The Sprawl And Brawl Video Review 12.25.07: King Of The Cage -Street Fighter
Posted by Randy Harrison on 12.25.2007
T'was the day known as Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. Outside of a Casino there arose such a clatter, I fired up my DVD player to see what was the matter. And what to my wondering eyes should appear? But the King Of The Cage event Street Fighter, with grown men beating the living snot out of each other. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!!
Merry Christmas everybody, and welcome in again to the Sprawl and Brawl Video Review. This week I'll be taking a look at a King Of The Cage show from December of 2002 as they stormed the Soboba Casino in San Jacinto, California to put on this event named Street Fighter. I will forgo the long introduction this week as I'm sure you're all busy with the usual Christmas fun and frolic, so enough with the preamble. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Are You Adequately Prepared To Commence The Throwing Of Fisticuffs?!?" Eat that, Michael Buffer!
This event is part of the huge ten-event, five-disc set King Of The Cage: Underground available here.
King Of The Cage - Street Fighter
A variation of the usual KOTC introduction video with a couple of new highlights this time, but on the whole it's just the same old, same old from them in their bundled DVD sets.
Match One: Catchweight
Frankie Bollinger (0-0) vs. Cesar Moreno (1-2)
Moreno is giving up ten pounds to Bollinger and has a bit more professional experience but not by much. Both guys are relatively young into their careers at this point so I'm expecting to see a lot of raw talent but also a lot of rookie mistakes.
Round One
Erik Apple is introduced as the color commentator and I still have no clue who this play-by-play announcer is and the fight starts out with Bollinger rushing into a double-leg up against the fence and Bollinger scores the takedown into a short slam. He tries to improve his position from Moreno's guard but Moreno tries for a triangle until Bollinger picks him up and runs across the ring, ramming him against the fence and then slamming him down into side control. Bollinger tries for mount but ends up stuck in half guard, pushing Moreno against the fence before mounting him.
Bollinger lands some short punches to the head and body and Moreno tries to bridge out of being mounted but nothing comes of it. Bollinger with a big forearm strike and he tries to gain some seperation but Moreno is able to pull things back into full guard. Moreno has good body control as Bollinger lands some knees to the ass and continues to press Moreno up against the cage. Bollinger works on the ribs of Moreno and backs off to let Moreno stand up. Moreno stands and they're back to Bollinger taking a double-leg and dropping Bollinger for another takedown. Bollinger has top position with punches to the ass and ribs to end round one.
Easy round to score for Bollinger but you can definitely tell that he's a wrestler first and a striker second as he got on top and basically played the position game for the entire round. A better striker would probably have been able to finish Moreno with the positions Bollinger had.
Round Two
The bell rings and Bollinger tries a leg kick but Moreno catches him with a glancing right hand over the top. Moreno tries a kick to the body but Bollinger ends up catching it and turning it into a double-leg pick-up into a slam against the fence. Bollinger takes the back and is trying for a rear naked choke with both hooks in now. Moreno defends against the choke while Bollinger lands a couple of shots and tries to squeeze with a crossface around the face and chin of Moreno.
He apparently gassing himself out in the process as he lets it go in favor of some punches with not a lot left on them. He lands a lot of shots to the head and chin of Moreno who is in duck and cover mode here. Bollinger goes body-body-head a few times and the referee has seen enough and calls it. It didn't look like Moreno was taking a TON of damage because those punches weren't very hard, but he wasn't defending himself and just kind of turtled up so I can't say I disagree with the stoppage on this one.
Winner: Frankie Bollinger, TKO at 1:47 of Round Two
We have a Tyson Johnson sighting!! Hells YES!! He's doing the ring announcing in a tuxedo/leather gloves combination that looks like a doorman in New York City come wintertime. My guess is that with the gloves, and with Erik Apple talking in the previous fight about how cold it was, that this is an outdoor event taking place during the evening.
Match Two: Heavyweights
Timothy Mendoza (0-0) vs. Lobo Lobo (0-1)
Mendoza is a big boy clocking in at 6' even and 300 pounds while Lobo (it's cool we're on a first name basis like that) checks in at about 240. Lobo has the one fight under his belt, a loss to Jason Lambert and looks to be legitimately like 50 as he makes his way to the cage. Either it's REALLY cold there or both guys are a little embarassed about their physiques as they both choose to leave their shirts on for this one.
Round One
King Of The Cage makes my holiday with Cecil Peoples being the referee for this one. Mendoza bullrushes Lobo against the fence while Lobo tries to hit him with elbows as Mendoza picks him up for the takedown. Lobo grabs the head for a guillotine but Mendoza passes it into half-guard and starts working punches to the body. No arm in on the guillotine so it's sunk it pretty tight but it's up to Lobo to use the proper technique to finish. He doesn't and Mendoza pops his head out and moves into side control and Mendoza goes over the top looking for a head and arm choke but Lobo blocks it. Mendoza lands some shots to the head and then takes the mount position and Mendoza is looking to try a smother or something as he just mashes his chest meat into Lobo's face.
Lobo tries to buck but can't get him off. Mendoza is trying to land some forearms but can't get anything on them and Lobo is trying to keep body control. Mendoza had a keylock for a moment and goes back to the the titty smother before posturing up to try to land some strikes and Lobo manages to take that opportunity to reverse and get out from under Mendoza. Lobo standing behind a kneeling Mendoza and pops him with a good right hand to the back of the head and Mendoza gets a single-leg into a takedown. Lobo pulls the t-shirt over the head of Mendoza, hockey fight style, and tries for a triangle from the bottom but can't close it up, instead settling for full guard.
Mendoza with a couple of strikes from the top but there's nothing really on them. Mendoza tries to pass and does so into a back side control with Lobo holding one of his arms underneath. Lobo rolls onto his back and into side control again with Mendoza landing knees to the back and side of Lobo and some punches as well. Peoples stands them up and they start again with Lobo landing a stiff jab to the face of Mendoza. Mendoza is staggering a little from being muscle weary as the round comes to a close.
That would be a Mendoza round for him being on top, but again, if it was someone who had anywhere near decent striking skills this fight would have been over for sure. These guys are REALLY showing their inexperience in this one so far.
Round Two
They touch gloves and Lobo lands a hard inside leg kick and a bit of a front kick followed up with a jab. Lobo keeps flicking out the jab but Mendoza ducks under it for the takedown. Lobo fights it for the most part but still ends up on his back although Lobo tries for the guillotine again but Mendoza gets out of it and ends up on top in side control. He takes the mount but Lobo to his credit explodes up and manages the reversal and takes side control on Mendoza, landing a flurry of hard right hands and hammerfists. He scores a couple of uppercuts and Mendoza turtles and grabs a leg and gets another takedown to get out of trouble.
Cecil Peoples calls for time and stands them both back up. It looks like he's taking a point away from Lobo at this point but I can't figure out why but apparently the point is taken and the fight resumes. Lobo hits a couple of left jabs and a BIG right hand that stuns Mendoza but Mendoza immediately shoots for the takedown and gets it into Lobo's guard. Mendoza controls an arm and passes from half-guard into mount and Lobo taps out. I have no idea what from but Lobo taps out.
Sweet jesus that was a sloppy fight. I think I'd have seen a bit more technique from a couple of drunken perverts over at the KittyCat Lounge on a Friday night. I mean there was technique involved, cause I seriously don't think I'd ever see a triangle attempt in a REAL streetfight, but it was barely above a streetfight in terms of skill level.
Winner: Timothy Mendoza, submission (I ain't got a fuckin' clue from what) at 2:35 of Round Two
Match Three: Lightweights
Danny Byrket (2-3) vs. Louie Vaith (2-1)
I don't know a whole hell of a lot about either guy so I'm just going to go into the fight rather than try to blow smoke talking about a bunch of jibber-jabber.
Round One
Byrket lands a side kick and throws a head kick that gets blocked withing ten seconds of the opening bell, before throwing another couple of kicks to keep the taller Vaith at bay. Vaith with a good body kick in response and a combination that hits nothing but air as Byrket backs off. Vaith keeps flicking out a jab trying to find the range before landing another body kick. Vaith throws a high kick that misses and Byrket hits a good left hand and moves to clinch Vaith against the fence. Vaith starts working the Thai clinch and lands some knees to the body and goes back to the clinch against the fence.
Vaith lands a couple of body punches and a hook to the head before settling for short body punches. Byrket with a short knee to the body but Vaith is doing more damage with knees and uppercuts, working dirty boxing to perfection. Vaith is UNLOADING to the body with hard hooks to the ribs and kidneys and Byrket is just up against the fence taking them. Vaith is just mauling him against the fence with more knees and punches and Byrket finally has enough and reverses to put Vaith against the fence. Byrket hits a good left hook over the top and puts together a combination to the body before dropping for a double-leg and scoring the takedown.
Byrket lands a body shot before Vaith reverses and ends up in top mounted position on Byrket. Vaith presses him against the fence and starts landing some strikes from the mount with forearms and postures up for a good flurry of ten or fifteen punches with some forearms and hammerfists and he keeps the pressure on with strikes until Herb Dean is forced to step in and call the fight.
Vaith looked good here and seemed like he had some potential, but it doesn't look like he followed up on it much and apparently is out of MMA altogether at this point. Shame as he looked like he had good stand-up and decent enough skills on the mat that could have served him well. A good win for him here though as he pretty much wiped the floor with Byrket.
Winner: Louie Vaith, TKO at 3:35 of Round One
Match Four: Middleweights
Mansour Heidari (3-1) vs. Louis Jablowski (0-0)
Two more relative unknowns and the lack of ring entrances and commentators talking about fight backgrounds and things like that is starting to hurt this particular DVD set. Again, I'll just jump right into the action.
Round One
Jablowski loads up with a big right hand but Heidari just ducks it and goes into a bodylock, scoring the takedown and ending up in half-guard. Jablowski tries to work a half-butterfly guard but eats a right hand for his troubles and he goes back to full guard. He controls Heidari's head and avoids damage from the bottom and it looks like he's trying to hold for a stand-up. Heidari grabs a keylock from the guard and tries to finish but Jablowski kicks him away and lands an upkick when Heidari tries to get back into the guard. Another upkick lands but Heidari takes it and moves into side control on Jabolowski. Heidari lands a forearm to the face and a couple of elbows to the ribs before landing some hard body punches to the gut. Heidari tries again for the keylock but he can't land it as Jablowski powers out of it.
More forearm strikes to the head by Heidari and he grabs for that free arm again to try set up a submission. Jablowski rolls onto his stomach and Heidari gets ahold of his head trying for a guillotine and he's squeezing and landing some knees. Jablowski tries for a single-leg that misses and Heidari lets go of the guillotine and lands a big right hand. Jablowski is hurt and ends up getting taken down again and trying for a guillotine of his own. Heidari in the full guard again and pushes Jablowski against the fence and starts landing some strikes from in close. Jablowski is trying for an omaplata and when Heidari slips out of it he lands a couple of HARD punches and the ref calls for the bell.
Winner: Mansour Heidari, TKO at 4:20 of Round One
Match Five: Welterweights
Asher King (0-0) vs. Matt McPherson (0-0)
This would be King's one and only MMA fight in his career, so he either ends up retiring undefeated or retiring winless after this one. McPherson is also debuting here, but he would choose to continue fighting after this one, ending up defeating George Lopez by submission in 2004 (I love his stand-up comedy but that sitcom is just painful to watch so I'm glad he got beaten up) and also fighting and defeating someone named J P in 2005 with a guillotine choke. No last name, just J P. I swear these smaller shows have some guys with the weirdest names ever.
Round One
Great, they're both shaved bald and they're both wearing black spandex fight trunks with white trim. This should be a real treat for me as a recapper/reviewer. Merry Christmas to me. King throws a high kick and a combination to start out with as I realize that one is wearing black gloves while the other is wearing yellow. Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. McPherson gets the double underhooks and they scramble around in the clinch before McPherson takes him down with King on the bottom. McPherson ends up landing some shots in the guard but nothing really damaging at this point. He starts working combinations to the body and head and ends up almost mounting in the butterfly guard of King. King scrambles well and pushes away from the fence giving up a bit of a pass into half-guard.
McPherson keeps landing the strikes and catches some forearms shots as well that land and he starts really working over the body of King with hard punches. McPherson tries to pass again but ends up back in the full guard and he's just pressing King's neck down against the mat before landing a couple more strikes. King looks to try for an armbar with the high guard but McPherson ends up pulling out of it, posturing up to land a few more strikes. McPherson is staying constantly busy from the top, not really doing a ton of damage but still trying to land hard strikes and pass the guard. King tries for an armbar or triangle and McPherson ends up in side control for a moment before getting pulled back to guard. King is just down there and not able to get out from under the bigger, stronger McPherson. The round ends with a McPherson flurry from the top as the bell rings.
All McPherson in this one and if he had been able to do a bit more damage or landed a couple of devastating strikes it could have been 10-8 easily. McPherson owned the top position for the entire round and he completely dominated every aspect of the round.
Round Two
King lands a couple of good leg kicks and throws a combination that glances off of McPherson to start round two. King comes forward with a Superman punch that lands to the face and rushes forward with a combination that forces McPherson to drop down to change levels and try for the takedown. King pulls guard and McPherson ends up on top landing some strikes to the body again from the full guard of King. McPherson scores some knees to the ass and Cecil Peoples stands them back up. King with a high kick that hits the shoulder and elbow of McPherson before opening up with a combination of shots that lands.
McPherson shoots in again for the takedown and King reverses it and takes the back of McPherson but as King tries to roll through it for the armbar ends up losing the back control and ends up on the bottom with McPherson on top in full guard again. Cecil Peoples stands them back up right away and there's a good roundhouse kick from King that lands and as he backs away McPherson grabs the Thai clinch and lands two or three HARD knees to the face. McPherson shoots again for the double-leg and scores another takedown against the fence.
McPherson passes into side control/half-guard and starts landing some hard forearm shots and almost secures the mount position before King pulls back into the butterfly guard. McPherson pushes a crossface forearm along King's cheekbone and keeps trying to land strikes but King has been able to avoid most of the damage. However he's also not able to do anything from the bottom and McPherson looks like he's going to win this one as the round comes to a close.
Another dominant round from McPherson. A little closer in the fact that King landed some solid strikes that he failed to in the first round but he still ended up on his back and controlled for the entire round, taking shots from the top while not dishing out any from his back. McPherson two rounds to none in my book and the judges see it the same way.
Winner: Matt McPherson, Unanimous Decision
Match Six: Welterweights
Thomas Kenny (2-2) vs. Steve White (1-3)
White comes into this one off of his highest profile fight, losing to Yushin Okami in Pride, on one of their "The Best" shows that served as a precursor to the Bushido series, only two months previous. Kenny comes in at 2-2 with what looks to be lots of experience on the local level as well as some solid King Of The Cage experience so it will be interesting to see if White has the advantage by fighting on a bigger show, or if Kenny has it from fighting previously in KOTC.
Round One
White flicks out his jab to start and throws a leg kick that Kenny comes over the top of with a one-two combination. White connects on a hard leg kick and Kenny hits a leg kick of his own and uses a lightning-fast shot for a takedown, putting Kenny up against the fence and is in the guard for a moment before they scramble with White leaving his head out, allowing Kenny to slap on a guillotine. White pops his head out of danger soon enough and pushes Kenny away, JUUUUST missing with a huge right hand. Kenny scores again with the takedown after a one-two lands for White, ending up in White's full guard and trying to push him up against the fence.
Kenny lands a few hard left hands before White regains body control and ends up pushed up against the fence. Kenny looks to be regaining for the next flurry of activity and here it comes with a big combination of punches that the announcer calls "flurrious" which is an interesting word. Kenny hits him with another flurry and they're back to being in the full guard with not much happening. White manages to avoid a lot of damage and lands a couple of strikes from the bottom and the referee stands them back up. White rushes forward with a combination and they end up clinched against the cage with White landing some knees. Kenny tries for the takedown again but White is able to sprawl out of it this time and avoid the takedown but it still is Kenny in control.
They break the clinch a little and Kenny lands three or four hard knees to the face of White before taking the clinch again and trying for another takedown attempt. White reverses and clinches Kenny against the fence, landing some strikes to the legs before Kenny uses a throw takedown to get White back down to the mat. Back into full guard and Kenny is landing some shots up against the fence and White is actually throwing some from the bottom. Kenny ends up landing a couple of headbutts that cause the ref to step in and a point gets taken away from Kenny for the headbutting and it looks like this will be a 9-9 round.
Kenny owned the round and then did something stupid in the last ten seconds to hand it back to White, or at least even things up. A really silly move that speaks to Kenny's lack of experience I suppose as he's only six fights into his career. That being said, it's your job as a fighter to know the rules and if you break them, you get punished. He got the right punishment for the violation for sure, but it's a shame to see a good round get squandered when it didn't have to. Even round heading into the second.
Round Two
They touch gloves to start out and then circle for twenty second or so before Kenny shoots in for the takedown. White times it and lands a glancing knee to the head before giving up a hard slam takedown. White ends up being able to reverse and gets on top of Kenny but just as quickly, the referee stops the action and takes a point away from White for striking with a downward elbow. I didn't see on but I suppose. At least it evens things up in terms of the penalty points and puts the fight back on even terms. White looks confused about the whole situation and they touch gloves again on the restart.
White fakes an uppercut and smiles as he misses. Kenny lands some leg kicks and White throws a right hand that Kenny ducks under for the takedown attempt. White pushes Kenny up against the fence but Kenny has the double underhooks and uses those to reverse position. They clinch and White pushes away, throwing an elbow before he gets taken down by Kenny with a trip takedown. They're into White's full guard and Kenny is trying to pass, landing some strikes and throwing some forearm shots from the guard while White tries to stay active from the bottom. Kenny is in the middle of a flurry and the referee stands them back up. White comes in for a combination but Kenny closes the distance immediately and scores another takedown.
White throws up a high guard and tries for a submission but Kenny ends up pulling out of it and moving back to the regular guard and Kenny lands another few strikes before the referee stands them back up again. Kenny connects with a left hook and then ducks under for another shot, scoring the takedown yet again on White, who looks lost on how to defend against them. White takes full guard again but Kenny has him pressed against the fence and is starting to ground and pound, grinding and pressuring with some hooks and punches and White finishes with a bit of a flurry from the bottom to end the fight but it won't be enough.
Kenny won that round as well and what should have been 20-18 fight ended up being a 19-17 fight after the points got deducted from each fighter. Kenny had top position and scored takedowns at will while White seemed to not be able to get the better of anything, standing or on the mat. The judges agree and call it two rounds to none for Kenny giving him the unanimous decision nod.
Winner: Thomas Kenny, Unanimous Decision
Match Seven: Welterweights
Reggie Cardiel (3-2-1) vs. Freddie Duran (0-0)
Boy, I tell you, it's tough to find information on some of these guys that's for sure. Duran disappeared after this fight and Cardiel's career has been spotty at best, but they're in the cage and ready to throwdown so let's see how it turns out.
Round One
Duran walks right through a side kick and gets a throw takedown into side control right off the bell. Funny that I knew that and yet the guy commentating got them confused and thought that Reggie was the one that did the throwing. Jackass. Duran working side position and landing a couple of knees from the top before Cardiel pushes him off and gets back to his feet. They circle and Cardiel lands a HARD high kick to the head that staggers Duran a little and Duran shoots for a clinch to try to recover. Duran lands a knee and an uppercut inside before scoring that throw takedown again.
Duran with a good knee to the body and Cardiel looks like he's going to try to buck out or roll, taking things back into his half-guard. Duran tries to pass and Cardiel just misses with an upkick before things end up back in the guard. Cardiel is close to a triangle but doesn't have the position and Duran backs out and Cardiel kicks him off and they stand back up. Cardiel with a high kick again that just misses and Duran rushes forward but ends up coming off balance and almost eats an uppercut, but manages to get the takedown on Cardiel. Cardiel rolls through with it though and tries for a leglock but doesn't have it yet. They're trading leg lock attempts and neither guy has anything yet.
Cardiel has a heel hook that looks a little sloppy but can't close it off to finish and they go back to trading attempts. Cardiel pulls his leg out and comes out of it on top in side control landing some forearms and strikes to the body from the top. Cardiel stands up above a turtling Duran and lands some heavy shots as Duran tries to score a takedown. The problem with that being that he leaves his head hanging out and Cardiel snatches it and locks in a guillotine in full guard, falling back and drawing the tap from Duran.
Winner: Reggie Cardiel, submission (guillotine) at 4:30 of Round One
Match Eight: Middleweights
Joe Crilly (1-0) vs. John Cole (2-1)
In the ten seconds of entrance that we get shown with the fighter stats, Cole comes to the cage with some sort of spear which makes me pine for full entrances to be shown, just so I can figure out what the hell that thing is.
Round One
Crilly tries a one-two that misses but gets some shots to the body as Cole turns and we see a black question mark dyed into his short pink hair. That's quite the look, that's for sure. Crilly reverses a clinch and puts Cole against the cage, landing a couple of knees to the body. They both kind of chase each other around swinging haymakers but no one connects at this point and they seperate to the center of the cage. They stand and trade in the center and they're both landing some decent shots as hooks with both hands are landing from both fighters. They move to the clinch and Cole has double underhooks, taking a knee to the body before scoring a HUGE double-leg takedown into side control.
Cole starts landing some shots as Crilly tries to turn to his side and Cole now is just kind of laying on top of him at this point. Cole scores a couple of short forearms and a hard shot to the body and Crilly tries to turn again but eats another few punches as Cole tries to mount. Crilly gives up his back and then shrugs Cole up and over and they both end up back on their feet. They're back to slugging again and Crilly gets the better of it landing some combinations and scoring with some good hard lefts and rights forcing Cole to cover up but there's not a lot landing. Crilly tries the takedown but Cole scrambles back up and lands some HARD knees to the body followed by three or four good uppercuts that pop Crilly's head back up.
Cole grabs the double-leg and drags Crilly down against the fence and takes his back, landing some knees as Crilly tries to stand up. Cole scores some HARD punches as Crilly regains his feet and Cole scores a few more hard knees to the head and top of the head. Crilly pushes him away and they stop the fight for a moment to clean up some blood from Crilly's nose. They restart and Crilly comes forward with some WILD punches that miss and he ends up on his face and knees on the mat with Cole on top throwing some knees as Crilly stands. Cole clinches him against the cage and Cole misses the takedown allowing Crilly to take his back and sink in the hooks with rights and lefts to the back of Cole's head and that's the fight as Cecil Peoples calls for the bell.
It didn't look like a lot of those shots were getting through but it was a lot like the second Liddell/Ortiz fight when Randy Couture said "The fetal position is not an intelligent defense." Cole wasn't in any real danger of being hurt badly but he was just taking the shots and not doing anything to defend himself so Peoples stepped in and called it. Crilly looked horrible for most of the fight but sprung on the opportunity when it presented itself and finished strong.
Winner: Joe Crilly, TKO at 4:30 of Round One
Match Nine: Lightweights
Joe Camacho (2-3) vs. Matt Stansell (0-0)
Stansell is making his fight debut here and might be familiar to fans of the Sprawl And Brawl as being one of the color analysts from one of our previous reviews of a King Of The Cage show and he's fighing out of the North County Fight Club which counts Jason Lambert as a member so he's probably got at least a little bit of skill. Camacho comes to the cage in full gi and has a considerable amount of experience in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, so look for him to be comfortable on the ground if the fight ends up there.
Round One
Camacho rushes forward with a right hand that misses and Stansell grabs a Thai clinch and starts throwing knees and Camacho lands a hard knee to the body. Stansell pushes Camacho against the fence and clinches him landing a leg kick and knees to the body from the clinch. Camacho pushes off and throws a good standing elbow and they struggle in the clinc with Camacho reversing him, pressing Stansell against the fence now. They seperate and start throwining with Camacho getting the better of the exchange, landing a hard right uppercut and a front kick before Stansell grabs the Thai clinch again.
Camacho uses great position to judo throw Stansell to the mat, ending up in his full guard. Camacho drops for a heel hook and Stansell does well to roll out of it and end up on top of Camacho in guard. Stansell is in the closed guard and isn't really doing much of anything at this point, finally getting free to land a couple of strikes but Camacho is working full body control at this point showing his jiu jitsu skills. Stansell lands some lefts to the body but there's nothing on them at this position. The referee is looking at them long and hard and the crowd is starting to turn on the fight and there's the referee in there to stand them up and Stansell looks like he's cut or perhaps has a bloody nose.
They stop the fight to clean him up and then they're right back to it with Camacho attempting a flying knee up the middle that misses and he follows it up with a couple of uppercuts that land an a hard hook to the face. Stansell throws a punch and Camacho ducks under it and they're into the clinch with Camacho in the Thai clinch throwing a couple of knees. They clinch against the fence and as the action slows it looks like with the blood coming out of it and the telltale cut across the bridge that Stansell has a broken nose, from some of Camacho's uppercuts no doubt. Camacho lands a right hand over the top in the clinch and Stansell pushes Camacho up against the fence.
The referee seperates them again and they bring the doctor in to get a look at the face of Stansell. They restart and Stansell rushes this time with Camacho countering, landing a couple more hard uppercuts, forcing Stansell against the fence and he's covering up as Camacho lands about eight or nine good hard uppercuts before using a judo throw to get Stansell down again. Stansell is in full guard and turns it over to reverse the position ending up in side control on top of Camacho and raining in the forearm shots. The bell rings and honestly if the round had been about twenty more seconds I think Stansell could have stopped it.
They look at the cut between rounds and determine that Stansell is just too hurt to continue and they call a stop to the fight. It looked like Stansell sensed that it might be stopped and tried to flurry hard to finish the fight before the end of the round but he came up just a bit short. A good fight from Camacho though as he controlled the stand-up and scored takedowns at will. Full marks to him on the victory.
Winner: Joe Camacho, TKO at 5:00 of Round One
Match Ten: Lightweights
Jamal Perkins (6-0, 1 NC) vs. Robert Emerson (0-1)
Perkins is a veteran of the Hawaii and has fought mainly on the island with this, I believe, being his first fight on the mainland. Emerson, of course, you'll all remember from the TUF season 5 where he was a competitor, including the memorable No Contest with Gray Maynard at the TUF 5 Finale. Emerson has one fight coming into this one, but it's a hell of a fight as he took Jens Pulver to a decision in his first ever MMA bout.
Round One
They circle and feel each other out before Emerson comes in with a combination and Palmer shoots in for the double-leg, pushing Emerson back up against the fence. Perkins switches from a single-leg to a double and picks Emerson up and slams him after some good takedown defense from Emerson. He grabs Perkins' head but there's nothing there and he lets it go in favor of securing full guard. Perkins presses him up against the fence but isn't doing much to strike starting out before backing up and throwing some hard strikes. Perkins eats a couple of upkicks in the process and avoids an armbar attempt before landing a couple of solid strikes to the face, forcing Emerson to scramble back up to his feet.
Perkins has the back standing and throws Emerson back down, ending up in guard against the fence again. Perkins postures up to throw some strikes but Emerson tries for body control and is trying to move his guard, ending up in a north/south before they scramble back up and Emerson lands a hard knee to the head after stuffing another Perkins shot. Perkins holds onto the shot against the fence and Emerson sprawls out well again avoiding the takedown and even reversing Perkins against the fence and they seperate. Emerson throws a high kick that just misses and they go back to circling before Emerson lands a HARD leg kick.
Perkins shoots in and scores the takedown again into Emerson's full guard with Emerson working body control but eating forearm shots. Perkins working the forearms as he moves Emerson over to the fence and Emerson starts throwing up a high guard for a possible triangle but Perkins pulls out of it and starts to land some ticky-tack strikes to the head and body from the guard to end the round.
Perkins takes that round pretty easily being in top position for most of the round and scoring multiple takedowns. Emerson had a little crisper strikes but didn't land enough of anything to make it his round. He'll have to change that in the second round to avoid another loss.
Round Two
They both feint and fake and Perkins fakes a shot with Emerson flashing out a knee to try and time it coming in. Emerson throws another high kick that misses and as Perkins comes in with a jab he absolutely EATS a spinning back fist from Emerson that puts him almost onto his ass. He staggers forward into a double-leg and manages to score the takedown against the fence to avoid any more strikes from Emerson. Perkins scores some forearms and right hands to the head while working lefts to the body from Emerson's full guard. Emerson tries to work the body control again and Perkins just kind of mauls him without landing much by way of strikes.
Perkins finally gets busy with some hard punches to the body and a couple to the face. Emerson pushes him away and lands an upkick before Perkins comes back down into the guard for more non-damaging, but point-scoring ground and pound. Perkins moves Emerson up against the fence again and starts to land some strikes and tries to pass into side control but Emerson moves back to guard and scrambles back to his feet. Perkins changes levels again and shoots for the double-leg that Emerson sprawls to avoid for a moment before giving up the takedown again. Nothing of note happens on the ground and the referee finally decides to stand them back up.
Perkins lets loose with a stretch like he just got out of bed and then Emerson throws a front kick and gets taken down after it gets caught. Perkins is back on top and doing not a lot from the top and Emerson is controlling from the bottom and the referee stands them back up again a lot quicker this time. Emerson lands some hard shots before Perkins gets back to the double-leg and lands a takedown, scoring a flurry on Emerson. Emerson reverses and manages a takedown of his own right at the bell but it's too little, too late.
Perkins wins more based on position than on any actual damage. They called him a brawler going in but during the fight he seemed a lot more content to just lay on top and score the points for top position rather than risk dealing with Emerson's striking which looked WAY better. A bit of a borefest with it being a lot of laying around on the mat with no real action.
Winner: Jamal Perkins, Unanimous Decision
Match Eleven: Heavyweights
Wade Shipp (2-1) vs. Raul Delgado (0-0)
Delgado making his fight debut here, as are a lot of the guys on the card and Shipp is only a little better with three pro fights here. He would actually go on to make his way to the UFC for a one-time fight, and he fights out of the same North County Fight Club I mentioned earlier, but that's about all I have on either guy so let's get the fight underway!
Round One
Shipp with the jab and Delgado rushes in with a bit of a flurry of strikes and grabs a headlock before Shipp suplexes him into a takedown. Delgado holds onto the headlock and Shipp pulls out of it and takes his back and sinks the rear naked choke in with the hooks locked up and draws the tapout from Delgado, holding the choke an extra second and then pushing him away afterwards in a bit of a cockish move which he tries to apologize for immediately. They shake and Shipp apologizes again and Delgado is bleeding and fustigated even after only thirty seconds.
Match Twelve: Lightweights
Shad Smith (3-2) vs. Mike Bertuccini (1-2)
Smith looks to be more of a striker in this one while Bertuccini looks to be more of a punching bag. All kidding aside, it looks like Smith is being fed someone that he can beat to help build him up a little bit, but as we all know, this is MMA and anything can happen once that cage door closes.
Round One
Smith whiffs on a BIG left hand and Bertuccini shoots in for the takedown but Smith shrugs him off. A huge left hook lands for Smith and rocks Bertuccini, taking him down to the mat. Bertuccini recovers quickly and gets the single-leg into a takedown but Smith has a guillotine on in half-guard. Bertuccini tries to pass but ends up in a full guard with the guillotine and he tries for a kneebar and ends up giving up his back before Smith ends up on top in side control. Smith landing some hammerfists and Bertuccini tries for an armbar but Smith ends up pulling free of it. Smith tries to isolate one of the arms while in side control and lands more hammerfists.
Bertuccini locks in an armbar attempt again but Smith is able to avoid it and pull back into side control. Smith ends up landing some right hands before Bertuccini gets him into fully guard and Smith tries for the can opener before they scramble to their feet again. Bertuccini tries for a shoot but ends up getting it stuffed and eating a TON of right and left hands from Smith. Bertuccini grabs the clinch and falls back into guard and Smith is on top and throwing some hard punches to the face. Bertuccini looks to be cut on the nose and eats a little more punishment before they scramble back to their feet.
Smith misses an uppercut but hits another big left hook and stuns Bertuccini again. Smith mauls him with shots to the body and another hard right hand to the head while he presses Bertuccini up against the fence. Smith hits a hard left uppercut and Herb Dean stops the fight to let the doctors check on Bertuccini. They apparently decided that he had enough because they go ahead and stop the fight.
Smith looked like an animal here, completely destroying Bertuccini on the feet and staying out of trouble on the mat. A great showing from Smith who had explosive striking and the quickness to make sure his shots landed.
Winner: Shad Smith, TKO at 4:00 of Round One
Match Thirteen: Welterweights
Dennis Hallman (23-7, 1 NC) vs. Ronald Jhun (14-9-1)
Jhun, most of you know from my previous review on the WFA 1 show, where he fought Jermaine Andre, and I touched on his experience in beating guys like Joe Stevenson, Shannon Ritch, Pete Spratt, and Dave Strasser. Hallman is most famous for his twin destructions of Matt Hughes, defeating the former UFC Welterweight champion on two seperate occasions in a grand total of 37 seconds. That's something to hang your hat on no matter how the rest of your career turns out.
Round One
They touch gloves and Hallman immediately shoots in, taking a knee to the gut but securing the double underhooks, transitioning to an over/underhook combination and Jhun ends up pushing Hallman up against the fence. Hallman reverses it and lands a knee to the face of Jhun and tries for a trip takedown against the fence. Hallman turns it out into the center and scores the trip takedown. Hallman starts landing forearms from the guard and Hallman postures up with a quick left hand and passes into side control for a moment before Jhun gets it back to half-guard.
Hallman looks for a head and arm triangle but can't get it and Hallman is in a half-mounted position and raining down the strikes with lefts and rights that are starting to sneak through on Jhun. Jhun throws a high guard up and Hallman catches one of his legs and scores another couple of strikes including a HARD right hand. Hallman into half-guard again from the top and he stands up to try to land and ends up eating an upkick. Hallman pushes him against the fence and tries to pass but eats another upkick and decides to stay in half-guard and work the hammerfists.
Hallman is getting some advice from Dan Henderson in his corner and he keeps trying to work the strikes from Jhun's closed guard. Jhun looks like he's trying to lock in a triangle but Hallman stands up and tries to back out of it, landing rapid fire left hands and Hallman transitions into a kneebar and he cinches in on it but Jhun manages to hold on until the bell.
Great round for Hallman as he did everything right and came out on top, setting himself up well for the second round. Superior position game and a some solid striking from Hallman looked to overwhelm Jhun in the first.
Round Two
Jhun backs Hallman down and Hallman looks tired and almost disoriented to begin the second round, flipping out a weak high kick attempt that Jhun easily avoids. Jhun starts landing knees and combinations and Hallman turtles up taking a lot of shots that Jhun is loading up on, landing some hard lefts and rights and Jhun gets a takedown into the full guard of Hallman. Hallman starts striking from the bottom a little and Jhun starts landing shoulder strikes to the chin, pushing Hallman further up against the fence. The referee stands them up and Henderson gives Hallman a friendly bout of screaming advice.
Hallman with a crazy right hand that misses and Jhun hits him with a good front kick and another combination that lands and Hallman looks like he's hurt pretty badly or exhausted. Hallman takes a hard right hand and then a front kick followed by a left to the body and another right hand, before he ducks under for a takedown attempt. Jhun reverses it into the top position in Hallman's guard and continues with the shoulder strikes as the announcers bring up that Hallman took the fight on essentially a week's notice, which explains the gas tank issues a little bit better now that I know that.
Jhun lays on Hallman and scores another shoulder strike and Jhun tries to pass out of half-guard into a better position but Hallman manages to sweep off of the pass. Hallman falls back into guard and Jhun is back on top, pushing Hallman against the fence and trying to ground and pound his way to a win. Jhun with shots to the body and a good combination to the head and Hallman locks in a triangle that looks nice and tight. Hallman is rocking the hips and trying to close it out and Jhun lasts out the final ten seconds locked in a deep, DEEP triangle, punching Hallman in the ass to end the fight.
A great round for Jhun, minus the slip-up at the end that almost cost him dearly. Jhun picked him apart and I could even see that going a 10-8 because of how little Hallman offered by way of offense. The only thing that may have saved Hallman from an outright loss was that deep triangle attempt at the end of the fight. The judge's decision comes in and it is in fact a draw.
Winner: No One (draw)
Match Fourteen: Heavyweights
Vince Lucero (5-1) vs. Jimmy Ambriz (6-0)
Ambriz comes in undefeated and after this fight would move on to the WEC and other promotions like K-1 Hero's to fight the likes of Ricco Rodriguez, Josh Barnett, Jerome LeBanner, and Justin Eilers. He is huge, and I mean HUGE, checking in at 6' even and 300+ pounds. Lucero is a big boy himself clocking in at 275 pounds. Ambriz is wearing a belt on his way to the cage, but judging from how easily King Of The Cage hands out belts for Superfights, Weight Division Champions, North American Native American Green Beret Freedom Fighter Champions and Kitchen Sink Junkyard Fight Champions, I wouldn't think that this belt has any huge siginificance in the lexicon of MMA. Lucero is stepping up from the even smaller Rage In The Cage promotion where he put together a pretty good 5-1 record, albeit against somewhat less than stellar competition. It should be interesting to watch these two big boys slug it out in what looks to be our main event for this card.
Round One
Ambriz rushes to clinch and scores the takedown on Lucero relatively easily against the fence. Ambriz in Lucero's guard and Lucero is working from the bottom but eating a lot of lefts and rights. Ambriz is just pushing Lucero against the fence and landing some HEAVY leather. Lefts and rights flying in from Ambriz and Lucero is just trying to hang on and hope for the best but right now the best is Ambriz landing punches to his face. Ambriz pulls into half-guard and looks like he wants to pass into side control and Lucero looks pretty badly beaten up at this point. Ambriz is leaning and curshing on Lucero and landing more punches as Lucero finally lands a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Ambriz keeps working away and landing punches here and there, passing into side control and Lucero tries to push off and scramble to his feet. Ambriz works the knee to the midsection and pushes Lucero down, landing more left and right hands. Lucero rolls and tries to get away from the punishment and Ambriz mounts him. Lucero is a mess from eating all those punches and he gives up his back to try to avoid some shots but he's just getting eaten alive in this one. Ambriz postures up and lands some more hard strikes, further bloodying up Lucero. Lucero rolls to his side and Ambriz looks like he has a head and arm triangle locked on and he's squeezing away and it looks like Lucero passed out in the choke. Thankfully for him it's over as he looks like he got ran over by a truck. His face is a bloody mess and he's swollen to all hell.
Wow. Ambriz looked like a bear just ripping and clawing away at someone they've decided to attack. Lucero is lucky to get out of this one with all of his teeth and limbs intact in my opinion. As lopsided a fight as you'll ever see in a sanctioned MMA event.
Winner: Jimmy Ambriz, submission (head and arm triangle choke) at 4:33 of Round One
No video package or anything to take us out, just a replay of that vicious, vicious beating we just witnessed. That's it for the event, folks.
I'd like to thank everyone for reading again, and personally would like to wish all of my readers and everyone who works for, enjoys, reads, writes, or has anything remotely to do with 411mania, a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I've been welcomed into the 411 family from Day One with open arms and I appreciate everyone's hard work and support and thank them for making my time here so far, the best three months I've had working any job. I only hope to be able to continue here for a long, long time and to continue to help the site grow stronger and larger as my time goes on. In the mean time and in between time, I'll see you all here next time for an all-new, all-awesome, all-action, Sprawl and Brawl Video Review. Happy Holidays Everyone!!
The 411: An interesting event, but just an event that was kind of there in the end. A casino needed a cheap night of entertainment and King Of The Cage fit the bill. No real huge names, no exciting, undiscovered talents, and just a night full of guys that were making their starts in MMA. A good event with a few decent fights but very middle of the road, with no real historical impact or even an impact on the state of MMA during the timeframe.
