The Sprawl And Brawl Video Review: King Of The Cage - Mayhem
Posted by Randy Harrison on 02.19.2008
The Tuesday morning delight, The Sprawl and Brawl Video Review is back, and this week so is King Of The Cage. We're off to New Mexico to see early fights from Keith Jardine and Diego Sanchez, as well as a main event featuring a legend from the early UFC days. Ten big fights are just one small click away!!
It's Tuesday morning so that means it's time to take another trek through the smaller venues of MMA to check out another show in The Sprawl and Brawl. Will it be a great show like the past couple of Sprawl and Brawls to keep the string going, or will it be a less-than-stellar showing that makes me feel sadly that the streak of awesomeness had to end. This week we're taking a look at a King Of The Cage show called Mayhem, and judging from King Of The Cage events in the past, it could go either way. We've got Diego Sanchez and Keith Jardine on the card in seperate bouts, along with UFC legend Dan "The Beast" Severn in the main event. It looks like the house is full and King Of The Cage has taken their show on the road, so let's head back to June 14, 2003 in Albequerque, New Mexico for King Of The Cage: Mayhem!!
King Of The Cage: Mayhem is part of the five-disc, ten-event Undergound box set available right here.
King Of The Cage: Mayhem
Match One: Middleweights
Fletcher Siever (0-0) vs. Tyrell McElroy (0-1)
McElroy may be winless at this point in his MMA career, but his lone fight where he took the loss was against Carlos Condit, so he can be excused for losing that one. Siever is making his MMA debut and judging from how angry they both look on their way down to the cage, I think they might be trying to beat each other up soon. I'm not sure though, just a hunch that I have. Apparently, McElroy is a hometown fighter from Albequerque, while Siever is from Santa Fe, so there may be some sort of natural rivalry between the two. McElroy is billed as having an extensive wrestling background and Siever is touted as more of a ground fighter with stong jiu-jitsu skills, as he trains with current UFC fighter and former BJJ champion Alberto Crane.
Round One
They rush to meet in the middle and Siever gets the takedown, immediately moving to the mounted position. Siever tries to land some strikes but McElroy keeps some good body control early on, until Siever gets the right hand free and starts landing some SERIOUS right hands in succession. McElroy regains body control to stop eating the damage and tries to bridge out of mount but can't and goes back to eating forearms and right hands without offering up much defense. McElroy tries for a reversal and actually gets it, moving over to the top position. Siever quickly slips on a triangle choke and McElroy looks like he's not sure how to defend it, falling onto his stomach and ending up worse for wear. Siever tightens the triangle and finishes off the fight, forcing McElroy to tap out.
Winner: Fletcher Siever, submission (triangle choke) at 1:58 of Round One
That pretty much went as expected as Siever, the BJJ guy, got the fight down to the mat, McElroy, the wrestler, bridged to get off of his back and Siever locked in the submission and ended the fight. That's not how EVERY fight between a wrestler and a jiu-jitsu fighter goes, but it's pretty damn close. Nice technique on the transition to the triangle though for Siever as he was setting up for it as he was being swept.
Match Two: Catchweight
Mike Mendoza (2-0) vs. Victor Hernandez (0-1)
Hernandez comes in with a bit of a size disadvantage in this fight, being ten pounds lighter than Mendoza's fighting weight of 155. Mendoza has the two fights under his belt but there was a four year gap in between the two fights, so he's still really inexperienced. Hernandez is still pretty much a rookie at this point too, with this fight being his first fight since his debut loss two years previous to this. He lost in just under two minutes via submission so I'm sure he'll be looking to improve on that performance in this fight.
Round One
They touch em up to start out and Hernandez slips off of an exchange of leg kicks and then shoots in for the takedown, going in for a deep double-leg on Mendoza. Mendoza pulls guard into a rubber guard and looks to be setting up for a triangle from the bottom. Hernandez rolls with it, ending up underneath Mendoza's high mount and Mendoza starts to land some left hands and elbows. Hernandez tries to roll out of the mount but leaves an arm trailing behind and Mendoza snatches it up for the straight armbar that draws the tapout.
Winner: Mike Mendoza, submission (armbar) at 0:49 of Round One
Well, so much for Hernandez faring any better in this fight. Or any subsequent fights really as he's continued on in his MMA career and amassed a record of 2-11, with his most recent fight coming in September of last year for King Of The Cage. Granted, he's fought some stiff competition in Charles Bennett, Del Hawkins, and Tyler Jackson in that time, but he's still a long ways off from .500. On a positive note though, he's 1-1 in his last two fights, so that's something to build off of. Mendoza has yet to fight since this impressive win and has seemingly dropped off of the face of the MMA earth. If anyone knows what happened to him, drop me a line as I would love to know.
Match Three: Heavyweights
Eric McElroy (0-0) vs. Jimmy Westfall (0-4)
The MMA debut for McElroy and he draws an opponent with ten pounds on him and a little more experience. McElroy is the brother of Tyrell, who fought and lost earlier on the card. I'm sure he'll be hoping for a better result than his brother ended up with. Again, the record for Westfall isn't sterling but two of his four losses are to 411mania's own Paul Buentello, so I'm willing to cut him a little slack. This is Westfall's first fight after taking a year hiatus from the sport so it will be interesting to see if there's any rust on him from the long layoff.
Round One
McElroy rushes forward like his brother at the sound of the bell and gets lifted into a double-leg takedown by Westfall, who passes into side control immediately. Westfall pushes McElroy into the cage and takes the mount position, raining down a couple of solid right hands. McElroy with a punch from the bottom and they stop the action so that the referee can stand them up? Are you serious? That was about three seconds worth of inactivity and the ref stood them up. I think Westfall thought he had won the fight because his corner was having to scream at him to turn around and keep fighting. McElroy lands a front kick and they sloppily exchange punches with neither man scoring anything significant. McElroy again with a kick, and this one looks like it almost hit Westfall in the junk, but Jimmy presses on and grabs a single-leg. McElroy sprawls out of it and tries to grab a guillotine but doesn't have it locked in with any...WHAT THE FUCK? The referee stands them up AGAIN, with someone working towards a goddamn SUBMISSION. Jesus, this is ridiculous. The crowd boos the shit out of the official and rightly so. We're back to the action now, and McElroy tries the front kick again, and lands a couple of sloppy punches before Westfall clips him with a right hand and puts him down. Westfall takes McElroy's back and almost falls off before locking in a hook and sinking in a rear naked choke to score the sbumission victory.
Winner: Jimmy Westfall, submission (rear naked choke) at 1:49 of Round One
A decent, if somewhat sloppy fight, that was MARRED by the poor officiating. That referee seemed like he had no idea what the rules were with his lightning-quick stand ups out of the ground positions. As for the fight itself, it was a lot of sloppy action, punctuated by a big right hand. Not the best example of MMA if you wanted to show your friends a fight, as it looked more like a toughman competition really.
Match Four: Catchweight
Josh Pacheco (0-0) vs. Santino Defranco (6-1)
Pacheco is the hometown fighter, and is coming into the fight with at least a 15 pound weight advantage, weighing in at 170 pounds to Defranco's 155. He could be in some trouble though, despite the size advantage, because he's up against a much more experienced fighter in Defranco, not to mention someone who is very slick on the ground with excellent submissions. That's not a good opponent to be making your debut against but we'll see what Pacheco can do.
Round One
A leg kick from Defranco gets caught by Pacheco and he throws him down to the floor hard. Pacheco rushes into the guard sloppily and Defranco is already throwing up his legs for a submission attempt. He locks in a triangle choke REALLY tight, and Pacheco starts to throw some punches from the triangle but there's nothing on them. Defranco cinches tighter on the triangle and Pacheco ends up getting put to sleep before he can tap.
Winner: Santino Defranco, submission (triangle choke) at 0:39 of Round One
Post-fight, the referee picks up Pacheco like he's a sack of potatoes and kind of flings him around a little until he wakes up, and it almost looks like Pacheco wants to protest the stoppage or something. Dude, you got put to sleep in less than a minute. Trust me, arguing isn't going to make it any better. This was Pacheco's one and only professional MMA bout and I can understand why. Defranco has continued on and recently notched a big win over Melvin Guillard. This wasn't really enough to get a judge of Defranco's skills, but he looked good in the few seconds he was working, and was really quick with his submission, taking Pacheco totally by surprise.
Match Five: Welterweights
Rene Kronvold (0-0) vs. Diego Sanchez (5-0)
Well, Kronvold apparently didn't want a "gimmie" for his MMA debut. He's in against Sanchez, who is undefeated at this point and has been tearing through his competition. As you all know, Sanchez is going to be looking to control this fight with his aggression and his wrestling while Kronvold will more than likely want to try to keep the fight standing to try and catch Sanchez to test his chin. I didn't even mention the fact that Kronvold has come all the way across the country from Florida to face Sanchez in his backyard in New Mexico. Make it a little tougher on yourself why don't you Rene? I respect his chutzpah though.
Round One
They touch to start and BALD Sanchez rushes in for a double-leg but Kronvold holds onto the head and sprawls out of the attempt. Sanchez shoots in again from WAY outside but Kronvold is able to just back away from it. Sanchez throws a wild combination that misses and they circle before he shoots in again for another double-leg. Kronvold sprawls well agains the cage but it only delays the inevitable as Diego lifts him up and slams him hard. Sanchez working from the half-guard with some shots to the body as Kronvold works some body control from the bottom. Sanchez with some hard right hands from the half-guard and Kronvold tries for a guillotine but Sanchez just bulls his way out of it. Sanchez tries to push Kronvold up against the cage but Rene defends that well, pushing off with his feet to get back to the center. Sanchez opens UP on him though, landing a great flurry of punches to move from half-guard to side control, and finally up into the full mount position. Kronvold tries to hold on but eats a left and a right and instead tries to bridge out of the mount, but that doesn't work either. Diego starts raining in rights and lefts and referee Herb Dean looks really close to stopping the fight. Kronvold manages to turn off of his back, but still leaves an arm open and Diego takes it, setting up for an armbar attempt. Kronvold keeping his hands together to try to fight it off, but Diego finally cranks hard on it and secures it after a few seconds of struggle, forcing Kronvold to tap out.
Winner: Diego Sanchez, submission (armbar) at 3:39 of Round One
The trademark Sanchez aggression comes to the fore again as Kronvold looked overwhelmed by the pace that Diego was setting. Kronvold did well to defend against it early on, but as the first round wore on, Sanchez took it over and really started to dominate. Another great showing from Sanchez early in his career and it's interesting to see how much aggression he's seemingly lost from this fight to his two losses against Koscheck and Fitch. He needs to get that anger back if he wants to be a factor in the UFC again.
Diego Sanchez vs. Rene Kronvold
Match Six: Light Heavyweights
George Allen (11-10-1) vs. Keith Jardine (5-1)
Jardine is fighting in his hometown here, and looks like he's ready to kill someone. We know Jardine's game from all of his UFC fights and Allen seems like he's going to be more than willing to stand and bang with him, given his background in kickboxing. The interesting thing is that despite being a kickboxer as listed in most of his fight bios, Allen actually has more submissions than (T)KO's on the win side of his record. That could be interesting if Allen decides he's losing the stand-up and wants to take the fight to the mat.
Round One
Jardine rushes forward and eats a leg kick to throw a right hand that lands and the move to the clinch with Allen pushing up against the cage. Allen grabs a high crotch into a single-leg but can't secure the takedown and Jardine pushes him away. HARD body kick from Jardine that Allen tries to shrug off and they're back to circling. Jardine with a four-punch combo that misses and he rushes forward, having to sprawl out of an Allen takedown attempt. Jardine has the Thai clinch and lands some good knees to the body as Allen tries to throw uppercuts to slow down the knees. Jardine with more knees that land and they seem to be taking their toll on Allen, as Jardine switches levels to try for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Spinning back fist attempted by Jardine but Allen backs away from it and they circle again. Allen throws a right hook that Jardine ducks under, grabbing a single-leg and he scores the takedown into side control. Jardine rolls to try for an armbar but Allen defends it well and gets to the top position in Jardine's guard. Allen comes over the top landing a couple of solid punches as he stands over Jardine, but there isn't enough action so the ref stands them up. BIG straight right from Jardine lands and they trade leg kicks before Jardine rushes in with a combination and lands some more hard knees to the body to end the round.
All Jardine in the first round, scoring with a couple of big power punches and a ton of knees to the body. Allen tried to get the fight to the ground but it didn't work and he looks like he's in some trouble here as he's losing the stand-up, losing the clinch game, and he was losing in the short time the fight was on the ground.
Round Two
They circle to start the second and Jardine throws a high kick that misses, with Allen responding with a high kick of his own that also misses. Jardine shoots in for a double-leg but Allen sprawls out of it well, and they're up against the fence in the clinch. Jardine pulls out of it and lands a right hand before changing levels and securing a takedown off of the fence. Jardine in side control and back to half-guard and Jardine has his left hand free, landing a ton of hard shots on Allen. Jardine starts teeing off with the rights now too and Allen doesn't have much of a defense at this point, trying to kick Jardine away but only ending up retaining his guard. The referee stands them back up and Allen looks tired as they exchange in the center of the cage, with Allen throwing a high kick that misses.
They circle and the action slows down considerably before Allen rushes forward a little with a combination that misses. Jardine grabs the Thai clinch and hits another couple of knees to the body before pushing off to connect with a right hand. More circling and Allen hits a low kick as Jardine starts picking him apart with hooks and straight punches that are landing at will. Jardine keeps landing shots one punch at a time and changes levels into a takedown, passing into side control and taking Allen's back almost immediately. Jardine has both hooks in and flattens Allen out but he can't do anything with it. Allen bucks Jardine off but ends up eating a TON of punches as the round comes to a close.
Another huge round for Jardine and it's two rounds to zip, with Allen looking overmatched, and gassing out at the end of the fight. The judges tabulate the scorecards and it's 60-54, 60-55, 60-54 in an odd scoring style, with all three seeing the fight for Jardine.
Winner: Keith Jardine, Unanimous Decision
Jardine looked great here, with solid stand-up, good transitions and level changes on his takedown attempts and good guard passes once the fight got down to the mat. Allen looked like he wasn't ready for the strength of Jardine and those knees to the body just wore him out in the end. Much like the Liddell fight, Jardine didn't do a TON of damage with anything but chipped away, and chipped away to get the win.
Match Seven: Lightweights
Paul Rodriguez (6-5-1) vs. Adam Durant (6-2)
Rodriguez might not have the best record at this point, but it's definitely a situation where he has fought some BIG competition in those losses. He can count Dave Strasser and former PRIDE lightweight champ Takanori Gomi as two of his losses, and that's taking both men to a decision. He's fighting out of American Top Team and is another fighter that's come cross-country to fight on this show. Durant looks to be a ground specialist with the majority of his wins coming by submission. However, his record doesn't have anyone of note on it, except for a win over Santino Defranco, who fought earlier on this card. It will be interesting to see if Rodriguez's experience against quality opponents will play a factor in this fight.
Round One
Herb Dean gets us underway and Durant jabs to start our before Rodriguez shoots in for the takedown. Durant defends the takedown well and they're clinched up against the cage with Durant landing one good punch out of it. They reverse back and forth in the clinch and Durant grabs the Thai clinch and rains in a ton of knees to the head. They're back to the clinch and Durant reverses a takedown attempt into a takedown of his own. Durant starts trying to work from the full guard of Rodriguez, pushing him up against the fence, but Rodriguez throws his legs up for a submission and then uses them to push off of the cage. Durant lands a couple of elbows and tries to pass, finally getting to side control after a struggle. Rodriguez stands up out of it and gets a double-leg into a takedown, putting Durant to the floor right up against the fence. Rodriguez moves to side control and puts a knee on Durant's belly, landing some hard punches. Durant is forced to roll to his stomach and Rodriguez takes his back with the hooks in, flattening Durant out and landing hard right and left hooks to the head. Rodriguez slips the forearm under the chin of Durant and tries to secure the rear naked choke but can't get it and lets it go to continue pounding away at Durant's head with rights and lefts. Herb Dean looks close to stopping the fight but he doesn't and Rodriguez tries to slip the forearm in for the choke again. Rodriguez locks up the choke and forces Durant to tap out after a barrage of punishment.
Winner: Paul Rodriguez, submission (rear naked choke) at 4:29 of Round One
Rodriguez was dominant in this one after withstanding that early flurry of knees from Durant. He managed to get the takedown on Durant despite having weaker wrestling, and once he got him on his back he pressured and pounded away until Durant was forced to make a mistake. The more experienced Rodriguez showed it with this win. Durant has also decided to not compete again in MMA since this fight, which seems to be a trend for fighters on this card.
Match Eight: Middleweights
Joe Villasenor (8-3) vs. Joe Merit (9-7-1)
Much like the Allen/Jardine fight before, this one features Merit, a fighter from Georgia, making the long trip to fight the hometown favorite in Villasenor. Villasenor was still working his way up at this point and hadn't really fought anyone of note. We know that he's going to be striking though, so keep an eye on that. Merit has a name on his resume, but it was in a loss to Shonie Carter, so it's really up for grabs. Merit has a bit more experience but also seemingly has a penchant for being submitted so it will be interesting to see if Villasenor tries to pound him to the mat before trying to submit him.
Round One
Villasenor with a high kick that misses right off, but he hits a HARD left hook that stuns Merit. Villasenor throws a flying knee that glances and ends up on top of Merit on the mat in half-guard, landing some elbows before Merit locks in full guard. Villasenor with the can opener to get out of it and he moves out of it into side control before getting sucked back into guard. Merit throws a couple of weak punches from the bottom and Villasenor connects with a good right hand from the top position. Villasenor tries to move to half-guard to strike again but can't get there. Another right hand from Villasenor and the referee stands them up after the action slows down too much. Villasenor tries a left hook and some knees that miss and Merit goes for an uppercut that misses. Merit with another hook and Villasenor ducks under it into a BIG side slam. Villasenor is in the side control position now, and looking for a keylock but he can't get it and Merit somehow gets the fight back to his guard. Heel strikes from Merit on the bottom and Villasenor postures up and starts landing some hard lefts and rights. Villasenor pounces on the opportunity and scores with some hard, HARD right hands in succession that put Merit out for the count, forcing the referee to step in and stop it.
Winner: Joey Villasenor, TKO at 4:09 of Round One
That was pretty much what was expected from Villasenor. He kept up the pressure and used the power in his punches to keep Merit on the defense until he could land enough shots to get the stoppage. Villasenor is definitely one of those "bottom of the top" guys in the middleweight division who could rise up steadily if he could string together some solid wins over name opponents. The next year or so should be crucial to whether Villasenor manages to move up or whether he just stay in his current slot in the division.
Match Nine: Welterweights
Thomas Schulte (6-1) vs. John Mahlow (3-0)
Schulte is another in a multitude of hometown fighters that is making an appearance on this event, calling Albequerque home, and training with the Fit NHB team. He loves to work on the ground and has virtually every victory on his record coming via submission. Mahlow comes in with three victories and three submissions on his fighting resume so it's pretty sure that this fight is going to end up on the floor, with one fighter locked in a submission hold. It's just up to the two combatants to figure out who that's going to be.
Round One
The bell rings and they touch gloves to start out before they exchange and Mahlow scores the takedown. The announcers tells us that this fight is for the King Of The Cage Lightweight Championship as Mahlow tries to work from Schulte's full guard. Schulte works good body and head control from the bottom for a moment before Mahlow works free and lands a hard right hand to the head. Mahlow tries to drop back for a heel hook or ankle lock and gives up his top position as Schulte pounces and gets right on top of him. Mahlow closes up his guard and Schulte lands a couple shoulder shrugs while Mahlow controls both of his arms. Schulte passes the guard into side control and Schulte falls back with a triangle attempt, but he can't close it off. Mahlow on top now after that attempt and Mahlow gets sloppy, leaving his arm exposed to allow Schulte to switch his hips and attempt an armbar. Mahlow has him stacked up to try to protect his arm, but Schulte keeps pulling, seperating the hands and securing the armbar, drawing the tap from Mahlow.
Winner: Thomas Schulte, submission (armbar) at 2:41 of Round One
Like most of the fights on this show, this one was over seemingly before it started. Schulte wouldn't get to enjoy this victory for long as he would lose the belt in his first defense against Joe Stevenson, a fight that was covered in a previous edition of The Sprawl and Brawl. He looked good here though, staying calm while Mahlow pushed from the top and then snapping up the opportunity for the submission as soon as it presented itself.
Match Ten: Heavyweights
Dan Christison (2-2) vs. Dan Severn (56-8-5)
This one is the main event and looks to be a battle of youth vs. experience. Severn has been around MMA practically from the beginning, and we all know that he's going to be using his wrestling background to try and ground the fight and put Christison at a disadvantage. Christison comes in as the heavier of the two with a nearly fifteen-pound advantage so he'll be trying to use that size to avoid the takedowns of the veteran Severn.
Round One
Christison starts with a leg kick and the announcers talk about how this is a rematch of a fight that the two had just a few months previous. A lot of people felt Christison won the fight but Severn took the decision, so they decided on a rematch in King Of The Cage. They clinch up against the fence with Christison trying to land some knees to the body and Severn looking for his double underhooks to get the fight down to the mat. Severn shrugs out of the clinch momentarily but they're right back to it in the center of the cage. Severn tries for a throw and gets it, putting Christison down to the mat. Severn moves to half-guard and tries to strike, landing to the body as Christison moves it back to full guard. He throws his legs up for a triangle but Severn pushes through it, staying on top and landing the odd strike while pushing Christison up against the fence.
Christison tries for an omaplata but misses and Severn just goes back to working some light punches from the full guard. Christison controls Severn's hands and rolls out from underneath, taking Severn's back for a moment but Severn is able to roll out of it and tries to get the leg of Christison. Christison lands some strikes from that position but eventually gives up the takedown, with Severn hitting his head on the bar at the bottom of the cage, causing the fight to be stopped momentarily. It looks like he's cut pretty good from it on his forehead and the crowd is booing a little. The doctor checked the cut and it turns out that he's alright, and they're back to fighting with some lighting issues causing some problems as well as the cage goes dark for a moment.
They exchange combinations and Christison lands a body kick before rushing forward with some punches. Christison lands a couple of high kicks that Severn tries to time for takedowns, eating the kick in the process. Severn shoots for the takedown and Christison sprawls out of it well, with Severn taking a headlock. Christison falls to his back and tries to use the guard to his advantage, but they scramble back to their feet before anything can happen on the mat. They clinch against the fence and Christison lands a couple of knees to the body to end the round.
Severn had top position for most of the round so I guess it would go to him, but there wasn't a lot of striking done by either man. It was mainly a position fight on the mat with Severn moving from move to move, doing some chain amateur wrestling to keep Christison off balance. I hope the striking picks up a lot more in round two though, as this is looking like wrestling more than MMA.
Round Two
The second round begins and Christison sizes up Severn with the jab, landing a couple of them before Severn shoots in for the single-leg, scoring the takedown while avoiding the triangle choke attempt thrown up by Christison. Severn tries to work from the half-guard and lays on top of Christison, holding a headlock from the top and landing some short strikes to the head. Severn goes head-body-head a few times and tries to pass the guard but can't get it done. He smothers Christison with his chest and lands a couple more strikes before Herb Dean stands them up. Christison looks exhausted as they stand up and Severn avoids a leg kick and gets another takedown on Christison. Severn works from the full guard again, landing some light strikes and doing not much else with it, and Herb Dean looks like he's going to stand them up again.
Severn pushes him up against the fence and lands some body strikes from the top before Herb Dean stands them up again. Christison can barely get up and needs help from Herb Dean to stand him up. Severn flicks out a baby jab and looks to be trying to time another shoot before landing some good right hooks. They exchange some solid punches standing up with Severn actually getting the better of the exchanges surprisingly. Christison backs off with his hands on his knees to get some air before the move in close again with Christison landing a solid jab. Christison moves to the clinch and isn't able to do anything with it and they circle to end the round.
I'd say two rounds to nothing for "The Beast" at this point, as he's been on top and working over Christison on the mat positionally. As I said before, there isn't a ton of striking but Severn is actually landing the better strikes when there are any to be had so it makes it fairly easy to score. Christison needs something huge to stop this fight in the third or he's on his way to another loss against Severn.
Round Three
Christison with a front kick to begin the round and the lights go all weird again as they exchange punches and low kicks. Christison with a really hard jab that lands and Severn shoots in for the takedown but it gets stuffed by Christison. A big high kick lands for Christison and Severn tries for a shot that was a little off-balance and Christison stuffs it and rolls him over onto his back. Christison in the half-guard and Severn is just controlling the head, not allowing any strikes at all from Christison. Christison pushes him up against the fence and as Severn tries to stand up he lands some hard strikes to Severn's head. Severn picks an ankle and manages to turn it over, scrambling on the mat and ending up on top of Christison in his full guard. Severn again does a little work from the top, but nothing of consequence as he just kind of lays and blankets Christison until they get stood up.
Christison drags onto Herb Dean's pant legs to try to pull himself up and he gets up finally. Severn lands some open-handed strikes to the head before Christison lands a low leg kick. Severn ducks a right hand and shoots for the takedown, moving to a clinch against the fence. Severn lands a couple of short right hands to the face and some knees before he drags Christison down with a front facelock. Christison moves Severn into his full guard and closes it off, trying to land some strikes from the bottom as well. Severn lands some more strikes from the top and as the bell rings Christison goes for a keylock but runs out of time.
This one is going to the judges and I have it three-zip for Severn. It might not have been exciting but he controlled the entire fight and wore down Christison to the point that he was barely able to get up on the restarts. Christison needed to do more striking and use his jab to keep Severn away from him, but he couldn't do it and gave up a TON of takedowns. The cards are in and the judges have it as 89-88 Severn, 90-86 Christison, and 89-84 for the winner Dan Severn.
Winner: Dan Severn, Split Decision
The crowd isn't terribly happy with that one, booing as Severn's hand is raised, and there's no replay package or anything this time, it's straight to the credits to end off the show.
That does it for another edition of The Sprawl and Brawl Video Review folks, and I thank you all for taking the time to check it out. I'll be back next week with another review and from the looks of things, it will be another King Of The Cage show, as I have a bit of a backlog on those at the moment. Until then everyone, in the meantime and in between time, I'll see you all next time for another all-new, all-King, all-Cage, Sprawl and Brawl Video Review!
The 411: Well, I guess the streak is busted. It was an alright enough show, just with too many one-sided fights and a main event that was the MMA equivalent of a handful of sleeping pills. The squashes weren't even hugely entertaining with nothing cool like flying knee KO's or amazing submissions. The whole event was just kind of there with nothing providing any kind of pop, or wow value.
