The Sprawl And Brawl Video Review: King Of The Cage - Booyaa
Posted by Randy Harrison on 01.01.2008
The Sprawl and Brawl is here to cure all that ails you after a wild New Year's Eve. It's a card stocked full of fights and there's a little bit of everything for any fight fan to enjoy. Ring in 2008 with King of the Cage and join me as we enjoy a little hair of the dog with BOOYAA!!!!! I swear, I don't know why they called it that.
Hello friends, and welcome in to the cure for the New Year's Day hangover, The Sprawl and Brawl Video Review. This week we're looking to October of 2006 and we're back at the Soboba Casino in San Jacinto, California for the King Of The Cage event Booyaa. Yes, that really is the name of the event. I almost wish it wasn't but it is. We've got a big main event with Cub Swanson taking on Charlie Valencia in a lightweight war, and there's eighteen, count em, EIGHTEEN fights in total so enough yapping from me, let's get to the action from the cage.
This King Of The Cage event is part of the five-disc, ten event Underground Worldwide box set available here.
King Of The Cage - Booyaa
We're right into the cage with Tyson Johnson and his usual "Are You Rrrrrrrready?" spiel, complete with the echo effect which makes it that much cooler and we're set to get the fight going.
Match One: Bantamweights
Keith McDaniel (0-0) vs. Dave Kelly (2-1-1)
The camera angle for this show is from through the links of the cage like you were in the front row of the event. It's an interesting look at the action but at the same time when you're so used to seeing the action from above the cage it can be a little distracting. I hope it isn't.
Round One
Herb Dean gets us underway with the bell and they touch gloves before Kelly scores a takedown into side control against the fence as soon as they're clinched. McDaniel tries to push off the cage and reverse or sweep but ends up giving up his back to Kelly. Kelly ends up trying for the rear naked choke and it looks like he's starting to lock it in, at least with the arm under the chin. Kelly gets the hooks in as McDaniel tries to roll out of it and he tightens the arm under the chin, essentially locking in a one-armed guillotine. McDaniel tries to hand-fight to get the arm out from under the chin but instead ends up allowing Kelly to get his second arm free and he secures the choke completely, flattening out McDaniel and drawing the tap. We get some piped in crowd noise that sounds like it's coming from a Hannah Montana concert as it's lots and lots of high-pitched screaming. You mean 10 year old girls aren't huge MMA fans? My view of the world and all of my illusions have been shattered, I swear.
Winner: Keith McDaniel, submission (rear naked choke) at 1:58 of Round One
Match Two: Catchweight
John Delacole (0-0) vs. Robert Dupont (0-1)
Quick and dirty as it usually is for King Of The Cage as they're straight from fight to fight and there's nothing in between. These are the big boys, as I'm hoping they reinforced the doors and the cage and Delacole comes out in his shorts and t-shirt like he's a guy that just ended up in the crowd that they said "What the hell, let's let him fight." A HUGE size disadvantage for Dupont as he's giving up almost 100 pounds to Delacole. Did someone swap out my King Of The Cage dvd for a Pride dvd when I left to go to the bathroom or something? Tyson Johnson even cracks a smile as he's leaving the cage, I'm assuming at how the little guy might get eaten. The announcer says that he thinks that they're the only organization that can put on fights like this. I make the assumption that it is because they are putting the fights on at the Indian reservations where it's pretty much anything goes. Though I do question how PROUD they should be of having mismatches like this, I guess, anything to make yourself different to the public.
Round One
Delacore immediately looks over his head and backs away from Dupont's punches. Dupont grabs a clinch as Delcaore grabs him in a headlock and tries for a guillotine. Dupont gets a hole of a single leg and actually gets Delacore onto his back before coming back to his hands and knees. Delacore is dropping punches into the ribs of Dupont and Dupont scores another double-leg takedown into side control. Dupont on top and raining hammerfists in until Delacore turns and gives up his back to avoid them. Dupont gets the hooks in and slaps on the good old rear naked choke and forces the tap.
Winner: Robert Dupont, submission (rear naked choke) at 1:10 of Round One
Well, that was pretty much what I expected it to be. Yuck.
Match Three: Welterweights
Bill Monsoor (0-0) vs. Ricky Cantrell (0-0)
Monsoor trains jiu-jitsu so we know what he's going to try to do in this one. Get it to the mat and work for a submission. Monsoor is making his fight debut and looks like he's ready for it, angry and mohawked. Cantrell is also making his fight debut and he looks like he's a younger guy, possibly young enough to have been the guy that delivered my paper this morning. They talk about his wrestling background and that he's going to want to take it to the mat, which might not prove to be a wise move for him.
Round One
Monsoor rushes in and Cantrell immediately changes levels and drops down for the double-leg and scores the takedown. Monsoor from the bottom looks for a guillotine but there's nothing there and Cantrell gets ahold of Monsoor's head and tries the same. Monsoor pulls his head out and wraps a tighter guillotine on Cantrell and drops guard as well, cinching it in and making Cantrell's face turn purple before Cantrell wises up and taps out.
Winner: Bill Monsoor, submission (guillotine) at 0:42 of Round One
Match Four: Middleweights
Ruben Taigle (0-0) vs. Brian Savoia (0-1)
Taigle is apparently a bit of a straight-up, stand-up guy and likes to bang. They talk about how Taigle has a ton of heart and that he seems like he just loves to fight. Savoia is a hometown boy fighting out of San Jacinto. They don't really talk much about Savoia an....BWHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAHA. He fell getting into the cage. Boy, someone's a little amped-up I'd say. Either that or scared to death.
Round One
Taigle comes out and throws a good right hand that just misses and hits Savoia in the midsection with a nice side kick. Taigle isn't throwing punches with any real technique and he's just kind of flinging them out there like it's a bar-fight. Taigle is also working the kicks, landing leg kicks and another body kick to Savoia. Taigle misses with a wild left hook and scores another kick to the body as the color guy trots out the cliche of "These are just four ounce baby gloves, and if someone catches you, you're out". If I hear that one more time I swear to god someone's getting hurt. I can't stand hearing Joe Rogan spout that off EVERY single UFC show. Taigle gets a clinch and lands a WICKED Thai knee right to Savoia's receding hairline and flatlines him, crumpling him into a heap on the canvas and that's that.
Well I guess that Savoia's stumble was nerves..cause he sure didn't look amped up to me in this one. They help the local guy up and he still looks pretty woozy from that knee.
Winner: Ruben Taigle, TKO at 0:46 of Round One
Match Five: Welterweights
Mark Kempthorne (0-2) vs. Donald Sanchez (4-2)
Kempthorne is training out of Vandenberg AFB which is actually fairly near me and has already served a tour in Iraq. They talk about how good his cardio and shape is and how big his heart is, and they talk about how he's said he thinks that after seeing things in Iraq, getting in the cage is easy for him. They don't say a lot about Sanchez as he makes his way into the cage which leads me to believe he might have been brought in to give Kempthorne a win.
Round One
They touch gloves and we're on to the action, as Sanchez lands a leg kick and Kempthorne tries for a combination that misses. Sanchez fires back with a couple of combinations of his own that land and Kempthorne has had enough of that and shoots in for a takedown. Kempthorne scores the takedown and crawls Sanchez over to his own corner and from the bottom Sanchez tries for an armbar, flipping Kempthorne over and trying to lock in the submission. Kempthorne pulls his arm out and ends up on top of Sanchez' back and Sanchez tries for a takedown but it ends up back to their feet after Kempthorne sprawls.
They end up in the clinch and trading knees with Sanchez landing some harder knees to the body before Kempthorne BARELY misses landing a knee to the face. Sanchez hits a leg kick but eats a straight left before landing another leg kick. Sanchez lands a couple of punches and they exchange again before Kempthorne shoots in and scores another takedown into Sanchez' full guard. Kempthorne working the ground and pound with HUGE elbows and lots of punches on top as Sanchez tries for an arm again and has a high closed guard. Kempthorne and Sanchez end up in some sort of bizarre north/south and Kempthorne turns to try to land some punches and they end up scrambling where Kempthorne takes Sanchez' back with a hook in.
Kempthorne tries for the rear naked choke and Sanchez does well to defend against it, avoiding the choke and hand-fighting to keep Kempthorne from locking it in. Sanchez tucks his chin to his chest and keeps Kempthorne from locking it in, riding out the storm and even eating a few punches to the face, but avoiding the choke and surviving the round.
Kempthorne takes the first round with the takedowns, the top position and the back control in my eyes and he just has to make sure he didn't gas himself with that choke attempt at the end of round one, and avoid any trouble from Sanchez' high guard.
Round Two
Sanchez throws a leg kick and Kempthorne tries for a takedown that gets sprawled out of. Sanchez forces Kempthorne onto his back and lands about fifteen or twenty hard rights and lefts from the guard and Kempthorne just eats punches and punches. He throws up a high guard and gets an armbar attempt multiple times but Sanchez pulls out of it and avoids the armbars, as they roll and scramble, ending up with Sanchez in side control. Kempthrorne rolls over for a takedown attempt and ends up giving up his back to Sanchez and Sanchez tries to sink in both hooks.
He has the hooks and lands punches underneath to the face and Kempthorne rolls to try and get away from them. Sanchez now trying for the rear naked choke and Kempthorne doing some good work from underneath to avoid giving up controp of Sanchez' hands. Kempthorne ends up letting go of one of the hands and eats a TON of punches before trying to roll out of the back control again. Sanchez is just LOADING up with these right hands, landing them crossface-style to the head of Kempthorne, throwing in some hammerfists as well.
Sanchez goes back to trying for the choke but he lands some more hard punches and punishes Kempthorne a little more before trying for that choke again. Sanchez just pounding with lefts and rights from the full back control and Herb Dean has seen enough of the punishment and that's the fight.
The replay shows the ground and pound at the end of the fight, and Kempthorne apparently did end up gassing himself with that submission attempt at the end of the first round as Sanchez dominated the second entirely, landing a ton of brutal shots and causing the stoppage.
Winner: Donald Sanchez, TKO at 4:14 of Round Two
Match Six: Welterweights
Chris Reedy (0-0) vs. Conrad Miles (0-0)
Reedy comes down to the cage ready for battle and he's a Pennsylvanian who's made his way out to California to start training and fighting. Apparently has lived in the gym he trains out of for a time after moving cross-country. Miles is coming in now and they're both guys that are making their fight debuts. The color commentator is actually Reedy's trainer and they talk about the fight gym in San Bernardino and the color guy jokes that all they do in San Bernardino is fight and shoot people. The other announcer schmuck tries to backpedal away from it by saying that it's BB guns and water guns and not real weapons. Yeah, when I'm fearful for my life from gang violence it's always going to be those water guns that make me the most nervous. Jackass.
Round One
Miles shoots in immediately for the takedown and Reedy reverses it and they scramble back to their feet with Reedy landing a solid knee to the face of Miles. Reedy has a bodylock and ends up on the bottom off of his own takedown attempt, but successfully scrambles back up to his feet again. Miles catches Reedy with a glancing right hand shot and Reedy takes it and fires back with one of his own, catching Miles on the button with a straight right hand that puts him on his back. Reedy pounces and mounts Miles, raining in lefts and rights and a couple of solid elbows before he keeps pounding. Reedy looks down and sees that Miles is knocked out and tells Cecil Peoples that he is out and asks for the fight to be stopped. Good job Cecil, way to be on top of that stoppage. Christ Cecil, did you want him to end up dead or something?
Winner: Chris Reedy, TKO at 1:15 of Round One
Match Seven: Heavyweights
Adrian Perez (1-9) vs. Josh Lewis (0-2)
They introduce Perez as having 5 wins and 8 defeats. Huh..I wonder why they would end up lying about someone having a 1-9 record? Perez is also tattooed all over his face and the commentator says that "he'll fight you anywhere, even in the bathroom, that's how good he is". No, it's not how good he is, it's how much of a criminal he is if he's going to try fight you in a bathroom. Jackassery abounds tonight, and I'm beginning to wonder if it's something in the firewater on the reservation. Lewis comes out in a long jacket, a la Heath Herring, and stinkeyes Perez the entire way down the ramp and into the cage. That should make things a little interesting.
Round One
Peoples tries to give Lewis some instructions and he's already looking like he wants to run across the cage. This should be sloppy and violent I'm thinking. They rush to meet in the middle of the cage and Lewis tries to throw a spinning back kick that misses and Perez rushes forward with some clumsy punches before they end up clinched with Perez taking a bodylock into a takedown. Perez turns it into a side headlock like pro wrestling and squeezes on it, landing some left hands to the top of Lewis' head as well. Perez just keeps cranking on the neck and Lewis tries to land some shots to the body. Peres is REALLY yanking on that head and it looks like he's gassing himself out on it, but Lewis has had enough of it and taps out. That's what having no technique gets you I guess, a sloppy submission and a sloppy defense leading to a tapout from a common move rather than anything potentially damaging.
Winner: Adrian Perez, submission (side headlock) at 1:12 of Round One
Match Eight: Heavyweights
Alan Zunner (0-3) vs. Joe Phebus (0-0)
Zunner comes to the cage and looks like he's chewing on his mouthpiece. He told the announcers that he never trains and that he just kind of goes and trains for a couple days whenever before he fights. Yeah, the record proves that. Holy shit, the guy that doesn't train is fighting a Team Quest guy, so that could be BAD news. Eddie Sanchez is in the corner of Phebus and they talk about how Sanchez is going to end up fighting CroCop and talk about how he better be ready for it.
Round One
They touch em up and Zunner comes out swinging with crazy hooks and ends up clinched against Phebus, who tries a throw but ends up on the bottom. Phebus scrambles out to his feet and Zunner takes his back, or at least attempts to. Phebus shrugs him off and Zunner shoots in for the double-leg attempt that Phebus defends well and he starts landing some shots to the gut and ribs. Phebus keeps grabbing the fence to avoid the takedown and Zunner fakes continuing with the attempt and hits Phebus with a good shot over the top. Zunner's cup is pulled up to about the middle of his back which looks HI-larious, and even Cecil Peoples is trying to take some pity and pull his pants up for him but to no avail. Peoples' kung fu stylings are no match for the power of Zunner's plumber's crack. Phebus catches Zunner with a couple of good shots and Zunner looks winded badly. Phebus hits him with another couple of wild punches and Zunner just falls onto his face and stomach and Phebus pounds him out to the finish.
Winner: Joe Phebus, TKO at 1:19 of Round One
Match Nine: Bantamweight
Kasey Donovan (0-0) vs. Frank Guerrero (1-1)
They introduce Donovan as Kasey Roberts. I have no idea why when the chyron says Donovan but I'm going to stick with Donovan on this one. Guerrero comes to the cage with a posse of women and friends behind him . They're both in the cage and ready to go and the fight is on.
Round One
They exchange some wild shots from up close before Guerrero takes Donovan down and ends up in side control directly after. Donovan holds onto a side headlock and Guerrero starts raining some hammerfists in and Guerrero gets the full mount and starts raining bombs in on Donovan, pressing him against the cage and landing a ton of lefts and rights. Donovan has no real defense for and of these shots from his back and is just trying to roll and turtle and avoid. Donovan gives up his back and Guerrero ends up grabbing a rear naked choke and squeezes it until the referee steps in and calls it. Donovan is pissed because he feels like he didn't tap but it was basically a matter of time. Donovan's tongue was hanging out of his mouth so shit..I think it was done. Take your complaining elsewhere Kasey.
Winner: Frank Guerrero, submission (rear naked choke) at 1:30 of Round One
Match Ten: Lightweights
Georgi Karakhanyan (0-0) vs. Brent Wooten (1-6)
Karakhanyan is making his fight debut in this one and it appears that he's going to favor some jiu-jitsu and ground fighting with his skillset. Wooten is a big lightweight as he comes in at 160 and 6 feet tall. A fun little tidbit that these guys train at the same gym as Tyson Johnson, the ring announcer. That's kind of cool that he trains as well, and Tyson stops to get a picture with Wooten on his way out of the cage. I bet Johnson could kick Bruce Buffer's ass any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
Round One
Karakhanyan throws two high kicks that miss and he actually slips on the second one, ending up on his back with Wooten on top of him in side contol. Wooten takes full mount and tries to posture up to rain some shots down and Wooten pushes him up against the fence landing some short punches. Karakhanyan is working from the bottom and slips out to top position on the reversal when Wooten went for what looked like an armbar but missed. Karakhanyan starts landing hard left and right hands and moves into side control, powering in some knees to the head that are against the rules. They stop the fight and let Wooten have a bit of time to recover and they're back to fighting. Wooten catches a body kick and takes Karakhanyan down, but Karakhanyan has a hold of his head.
Wooten postures up from within the full guard and pops his head out, landing a couple of shots from up top. Karakhanyan is doing really well from the bottom, moving his hips and defending and even landing a couple of shots from the bottom. Wooten tries for a neck crank and Karakhanyan gets out of it and goes back to controlling Wooten's arms. Karakahnyan landing some shots from the bottom and Wooten hits a couple of little punches from the top and Karakhanyan lands a HARD elbow from the bottom and it stuns Wooten enough to cause a reversal. Karakahnyan lands some hard shots to force Wooten onto his back and mounts him before taking the back for a moment.
Wooten turns into it and reverses back to the top position but he's still eating some shots despite being on top. The referee stands them up and Wooten goes for a body kick that lands. Karakahnyan throws another high kick that misses and they trade some knees from the clinch against the fence to end the first round.
That's a hard round to score because Wooten did have the top position for the majority of it, but Karakhanyan avoided any damage and did more damage from the bottom so I think I would be inclined to give that round to him.
Round Two
They start out round two with Wooten eating a hard leg kick from Karakhanyan. They both swing with some wild shots but nothing lands and Karakhanyan lands some more hard leg kicks. They get into the clinch against the fence and Wooten throws a knee that gets caught and he gets taken down. Karakhanyan on top and works to full mount rather quickly but Wooten ends up reversing it in rather short order. Karakhanyan starts cranking on it and Wooten actually ends up tapping out to it.
Winner: Georgi Karakhanyan, submission (guillotine choke) at 1:18 of Round Two
Match Eleven: Middleweights
Omar Luv (3-0) vs. Casius Aurelius (0-0)
Luv comes out with Gabe Reudiger in his corner so we know that Luv is going to be in shape. *snicker* They talk up how Luv is a dangerous striker and has some solid kicks and punches and how they expect big things out of him in the division in King Of The Cage. Aurelius gets the single name treatment from Tyson Johnson who introduces him simply as "Casius" He's just like Bono, except he beats people up.
Round One
Cecil Peoples gets us underway and Aurelius throws a high kick right away that just misses. Luv lands a leg kick and a quick kick to the body as well. Luv flashes up a front kick real quick as well and Aurelius tries for a body kick and slips, ending up on his back. Luv lands a hard elbow falling into Aurelius' guard and they scramble and are back to their feet. Aurelius tries a leg kick that Luv checks off and they circle and feint for a few seconds. Aurelius with a spinning back kick to the head that just misses and that draws an "ooooooh" from the crowd. Luv works the clinch and then pushes of and throws a flying knee to the chest that lands. Luv pushes forward and lands a good straight left-right combination that puts Aurelius to the mat and Luv starts landing a flurry of lefts and rights and Aurelius is down on his back with what looks to be a broken nose and Aurelius is watering from the eyes. CRYING? There's no CRYING in MMA!!
Winner: Omar Luv, TKO at 1:49 of Round One
Match Twelve: Lightweights
Albert Hill (3-11) vs. Ernie Perea (3-0)
Jesus, they're billing this fight as the long-awaited battle between the law-enforcement official and the ex-con and Tyson Johnson introduces it as a King Of The Cage Superfight. They even introduce Hill as "The Con" and give him a 10-10 record which sounds better than his real record of 3-11. Apparently Hill is an employee of KOTC as well, helping to set up the cage and get things ready the day of the event. Must be some sort of work-release program or something. Perea, the lawman, trains at Tyson Johnson's gym as well, and you can see it in his face when he's introducing him. Tyson is just beaming the whole time. Perea looks like a smaller version of Gary Sinese and comes to the cage with about ninety people behind him including Omar Luv who just finished fighting and didn't even take his gloves off.
Round One
Hill talks some shit as Perea gets into the cage and they're ready to get it on now. Herb Dean starts us off and Hill rushes in and starts landing a tone of punches to the body of Perea. Perea tries the bodylock and Hill lifts him and reverses it, forcing Perea against the cage. Hill lands a hard knee to the body and then pulls guard but Hill ends up turning it into a full mount against the fence. Perea gets it back to full guard and pushes Hill away and regains his feet. Hill shoots in for a takedown and leaves his head hanging out. Perea locks in a guillotine and when Hill tries to lift him to slam him it ends up getting cinched in all the way and Perea draws the tap sending Hill back to the pokey. Perea gets a Superfight belt, and Hill will be getting a license plate for his troubles.
Winner: Ernie Perea, submission (guillotine choke) at 1:47 of Round One
Match Thirteen: Lightweights
Kyle Olsen (4-4) vs. Gerry Noche (0-1)
Olsen's nickname is Spiderman and he comes to the cage dressed as Spiderman doing a twisting flipping kick on his way down the ramp. His entourage looks like they're coming down with masks like Jason from Friday the 13th. I guess they're the criminals or something, but if they wanted a criminal that bad they could have just gotten Albert Hill to come down with him. SICK BURN!! Noche comes down with his jiu-jitsu gi and his purple belt so we know what his strategy is going to be coming into this one.
Round One
They touch up and right away Olsen shoots in for a takedown and ends up on his back with Noche on top of him. Noche takes the back and Olsen rolls through to get out of it and they scramble back to their feet. Olsen has a double-leg and Noche is sprawled against the cage, as Olsen switches to a single-leg and he finally gives it up as Noche looks for a standing kimura. Noche uses the position on the armlock to spin to take Olsen's back while they stand up. Olsen drops and rolls to try for a kneebar and Noche ends up on top and lands some serious strikes. Noche and Olsen end up tangled at the legs and trading punches back and forth while they try to work on the mat. Noche pulls back up and they're both landing some hard shots before Noche ends up back on top for a moment. Olsen rolls and grabs a toehold, cranking it around to a nasty angle and he gets Noche to tap out.
Winner: Kyle Olsen, submission (toehold) at 2:52 of Round One
Match Fourteen: Lightweights
Kenny Tenorio (0-8) vs. William Sriyapai (5-3)
They talk about Tenorio's record and that he hasn't had a ton of luck. I don't think that luck has much of anything to do with it actually. They talk about how his biggest problem is his conditioning and trying to train while working a regular 9-to-5 job. Sriyapai comes down with Gabe Ruediger in his corner and comes from a big kickboxing background before switching over to MMA. He drops to his knees and prays on his way into the cage in the tradition Thai style.
Round One
Sriyapai throws a combination that lands and a body kick that glances as Tenorio shoots in for a takedown. Sriyapai grabs a guillotine off of that takedown and squeezes but it looks like Tenorio is alright at this point and he even lifts Sriyapai up and slams him down, moving into half-guard. Tenorio lands some shots to the body and starts throwing elbows to the head as well and it looks like Sriyapai is trying for an armbar while Tenorio keeps peppering him with right hands to the face. They slow down and Tenorio postures up and short slams him again and they're kind of stalemated agains the fence with nothing really happening at this point.
Tenorio into side control and starts landing some more hard left and right hands. Sriyapai gets to his side and turtles before moving back up the cage and getting back to his feet. Tenorio throws a hard hook that lands and then stops to try and feel out what appears to be a knee injury. Everything just kind of stops and then Tenorio remembers he's in a fight and shoots for a takedown, scoring it and pushing Sriyapai up against the fence. Tenorio is on top and in side control landing some shots and Sriyapai is turtling to avoid any real damage. Sriyapai gets things back to half-guard and that helps a little but he's still eating a ton of punches as the round comes to an end with Sriyapai JUST missing a huge roundhouse kick, aiming to put Tenorio's head in about the sixth row.
An easy round to score for Tenorio as minus the one little mental lapse after the injury he was on top and landing shots for pretty much the entire round.
Round Two
They touch up gloves again and circle for the first few seconds before Tenorio tries for a takedown and Sriyapai sprawls out of it, taking things back to their feet. Sriyapai misses the high kick again and Tenorio ends up in top position and side control on Sriyapai again. More short rights and lefts from Tenorio on top and Sriyapai is back to turtling and covering up to avoid them. Sriyapai presses his back up against the fence and stands back up to his feet, pushing away and Tenorio is GASSED against the fence. Sriyapai rushes and hits him with a hard body kick, forcing Tenorio to shoot for the takedown. Sriyapai sprawls out of it and pushes Tenorio on his back against the fence, pounding in with HARD rights and lefts until the ref calls for the stop.
They replay that there was possibly an illegal knee strike by Sriyapai in the closing seconds of the fight but it looked like it was more to the chest than the face. Looks like they were right to worry about Tenorio's gas tank as well in the pre-fight analysis.
Winner: William Sriyapai, TKO at 1:36 of Round Two
Match Fifteen: Super Heavyweights
Ben Beebe (0-0) vs. Mike Bourke (8-10-1)
Beebe is looking to make a statement with a win here according to the announcers before this fight. Not sure what kind of statement can be made by beating someone with an under .500 record in your fight debut but I guess, it'd be better than losing. These guys are dead even at 275 pounds apiece and this could end up being short based on their size.
Round One
They touch gloves and come out swinging with Bourke landing a glancing punch before Beebe clinches, throwing short punches of his own and throwing Bourke up against the cage. Bourke reverses and puts Beebe against the fence and looks to work for a takedown from the clinch. Beebe goes head to body to head with punches and gets ahold of Bourke's head but as he does, Bourke swings him off of the fence into a takedown. Into Beebe's closed guard and Bourke tries to get off some punches but he can't get away from the head and arm control that Beebe is using. Bourke moves into half-guard and starts landing some hard elbows before throwing left and right hands in flurries. Beebe is covering up to avoid a lot of the damage and takes a couple of body shots but Bourke looks like he gassed himself out with the flurries. Bourke tries for an keylock from the top but Beebe pulls out of it and they're back to body control. Bourke lands a couple of elbows and punches to the body and Beebe scores with some short punches from the bottom and some hammerfists and he looks like he's starting to hurt Bourke a little bit. They stand them up and Bourke looks like he's having trouble getting up from that and he can't get up and Beebe wins due to Bourke's exhaustion. Beebe acts like he somehow won and beat the piss out of Bourke when all he did was just outlast the fatter guy.
Winner: Ben Beebe, TKO (opponent could not regain his feet) at 3:00 of Round One
Match Sixteen: Heavyweights
Buckley Acosta (2-3) vs. Edgar Cruz (2-0)
They talk about Acosta being from Barstow and that being in that town leaves not much else to do but train. They mention that Barstow is nothing more but a big city with dirt. Way to bury the town guys. Edgar Cruz is said to have taken this fight on about an hour's notice. Apparently Acosta's opponent backed out before the fight and they asked Cruz, who was in the back helping other fighters, if he wanted to fight and he stepped up with it.
Round One
They touch em up and Acosta lands a hard right hand straight away and follows it up with three or four more before slamming him down face first and locking in a rear naked choke. Cruz taps out in about 15 seconds after some hard right hands and a deep, deep choke. I guess Cruz regrets that decision just a little bit now.
Winner: Buckley Acosta, submission, (rear naked choke) at 0:30 of Round One
Match Seventeen: Lightweights
Ismael Gonzalez (1-0) vs. Gabe Rivas (10-9-1)
They talk up both guys without really saying much of anything in terms of their skills, saying that they're both two of the best at their weight class. They bring up Rivas' fight in the rain with Rob McCullough and how the fight could have been different for Rivas if it hadn't been raining during that fight.
Round One
Rivas wearing some Wand brand Chute Boxe fight gear shorts and both guys have a Muay Thai background according to the commentators and we're underway. Gonzalez misses a front kick and Rivas tries for a leg kick and gets only air before Gonzalez throws a combination of a high kick and a right hand that misses. Rivas shoots for a takedown and Gonzalez sprawls out of it, throwing another right hand and missing before Rivas gets a clinch against the fence. Rivas works a knee to the body and then drops down and scores the takedown into Gonzalez' full guard. Rivas with a few solid right hands that land before Gonzalez pops his hips out and gets up to his feet against the fence. Rivas has the bodylock and tries for the trip takedown again but Gonzalez avoids it this time. They keep up the clinch and Rivas lands a left hook before getting reversed against the fence by Gonzalez, who scores with a hard knee to the body. They trade short shots and Rivas spins into another takedown into Gonzalez' half-guard this time. Rivas working to the body and the head with punches and tries to pass the guard into the mount. Gonzalez works body control but still eats a few solid punches in between and Rivas spins for an armbar but misses. He ends up on the bottom with Gonzalez on top before he gets ahold of that arm and spins out to his back. Gonzalez is on top now in Rivas' half-guard and not really doing a lot of anything with it and Rivas tries for another armbar that Gonzalez scrambles out of. Rivas shoots in again for another takedown and gets it, taking Gonzalez' back in the process. Rivas tries AGAIN for the armbar and a possible triangle but Gonzalez rolls out of it and into the top position, landing knees to the body. They stalemate and Cecil Peoples stands them up. Gonzalez tries a spinning back kick that misses and ends up giving up his back during another scramble and Rivas ends the round on Gonzalez' back landing a few shots.
A round that you would have to score for Rivas for the submission attempts and the takedowns. Neither man scored a ton of damage but Rivas was trying to finish the fight moreso and controlled Gonzalez for almost the whole five minutes.
Round Two
Rivas throws a leg kick and ducks under a right hand to grab a bodylock on Gonzalez, trying for a trip takedown but settling for a takedown against the fence that Gonzalez pops right back up from. Gonzalez reverses and presses Rivas against the fence, landing knees to the body before they scramble in the clinch. Rivas starts working from the inside, landing some uppercuts before clinching into a takedown, ending up in Gonzalez' half-guard. He moves over into side control and starts landing some hammerfists to the side of Gonzalez' head. Gonzalez rolls to his stomach and Rivas takes his back, landing some shots before Gonzalez is able to scramble back to his feet. Rivas works the clinch again and scores another takedown into the full mount this time, landing a couple of punches before Gonzalez rolls, giving up his back again. Rivas ends up giving it up and Gonzalez rolls into guard and it looks like Rivas has a head and arm choke from the bottom that ends up finally broken by a short slam. Rivas looks to be trying for the armbar again and Gonzalez rolls out of it again to his back and Rivas is on top in side control. Rivas pins down one of Gonzalez's arms and locks the other in a keylock and cranks on it and that's it, Gonzalez has to tap out.
Gonzalez put on a great showing to avoid as many submissions as he did, but his takedown defense was terrible and led to him being in the less dominant position for the entire fight. Rivas pushed the pace, tried for tons of submissions and finally finished one, in what was a great fight, albeit a little one-sided.
Winner: Gabe Rivas, submission (keylock) at 3:34 of Round Two
Match Eighteen: Lightweights
Cub Swanson (7-1) vs. Charlie Valencia (7-1)
Funny, when a guy is 7-1 they actually get his record right, but when they're shitty fighters they fudge the records. Swanson comes out and they talk about how well-rounded he is and how he's the future of the lightweight class. They also talk about Valencia wanting to make a statement after his loss to Urijah Faber and that Swanson is going to try to make his own statement. They wonder also how Valencia is going to come back after the loss and if he's going to be able to pull it together and get back on the winning track.
Round One
Herb Dean gets the signal and we're underway with our main event. They touch em up and circle in the center of the cage before Valencia lands a snapping leg kick. Swanson throws a high kick and Valencia ducks under it and secures a double-leg, slamming Swanson down to the mat. Valencia working from the top in half-guard and he tries to move to the mount but Swanson manages to get back to his feet. Valencia has a tight standing guillotine but lets it go to knee Swanson in the face and land a hard right hand off of that. Swanson with another high kick that misses and a HARD leg kick that lands. Valencia with a high kick of his own that misses and he slips onto the mat, ending up turtled with Swanson on his back.
They scramble and Valencia ends up scoring another takedown, ending up on top in Swanson's half-guard. Valencia presses him against the fence and Swanson stands up, eating a knee to the face in the process. Valencia has a clinch and lands another knee to the face, pushing Swanson away and hitting a short right hook before they seperate. Swanson throws a high kick again and they start throwing jabs with Valencia then trying for an uppercut. Swanson ducks under and tries a takedown of his own but ends up getting it reversed with Valencia getting out and up to his feet and they're clinched against the fence. Swanson has the head and Valencia gets a double-leg into a takedown against the fence. Swanson again pushes away and stands up out of it and Valencia ends up riding Swanson back down with the headlock.
Swanson pops his head out and lands a kick to the chest that was REALLLY close to being in the face and an illegal blow. Valencia is covering up and Swanson is just raining in the punishment with right and left hooks flying in and Valencia covers up, eating more shots until Herb Dean steps in and stops the fight.
Replays of the kick to the body that probably took all of the wind out of Valencia and the punches that finished it off. Swanson looks to be highly emotional after the win, knowing that it's a big win against a highly ranked fighter in Valencia.
Winner: Cub Swanson, TKO at 4:52 of Round One
We're straight to the closing credits with no video package for this one and that's that.
I'd like to thank you all for taking time out of your New Year's Day bowl games, and regrets from the night before, to read this edition of The Sprawl and Brawl and I'll remind you all that I'll be back in just seven short days with another review from the smaller circuits of MMA. So in the mean time and in between time, I'll see you all next time for an all-new, all-fancy, all-kick, Sprawl and Brawl Video Review.
The 411: Well, quantity-wise this event would be a ten, and there were a ton of finishes, but lots of guys had losing records, lots of guys were sloppy bar-brawlers and only two or three fights were competitive. The Swanson/Valencia main event keeps this show on the positive side but it's not by much. It doesn't feel like a long event because of all the finishes but by the end you kind of forget what's happened in the beginning and that's not a good thing.
