NAAFS Cage Fighting 3/21/2010

Another episode of NAAFS. Kalikas and Hindman are announcing as usual, hyping that Stipe Miocic is making his pro debut.

1) Zach Sutek vs. Bryon McCroskey: Light weights. McCroskey loves ink. Amateurs.

FIGHT: McCroskey TKO Rnd 1. Not much of a fight. Some feeling out by nervous guys, then McCroskey lands a big hook and drops Sutek, then follows with GNP until the ref stops it. (0)

Watching this without fast forwarding through commercials, you get to see the Kalikas voiced over promos for future events and the SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY style advert for Jason Dent's gym. Classic stuff.

2) Travis Soto vs. Reggie Parks: Amateur welterweight fight.

FIGHT: Parks Unanimous Decision. Easy win for Parks, who repeatedly takes down Soto with ease and grinds him out on the mat all 9 minutes. (0)

3) Nick Sorg vs. Mike Nesto: Lots of time spent hyping Sorg. Fought a who's who like Jason Dent and Victor Moreno! Uhhh.

FIGHT: Nesto Submission Rnd 1. Wins a pro tournament bracket fight, which matters or something. Easily wins after taking down Sorg and then taking Sorg's back as he scrambles to get up. Choke comes standing. (0)

4) Stipe Miocic vs. Corey Mullis: All about the dude wearing Cro Cop shorts.

FIGHT: Miocic TKO Rnd 1. He's heavy handed, yeah, but the resistance is minimal right now. Miocic defends a take down, moves straight back as Mullis throws a body kick and jumps forward, then blasts him with a right hand down the pipe that ends it. Real opposition, please. (1)

OVERALL FOR THE SHOW: 3 out of 10. Nothing really to get amped about here. Miocic wins in a minute long youtube special kinda KO, but the rest is really filler. Second best looking guy is Parks, who has an inconsistent record as an amateur.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FIGHT: Bacallao Submission Rnd 2. (0)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

D&R Rating: 0%

Real Fighting Championships 11 (2/23/08)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bunch more interviews, including one with Marcus Jones.

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

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

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

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

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

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

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Souza/Malenko

KO OF THE NIGHT: Babcock/Joseph

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Silva/Barrios

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

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

M-1 CHALLENGE: 2009 Season Pt. 5 (Heavyweights)

The final installment, months and months and months late. This I'll admit was tough to do - really, the best fighters did, for the most part, not regularly compete. Those who did and had some additional successful were guys like Rob Broughton (3-0 but no credible wins, loss during the season to Jessie Gibbs) and Jessie Gibbs (lost entering season to Oleinik, wins over Diptchkov and Grigsby, loss after the season to Dion Staring). While they were more successful, clearly their inability to fight at the world class level left me with no choice but to go with guys who picked their shots for the most part.

1) Shane Del Rosario (3-0, 3KOs): Shane Del Rosario entered the 2009 M-1 season as the most interesting heavyweight prospect in the bunch. An undefeated American with some degree of grappling credibility, Del Rosario easily rolled through his three opponents en route to keeping his record undefeated. Shane finished the year by barely scraping by Brandon Cash after being badly hurt early in the contest.

VS. Dool Hee Lee: A mauling: Del Rosario cuts Lee early with a left hand, and later KOs him with a body punch as Lee tries to get the fight down to the mat.

VS. Maksim Grishin: Another piece of quick work. Grishin is down and out from a right hook in the opening seconds.

VS. Lloyd Marshbanks: Marshbanks being a big wrassler goes for the takedown and is successful for a few moments. Del Rosario does scramble and get at least to his feet, where the clinch takes place. Where at that point, Del Rosario starts throwing knees to the body and that's Marshbanks' cue to fall down and quit.

2) Hae Joon "Hungry" Yang (1-0. 1KO): Korea's most notable heavyweight prospect perhaps ever, Yang is undefeated at 5-0. He's young and has backgrounds in BJJ, wrestling, and striking. Well, everyone in Korea has a TKD background, but you know. Yang came from nowhere to collect a massive win over a borderline top 20 heavyweight. Of course, it borders on fluke, but it counts.

VS. Joaquim Ferreira: Ferreira rushes looking for the takedown, as expected, but Yang is able to prevent such a thing and we get wild trading. Sure enough, Yang sparks Ferriera early in the bout and takes out the only man to beat Junior Dos Santos.

3) Alexey Oleinik (1-0, 1 Submission): A long time gatekeeper in the heavyweight mix, Olenik appeared on YAMMA's only event as an alternate and made it to the semis while collecting the one finish of the tournament. Among other successes and failures - tournament losses to Chris Tuchscherer and Michael Kita, another loss in a "normal" Bodog contest to Chael Sonnen, and wins over Sherman Pendergarst, Baga Agaev, and tons of other people you have never in your life heard of.

VS. Sang Soo Lee: The first is only shown as highlights - Oleinik is on top most of the round and we assume it goes to him. And again in round two the bout is generally highlighted with Oleinik's pawing jab leading to takedown attempts, which are often successful. Even when unsuccessful and leading to submission attempts, Lee never seems to have Oleinik in serious trouble. The end comes midway through the round as Oleinik takes down Lee and applies a ezekiel choke from inside Lee's guard.

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

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

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

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

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

FIGHT: Gonzalez TKO Rnd 1. (0)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FIGHT: Cruz TKO Rnd 2. (2)

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

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

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Loughran/Reynolds

KO OF THE NIGHT: Serkez/Krebs

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Stinson/Heleno

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

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

W-1 5: Judgement Day (6/19/2010)

Terry Riggs (promoter), Adam Reid, and Jay Adams are announcing for another Fightzone Presents, this time emanating from Montreal's Pierre Charbonneau Centre. Main event is some korean vs. Denis Kang. Screwing up my ability to review this the way I want, Jay Adams Brawl Call features a couple of bonus fights...but one is extra, extra special. So I'll review those from the 30 minute program first, then onto the 1:30 TV card.

1) Ivan Menjivar vs. Aaron Miller: You did not read that wrong. IVAN MENJIVAR has returned, and this is his first fight back.

FIGHT: Menjivar Submission Rnd 1. (3) Ivan is still Ivan. He tries to go for a judo throw, gives up his back, transitions to a Saku kimura, then when the match is on the mat, he is still dominant there too. Menjivar hooks up a triangle and even has the arm in and can go for the armbar.

2) Juan Barrantes vs. Antonio Carvalho: Another comebacking fighter - this is Carvalho's second fight in his most recent comeback since being a regular in Shooto.

FIGHT: Carvalho TKO Rnd 1. (2) Two dudes start swinging early in this one, but there is some reasonable skill exhibited by both men. The thing that bothers me with Carvalho is that he doesn't come back with shots when defending. Just ends up covering up and letting the shots come in. He lands some strong right hands to Barrantes and drops him. Good showing for a guy who, at a lighter weight could still be relevant.

At this point, Brawl Call shifts to the main event. But I have the rest of the taped card here in a 90 minute program recorded.

3) Misha Cirkunov vs. Roy Boughton: Heavyweights around the 215 mark. Both undefeated.

FIGHT: Boughton Submission Rnd 2 (2)

Cirkunov: Clearly, the Toronto based Cirkunov is the guy favored here. Broughton was brought in because, as the promoter himself says, he's really a 185 lb fighter. And early on, Broughton's attempt to takedown Cirkunov and resulting scramble and back control taken on him make this look wise. But Cirkunov gasses out hard a la Carwin - all those muscles don't help if you don't win early. Standing, he has nothing other than raw strength and eats right hands and jabs. When Broughton slips and falls down, Cirkunov goes to get on top of him, and Broughton sits out, then stands, then scores with a double. Terrible.

Boughton: Boughton is a tough guy from a camp known for making animals like David Douglas and the Diaz Bros. He has no real right fighting a big Euro wrestler, but he sure enough does. His skills on the mat are enough for survival against the bigger man and win the fight. Standing, he has that herky jerky style so many from the camp have, but its effective against a guy who can't punch at all. Boughton is young too - he could be a legit threat.

4) John MacPhearson vs. Bruno Hosier: Hosier is from Quebec, MacPhearson from Ontario. More big ass dudes - Hosier is a pretty ripped 240 or so. MacPhearson is a chunky 249.

FIGHT: Hosier TKO Rnd 2. (0)

Hosier: Former Foreign Legion guy who has no boxing, some grappling, and a kicking technique that screams karate. Looks like he's getting up there in years too.

MacPhearson: Things I learned from this show already - fat dudes take body shots better than dudes who are ripped. C'mon, man. For real? MacPhearson is way too big - maybe as small as a welterweight in reality. Sloppy striking is an understatement. While he's probably a tough guy at the bars, the cage is a different reality.

5) Adrian Wooley vs. Randy Spence: This is for the W-1 bantamweight title. Another title. I tell you, boxing has nothing on this sport. Spence is an 11-9 journeyman.

FIGHT: Wooley TKO Rnd 4. (1)

Spence: Has a 6 inch height advantage. Trains at Cesar Gracie. Can't strike. Can't really wrestle that well. Gets outpowered by a much smaller man. No apparent game from the bottom. When he strikes, he drops his hands. When he moves around the ring, he drops his hands. He gets hit with punches CONSTANTLY. His shots have nothing on them - arm punches.

Wooley: Tiny Matt Serra sort of height, but its irrelevant because Spence lets him land looping right hands from far away and/or clinch at will. Wooley throws him to the mat at one point with a guillotine and hurts him a ton of times with punches before the ref comes in to stop the fight, but you come away knowing for certain that he isn't a legit prospect, as well as the feeling that 135 is a weak point in the sport, talent wise.

6) Denis Kang vs. Dae Won Kim: Kang once looked incredible. Then his girl died. Of course, it looks in retrospect that they both may have been drug addicts, and a kid was left without a mother. Kim destroyed Marcelo Garcia's MMA career and has gotten beaten up a lot by western fighters since and before.

FIGHT: Kang Submission Rnd 1. (3) Kang drops Kim very early in the fight, slowly passes guard, and as he does so slaps on an arm triangle. Totally over-matched opponent. Still unbelievable to see him here. After the fight, they tout a "multi-fight deal" with Warrior-1.

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Cirkunov/Boughton

KO OF THE NIGHT: Hosier/MacPhearson

SUBMISSION OF THE NIGHT: Menjivar/Miller

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 6 out of 10. Between the 2 hours of recording for both shows, there's maybe 60 minutes of fighting, and most of that is the terrible title fight. It really kills the momentum, which for old school fans who loved the pre-UFC period is gonna be a thrill to see with the variety of resurgent names and the appearance of Kang. Like Kang, I have little in terms of expectation for fighters like Menjivar and Carvalho. Too much time away (especially in the case of Ivan) combined with changes in training methodology and increases in the talent pool may render them obsolete. For now, this is an interesting footnote in that period of history - a bit like running a boxing card today with Chris Byrd, Ricardo Williams Jr., and Zahir Raheem on it.

D&R Rating: 37% (11/30)

X-1 Night of Champions (1/26/2008)

An incredible show with a remarkable headliner. Didn't even know going in who was the top name.

1) Wesley "Cabbage" Corriera vs. Jacob Faagai: Faagai is debuting. CABBAGE is the dude who's head is super hard and can't be KOed. Well, until people started doing it. Regularly.

FIGHT: Cabbage TKO Rnd 1. Corriera still doesn't look any different than years ago. Just tosses Faagai down when he shoots. Like, straight back over backwards. Hilarious shit. Faagai actually turns him over and gets to side control and starts smashing. It looks as if he's going to win with GNP! Then HILARITY. Faagai dislocates his shoulder smashing Cabbage, reels back, falls over, and eats a punch by Cabbage. (2) for the incredible one of a kind ending, Cabbage, a random dude that was smashing Cabbage - incredible. Never seen anything like it.

2) Ricky Shivers vs. Kenny Ento: Shivers is the Alaskan middleweight champ. Can't make that up. Oh! This is a tournament. One night only! Who is the other bracket?

FIGHT: Shivers TKO Rnd 1. (0) Ento slams Shivers early and looks to mount and end this fast, but Shivers is able to force the fight back up, takes down Ento, and nearly gets caught in a leg lock. Shivers stands out, then lands a right hand on Ento. Ento ragdolls into the ropes and starts taking punches like its Morrison/Mercer as the ref jumps in. (0)

INTERVIEW WITH CHRIS LEBEN. He looks like Dave Walsh on a permanent heroin bender.

3) Joey Guel vs. Falaniko Vitale: NIKOOOOOOOOO

FIGHT: Vitale Unanimous Decision (3)

Vitale: Winning a decision in Hawaii is hardly a surprise. He deserved it though, having Guel in trouble with frequency standing and on the mat. He's at a technique deficit standing but makes up for it with raw strength and his grappling technique. Even then, you see that Niko is losing a step against increasing competition - he has to force his way out of a kimura from Guel on strength alone. He should be exceedingly thankful that wasn't a serious prospect or current top fighter.

Guel: Guel shows superior standup for most of the bout and actually has a decent ground game. But he's just an OK fighter, and Vitale can defeat those. He shows enough in terms of how immobile Vitale is as well as how open he is to submissions to make you believe that Niko's a long ways away from making another run at a world title. Guel is pretty well done with the sport, it seems.

4) Dave Moreno vs. Eddie Yagin: Featherweights. Super lightweights. Whatever. 145 is the weight class. Yagin and Moreno have been around in Hawaii SO LONG.

FIGHT: Yagin Unanimous Decision (1)

Yagin: Yagin looks significantly smaller, but he's an all around better fighter. He takes down Moreno a few times and lands nice kicks and right hands. Pretty easy fight, all things considered.

Moreno: Hurts his wrist and takes a low blow the ref misses. Add in that he's a step below Yagin in terms of skill and technique, and he's not gonna win. And he doesn't.

5) Michael Brightmon vs. Anthony Torres: Welterweight bout. Never heard of either. Brightmon was in the UFC I guess. 3 minute rounds.

FIGHT: Brightmon Split Decision (0)

Brightmon: Lost to Bryson Kamaka. In 9 seconds. So that is what we are dealing with here. Just a wild puncher with a lot of physical strength. He wins the first round with some strikes that he wings out and then gets on top in the third thanks to Torres gassing and grinds out a decision.

Torres: A wrestler who has some skills on top, but nothing too great. At all. No standup. There's a reason why it was smart for him to seemingly retire and move on.

MOAR LEBEN INTERVIEW ON THE BEACH

6) Ricky Shivers vs. Falaniko Vitale: And now, the finals.

FIGHT: Vitale TKO Rnd 1. (3) Shivers gets nailed with a flying knee early in the first that drops him. Vitale jumps on him, and there's a lot of blood. Huge cut on Shivers' forehead ends the bout.

EVEN MOAR LEBEN INTERVIEW

7) Mia St. John vs. Rhonda Gallegos: UNREAL. THIS IS A FIGHT?????

FIGHT: St. John TKO Rnd 1. Gallegos is a fat mess and St. John drops her with punches. She just crumbles. St. John doesn't jump on her or anything, but does it matter? This is probably fixed. (3)

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Guel/Vitale

KO OF THE NIGHT: Cabbage/Faagai

OVERALL FOR THE EVENT: 5 out of 10. Freakshows of epicness. Niko SMASH. And then decisions that aren't very good.

D&R Rating: 34% (12/35)