The Sprawl And Brawl Video Review - IFC: Rock and Rumble

Posted by Randy Harrison on 02.05.2008

The review that floods, the electric company and viral infections didn't want you to see, but The Sprawl and Brawl brings it to you! Roger Huerta tears the house down and delivers a beating on short notice, while Josh Haynes and Shonie Carter take it to the limit in a three-round war. All this and more in this week's review of IFC: Rock and Rumble.

Happy Tuesday everybody, and welcome again to another edition of The Sprawl and Brawl. First off, let me apologize for my absence last week. Due to unforseen circumstances of a near-biblical proportion, I was left to deal with a partial flood and power outage due to torrential rains in my area for the few days before my deadline last week. Caleb was gracious enough to give me the week off when I was able to contact him on Monday of last week and I thank him for that. This weekend it turns out that I've been fighting off a 101.5 fever and have been officially termed as having bronchitis. Positive, I get some of that yummy tasting antibiotic medicine that I used to love as a kid. Negative, I'm sitting here barely lucid enough to write this opening.

A short little bit on the IFC before we begin as they're one of the pioneers of MMA, holding events as early as 1996. They also made news last year by announcing that they would begin instituting a cruiserweight division in MMA, between 206-231 pounds which would serve to bridge the gigantic gap that exists now between light-heavyweight and heavyweight. An interesting idea actually and one that I wouldn't mind seeing in some of the other organizations as well, but enough of that, let's get on with the review!!


Buy IFC: Rock and Rumble right here.

IFC: Rock and Rumble

We start out high above the "Strip" in Reno, Nevada, or as I like to call it, Las Vegas' taint, and that, in turn, morphs into a nice little opening video with the highlights of what we can expect from the IFC, as well as some gratuitous T & A skanking on the cage floor before we get thrown into the cage with Jay Adams, our play-by-play man for the night, talking about how the IFC is no holds barred, caged combat. Jay looks a hell of a lot like a weatherman or a game show host, neither of which would make him qualified to announce an MMA event, so let's hope that I'm wrong in judging the book by its cover.

Oh no. Why do you hate me like this Jeebus? That fucking clown Big Poppa Schnake is in the cage next to him in a sportcoat and a kilt. I think Jay Adams just called him "the inevitable Big Poppa Schnake", and frankly the only thing that's inevitable when he comes around is me mashing the mute button on my remote. This is going to be a long review already I can just feel it in my bones. Schnake rambles on for what feels like five minutes, while giving us about ten seconds of useful information. He kinda looks like he could be the big brother of Mac from It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia the more that I look at him. It doesn't make him any less annoying though.

Bobby Southworth is going to be doing color for this event as well and my first hope is that he ends up choking out Schnake with a sound cable about thirty seconds in. Southworth talks about the Light Heavyweight Title fight coming up with Travis Wiuff coming down from almost 300 pounds while his opponent Bill Hill was eating cheeseburgers just to make weight. That must be the Big Poppa training regimen. Southworth says he'll be pulling for Travis Wiuff because that would be the tougher opponent for him to fight in the future.

They talk about the Blackburn/Huerta fight now and how it was originally meant to be Tony Fryklund and not Huerta in the fight, but due to an eye injury Fryklund had to pull out. Oh man, Schnake even pulled out the devil horns before they threw it to the first fight. What a toolbag.


Match One: Light Heavyweights
Chris Kiever (5-5) vs. Richard Montoya (4-1)

Kiever makes his way down to the cage and they talk about his training with Jeremy Horn and that he's mainly a wrestling and jiu-jitsu fighter. Schnake talks up Jeremy Horn's camp and that Kiever looks in great shape for this fight. Richard Montoya is on his way down to the cage now in a shirt and tie with the horn-rimmed glasses. He fights out of American Kickboxing Academy and The Lion's Den, and he has Vernon "Tiger" White in his corner. He's apparently more of a stand-up fighter with boxing and jiu-jitsu listed as his strengths. Southworth brings up a great point about Kiever's greco-roman background and how he'll be looking for a lot of throws and takedowns out of the clinch.

Round One

Herb Dean gets us underway inside the cage and they're ready to go and this cage looks HUGE. They trade right away with Montoya landing a short right hand and he ends up in the clinch and gets taken down by Kiever into half-guard. Montoya works the heel strikes to the back of Kiever's thigh and calf and has really solid head control, preventing Kiever from being able to fire off any strikes. Montoya bridges and almost manages to buck Kiever off but opens himself up for a couple of strikes in the process as Kiever works the can opener to try and open up the closed guard of Montoya. Kiever looks to be trying to move Montoya over to the cage and eats a couple of hard punches from Montoya in the process. Kiever still working for strikes from the top, working on the gut of Montoya, placing a knee on the belly to try and pass guard.

Montoya snatches that leg and, like a true Lion's Den fighter, falls back for a leg lock, attempting to secure what looks like a heel hook. They trade foot locks for a moment before Kiever sits up and pushes Montoya onto his back again, moving from side control to back control with both hooks in on Montoya. Kiever locks in the rear naked choke and Herb Dean almost stops it, with Kiever saying that Montoya is out. He's not out at all mind you, but hey I guess wishful thinking is half the battle. Kiever lets go of the choke and starts wailing away from the mount as Montoya gives up his back again and gets caught in another choke. Kiever looks to be using poor technique on the choke, squeezing the head and not the neck, which allows Montoya to escape again.

Kiever still with back control and both hooks sunk in, landing strikes from the top before trying to secure the choke again. Montoya is staying calm and fights out of it again before managing to reverse to the top position, landing a shit-ton of elbows in on Kiever as the crowd goes wild. Montoya switches from the elbows to rights and lefts and he knocks Kiever out cold with seconds left in the round. WOW. Schnake wants to stop the world so he can get off. Believe me Schnake, if I could I would.

Winner: Richard Montoya, TKO at 4:49 of Round One

Everyone agrees that Montoya was lucky to escape from so many submissions to be able to turn the fight around and I would go along with that. Montoya would have been in BIG trouble if someone that knew how to finish a submission would have had him in that back control, but he still managed to turn it on and finish it quickly once he took the top position.



Match Two: Heavyweights
Rocky Basatini (6-10) vs. Jeremy Peterson (2-0)

Peterson fights out of Horn's camp as well and they talk about him loving to stand and bang, but his wrestling is his bread and butter. He's a little light for a heavyweight at 223 but he should be quick on his feet. The ring announcer bills him as being "6'2" give or take a little". Gotta love that accuracy. Basatini is on his way to the cage now and he's a little bigger at 235, but not so much that it gives him a huge advantage in size. The announcers bring up that Basatini is coming off of ACL and MCL surgery two months previous to this, and that his conditioning might be in bad shape because he hasn't been able to do any cardio until three weeks before the fight. Basatini's stand-up is listed as karate which makes me giggle like a schoolgirl.

Round One

The bell rings and Batastini throws a combination but Peterson ducks right under it getting the clinch, pushing Batastini up against the fence and taking him down. Peterson's on top in half-guard and Batastini tries to control the body but he's eating elbows and a HUGE left hand. Another few elbows and punches from Peterson and Batastini tries a knee from the bottom to the ribs but it doesn't land very well. Peterson continues to ground and pound while he pins Batastini up against the cage before taking the mound and landing a HARD left hand and that's it...I think. There's some confusion as to what happened and the crowd is booing but I believe the fight is over. The replay shows a hard left but Batastini looks to be alright after and he's PISSED. So pissed he leaves the cage before there is even an official announcement.

Winner: Jeremy Peterson, TKO at 1:57 of Round One

A resounding chant of bullshit comes up from the crowd at that one, and I can agree to an extent. Sure it was an early stoppage, but honestly Batastini was in position to just get hammered like a nail and he didn't look like he had a ton of wherewithal to defend himself. There's not much to say about this one because it was basically one-sided, but I will point out that this fight for Batastini was in the midst of an epic 13-fight losing streak which he finally snapped in September of last year



Match Three: Welterweights
Jay Hieron (6-1) vs. Pat Healy (9-7)

Hieron at this point had only tasted defeat once at the hands of Georges St. Pierre at UFC 48 and was only a few months away from making his next (and final) UFC appearance. They have him listed as wrestling and jiu-jitsu as his strengths and he's fighting from Renzo Gracie's team. He also has Marc Laimon in his corner which tells you a lot about where he's going to want this fight to be. Southworth talks about Laimon's strategy of transitioning from submission attempt to submission attempt. Healy's out next and they talk about him being a wrestling/freestyle fighter and that he's well-rounded. He thinks that he can outlast Hieron and wants to sprawl and brawl. He is fresh off of the biggest win of his career as he comes into this fight after beating Paul "Semtex" Daley in Sportfight.

Round One

Steve Mazzagatti (minus his magnificent stash) gets us underway and they touch em up. Healy with a leg kick that misses and they trade jabs before Healy lands a solid right hand. Hieron grabs the clinch and slams Healy down HARD to the mat, ending up in Healy's full guard. Healy has a fairly active guard, switching from guard to a body triangle while Hieron drops elbows and some right hands to the head and body. Hieron with some short elbows that land flush to the face and Hieron continues the ground and pound with rights, lefts and elbows, cutting Healy open a little over his left eye. He presses Healy up against the fence and starts dropping HARD elbows down on him as we get a close-up of Healy's cut in a great camera angle.

Healy looks like he's almost out from underneath but Hieron stuffs it momentarily, landing another couple of elbows before Healy pushes him off and gets back to his feet. Healy misses with a wild combination and lands a body kick before Hieron hits him with a heavy combination. They just stand and trade in the center with Hieron landing a big right before moving into the clinch, pushing off of Healy and landing a good standing elbow. Healy lands a good knee from the clinch but can't capitalize on it as Hieron gets the single-leg and scores the big takedown again. Schnake channels Uncle Jesse from Full House screaming "Have Mercy!" a couple of times as Hieron works from the full guard to end the round.

The first round was Hieron's plain and simple. Two big takedowns, ground and pound and a big cut over the eye of Healy, with only one good shot that Healy landed in return. Hieron needs to keep working the ground and pound and takedowns and if he does, he should be in good shape to win the fight.

Round Two

No glove touch this time and they circle and trade combinations, with both guys eating some punches. Hieron with a right hand into the clinch and he uses the trip to take Healy down again. Hieron ground and pounding again from the full guard, moving Healy up against the cage to try and pin Healy down. Healy pushes him off and tries to stand up, finally regaining his feet and landing a big uppercut on Hieron. Healy with a combination that presses Hieron against the fence and Hieron responds with a good knee from the clinch. Healy moves in too close and gets taken down again with the trip, but manages to pop right back up to his feet. He eats a hard knee on the way up but catches Hieron with another combination. Healy tries for a flying knee but slips and falls before taking the clinch and hitting a couple of knees to Hieron's body.

Healy misses a leg kick and spins around into a BIG punch from Hieron and Hieron moves in to work the clinch with knees to the body and more hard body shots before lifting Healy up from behind and slamming him down again. Hieron into side control now, and Healy tries to get to the four point position but Hieron rides him down on his back, regaining top position into half-guard. Hieron keeps landing elbows from the top and Healy is trying to work some head control but eats another HARD elbow and Steve Mazzagatti stands them both back up, taking a second to give Healy his mouthpiece back. Healy lands a solid combination into the clinch, pushing Hieron up against the fence before Hieron unloads with an uppercut that rocks Healy. That's actually the last shot of the round as they circle for ten seconds or so until the bell rings.

Another round that goes to Hieron as Healy just doesn't have an answer at this point. He's landing some strikes while they're standing up, but it's not enough to turn the momentum in the fight, and he's getting taken down at will by Hieron. He's going to need something HUGE in the third round to avoid taking the loss.

Round Three

I'm wondering why Jay Adams is there as he's barely said anything for the first 45 minutes of the show with Southworth and that clown Schnake doing most of the talking. They touch gloves again to start round three and Hieron flashes out the jab as they circle and feint. Healy rushes in off of a combination and lands some good uppercuts from the clinch, stunning Hieron for a moment before taking a hard knee to the body. Healy slips off of a punch and ends up on the mat on his stomach, allowing Hieron to take his back momentarily before Hieron stands it back up. Healy starts chasing Hieron around with combinations, landing a few hard shots but nothing that really rocks Hieron. Hieron shoots in for a single-leg and it's in deep for another takedown into half-guard.

Hieron landing a couple of elbows from the top as Healy tries to stand up and does. Hieron lands a knee to the body on the way up and they trade punches again before going to the clinch. Healy lands a couple of knees to the body and they clinch against the fence with Hieron landing a great uppercut. They move back to the center of the cage with Healy missing another combination before finally scoring with a couple of shots. The ring announcer asks the crowd for some noise and Hieron plays to them for a moment before shooting in and taking Healy down with another single-leg. Hieron digs in some HARD body shots from the full guard before passing into side control, transitioning to taking the back but Healy manages to stand up out of it.

They trade uppercuts and Hieron shoots in again fror the single-leg, getting what I could only call a backdrop takedown off of it, but Healy reverses it with a sunset flip and they're back on their feet and the crowd loves it. Healy catches Hieron with a good combination and stuns Hieron, but Hieron manages to recover quickly, moving into the clinch. Healy lands a couple more solid punches and a hard knee inside as the move away and circle in the middle of the cage. Healy shoots in for a double-leg but misses it as the bell rings to end the third and final round.

This one could have been a Healy round from the way he was flurrying at the end of the round. I could easily see him stealing it with his activity and pushing the pace. He still didn't get the finish so even with it being his round he's still more than likely going to lose the decision, but it was a great back and forth fight.

Winner: Jay Hieron, Unanimous Decision

They've both ended up in the IFL, with Hieron being the new IFL Welterweight Champion. I would love to see a rematch between these two in the IFL at some point.



Match Four: Light Heavyweights
Josh Haynes (6-4) vs. Shonie Carter (31-14-7)

Haynes is billed as being 195 pounds and he's apparently going to be looking to box and keep the fight on the feet. You all remember him from his appearances on The Ultimate Fighter's third season where he lost in the finals to Michael Bisping. This fight takes place about a year before that fight to give you a little perspective. Haynes actually looks better for this fight than he did for any of his fights on TUF and looks ready to go. Carter makes his way to the cage with his pimp coat and cane and a ho on his arm. I still love him giving out his high-fives with the can instaed of actually touching people. Jeremy Horn is in his corner for this one and he's two weeks removed from a decision win over Jason MacDonald at a TKO show coming into the fight tonight.

Round One

Steve Mazzagatti in charge again and he gets the fight underway. Carter looks light on his feet to start out and throws a good combination that misses before landing a leg kick and a side kick to the body. They move into the clinch with Haynes pushing Carter against the cage, working knees and punches to the body before leaning in for single-leg. Carter stuffs that but takes some more hard body shots from Haynes before they seperate. Carter with another leg kick that lands as Haynes throws a combination, but Carter ducks it into a clinch and they trade some knees inside. Haynes pushing Carter back against the cage again and they seperate to the center of the cage. Combinations from both that miss and Carter JUST misses a huge right hand.

The announcers talk about where Haynes finds pants to fit his massive quadriceps and Schnake says something about a big and tall store, with Southworth replying that he thought he shopped at the short and fat store. Tremendous. Carter uses a trip to score a takedown but Haynes manages to reverse it and take Carter's back before scrambling to the mount and landing some hard shots on Carter. Carter just as quickly regains top position and postures up for a hard right hand. Carter working some elbows from the full guard while Haynes manages to land another hard one from bottom. Carter pushes Haynes up against the fence but he spins away from it well, keeping himself from getting pinned under Carter. They trade some ticky-tack shots from the closed guard as Haynes controls the body and Carter lands a couple elbows as the round comes to a close.

Haynes landed some solid shots standing and had the mount for a moment but Carter was on top for the majority of the round and did some damage standing as well. In a close one I'd give the nod to Shonie for round one although Haynes could have easily won it with a few more strikes or a bit more positional control.

Round Two

Carter scores with a couple of leg kicks to begin the round and they move in for another exchange before Haynes clinches and pushes against the cage. Haynes lands a good right hand after pushing Haynes away and they trade again back into the clinch. They both work hard shots to the body with Haynes getting the better of it and pushing Carter up against the fence. They work for the underhooks and Carter lands a good knee to the body before Haynes manages a good double-leg takedown into the full mount. Haynes starts raining down shots and punishing Carter as Carter rolls to his stomach to avoid the shots. Haynes takes his back and tries for a choke but Carter is able to avoid it and turn into the back control, retaking top position in Haynes' closed guard.

Haynes begins working really good body control, leaving Carter no room for striking. Carter finally gets free and lands some shots to the body before Haynes scores some good punches to the head from the bottom. Haynes gets pushed against the cage as Carter tries to throw some punches, avoiding the high guard and submission attempts from Haynes to do a little ground and pound. The action slows a little and Mazzagatti stands them out of it. Adams talks about how Haynes used to be a bigger fighter, and then mentions that he "has a lot of skin flapping out over his shorts". I liked it better when he wasn't saying anything honestly. Haynes lands a short right and they clinch again with Carter scoring that trip takedown again with Carter ending up in side control. Haynes scores some shots from the bottom and the round closes out.

This one seemed even a little closer than the first round but I'd think that maybe this one went to Carter again. Haynes had the better position but again it was only for a short time before Carter was able to escape. This round could go either way though, so it's all down to who wins the third to decide a winner in this one.

Round Three

They circle to start round three and Schnake calls himself an idiot for whatever reason. No argument from me there. Carter lands a hard body shot and they trade combinations that miss. Carter tries a side kick to the body that lands and Haynes JUST misses with a crazy right hand. Haynes grabs the clinch against fence and they trade knees before Haynes starts landing foot stomps on Carter. The action slows down big time against the fence and Carter takes the trip throw again to take Haynes down. Carter works from Haynes' closed guard, landing a couple of solid elbows in and pushing Haynes against the fence again. Carter digs a couple of body shots in and Mazzagatti warns them that he'll stand them up soon right as Carter lands a great elbow from the top.

Haynes grabs body control and Mazzagatti has seen enough and stands them back up. Haynes fakes a flying knee and Carter tries for his famed spinning back fist but it misses. They trade combinations before Haynes scores hard to the body with punches and knees. Carter lands a good left hook as Haynes responds with a solid combination of his own. Carter flashes out the jab and they slow down to circle before Carter ducks under a big right hand from Haynes. They clinch against the cage and Haynes pushes off with a HUGE haymaker swing that misses and they're back to circling as Haynes lands a huge right hand. Carter lands a side kick and slips throwing a front kick but before Haynes can pounce on him the bell rings to end the third round.

Well, this round looked like Haynes' round and it will depend on how the judges scored the first two. They were all fairly close so I wouldn't be too upset with either guy getting the duke. If I had to guess, I'd say Carter based on the first two rounds, but it could easily go to Haynes as well.

Winner: Shonie Carter, Unanimous Decision

The announcers seem kind of shocked at that decision, but I'd have to say that it was the right call. Haynes has nothing to be ashamed of from his performance in this one and you can see in this fight why they brought him in for the TUF show. Carter is on the microphone now saying that his work is done and it's time to party now. He puts out a call to the ladies to leave their husbands and boyfriends at home to join him at the party.



Match Five: Heavyweights
Fabiano Scherner (4-1, 1 NC) vs. Aaron Brink (19-11)

This one is for the ISKA-MMA Americas Heavyweight Championship. Scherner makes his way to the cage and they talk up all his skills, the fact that he's huge and muscled yet still has a ton of cardio. He's an American Top Team fighter and is going to rely heavily on his jiu-jitsu in this fight against the big striker in Brink. They talk about how Brink took this fight on short notice as Scherner was scheduled to fight Christian Wellisch who had to pull out with a rib injury. Brink talks that he is expecting Scherner to gas during the fight and that he wants to parlay this fight into the UFC and possibly even get to the Light Heavyweight Championship. I'll give you one guess as to how well that's turned out for him. Schnake makes me laugh with the unintentional line of the night while discussing Brink's training, talking about how with his training partners Brink is no stranger to having big, strong men on top of him. That's just icky. Brink looks to be giving up about 25 pounds in this fight, coming in at just 216 pounds. That could be a problem for him as Scherner could use the size to bully him around the cage.

Round One

They touch gloves and Brink comes out firing with a combination, but Scherner ducks under it and scores the takedown, passing guard fluidly into full mount. Brink tries to roll out but Scherner transitions from north/south to side control before pinning him down again. Brink tries to stand up but leaves his head exposed and Scherner locks in a guillotine choke with an arm in. Scherner closes off the guard and cinches it in and Brink is forced to tap out.

Winner: Fabiano Scherner, submission (guillotine choke) at 0:50 of Round One

After the fight Southworth gives some good insight on how that guillotine worked to secure the win, even with the arm in as they look at the replay. A great win for Scherner and a quick one to boot. He must have impressed the right people because he would make his UFC debut shortly after this fight, losing to Brandon Vera and Gabriel Gonzaga before being let go. Scherner has a ton of potential and talent and it might not be very long before we see him on a big stage of MMA again, possibly in EliteXC/Strikeforce or the IFL.



Match Six: Welterweights
Roger Huerta (9-1-1, 1 NC) vs. Brad Blackburn (7-5-1)

This one is for the ISKA-MMA Welterweight Championship and Blackburn makes his way to the cage and fights out of American Top Team and is going to be pushing the pace with his striking and trying to keep this fight standing up. The announcers talk about his quickness and how his takedowns and takedown defense is very good. Apparently he works in the off-time as a plumber. He has Fabiano Scherner in his corner, who just won an ISKA-MMA title the previous fight. Huerta comes down to the cage with Jeremy Horn in his corner. Huerta is going to look to use his wrestling to take Blackburn down as they talk about how Blackburn may be a little inexperienced in fighting off of his back. Roger looks like he's definitely on the smaller side for 170.

Round One

Honestly, the way Schnake is spouting catchphrases it reminds me of one of those guys that is trying to get you to spend $80 trying to win some shitty $2 stuffed bear at the fair playing ring toss. The bell rings and Blackburn takes the center of the cage and lands a good right hand before Huerta bullrushes him and shoves him against the fence, picking him up for a huge slam. Huerta ends up in side control and drops a couple of elbows before Blackburn walks himself up the fence and gets up, landing a knee to the body before Huerta rushes him and slams him again. Blackburn almost had a guillotine but instead just tries to control Huerta's body from the bottom. Blackburn works his way to his feet but eats a huge right from Huerta, but when Huerta shoots in again for another takedown Blackburn grabs the head and drops with it trying for another guillotine choke.

He lets it go almost immediately and tries to get back up the cage again. Huerta working hard body shots from half-guard as Blackburn pushes over and reverses to top position. Huerta working half-guard into full guard and he grabs one of Blackburn's legs, trying to isolate it for a kneebar. Blackburn rolls with it and avoids it and they scramble back to their feet before Blackburn gets a deep double-leg and takes Huerta down. Huerta works body control and Blackburn passes into side control with a couple of punches before they scramble back to their feet and trade combinations. Blackburn again with the takedown, pressing Huerta up against the fence and bulling him down although he's not really doing any damage from the top.

Blackburn passes to half-guard for a moment before standing up to throw a hard strike that lands and he lets Huerta back to his feet. They trade high kick attempts and then Brad fakes a shot before Huerta lands a straight front kick to the face. Blackburn throws Huerta down and they scramble back up to their feet, clinching against the cage and trading knees before Blackburn again gets a takedown, passing into the full mount. Blackburn again doesn't manage to get a lot of damage in with the top position and the bell rings to end the first.

I have no idea who won that round. Huerta scored some takedowns early but Blackburn had more of them later. Huerta actually did some damage while he was on top but Blackburn had the top position and didn't do anything with them. It would be a very, VERY close round but I would say Huerta because of the damage from the top.

Round Two

Blackburn starts out round two with a SOLID left-right combo that stuns Huerta and he immediately shoots for the takedown to try and recover. He gets the takedown and moves into half-guard, landing some lefts and rights to Blackburn, who tries to walk up the cage again but can't. Huerta keeps him down and does some more ground and pounding before Blackburn is able to reverse it and push Huerta over, mounting him and pressing him against the fence. Blackburn lands an elbow and throws some little shots but nothing major and Huerta rolls through it and reverses again, ending up on top before falling back with a guillotine attempt. He has it close to sunk but Blackburn is able to pop his head back out and avoid the choke.

Blackburn in half-guard and he passes into side control before taking Huerta's back with one hook in. Huerta stands up and Blackburn tries for a suplex but he can't get Huerta over and ends up eating a couple of elbows as Jay Adams redeems himself a little on commentary by throwing out the Remco Pardoel reference from the early UFC days. They roll and transition on the mat before Blackburn ends up on top and they stand them up. They trade front kicks standing up and Huerta connects with a solid combination of punches that stun Blackburn. Huerta just throws Blackburn down to the mat and pounces on him, throwing some elbows and strikes from the half-guard.

He hits a couple of huge right hands and a short elbow before taking mount for a moment, pounding away at Blackburn with a succession of rights and lefts. A HARD elbow lands for Huerta and he follows it up with a couple of more before throwing a couple of punches to the body. Huerta moves to side control for a moment and continues beating away as Blackburn regains half-guard and the bell rings to end round two.

This round was MUCH easier to score as Huerta landed a ton of shots, had top position for most of the round and even cut up Blackburn a little on the bridge of the nose. Huerta dominated that round huge and is probably up two rounds to none in this five-round title fight.

Round Three

Huerta shoots for the takedown right off of the bell and gets back to pounding away on Blackburn from the half-guard. Huerta is just PUNISHING Blackburn with a ton of elbows and it looks like he's opened Blackburn up pretty good. Huerta takes the mount and starts landing hard lefts and rights, pummeling away as Blackburn tries to bridge out of it. Huerta just swinging and swinging and there's no way this fight should still be going on. Blackburn tries again to turn him over but he can't do it and Huerta just keeps SLAMMING punches and elbows in from the mount. Blackburn is a bloody mess and I have to wonder what else Huerta has to do to stop this fight. The referee steps in as his corner throws in the towel to stop the carnage thankfully.

Winner: Roger Huerta, TKO (corner throwing in the towel) at 2:16 of Round Three

Wow. That was a fucking beating. You'll see it below, and trust me, you have to see it, because that was quite possibly the worst beating I have seen anyone take in a long time in MMA and not be knocked out cold. Blackburn looks like he kissed a weed-wacker in the post-fight while the doctor is checking him out with cuts and nicks everywhere. This fight is in the midst of Huerta's current huge ubeaten streak and honestly he looked like a million bucks, destroyning Blackburn even after taking the fight on short notice. No wonder the UFC came calling his number soon after.

Here's the fight in three parts.

Roger Huerta vs. Brad Blackburn - Part One


Roger Huerta vs. Brad Blackburn - Part Two


Roger Huerta vs. Brad Blackburn - Part Three


That is an ass-kicking of epic proportions people. Schnake gets into the cage to interview Huerta and gets close enough to kiss him before asking how Roger feels. Probably like he wants you to take a step or two back Poppa. Actually Roger talks about how he loves the Reno fans and that it feels really good to have the title. They joke that he won the Playboy model that presented him the title belt and Roger gives her his room number. We get some replays of the finish of the fight and he talks about how Horn in the corner told him that he needed to take him down and finish in the third round as Blackburn was starting to tire. The interview ends with Schnake hugging him in another mildly uncomfortable moment.



Match Seven: Light Heavyweights
Travis Wiuff (36-5) vs. Bill Hill (8-7)

Hill is on his way to the cage and they talk about how he is coming off of a fairly major motorcycle accident recently and that he took that time to train in his stand-up. He's also had to deal with the death of his father which happened a week before the fight with the funeral coming the Tuesday before the bout. He's experienced with a lot of fights against bigger names but has lost them all including Stephan Bonnar, Jeremy Horn (twice), and Terry Martin (twice in a row). Wiuff was already a veteran of the UFC at this point, losing to Renato "Babalu" Sobral at UFC 52 and he's got the huge experience advantage of almost thirty more fights than Hill. Travis comes down to the cage to "Fight The Power" and the announcers talk about whoever wins this fight will get Bobby Southworth next and they talk about how his boxing and wrestling backgrounds will play huge into the outcome of the fight.

Round One

They touch em up to start the first and HIll rushes into the clinch right off the bell. Wiuff shoots down for the double-leg and scores the takedown, pushing Hill up against the fence. Hill manages to get back up and secures a guillotine but Wiuff manages to slam his way out of it and pop out of the choke. Wiuff landing some short elbows from the full guard and he's mauling Hill up against the fence. Hill tries to control Wiuff's body but he can't do it and he's cut above the eye it looks like as Wiuff continues to pressure Hill against the fence and drop more elbows. Hill is just gushing blood out of that cut and Wiuff keeps landing vicous lefts and rights and some hard elbows. Hill tries to throw his guard up but he can't get anything going with that and Wiuff has just comptely laid Hill open.

Hill is laying in a puddle of his own blood up against the fence as Wiuff just keep unleashing punishment with those elbows. Hill lands a good shot from the bottom that stops Wiuff for a moment but he just stands back out of the guard and lets Hill back to his feet. Wiuff lands a HARD straight right hand and moves to clinch Hill against the cage, securing the double underhooks and landing a knee as he tries to score the takedown. Wiuff lifts him up and slams him HARD to the mat and Hill is just gushing blood everywhere and it's pouring out of his head as the round comes to a close. From the sounds of the announcers this fight isn't going to go on and it looks like Hill's corner is trying to tell him that enough is enough. The corner tells the ref that he's done and the referee stops the fight.

Winner: Travis Wiuff, TKO, (corner stoppage) at 5:00 of Round One

Those were some crazy elbows and some serious ground and pound from the bigger, stronger man in Wiuff. He slammed Hill at will and pounded him out, opening him up like a surgeon. The cuts are all over the face and head of Hill at the end of the fight. Wiuff gets the title belt from the Playboy model and here comes Schnake to do another interview. Schnake must have been told to keep his distance after that Huerta interview because he's at arm's length now. Wiuff gives thanks to Jesus and then thanks Jeremy Horn for his training leading up to the fight, as well as Billy Rush for the conditioning and dieting. He says that he trained hard and winning the title made all those long hours of training worth it. They talk about a taxi driver that talked smack on Wiuff the night before and that Wiuff would love to go one more round with the driver and maybe they can set that fight up for the next card. Talk moves to Bobby Southworth, who is next in line for the IFC Light Heavyweight Title and Wiuff says he respects Bobby and that it would be an honor to fight him.

We get some final thoughts from Southworth, Schnake and Adams as Southworth thinks that Hieron/Healy was the fight of the night. Schnake goes with Montoya/Peterson, while Adams thinks that the Huerta/Blackburn fight was the best, because of the action and the speed of the fight. They close it out and we get a highlight package and the credits to close us out.

That also brings us to the end of another Sprawl and Brawl folks, and I thank you all for checking it out. I'll be back in seven short days with another review of one of MMA's smaller circuits, but for now I'll leave you by saying as always, in the mean time and in between time, I'll see you all here next time for an all-new, all-doped up, virus-free, Sprawl and Brawl Video Review.

The 411: No real boring fights, no mismatches and three title fights. That sounds like the recipe for a good card to me and this was with no exception. The only real black mark was the three-man announce booth where only one man (Southworth) was carrying his weight. The other two might as well not have been there and it kind of detracted from the event. Otherwise a quality showing from the IFC on this occasion.

Final Score:  8.0   [ Very Good ]