Mainstream MMA VII: Vengeance (10/20/07)

Finally making it to TV, another Mainstream MMA show. This event, from 2007, is headlined by John Strawn vs. Joe Pearson for some version of a lightweight title. Really. The fights occupy maybe 40 minutes of broadcast time, with lots of interviews shot at some UFC event comprising the rest of the time.

1) Julian Nava vs. Danny Joe Sykora: 135 lb amateur bout.

FIGHT: Sykora TKO Rnd 1. Sykora controlled this from the beginning, stuffing a shot from Nava and getting on top in dominant position. Nava was able to reverse position briefly, but it didn't matter much. Sykora stood up a minute and a half in and Nava couldn't. Fight was over. Sykora is now 3-0 as a pro, but still far from contention at the moment. (0)

2) Allen Hernandez vs. TJ O'Brien: 160lb catchweight thing.

FIGHT: Hernandez Submission Rnd 1. Another total domination fight - Hernandez gets down O'Brien, bombs on him for awhile in full guard and mount, O'Brien eventually stands up and takes a right hand that drops him and leads to a rear naked choke. TJ O'Brien is now the notable fighter with a record of 13-3, and losses to all the best competitors he's fought. (0)

3) Eric Poling vs. Josh Gutcher: Heavyweights. Gutcher has a shirt and Poling is from Militech.

FIGHT: Poling TKO Rnd 1. Not competitive. Poling lands a ton of strikes and Gutcher falls down. Polins has a 9-3 record today, with zero notable names on his resume. (0)

4) Micah Washington vs. Rod Montoya: Montoya is a longtime journeyman in the midwest. Washington is some guy no one has ever heard of.

FIGHT: Washington Submission Rnd 3. (0)

Washington: Fought pretty darn composed and showed a solid ability to change his position for the better. He landed a solid left hand in the opening of round 3 that helped turn the tide. His submissions aren't bad, but his wrestling is lousy. No fights since 2008.

Montoya: Always game, his wrestling is his base. He was rolled repeatedly from top control and suffers an arm injury that ends the fight and forces him to quit.

5) Joe Vedepo vs. Chris Powers: Vedepo got a shot with the UFC, lost twice, and was back to shows like this.

FIGHT: Vedepo Submission Rnd 1. Not competitive. Vedepo shrugs off a shot and then proceeds to demolish his opponent, eventually winning by kimura in side control. KOTC special type stuff. (1)

6) Alex Rozman vs. Rashad Brooks: Heavyweight fight. Rozman is muscular and over 270. Brooks is some physically soft black dude in Thai shorts.

FIGHT: Brooks TKO 1. Incredible hilarity - Rozman rushes Brooks and expends all his energy with terrible punches for about 1:15 seconds nonstop. Fully square, all arm punches, not even exhaling during his "combinations". Brooks survives and then hurts Rozman with a punch, forcing him to clinch. Rozman gives it up for a last gasp of punches, then gets KOed so hard by Brooks, who proceeds to throw the ref to the side and punch his fallen opponent. Rozman proceeds to go 1-11 in his pro career, beating only his hapless teammate Justin Grizzard and losing to guys like Brendan Schaub & Mark Burch. Brooks is 3-7 with a submission loss to Aaron Stark. (0)

7) Clay French vs. Bobby Mosley: Mosley is billed as 11-1. The official MMA database? 1-0. French is, you know.

FIGHT: French Sub Rnd 1. Jesus, another terrible fight. French gets an armbar after going for a kimura in side control that Mosley tries to escape. Stupid matchmaking. (1)

8) Joe Pearson vs. John Strawn: Journeymen COLLIDE. This also sold like 3,000 tickets. Isn't that fucking crazy?

FIGHT: Pearson Submission Rnd 1. The highlight of a career - Pearson throws a flying triangle in the clinch at the start of the second and lands it. Amazing. (1)

KO OF THE NIGHT: Rozman/Brooks

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Pearson/Strawn

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Washington/Montoya

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 2 out of 10. Basically worthless apart from the flying armbar.

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

MAINSTREAM MMA VIII: COLD WAR (1/26/08)

A middleweight title fight between Ryan Thomas vs. Jesse Lennox headlines this card that eminated from the Veterans Coliseum in Cedar Rapids, IA. Jay Adams and Justin Brown are doing the PBP.

1) ERIC WISLEY vs. MICAH WASHINGTON: Did you know that Micah is a horrible name? Horrible. Lightweight bout, BTW.

First round shows two well matched young competitors operating decently on the mat and in standup. Washington ends up on top for most of the second half of the round but was getting tagged by the occasional punch standing. Wisely is even a pretty solid BJJ artist off his back in addition to being competent standing. Pretty even.

Washington is able to get a takedown early in the round and throws some solid blows. Wisley is able to force the fight to a standing position and ends up taking down Washington with a trip takedown and moves immediately to mount where he bashes his head in with elbows. I like both guys, actually. Rare you see two fighters of this competency fighting each other on the b-shows in 2008. Wisley lost his last fight, but I think he can rebound. (1)

2) TRAVIS NATH vs. MARSHALL BLEVINS: Nath is very young, Blevins is holding a couple hilarious looking titles.

Monster belly to back suplex turned into an urange from Blevins puts Nath on the mat and gives him Nath's back. Nath tries to bridge out of that (!) and gets slammed down very hard by Blevins. He tries to go for the knees, doesn't really connect, and Blevins lands within the clinch with punches and then a big knee of his own. Nath crumples and Blevins rides his back and hammerfists him into oblivion. (0), as neither is really very good or moving forward.

3) SAM JACKSON vs. ROD MONTOYA: Catchweight fight around 160?

Jackson is able to put himself on top early but is cut by an elbow. Montoya tries to go to a high guard and....oh. Jackson picks him up Rampage style but cradles him on the rise, and then drives him in very, very hard. Like a combo power bomb/spine buster. Montoya is stone cold out as the shoulder drives itself deep into Montoya's face. (1) for the slam. Jackson's problem? He is not very good. Apparently this was a rematch that Montoya won the first bout of. Jackson is 5-18 as a pro/amateur combined with losses to Sam Morgan, John Halverson, Jason Black, Joe Jordan, Brian Gassaway, and Chase Beebe, among others.

4) ERIC POLING vs. KEN MCCLELLAND: Another McClelland fight? Oh jeez.

A brief exposition of clubberin'. McClelland may be fatter and older, but he is tougher. Poling is dropped with some punches and McClelland hurls more shots on the ground to earn his stoppage. (0)

5) TED WORTHINGTON vs. TOM GRUBB: I know who's gonna win this. Worthington possesses similar awful belts to another guy earlier in card.

Pearson points out how awesome Worthington is as he spends the opening 15 seconds throwing various strikes. Grubb just moves backwards, waits till after a missed high kick and gets a trip takedown. Hah. Worthington is solid off his back and can at least put himself in positions to perhaps get a submission. Grubb, though, is on offense and is able to defend all the subs while punching his foe. Strange standup late in the round as both were active. Worthington throws a nice flying knee standing but Grubb gets a takedown off it. 

Grubb has another nice takedown at the start of this round and lands some pretty beastly punches. Worthington nearly picks up the armbar and Grubb just pulls out of it. A standup (again, early) follows not long after. Worthington with a near home run leg kick, but again he's taken down afterwards. Horrible standups in this event as a second one comes up. Worthington with a desperation combo seems to stun Grubb, and he pulls guard. Not ten seconds passes and another standup? Ridiculous. I see more mat work in San Shou. Grubb gets another takedown, lands some more shots, and Worthington is tired. 

Some strikes start coming from Worthington and Grubb, believe it or not, shoots in for a double. Grubb really wants to pass and Worthington does a great job maintaining the guard. Right after that stops, a standup. Solid right hand from Worthington, clinch, and, lemme guess, a takedown by Grubb? Well, Worthington pulls guard. Same end result. Pretty vicious ground and pound from Grubb, as if he stops for a second, he is gonna get stood up. Doesn't really bother to try and pass as a result. Fucking ridiculous standup as Worthington's guard is passed. Oh, hey, Grubb gets a takedown. You know how this fight would be over already? If Grubb was allowed to just pulverize Grubb on the mat. Oh!, another standup! Oh, another takedown! Worthington goes for an armbar with merely seconds remaining and nearly sinks it. (1) because Grubb is a solid

prospect and because the fight was actually entertaining and competitive. Would have been a (2) with decent reffing.

6) RYAN THOMAS vs. JESSE LENNOX: "He's a superstar!" says Adams re: Lennox. Uh huh.

Thomas tries to get a throw and Lennox doesn't budge and ends up in mount. Ouch. Apparently, it may have been a "signature throw" for Thomas to boot. 4 5 minute rounds with a potential 5th round. Interesting. Lennox moves to side control and lays there. Oddly, this does not merit a standup for about a minute. When it happens, there's a clinch, some dancing, and then Jesse Lennox with a single leg shot into the slam. Thomas is clearly the larger man but is unable to do anything to stop Lennox. Lennox puts the exclamation mark on the round with a nearly successful guillotine.

Lennox is blasting with low kicks early and Thomas goes for the takedown. Nearly has success, but Lennox sprawls out and ends up trying to stand back up. Thomas lands a knee while there's a point down, so the ref jumps in. Short pause in the action and we're back to it. Lennox shoots for a body lock and uses that for a takedown of his own. Most of the round is then spent on the mat, with Lennox throwing occasional shots and going for some exotic chokes. There's a standup with about 20 seconds left that doesn't really push the fight in any direction.

Thomas is very wild with his punches. He reminds me of a wild Rick Cheek, which is an absurd statement to make for a hundred reasons. The standups are coming much faster in this final round also, and they do little to change the complexion of the bout until the final minute. Thomas gets a single leg takedown and is in half guard looking to try and steal the round with strikes. Lennox regains guard and then locks the arm up for an armbar. The submission comes with less than 3o seconds on the clock.

I liked how Lennox looked here against a serious grappler. Still, I will need to rewatch Adrenaline II to see how his striking has progressed. (1)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Grubb/Worthington

KO OF THE NIGHT: Jackson/Montoya

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Lennox/Thomas

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 6 out of 10. When things should have been bad, they were shockingly interesting. The main event was a bit of a bummer in that so much of it was dominating top game/borderline lay and pray, but that's a small caveat. For what the show had, it was worth watching.

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

Mainstream MMA VI: Evolution (7/14/07)

This is from the Five Flags Center in Dubuque and the announcers are Robby Mikoski and Duke Roufus. Jesse Lennox is headlining the show. There are also some fat dudes fighting and some prospects. I'm sick of doing PBP style reports, so back to the more general reviews.

1) BILL KAMERY vs. MATT WILLIAMS: Kamery I've seen fight Joe Pearson and he mowed that dude down. This is at 140. Williams is 5-1 apparently.

Kamery is like a small version of Matt Horwich but with better standup. Really. Williams is more experienced and yet he gets raped on the ground by Kamery's GNP and eventually Kamery gets the side choke. (1) I like Kamery and hope he's in the WEC soon. He's been in strong and never been past round 1.

2) TJ O'BRIEN vs. ERIC KOCH: O'Brien has a big weight advantage in a lightweight bout. That means he's probably lousy. 

O'Brien uses his strength to get on top of Koch, throw some shots, and then he gets armbarred. Koch is a mere 18 years old at this point. He apparently doesn't care about the Mainstream MMA belt because his buddy has it at lightweight. (0)

3) KEONI KOCH vs. BRANDON ADAMSON: More lightweights. 

Pretty fun little scrap. Both men are willing to trade when standing and they seem pretty equally matched on the ground. Adamson is a better wrestler, Koch has superior jitz and it gets the job done as Adamson gasses/panics due to a cut and takes his back while on the mat with about a 1:30 left. Lots of activity from both in this one, but it was brief and between two very nondescript men. (0)

Pat Miletich joins the booth.

4) RYAN ANTLE vs. TOM GRUBB: Kinda light heavyweight (195 vs. 188).

Fight spends much of the opening couple minutes with Grubb on top in a dominant position (side control). The lack of damage done leads the ref to stand up the fight with about two minutes left and Antle again goes to wrestle down Grubb. Long sequence of clinching against the fence follows and with little time left in the round, Antle gets him down and in mount. Just as soon as he finally achieves some measure of success, Grubb bucks him off and is in his half guard. 

Second round has Antle eating leg kicks, clinching with Grubb, and then getting taken down with a leg sweep and eventually beaten down and out with punches to the dome against the cage. Grubb looks interesting. (1)

5) ERIC DAUGHETEE vs. RAZAK AL-HASSAN: I cheated and watched this match before the night prior to Fight For The Troops. Fight is taking place at 205.

Daughtree comes right at Al-Hassan and throws punches and takes him down. Daughetee is a guy who has no idea that there are three rounds and may end up going past the 30 second mark. Crowd is going bonkers for him, as apparently he's a good amateur wrestler. After 1:15 of the first round, the activity is over, and he's in Al-Hassan's (in) active guard. Al-Hassan easily defends a sloppy leglock attempt and goes on top of Daughetee and spends the rest of the round there. The problem for Al-Hassan, and why he got the call to lose in the UFC, is that he is not very good and can't convert anything from this that is tangible in terms of damage.

Daughetee is blown the hell up at the start of the second round and his shot is easily defended and position reversed by Al-Hassan. Again, same problem as above: Al-Hassan is in mount against someone who doesn't know what to do and he's not able to convert. You know how little happens? Al-Hassan has the back of Daughetee and does nothing for two minutes and gets stood up. We open the third just like the first except in hella slow motion and Al-Hassan survives. After some sad standup, Daughetee gets a takedown and mounts Al-Hassan. Al-Hassan bucks off Daughtee and gives up his arm (oh, in retrospect) and we're back to square one. Standup when Hassan is in mount and nothing much happens from here on in that makes you believe either is an elite talent. The fight ends on the mat with Hassan having been in mount for like a full minute. He wins a unanimous decision and the crowd boos, one because their favorite lost, and two because Al-Hassan is garbage. (0)

6) KEN MCCLELLAND vs. CHRIS CLARK: Fat dudes rolling around.

Fat dudes rolling around. McClelland stops Clark with elbows in side control. Waste of precious time. (0)

7) JESSE LENNOX vs. DARIN BRUDIGAN: This is your MAIN EVENT. Special rules include an overtime round if there's a draw. Lennox had been seen before waaaay back when I watched the April 4th 2008 IFL show. He wasn't that good then. He reappeared on the Adrenaline MMA II event and I don't remember him.

Lennox gets this down lickety split and pulverizes Brudigan until that guy gives up his arm and gets kimura'd. Brudigan wanted this on the ground, by the way. Bad choice. (1)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Koch/Adamson

KO OF THE NIGHT: Antle/Grubb

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Williams/Kamery

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 3 out of 10. Not many highly ranked guys by any stretch, but some prospects, albiet not in entertaining bouts and not with really bright futures.

D&R Rating: 9% (3/35)