnake. Insert FUUUUUUUUUU jpeg here.

2) Jeremy Joles vs. Mike Sixel: More amateur lightweights. This is actually part of a one night 4 man tournament. Sixel is not new to my eyes having fought on a show I've reviewed before of KOTC that happened one month prior in Wisconsin. He also trains part time at Team Quest.

FIGHT: Sixel Unanimous Decision. Wow, this was horrible. They clinch and clinch and clinch and Joles gets pushed to the cage and he gets hit with about 10 punches during the fight that bloody Joles' nose. Crowd mostly boos after the fight when Schnake demands they make noise. Schnake also makes sure to mention the sponsors of the fighter before they're announced still. I hate hate hate that. (0)

3) Chris Henderson vs. Justin Jaynes: The other lightweight tournament bout. Jaynes I've seen before fighting as a welterweight.

FIGHT: Henderson Submission Rnd 2. Scrappy bout between a couple guys who aren't that talented or skilled right now. Henderson is a decent physical specimen and does a good job preventing Jaynes from staying in top position for very long ever in the fight. He's also got some semblance of a bottom game as is clear by him having submitted Jaynes with a triangle choke when Jaynes tried to enter the full guard in the second. (0)

4) Tyrone Holmes vs. Rodney Sleepers: Schnake takes like 30 minutes to introduce Holmes and sings part of Oh Canada doing it. Is it wrong to wish Big Papa to kill himself? That is perhaps a bit strong. Sleepers has when I've seen him, been totally boring. Middleweight division.

FIGHT: Sleepers Submission Rnd 2. Another Rodney Sleepers signature performance - flails coming in for the clinch, gets the takedown a couple times, generally works to getting the back, has enough time in round 2 to pull the choke off. He is cut when flailing coming forward in round one with a right hand. Both takedowns also didn't come off doubles or singles, but rather suplexes. Not big ones, just tight belly to bellys. (0)

5) Jordan Sullivan vs. Ben Lagman: More middleweights. This is yet another amateur tournament.

FIGHT: Lagman Submission Rnd 1. Lagman overpowers Sullivan in the ring, walking through his punches, getting the takedown, and taking the back. RNC finishes the glorified KOTC special. (0)

6) Tim Farr vs. Jorge Sarat: Couple more local boys I know nothing about.

FIGHT: Sarat Submission Rnd 1. Man, this goes bad for Farr immediately. He walks forward with his chin up punching and eats a right hand that fells him. He mounts him, punches him, and gets a bulldog choke/RNC from the side to finish it. (0)

7) Nick Turco vs. Josh Barnes: Turco once took a beating at the hands of Stipe Miocic that you can read all about here. Josh Barnes epitomizes the modern heavyweight journeyman. This bout is for the KOTC Amateur Heavyweight Title. Tyson Johnson also comes out and starts announcing again and I am so happy.

FIGHT: Barnes Unanimous Decision. Man, terrible fight. Turco tries a couple takedowns and gets stuffed huge. Otherwise the fight is all standup and Barnes lands the occasional arm punch or jab and that keeps Turco from doing much of anything en route to a decision win. (1)

8) Chad Herrick vs. Bryan Harper: Harper has come out from Temecula, CA. Herrick is the local boy.

FIGHT: Harper TKO Rnd 3. Sorta slow fight in the second that at least had some back and forth in the first. Honestly, I wasn't paying 100% attention to this because I don't care about the fighters, an the fight wasn't that important or good. Harper gets some decent takedowns and is in control outside of being rocked by what looked like a potential rabbit punch in the first. He lands a knee while Herrick windmills punches and Harper like flies backwards and lands on his back out cold. Harper has lost three straight, some of which were overseas. Herrick is just irrelevant at 7-6 on a regional level. (0)

9) Jerome Beal vs. Brad Burrick: Chad Burrick's brother was reviewed fighting on this show from 2010. Beal has two prior pro fights - one in 2000, one in 2005.

FIGHT: Burrick TKO Rnd 1. Beal is knocked out with a jab while throwing a front kick. Fight up to that was a mix of sloppy kicks and clinch work that did nothing to endear either man. (0)

10) Mike Sixel vs. Chris Henderson: FINALS! Who will win the lightweight tourney crown? Does anyone care?

FIGHT: Henderson TKO Rnd 2. Man, beatdown city. Sixel goes for the takedown and gets it in round one. Henderson though hangs on and forces a standup. Followup attempts don't go so well, Sixel gasses, and Sixel rushes Henderson at the start of round for the clinch and instead ends up thrown down, mounted, and pounded out with strikes. Henderson never fought again, Sixel made no real noise. (0)

11) Ben Lagman vs. Jorge Sarat: Finals of the middleweight tourney.

FIGHT: Sarat Unanimous Decision. Moderately interesting standup fight with Sarat throwing a lot of wild kicks - side kicks, spinning heel kicks, and the like. Lagman is much more orthodox but he gets freaked out a little and ends up standing at a distance and gets outworked. Its not like he doesn't have a plan - he's bigger and gets a big takedown in the first round. But then nothing happens with it. Lagman gets to be on Bully Beatdown. (0)

12) Joe Voisin vs. Matt Jaggers: KOTC is filling their vacant 145lb champion spot in this bout. Voisin is supposedly the big favorite here and is wearing wrestling shoes. Fight is for 5 3 minute rounds.

FIGHT: Jaggers Unanimous Decision. Jaggers is better standing, with takedowns, and on the mat. Voisin doesn't win a round outside of the 5th (thanks to a hard shot and takedown he gets), and otherwise Jaggers is stumbling Voisin almost every round by straight right hands. Voisin is simply very limited in terms of what he can do. He's a strong wrestler, but against someone stronger and better, how can he implement his gameplan? His boxing isn't good enough to terminate someone's timing or rhythm either. Jaggers rolls here and gets a call from Sengoku not that long afterwards where he does nothing. Most notable about this fight - Jaggers forces Voisin to tap out due to strikes before the bell sounds for round 3, but after the fight is stopped, it is miraculously determined that Voisin, who is the local fighter in the contest, had tapped out after the bell, in spite of it being very clear that it occurred before hand when watching. The fight is then restarted for round 4. (0)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Lagman/Sarat

KO OF THE NIGHT: Harper/Herrick

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Henderson/Jaynes

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 2 out of 10. Crap everywhere. Fighters that don't matter. Fights that aren't good. The main event features flat out corruption. Bad, bad, bad.

D&R Rating: 2% (1/60)

Combat Collection Vol. 2:

Stand Off: 2 out of 10 (2%)

Arch Rivals: 4.5 out of 10 (17.5%)

Collision Course: 5 out of 10 (11%)

Sinister: 3 out of 10 (5%)

Caged Chaos: 2 out of 10 (7%)

AVG: 3.3 (8.5%)

To compare:

Underground Soldiers: 2.55 (5.1%)

Underground Enforcers: 2.78 (8.2%)

Underground Worldwide: 2.7

Underground Warriors: 3.55

Combat Collection: 5.9

Back almost precisely 2 years ago, I stated that I was done watching KOTC shows on DVD. It was, at that point, a waste of time to me. The shows were bad, the fights awful, and they weren't getting better. Look at that comparison of the first Combat Collection to the second. There's a huge dropoff of the rating per fight. In fact, the average card on the Combat Collection Vol 1 is better than the best show the second set offers for pure entertainment value. For actual importance, its not even comparable. The sets are certainly consistent, but they are consistently bad. Its a shame, because there are good KOTC events. I've seen 'em! My favorite B-show of 2010 was a KOTC event. But these? Not so good.

KOTC: Arch Rivals (10/27/2007)

Show #4 from Combat Collection Vol. 2. This is gonna be a short one - they literally throw on two previously aired fights with name fighters onto this show in order to make it more worth your time. What is here is pretty amazing.

Classic fights that start the PPV presentation (Inman and Cal Worsham are announcing):

Jorge Santiago vs. Diego Sanchez: First of the two classic bouts. Never reviewed it, but will skip doing so until I decide to go back to that specific show (KOTC 36, Unfinished Business)

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. Sean Gray: Another classic. This was from KOTC 13 Revolution.

1) Tim Bradley vs. Aaron Buck: Guys for a weight class I didn't pay attention to.

FIGHT: Buck Submission Rnd 1. Bradley goes for the takedown and gets it. Thing is, Buck is apparently cool with working off his back and ends up working the hips most of the round until locking the arm and extending an armbar to force the tap. Buck has no subsequent pro fights that I am aware of. (0)

2) Jack Montgomery vs. Adam Torres: Welterweights Don't know either.

FIGHT: Montgomery Submission Rnd 2. Reasonably competitive fight between a couple guys who really aren't that relevant. Both guys had some good throws and takedowns and did decent ground work, but Montgomery ends up with the last takedown of the fight getting a leg sweep off a body lock, passes to mount, and then punches Torres until he gives up his back and the choke. Torres had some decent throws himself and did a solid job up till then nullifying Montgomery's offensive grappling, but it was for naught. Torres retired afterwards. (0)

3) Hunter Worsham vs. Shannone Callos: Cal Worsham's kid against some BJJ fighter. Welterweight contest.

FIGHT: Callos Submission Rnd 1. Wild contest with Worsham rushing Callos with flailing strikes and they trade takedowns. Worsham eventually uses the cage to flip the two of them on the mat and get on top, but leaves his head in there for a triangle that he eventually taps to. Cal is asking for Hunter to slam his way out, which really isn't the best strategy if you aren't named Rampage Jackson or Ron Waterman or something. (0)

4) Brad Imes vs. Bo Cantrell: Its hard to believe that Brad Imes was a finalist on TUF 2, isn't it? I mean, that was before the series had total crap on it. Bo Cantrell infamously lost to Kimbo and Dave Huckaba in record time.

FIGHT: Imes Submission Rnd 1. Imes brings the gogoplata, which he won an inordinate number of times by. Cantrell actually drops Imes in the early going and they scramble afterwards. Cantrell is on top in the full guard once some leg lock attempts come to an end and Imes works for the gogo. The next fight for Cantrell was indeed the Kimbo Slice bout. (2)

5) Robert McDaniel vs. Dan Molina: McDaniel got a couple fights with EXC later. Molina had been in the IFL and collected losses there to Brian Foster and Ryan McGivern.

FIGHT: Molina Submission Rnd 1. Man, didn't expect that. McDaniel lets Molina get him down by getting real low and pulling the heel out while shooting the double, and Molina starts getting active inside the guard to set something up. That something is a heel hook given to him by McDaniels' flailing open guard. McDaniel tries to fight it off for awhile and then ends up getting himself hurt by not tapping in time. (1)

6) Tony Lopez vs. Frank Appah: Appah is making his second pro fight and states that he has a TKD background. Jesus.

FIGHT: Lopez TKO Rnd 1. Not the greatest Lopez performance. Appah is squared up and strong, sure, but after the first minute or so, the fight slows down tremendously and Appah basically is stuck at the end of Tony Lopez's kicks. I'll say this about Lopez - I was thinking he had Guy Mezger power in those kicks, but then one lands clean to the head with the shin and Appah slowly slumps and takes shots and the fight is stopped. The announcers basically try to cover for Appah having been looking for a way out of the fight by saying that he was looking for a way out of the fight, but, hey, Mazzagatti stopped it early! (1)

7) Bao Quach vs. Chris David: Prefight video for David shows him smashing something. What? Why? I don't know. Lightweight bout. I like Bao Quach fights.

FIGHT: Quach Unanimous Decision.

Quach: I often think of Quach as a gatekeeper with serious grappling skills. I suppose that's true here, even though the fight is about Quach keeping it standing and using his advantage in technique. He's such a smaller guy that it makes his ability to repeatedly fight off the takedowns of David very impressive, and to then counter it with crisp punching and low kicks is huge. He never has David in trouble, but he makes his shots count and he wins through sheer technique over athleticism or physicality.

David: Wants the clinch, wants takedowns. Never gets them. He pushes with his punches rather than snaps them, which means that he can't really hurt Quach and he's slow getting the shots off. He can't check a kick to save his life. David's not an entirely bad fighter. Clearly he has qualities that don't come to light because he can't institute his gameplan, but if you want to be elite or something imitating it, you need to be able to beat midlevel fighters who's best success came at 140. He's not really a guy with a blast double - more of a swim to the clinch and then he tries to overpower. (1)

8) Anthony Lapsley vs. Jaime Jara: Lapsley debuted and did not so well in Bellator. Jara also debuted and did a little better in Bellator. Well, at least he made it a more competitive fight.

FIGHT: Lapsley Submission Rnd 2. Kinda. Officially this is a no contest because Lapsley tested positive for THC.

Lapsley: Elite wrestler? No. Not really. He gets Jara down a couple times but he never really powers the guy down or shows some sort of wild technique with his wrestling. What's wild is that he starts the fight with a spinning heel kick that opens a cut on Jara. They trade submissions in the first and in the second, a tired Jara gets taken down and KOTC Specialed with the RNC. Interesting attempt at an inverted triangle looking thing in the first is worth noting.

Jara: Tough guy who didn't show the gas tank I expected. Decent submission attempts though - he nearly had Lapsley in a heel hook and had Lapsley's back too. (2)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Jara/Lapsley

KO OF THE NIGHT: Lopez/Appah

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Cantrell/Imes

OVERALL FOR THE SHOW: 4.5 out of 10. Substandard show with a couple decent main events (one of which basically doesn't mean anything at all officially) that's bolstered with fights that don't belong.

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

KOTC: Collision Course (8/5/2007)

We're back in Soboba for show #3 of 5 from Combat Collection Vol.2. Steve Inman welcomes us and talks about stuff.

1) Sal Fernettie vs. Issac Newman-Gomez: Fat heavyweights.

FIGHT: Newman-Gomez TKO Rnd 1. Fernettie shows no real talent in the ring except that he's tough, but still manages to take down Newman-Gomez at one point. Newman-Gomez has very rudimentary striking and basically no grappling. Fight ends after Newman-Gomez just kinda rolls himself from being on his back to being in the mount on top of Fernettie and beats the dude out. (0)

2) Josh Miller vs. Tony Cruz: Welterweight fighter. Miller is pretty tall.

FIGHT: Cruz Submission Rnd 1. KOTC Special in progress until Miller just powers his way out of back control and into being on top inside the full guard. Unfortunately, he does nothing with the position and gets stood up. When that happens, the ownage continues. Cruz lands a body kick and knees and then takes down Miller, eventually setting up and getting the submission by RNC. (0)

3) Melvin Costa vs. Sean McCafferty: Costa is a white supremacist with a penchant for prison time. McCafferty is looking mean and has the fans, but is small.

FIGHT: Costa TKO Rnd 1. (0)

Costa: Costa is strong and has heart. And he has some cardio. I can't deny any of that. Talentwise, he is lacking. But against bad fighters, that's all you need.

McCafferty: The guy has something resembling takedown ability and better technical striking, but he is gassed two minutes into the fight and his grappling is basically nothing but control without any real attempt at finishing. He takes a big knee in the second as he tries to shoot in and eats some punches too as he's out.

4) Travis Havens vs. Tim Humphrey: Uhh, I don't know these guys. Welterweights.

FIGHT: Havens Submission Rnd 1. KOTC Special ending in RNC in like, 25 seconds. (0)

5) Chon Stinson vs. Dave Cryer: Cryer had a bunch of wins over non-names and is now not very active, having fought once in about 18 months. Cryer enters to bagpipes.

FIGHT: Cryer TKO Rnd 1. Assbeating. Lands some tight hooks as Stinson runs forward at him over and over. Stinson eats a knee and just turns and runs. Cryer catches him and hits him with a right hand and he drops and turtles up taking shots until the fight is stopped. (0)

6) William Syriapai vs. Soky Aguilar: Really excited to see this. Syriapai is one of my favorite gatekeeper fighters in the sport.

FIGHT: Syriapai TKO Rnd 1. Syriapai shows off his great kickboxing on a moving heavybag. All time, top 10 ass kicking. Aguilar is just retarded hurt by low kicks, and then a high kick that grazes his head causes him to slowly stumble and fall as the towel from his corner comes in. (1)

7) Jesse Beede vs. Ernie Peria: Peria is a cop who fought in the Cop vs. Con fight that was a feature attraction on KOTC Booyaa.

FIGHT: Peria TKO Rnd 1. Beede gets a takedown, Peria sweeps him with a kimura from the bottom, ends up in mount, and punches him out. (0)

8) Junior Kling vs. Cody Bollinger: Really excited to see this kid (Bollinger) again go after some sort of amateur belt.

FIGHT: Kling Unanimous Decision (1)

Kling: Good wrestler who decides to let Bollinger try and take the front foot and its a smart move. He stuffs Cody over and over and over again, gets dominant position, rolls him from north/south on his power, and also lands much better strikes. Kling has fought once in 3 years, unfortunately. He might still be a decent prospect if he puts his mind to it.

Bollinger: Cody totally disappointed me here. He relies on athleticism to try and do anything, basically never setting up the takedown. With no setups, Kling has wrestling skills that are capable of stopping the shot. When that happens, Bollinger's game literally falls apart. He has few moments of success from there in. Hey, at least he's young. Learning experience. You see him learning to throw punches before shooting from way outside late in the bout but it is way too much too late.

9) Edgar Cruz vs. John Brock: Heavyweights. Cruz is so fat, but they give him credit for having taken a fight with Buckley Acosta on a couple minutes notice. Raul Peralta (one of the worst in the game) is reffing now.

FIGHT: Brock Submission Rnd 1. KOTC special, sorta. Modified, if you will. Cruz gets taken down, is mounted, takes shots, and Brock decides to give up the position trying for an armbar, but when that goes wrong he transitions to triangle. Neither is relevant. (0)

10) Dave Rivas vs. Shad Smith: Oh man! This isn't Gabe Rivas vs. Shad Smith but will do. Both dudes are complete journeymen. Did you know that Shad Smith is a decorated street fighter? Did you know Shad Smith been to prison? Did you know Shad Smith is gay? Did you know that Shad Smith is believed to have raped dudes in prison? He himself experienced prison rape in the single greatest beatdown in MMA ever against Duane Ludwig. They even reference how incredible the beating was that Duane gave him. But seriously, Shad Smith is awesome for being so honest now about who he is. I didn't remember he had Tapout tattooed on his body either.

FIGHT: Draw. (0)

Rivas: Gabe controls the first round against the right hand happy Shad Smith by taking him down and controlling the action on the mat with a pair of shots. And it looks like this is, at least initially, going to be easy. Then in the second, Shad throws two punches and shoots. Gabe never expected it and gets taken down on a double leg takedown and ends up being totally controlled the vast majority of the round. With a minute left he is generally nullified from landing anything big while inside the guard of Shad. He doesn't get separation until there's ten seconds left and its 50 seconds too late.

Smith: Smith gets taken down repeatedly in the first but does a good job tying up Rivas and preventing real damage from being done. In the second, he gets the takedown himself. Hey, he was a street brawler, now he's just a not very good MMA fighter. But that's better than being outright bad. He has guts.

11) Reggie Orr vs. Brian Baker: The first really meaningful bout of the night. Baker got to the WEC, Orr to TUF.

FIGHT: Baker TKO Rnd 1. Man, wild, wild brawl. It looks like it'll be over early with a right hand by Orr and Baker comes storming back. On the feet its just tight, hard, bad ass punching that Dana White loves. Seriously, no joke; These dudes threw thunder. As hard as I've seen in a long time. Baker hurts Orr with a combination and then throws knees to the body as he curls up on the mat to force the stop. Fun! (2)

12) Buddy Clinton vs. Clay French: TITLE ON THE LINE. I remember nothing about the first and wrote about that much having seen it years ago now.

FIGHT: French TKO Cuts Rnd 3. (2)

Clinton: Clinton was always a guy who was a BJJ player first. And if you are going to be on your back early in a fight, you need to be great throwing the hips around. Clinton is good, but not great. And that leads to his downfall. French is a good top control grappler who separates wheat from chaff, and Clinton doesn't turn out to be wheat. The fight ends off a really terrible cut somewhere around the mouth that is pouring blood.

French: Strong, small wrestler who might be better suited to 145. Hell, if Mike Brown could win a title and be the top featherweight in the world, why couldn't French have? He just didn't get the opportunity. Or wasn't willing. I don't know which. He's not an elite fighter but no one who isn't good will beat him.

13) John Cole vs. Thomas Denny: Cole drops from 185 to meet a guy at 170 who is really a lightweight. Incredible prefight video pacakge from Denny as the "Mild Man".

FIGHT: Denny Submission Rnd 1. Easy win for the Wildman, actually. Standing, Cole is apparently the shorter man and throws a lot of single power shots. Denny is decent at jabbing the guy up. He takes down Cole, moves to side control, and it turns into a long KOTC special. RNC finish and the crowd is happy. (1)

14) Keith Berry vs. Sean Loeffler: Loeffler was previously seen losing to a lumpy guy making his pro debut. Berry went to ShoXC.

FIGHT: Berry Submission Rnd 1. They rush at each other like sumo to start, and Loeffler is in full mount 8 seconds in. Naturally he does nothing with it and Berry bucks him and gets to his feet. Loeffler rushes him for another takedown and basically does nothing while Berry sets up a slow motion triangle choke and gets the tap. (1)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Orr/Baker

KO OF THE NIGHT: Syriapai/Aguilar

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Cruz/Brock

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 5 out of 10. Nothing stupendous or even really worth chasing down aside from MAYBE the asskicking handed out by Syriapai but this was a generally entertaining show where the low point action wise came in, of all things, a Shad Smith fight.

D&R Rating: 11% (8/70)

King of the Cage: Sinister (4/27/2007)

Another show from the Combat Collection Vol. 2 Boxed set. The show comes from Soboba Casino and we have Kenoda and Inman announcing. Bad sign - "Lots of newcomers on tonight". Oh god. Main event features Laverne Clark. Yes.

1) Aljalon Pace vs. Alex Rickards: Dudes. Rickards has wrestling shoes on.

FIGHT: Rickards Unanimous Decision. Not very good MMA. Rickards controls the pace showing a so-so single and should have had Pace pounded out early on, but there's a standup for no good reason and instead the viewer is forced to suffer through more of this. When they stand and trade its all one shot at a time. Rickards is tuckered out after that opening salvo and so when he gets on top later on, he's nowhere near as effective. Pace has heart but is short on talent and technique. (0)

2) Andy Balmore vs. Nicholas Gallegos: Balmore is from De La O Jiu-Jitsu. The other guy I know nothing about.

FIGHT: Balmore Submission Rnd 1. Balmore is also given a different last name by the ring announcer Tyson Johnson. Why? I dunno. Easy fight with Gallegos being wild as a striker, going to take down Balmore, and Balmore sprawls, pulls the switch, flattens him out, and gets a RNC. Nothing shown from either aside from Balmore having good instincts. (0)

3) Joe Calavitta vs. Ty Gilstrap: Calavitta is a Wildman trainee.

FIGHT: Calavitta Submission Rnd 1. Decently competitive fight with Gilstrap coming out swinging and being a decent little grappler. Calavitta is better though - he almost gets a d'arce but is slammed out and then eventually ends up taking the back of Gilstrap and getting the RNC. (0)

4) Adrian Perez vs. Keith Berry: Adrian Perez is known because he has tons of tattoos on his face. Berry made it to ShoXC.

FIGHT: Berry TKO Rnd 1. 12 seconds after the bell rings, the fight is over and so is Perez's career. Berry knocks him out with a knee and then follows up with punches and Perez needs help to get out of the ring when he finally comes to. (0)

5) Ben Beebe vs. Duane Harrison: Harrison is wearing a plain white t-shirt. Heavyweight "action".

FIGHT: Beebe TKO Rnd 2. Duane was actually doing well standing with Beebe but runs out of gas, ends up getting taken down and gets mounted in the second. This is just ugly looking stuff. Beebe is no longer fighting for whatever reason and Harrison is gone too. (0)

6) Sean Loeffler vs. Uber Gallegos: Gallegos is debuting against a top prospect. What great matchmaking. Loeffler is wearing wrestling shoes and black socks, so he looks like an old Portuguese man.

FIGHT: Gallegos Majority Decision. (0)

Gallegos: Uber might be a newb, but he has heart and good instincts. When Loeffler comes in chin up and hands down, Gallegos throws counter shots that connect. When the fight hits the mat in the second, its the lumpy Gallegos taking down the muscular Loeffler and controlling the position. Gallegos gives the neck up for guillotines repeatedly and Loeffler never takes advantage.

Loeffler: His ground game isn't bad - he gets to mount in the first. But he's not active with ground and pound or setting up submissions. He's more of a blanket. A strong blanket, but a blanket. Stand up in this fight was robotic and telegraphed.

7) Dave Roberts vs. Reggie Orr: Orr was sorta on TUF 7.

FIGHT: Orr TKO Rnd 2. A beat down from bell to bell. Orr hits Roberts with a ton of stuff in the clinch and at distance, utilizing every thing from his muay thai bag of tricks. He even drops levels and takes down Roberts with a double. Just a beatdown. Not even remotely competitive. (1)

8) Lucas Taber vs. Calvin Bell: Light heavyweight fight. Bell is merely 5'9'', Taber is from Team Wildman.

FIGHT: Taber Submission Rnd 1. Bell gets the clinch and a belly to belly, and I'm like, "Hey! Its Proto-Rodney Wallace!" And then Taber rolls and gets a heel hook and Bell taps immediately. (0)

9) Ben Fuimaono vs. Josh Griggs: Fuimaono is claimed to be a boxer or something. Griggs is some guy.

FIGHT: Griggs Unanimous Decision. Fuimaono lives up to his billing in so much as he has no ability to defend the takedown whatsoever. He is repeatedly taken down by Griggs and punished with punches and elbows. His only display of grappling comes with a minute left when he sweeps Griggs from half guard and ends up in north south on top. Fuimaono gives some distance and Griggs scrambles and gets back on top. Whatever. Neither guy has progressed. (0)

10) Jon Murphy vs. Chase Gormley: Gormley got trashed in the UFC and recently lost to a super huge version of Mike Whitehead. Murphy has lost to less.

FIGHT: Gormley Unanimous Decision. Pretty simple fight to understand. Gormley may be new to the sport in this, but he knows to go at Murphy, close the distance, and take him down. He does this over and over and over. The punches he lands busts up Murphy's nose and cause him to gas even faster than he generally does. Murphy does have a couple moments in between standups by the ref - for instance, he lands with the foot throwing a high kick, but it only bothers Gormley a little bit. Since then, both have fallen by the wayside of contenderdom and are now solidly B show fighters for life. (1)

At this point in the show, 2003 Playmate Kitana Baker starts doing interviews.

11) Matt Dell vs. Charlie Kohler: Kohler was once a decent fighter and somewhat well regarded. That was years ago.

FIGHT: Kohler TKO Rnd 1. Easy fight for Kohler, particularly since it seems that Dell has an asthma attack after getting hit with a couple uppercuts against the cage. Dell doesn't even make the takedown too much of an issue with Kohler. Oh well. (0)

12) LaVerne Clark vs. Aaron Witherspoon: Laverne Clark looks old old old. Hard to believe he was still fighting a year later against Jeff Ford.

FIGHT: Witherspoon Submission Rnd 1. Slam gets a slam to start the fight. Shock! I think his attempts early on for guillotines and armbars weren't strong - the first two times he went for the armbar he didn't have it in properly. Clark got caught the third time though and the tapout was forced. The submission "proved" that Witherspoon was well rounded, but that proof disappeared soon. (1)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Gormley/Murphy

KO OF THE NIGHT: Perez/Berry

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Taber/Bell

OVERALL FOR THE SHOT: 3 out of 10. Fairly substance-less event with mediocre fighters doing battle. Pretty sad LaVerne Clark bout.

D&R Rating: 5% (3/60)

RETRO REVIEW: KOTC Execution Day (10/29/05)

Again, another one from the KOTC of the Day thread of yore.

1) STEPHEN THAMES vs. AARON JAMESON: Two dudes I have no familiarty with whatsoever. Jameson beats the dude up pretty bad and wins with a guillotine easily.

2) ADAM TORRES vs. PAT HEALY: Torres is some dude from a Gracie JJ dojo. Healy, of course, went on to some measure of fame being on Ken Shamrock’s Nevada Lions where he did okay. Serious ass staredown too. Healy is way taller.

Healy’s size advantage is a big factor. He slams Torres a couple times easily and uses it to gain dominant position. He eventually gets the armbar and surprises the announcers, ending before the first round passes.

3) PHIL GARCIA vs. DAN MOLINA: This is a heavyweight fight, and I’m kinda worried. Garcia is a Kerry Schall victim. Molina is from Lions Den and looks way blown up here. Like, the Baldwin brother on Celebrity Rehab blown up. Ken Shamrock is cornering him, and I’m sure this would already be Clown’s favorite bout.

Molina shoots in, Garcia is on the ground, but still sorta defending it, though he’s on his ass. Molina rolls him over, and in doing so, opens some space, enough to grab the left foot of Garcia. Garcia rolls back, essentially in a kneeling/sitting position, and when he does that, he traps his own leg in a toehold. Lions Den fighter by leglock. Sorta. Hey, a fitting tribute.

4) JOE COTA vs. JAMIE JARA: Jara is from CAL WORSHAM’S TEAM. WHAT. I didn’t know that. Worsham was a cop, right? Jara looks like a MS-13 member. How does that work? Joe Cota is a dude of a nondescript nature. This is a 185lb fight, BTW.

Good first round, really, Jara gets a takedown and a leg and gets to work submissions on it for a good minute, but never figures out what to do. Go figure that the trainer with a heavy background in TKD isn’t good teaching kneebars. Cota eventually gets his leg free and ends up in top position for awhile, though he’s not particularly effective with anything. Jara is able to force the fight to the feet and when it gets there, they throw down with a lot of looping bombs. Both men are poorly conditioned and with about :30 left in the round, they are breathing really heavy.

Second round is equally fun. Standup is brief and Jara ends up getting the takedown and controls Cota, beating him pretty heavily, attaining mount, and then getting Cota’s back. Cota, nearly being choked out, responds to the camera and perhaps Jara’s camp by giving the middle finger. Chin tucked in, Cota survives, is able to turn into Jara’s guard, and unleashes some shots of his own. Cota eventually leaves Jara’s open guard and stands up, forcing both men to their feet and a slow dance for the rest of the round as they stare at each other, both super winded. Third round is almost sleep inducing though. Cota’s all done and operating off just heart, and Jara has just fumes in the tank, but that’s more than Cota, and thus he wins a primarily slow standup final 5 and takes the decision. And now Jara has fought MMA on national television. What a world. Of course, so has Ray Steinbeiss, so it doesn’t really mean anything.

THIS IS THE MAIN CARD. A BIG VIDEO PACKAGE TELLS ME SO. The ring girls get introduced and shit and I just fast forward past it. Like I give a fuck about whatever local strippers they’re paying $300 to for the show.

5) TAKEFUMI HANAI vs. BUDDY CLINTON: Clinton shares his name with a dead ex-presidential dog, whereas Hanai fought in everyone’s favorite MMA organization with techno music and weird rules about closed guard.

Hanai attempts to channel Genki Sudo and does a weird sideways stance. Clinton takes a few seconds to analyze it, throws a solid leg kick, then takes down Hanai and beats him up. In fact, he’s pretty much totally dominant in the round. Hanai ends up on his feet and does nothing with it, at one point throwing a koppo kick looking thing.

Round 2 has Hanai faking the leaping Mongolian Chop on a standing Clinton and absorbing a right to the face. He clinches up and goes for a ride, with Clinton slamming him hard. Hanai locks up Clinton and gets the fight stood up. While there, he lands a hard right hand that so bothers Clinton that he backs up most of the rest of the round, even as Hanai turns away from him and expresses his discontent with the lack of action to the crowd. Towards the end of the round, Clinton shoots in and Hanai tries a guillotine. It doesn’t work though, and Clinton lays on him till the bell sounds.

Round 3 doesn’t last long. Takefumi lands a hard right hand and drops Clinton, and following punches cause Mazagatti as close to early as he’s ever been.

6) JASON WEISS vs. WARPATH: Warpath is the Gladiator Challenge Native American Champion of the World. Only in the world of combat sports, man. Jason Weiss is a pro boxer as well as MMA fighter, and was picked among Joe Mesi’s early comeback opponents when he got braindamaged. He’s also been knocked out by modern day Bigfoot Martin, sub .500 fighter Demetrice King.

Weiss pops the jab a little, shoots in for some reason, Warpath holds him in a front head lock and hits his back for about 2 minutes. Eventually Warpath gets him down and wins by GNP. Exciting stuff. Not really.

7) SHAWN BIAS vs. URIJAH FABER: There’s prefight segments with both men interviewed, so you know this one is extra important or something. Faber is then the KOTC Featherweight Champ.

Fight is a single round in length, chiefly controlled by (SHOCK) Faber. Bias does throw a kick right at the onset and uses it to get Faber down and take his back, but doesn’t get his hooks in and Faber ends up in his guard. From there, Bias never again puts forth any serious offense, nearly getting caught in a triangle in a weird sideways attempt by Faber and eventually submitting to a guillotine. Faber is now the WEC’s headline star and for good reason.

9) AARON BRINK vs. RICHARD MONTOYA: Montoya is some kid from Lion’s Den. Brink is a full time fighter, part time porn star who isn’t actively horrible, while one would expect Montoya to perhaps be given the place of Lion’s Den in the overall scene of MMA in 2007. Lots of prefight interview stuff for both.

Nothing fight. Montoya shoots at the very onset, gets Brink against the cage and eventually down. Brink is able to get back up but finds himself in a guillotine. Apparently unaware as to how to defend against it, he ends up tripping Montoya, putting himself in Montoya’s guard and has to tap.

10) MAC DANZIG vs. TAKUMI NAKAYAMA: Danzig is the Gladiator Challenge Lightweight champ, Nakayama the KOTC title holder. Nakayama is a fairly mediocre fighter from Japan who is an okay benchmark. Some more prefight interview blather.

I’ve seen this fight before and thus I wasn’t as intruiged by it as others. Nakayama is generally dominated by Danzig from the early going, as Danzig’s wrestling and strength is way too much for Nakayama. As the bout labors on, Danzig gets busy with a flurry on the feet, causes a massive gash on Nakayama with some knees from the thai clinch, and Herb is forced to stop it. Just another stop on the Mac Danzig Express.

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Jara/Cota in a landslide. Two dudes showing a modicum of skill in the cage against each other rather than against far inferior competition. Best matchmaking of all.

KO OF THE NIGHT: Warpath/Jason Weiss: Weiss is ruined by the assault on the ground, and while its not unexpected, the violent nature of it should create some sort of visceral "oh fuck" response.

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Molina/Garcia. Toe hold FOREVER.

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 6.5 out of 10: Not a bad show per se, with nothing outwardly offensive in it and some guys who are decent names in the sport competing in bouts that helped develop their reputation and career. Decent production quality and nothing outlandishly dumb being said in commentary helps out. Honestly, Apple/Williams isn't any worse than a team involving Ranallo and a pro wrestler.

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POSTSCRIPT:

Jamie Jara can now be seen in Bellator.

Pat Healy beat the crap out of Lyle Beerbohm in the headlining position on a Strikeforce Challengers card.

Takefumi Hanai lost to future Shooto 167lb champ Katsuya Inoue and then to Keita Nakamura. He lost a third time in a row to a nondescript opponent in Pancrase then retired in 2008.

Warpath Villareal was last seen nearly beating Brett Rogers in the Canadian Maritime provinces.

Urijah Faber is Urijah Faber.

Shawn Bias has a face tattoo and last fought in 2009.

Takumi Nakayama last fought in December 2010 having transitioned to full bore gatekeeper status in Japan.

Aaron Brink is now well known for appearing on a TLC show about drug addiction.

Mac Danzig is still with the UFC after winning TUF 6.

King of the Cage: Caged Chaos (3/10/2007)

Almost 4 years ago to the date and I'm reviewing this show. Among the notables on the card - Joe Boxer, Cody Bollinger, Kyle Kingsbury, Toby Imada, Bryson Kamaka, Ed Newalu, Aaron "Slam" Witherspoon, Sean Loeffler, and yes, KRAZY HORSE. This show is emanating from the AVI Casino in Laughlin, AKA the other Reno. Steve Inman, Sean Kenoba, and DON WILSON are on the mics. Tyson Johnson is still announcing for them.

1) Craig Turner vs. Calvin Bell: Bell looks old. Fight is at light heavyweight.

FIGHT: Bell Submission Rnd 1. Looks like this won't last long as Bell lands a big right hand almost immediately and Turner goes down. As Turner flails, he gives up a leg, Bell goes for a heel hook, and they roll around a little. Its a pretty amateurish attempt as Bell loses the hold, is mounted, and then just powers his way back into the full guard. When there, he again seeks the heel hook and they roll some. He wins with a straight ankle lock after the two men end up doing the foot lock equivalent of hand fighting. (0)

2) Cody Bollinger vs. Nick Trejo: Bollinger is like 16 here in this 145lb bout.

FIGHT: Bollinger Submission Rnd 2. Bollinger is still one of the best prospects in the 145lb universe. Trejo is a decent wrestler and not only defends Bollinger's suplex early on but uses it to get dominant position and rain down shots on Cody. Cody is resilient though and nearly locks in a d'arce while scrambling and then slowly works his way not only back into the fight but into controlling it. Bollinger dominates Trejo with his wrestling in the second round, closing the distance early, picking up Trejo in a guillotine, and lifting him off the ground and walking with him. Amazing strength for someone so young. He eventually mounts Trejo, hits him a few times, and Trejo gives up the back and the choke. He essentially retires after this. (1)

3) Ernie Calma vs. Gerry Noche: Noche has his name on his gi and looks old. Both dudes are making their debuts. Noche's apparently with De La O jiu-jitsu. Oh, and the announcers admit he's had fights before, just that they were on smokers.

FIGHT: Draw. (0) Sloppy fight between the two where each wins a round. Noche takes the first by outgrappling Calma. He holds him to the cage or takes him down off sweeps and trips, which seems to be his preferred method of takedown. Calma opens the second dropping Noche and pounding him and keeps after it the whole round, being dominant standing and on the mat as well, where he at least stays on top and well away from any submission attempts. Neither guy really turned out to be much in the end. (0)

4) John Cole vs. Frank Park: Another De La O fighter in Park. Cole has a dummy leg with him that he carries in. I wonder what kind of submissions he likes?

FIGHT: Park TKO Rnd 1. Park comes out with kicks, gets taken down, and Cole is controlling the fight. Park climbs the wall, we have separation, and Cole comes in wild with punches, then gets dropped with a counter left and Park follows with GNP until the ref stops it. (0)

5) Sean McCafferty vs. Lars Haven: Haven I've seen a few times prior and, hey, he's not all that good to be honest. This other guy? Probably worse.

FIGHT: Haven Submission Rnd 1. Haven pulls guard and spends his time working on an armbar. He gets it and OH GOD THAT IS UGLY. Lars breaks it and Don Wilson starts talking about how he'll probably pass out soon and go into shock. (0)

6) Tia Castillo vs. Thricia Poovey: Women's MMA bout between girls that aren't relevant.

FIGHT: Poovey Submission Rnd 1. Lots of flailing from Castillo with open palms at the start of the fight, and she takes down Poovey. Poovey starts working for submissions, sweeps Castillo with a triangle, and transitions to an armbar. After struggling for quite awhile, Castillo eventually taps. (0)

7) Victor Valenzuela vs. Albert Hill: Hill has a terrible record as a fighter and is obviously going to lose to Joe Boxer and probably brutally. Or he'll take a dive.

FIGHT: Valenzuela Submission Rnd 1. Joe Boxer lands a one two, drops Hill, Hill scrambles to avoid GNP and sorta falls into a triangle and that transitions to an armbar for the tap. Pointless. (0)

8) Sean Loeffler vs. Dan Axe: Loeffler was being groomed here to be a new star for KOTC, and it didn't work out. At all. He's not bad, he's just not that great. Shoes for Loeffler.

FIGHT: Loeffler Submission Rnd 1. Loeffler throws a superman punch to start, jumps around to Axe's back, gets a rear naked choke, and Axe is out cold in 20 seconds. Ridiculous fight. (0)

9) Angelo McLeroy vs. Kyle Kingsbury: Let's make this simple: Kingsbury was on TUF and has a UFC contract. The other guy no one cares about.

FIGHT: Kingsbury Submission Rnd 1. KOTC special. Distance closed, takedown, punching, takes back, RNC. Whatever. (2)

10) Randy Velarde vs. Toby Imada: Velarde first fought at KOTC 2 in 2000 and has a win over Rob Emerson. He actually was nearly killed in a stabbing. Imada had the inverted triangle seen round the world.

FIGHT: Imada Submission Rnd 2. You see the strengths and weaknesses of Imada here. On one hand, he's overpowered easily and gets taken down a couple times by Velarde. He also loses what seem to be sure thing submissions as Velarde just overpowers him. He's even slammed hard in the second. His takedowns are not explosive but almost more or less classic judo throws and takedowns using leverage. And that's cool to watch, don't get me wrong. I like seeing technique win as it did here. But its also why he's never been much more than a high level gatekeeper. (1)

11) Robert Martz vs. Charles "Krazy Horse" Bennett: Martz's debut. His opponent is a living legend. Two "cops" escort Bennett to the ring in handcuffs. And he's got some hair man. Cornrows and shit.

FIGHT: Bennett TKO Rnd 1. Martz throws a wild shot and jumps in, then gets caught with a couple knees, drops, eats shots to the dome, and the fight is over. Bennett does backflips and dances and talks crazy and man its great. And then they give him a microphone. I should give that a 5 right there. (1)

12) Ed Newalu vs. Ryan Diaz: KOTC 135lb belt at stake.

FIGHT: Diaz Submission Rnd 1. This is the classic example of a fight that nothing really was changed by in spite of it being for a belt of some sort. Diaz locks up a triangle after a prolonged setup when Newalu dumps him on his back. There's not really any sort of striking or anything and both guys are totally ordinary, with Diaz being less ordinary. Neither has fought for a couple years now. (0)

13) Jerry Davis vs. Manny Rodriguez: Fat dudes. Who are they? I don't know.

FIGHT: Rodriguez TKO Rnd 1. Heavyweight title or something up for grabs and they throw wild shots and Rodriguez wins. Rodriguez never fights again. (0)

14) Aaron Witherspoon vs. Bryson Kamaka: Kamaka has a reputation for getting the hell beaten out of him in short order by decent fighter. Witherspoon is a decent fighter.

FIGHT: Witherspoon TKO Rnd 1. Left hook, right hand, GNP, over. 11 second KO. (0)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Bollinger/Trejo

KO OF THE NIGHT: Witherspoon/Kamaka

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: McCafferty/Haven

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 2 out of 10. God, these sorts of shows are hard to watch. So many early stops. Just over and over with bad matchmaking and middling talent.

D&R Rating: 7% (5/70)

KOTC: Prime Time (8/5/2005)

This was an event held at Soboba, and we've got Erik Apple and Michael Westbrook on the mics.

1) Fernando Gonzalez vs. Aaron Torres: I know very little about Torres. And the announcers say very little as well. In fact, they're like working out mic issues or something during the intro to the fight.

FIGHT: Gonzalez TKO Rnd 1. Gonzalez lands a ton of left hands over the top of Torres and that hurts him over and over. He ends up face down on the mat taking shots and verbally submits. A verbal submission in boxing is called a TKO. So there you have it. Torres is all sorts of wild and its no surprise that he doesn't have much of a future in the sport. (0)

2) Jeremy Jones vs. Rob McCullough: Jones is trained by Cal Worsham. Razor Rob, of course, is the only known lightweight quantity that was ever in the WEC and thus the guy who all the rankings and hype is ultimately built on. Did I mention he's now back fighting in Tachi Palace Fights? Once a BShow fighter...

FIGHT: McCullough TKO Rnd 1. Bad mismatch. Jones has a sort of karate/boxing stance going on and likes side kicks. He ends up meeting a right hand after throwing one and he drops and is done. Short, short fight. (2)

3) Shawn Bias vs. John De La O: Bias is one of those beloved scrappy guys in MMA history at the smaller weights. I think his cornerman is 14 and wearing a Maiden shirt. Bias also got fucked up by some dickhead cops and was in a coma. There's a story about the comeback he's made here. De La O was running his own BJJ school in Orange County.

FIGHT: Bias Submission Rnd 1. Bias is better on the feet, but then goes for a takedown. Seems like a bad strategy, but he makes it work by passing guard and then to the mount. De La O did regain full closed guard and got slammed into near unconsciousness. Bias does a great job in this fight and actually secures a guillotine during a scramble that forces the black belt to submit. (0)

4) Buddy Clinton vs. John Paulson: I never noticed this, but I think Clinton plucks his eyebrows. John Paulson is some dude intended to basically lose here and collect $500.

FIGHT: Clinton Submission Rnd 1. Paulson comes to fight and actually drops Clinton at the very beginning with a left hook. But once its in the mat, Clinton twists him up. There's leg lock attempts, he takes top control, eventually this works to a triangle that transitions to an armbar, and its over. (0)

5) Paulo Dantes vs. Jay Valencia: Dantes is a ATT guy who I think is mostly a trainer there these days in kickboxing. Valencia is 2-2 and from Joe Camacho's school.

FIGHT: Dantes KO Rnd 1. Flying knee from way outside goes straight up the middle and lays out Valencia and this one is over. Ref is late in stopping it too and he lands two punches to the unconscious opposition. (0)

6) Shannon Ritch vs. John Alessio: Kind of interesting. I mean, you know who is going to lose here. But still.

FIGHT: Alessio TKO Rnd 1. Alessio corners Ritch from the start and lands a bunch of shots that aren't totally clean, but Ritch drops anyways and turtles up, earning the stoppage loss. (2)

7) Ray Perales vs. Mike Guymon: This card is filled with prospects fighting dudes to get eradicated. Another example is here.

FIGHT: Guymon Submission Rnd 1. Guymon with a single gets Perales down early, and it stays there. He passes guard, lands shots in mount, gets bucked and has to work off his back. He pulls a triangle and forces the tapout. (1)

8) Cub Swanson vs. Mondo Sanchez: The silence for Mondo is amazing. No one reacts.

FIGHT: Swanson TKO Rnd 1. Swanson is the superior grappler by a lot and it shows. He gets the fight down, gets to mount, and just smashes and smashes and forces the stop. Not anything to write home about. (2)

9) Chris Peak vs. James Lee: Another "dude vs. Prospect" fight. Lee is wearing shoes. Rampage comes up and starts doing commentary. They discuss a Tim Persey fight that isn't on the DVD and I am upset.

FIGHT: Lee Submission Rnd 1. He ends up going for an inside heel hook after getting a takedown and posturing up in guard. Peak should have tapped earlier and ends up hurt. (1)

10) Joe Frainee vs. Nam Phan: Phan is suddenly relevant again in the UFC. Didn't expect that, to be entirely honest. Frainee is a dude who doesn't fight anymore.

FIGHT: Phan Submission Rnd 1. Kinda interesting fight. Fight has a long delay due to an early knee to the balls that Phan throws, and when the fight restarts, they trade and Frainee actually hurts him with some left hands and a knee. Frainee actually looks to be in charge, gets a takedown out of the clinch with a trip, and then ends up getting caught in an armbar. Fun. (2)

11) Emanuel Newton vs. Hector Ramirez: This is kinda a good fight!

FIGHT: Majority Draw. (3)

I won't bother to break them down individually, especially with Ramirez being effectively retired. Newton and Ramirez put on a show though, with both men swinging for the fences when punching and doing a solid job of grappling. The only takedown of the fight that was really effective came from the smaller Newton, who got a nice trip on Ramirez. Ramirez won the first round, in my mind, by pushing the action and forcing Newton into the cage and to defend his swarming bombs. By the end of the round, Newton looked like a fresher fighter. In the second, reverse happened with Newton basically pushing around Ramirez and landing better shots and being more likely to throw something resembling a combination. Only being two rounds though was a shame, because it caused what was possibly a unanimous draw. Newton reeled off 9 straight wins after this fight until losing to Trevor Prangley in a pretty horrible fight at MFC 21.

12) Frank Kirmse vs. Thomas Denny: The prefight video package features Denny wearing a mask in a graveyard and beating up a grappling dummy next to a dumpster that says "Victorville Garbage" while wearing facepaint that looks like he stole the design of from pro wrestler Raven.

FIGHT: Denny Submission Rnd 1. Easy fight for the Wildman, who stuffs Kirmse's shot early, lands knees and punches, and goes for a GNP finish. Kirmse shows some gusto and hangs in there, even trying for a poorly executed guillotine at one point, but eventually he ends up being put on his stomach by Denny and choked out with a RNC. Denny wins the 170lb superfight championship. (1)

13) Wes Combs vs. Brian Sesma: Combs got a reputation for having one of the most blown up records ever prior to being in the UFC. Tapout sends a dude with a snare drum to follow him, as he looks like some character from Apocalypse Now with his USMC uniform and tats. Brian Sesma is ridiculously ripped and probably on steroids. He is also known for having no chin whatsoever.

FIGHT: Combs TKO Rnd 1. Sloppy kickboxing fight and Combs hurts Sesma with a right hand and then chases him straight back with more arm punches until one drops him that he never sees coming while running backwards with his face down. Combs really likes leg kicks to the point where it makes no sense for someone that slow to be tossing them. Meanwhile, Sesma fights the complete wrong way for his attributes and pays for it. (1)

14) Gregory Vivian vs. Manny Tapia: 130lb title up for grabs in this fight. Vivian was making his pro debut.

FIGHT: Tapia Submission Rnd 1. (2) Complete beatdown. Tapia gets the takedown early and pounds and pounds and pounds and then passes the guard and gets a side choke. Vivian didn't belong in this fight at any point.

15) Joey Villasenor vs. Jorge Santiago: Oddly important fight. Jorge is with ATT even here, but they haven't really become as vital a camp as they are now. Villasenor is at Jackson, and yeah. Same situation.

FIGHT: Villasenor Unanimous Decision. (4)

Santiago: Jorge is the guy who is more highly ranked in 2011 and for good reason. You see in this fight his achilles heel - that lousy chin of his. He gets his bell rung in every single round. You also see that Jorge's striking was crapola then. The addition of Thomas Davis Jr. to ATT along with their excellent muay thai coaches have turned Santiago into a guy who can throw combinations, unlike here. In this bout, Santiago was very often reliant on single overhand rights and lots of wild kicks. He goes for the shot in the first two rounds and gets stuffed and hurt while being stuffed. He almost knocks himself out in the second. On the mat, Jorge's submission skills looked pretty unimpressive.

Villasenor: Villasenor was better at putting shots together, he stuffed the takedowns, and dominated the clinch game in this fight. One thing that was surprising - every time he had Jorge hurt, he closed in and clinched. Was he afraid of Jorge's power? It sure seemed that way, and that was rather odd given that Joey was clearly taking it better than Jorge. The striking was pretty rudimentary but it got the job done here.

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Ramirez/Newton

KO OF THE NIGHT: Dantes/Valencia

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Bias/De La O

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 5 out of 10. Lots of interesting and actually relevant or skilled fighters against one another in decently matched bouts, along with a ton of prospects beating the living hell out of random tomato cans. Makes for a lot of carnage and a couple really interesting fights. Overall, not the worst show in the world to watch, and one that probably belongs on the shelf.

D&R Rating: 28% (21/75)