The Sprawl And Brawl Video Review - Gladiator Challenge 2
Posted by Randy Harrison on 04.16.2008
Big names all over the card as Quinton Jackson, Jake Shields, Jason Lambert and more help celebrate The Sprawl and Brawl's move to Wednesdays! Gladiator Challenge invades California and puts on a huge 12 match card!! It's all inside and waiting for your enjoyment!!
The Sprawl and Brawl is back at it's new day and time, and we're back with a stacked card. First off, I hope that you all enjoyed the latest video review in the zone, PRIDE or DIE: The History Of PRIDE Fighting Championship - PRIDE 1. It's going to be a lot of fun to get to cover the PRIDE shows, since I was a big fan of theirs before they went under and since there might be a newer generation of MMA fans that have joined the reveolution in the past couple of years and ended up missing out on PRIDE.
As for The Sprawl and Brawl, it's on a permanent move to Wednesday, and there's nothing like putting a card full of names on for a new day. Think of it like a television show that gets moved to another night of the week and brings in tons of guest stars to keep the ratings up on their new night. There's tons of talent early in their MMA careers as there are guys like Quinton Jackson, Jake Shields, Charlie Valencia, Bao Quach and Jason Lambert sprinnkled up and down the card. It's Febraury 18, 2001 and this is only the second event that Gladiator Challenge had ever held and it's certainly one of the biggest cards in terms of up-and-comers for the sister promotion of King Of The Cage. The promotion was, I believe, run by the same people who run King Of The Cage at that time and the look of the shows are very similar to the King Of The Cage production with the black octagonal cage and the yellow mat. Eddie Bravo is the play-by-play guy for the event and I'm looking forward to hearing Eddie's expertise on the microphone. Let's get to the cage for all the action!!
Gladiator Challenge 2: Collision at Colusa
A bit of a low-rent version of the UFC's gladiator video opens the show, as a guy in full gladiator gear runs through some moves in front of a Jostens school picture background. That's interspersed with shots of some of the action we can expect from the promotion before we move inside the arena to join Eddie Bravo. He tells us that the West Coast scene is going to explode and that we'd better fasten our saftey belts because the action of Gladiator Challenge is like a ten-car pileup on the freeway!! My words, not his.
Match One: Welterweights
Lupe Barajas (0-0) vs. David Padilla (0-0)
Round One
They exchange right away and Padilla shoots in for a takedown but Barajas stuffs it and lands some hard punches to the back before finally going to the mat. They scramble back to their feet and Barajas has a half-guillotine up against the fence and they work the clinch back and forth agaisnt the cage. Knees up the middle to the body from Barajas and clips Padilla with a nice right hook that drops hiim. Padilla looks to be trying for a kneebar while he gets HAMMERED on on the mat. Barajas lands a ton of rights and lefts from the half-guard and starts throwing elbows and Padilla's corner throws in the towel after he eats a few more shots. The referee could have stepped in at least thirty seconds before the towel came flying in, but I guess that's what happens on smaller shows. We have a TYSON JOHNSON SIGHTING!!! He'll be announcing all of our winners tonight, which makes me wax nostalgic for the long-ago review of last week when I covered King Of The Cage. Sigh.
Winner: Lupe Barajas, TKO at 2:00 of Round One
Match Analysis: Barajas looked good, sprawling well to avoid the takedown and then catching Padilla when he wasn't ready with a hard power punch. Good finishing instincts from Barajas too as he poured it on once he knew that Padilla was hurt. Good fight and an entertaining way to start the show.
Match Two: Lightweights
Joe Camacho (1-1) vs. Bao Quach (0-0)
Bao is mistakenly listed as Boa Quach, which is the first of what I presume will be many errors throughout the broadcast. Not nitpicking, just that it's an inveitability when you cover some of the smaller shows on DVD.
Round One
They touch gloves and Quach gets things right to the clinch and puts the fight on the mat immediately. Quach landing some short punches from the full guard as Camacho tries to walk his feet up the fence to sweep or move himself to the middle of the cage. The referee stands them back up and restarts the fight on the feet, to the approval of the crowd. Camacho throws a punch and Quach ducks under for another takedown, with Camacho trying for a guillotine, but there's an arm in so it doesn't look too serious yet. Quach passes the guard into side control while Camacho continues to hold onto the head, probably gassing his arms in the process. Quach moves Camacho against the fence and the postures up for some right and left hands in tight. Heel strikes to the kidney by Camacho from the bottom, as Quach just lays on top and holds him down. Shoulder strikes from Quach, pushing Camacho's head up against the cage, before he postures up and lands a couple of solid rights and lefts. Elbows from Quach and he continues to lay and push Camacho up against the fence. Lots of short left hands to the body from Quach land as the round comes to an end.
Round Analysis: All Quach, though he needs to do a lot more with top position or he's just going to end up getting the stand-ups over and over again. The short punches were enough to keep the fight on the ground for most of the round, but they didn't do any real damage so again, he needs to step it up if he wants to finish the fight.
Round Two
Quach throws a kick to the body and Camacho throws a right hand over it, before Quach shoots and gets the takedown, moving to side control. Quach has a keylock from the top and Camacho tries to roll and sweep, but it ends up being reversed and Quach ends up in the full mount, continuing to hold the keylock, cranking the elbow backwards but not really being able to close it out. Short elbows land from Quach as he lets go of the submission and after a couple more elbows, he tries for the keylock again. Quach moves to side control and tries again but Camacho gets the fight back to its feet for a moment before shooting in himself for a takedown. Quach sprawls out of it well and avoids it before shoving Camacho over and taking the top position, working from Camacho's guard. Quach throws more short punches sporadically while Camacho lays there and holds him, though he does throw up a triangle attempt at one point. This fight is begging for a stand-up but it doesn't look like we're going to get one. Camacho tries for an armbar but misses it and Quach backs out of the guard to get the fight back to its feet. Quach shoots in for a takedown but gets caught with a guillotine, forcing him to flip over and roll out of it, ending up on top of Camacho in side control. He pins Camacho down to the mat then postures up from the guard to do a little striking as the fight closes out.
Winner: Bao Quach, Unanimous Decision
Fight Analysis: This wasn't early PRIDE boring, but it was pretty close. Quach still looked really green here as he just relied on his takedowns and positioning to hump out the decision. He clearly won the fight sure, but he could have done SO much more if he had a little more seasoning. Interesting to see how much he's grown since this fight after seeing him dominate people on ShoXC cards.
Match Three: Heavyweight
Jason Lambert (0-0) vs. Jorge Lavama (0-1)
Round One
Herb Dean (complete with black track suit and white skullcap) is your referee for this one. Lambert eats a hard jab early on and throws a leg kick but takes another solid punch from Lavama. Lambert moves to the clinch and pushes Lavama against the cage, where they stay for a good chunk of time. Lambert lands a good left hook and shoots for the single-leg, getting the takedown into side control in the middle of the cage. Elbows to the side of the head from Lambert as Lavama tries to hold on and avoid taking any damage. They struggle in the side control position and Lambert moves to the mount but Lavama gets it right back to half-guard. HARD body punches from Lambert and Lavama continues to defend by holding on and hoping for the best. Not the best strategy with someone like Lambert on top of you though. HARD elbows to the side of the head from Lambert and he slaps on a keylock, forcing Lavama to tap out.
Winner: Jason Lambert, submission (keylock) at 3:45 of Round One
Fight Analysis: Kind of weird to see Lambert fighting at heavyweight, but that's neither here nor there. He showed his skills and dominated Lavama from the onset. Great wrestling, good elbows and a killer instinct for the finish as he set up that keylock beautifully with his striking. No wonder the UFC came calling his number eventually.
Match Four: Light Heavyweights
Dan Nolan (0-0) vs. Jeremy Edwards (0-0)
Round One
Edwards rushes forward and lands a BIG right hand right out of the gate, pressing Nolan up against the fence and landing a couple more right hooks square on the temple, knocking Nolan out and slumping him on the mat. GREAT job from Herb Dean to drag Edwards off as it looked like he was just going to keep punching but Herb actually physically removed him to save Nolan from a further beating. As much as he gets flack now, Dean is still a decent official and it shows early in his officiating career here.
Winner: Jeremy Edwards, KO at 0:16 of Round One
Fight Analysis: Quick and violent, that about sums it up.
Match Five: Middleweights
Atilla Bodor (0-0) vs. Brian Sleeman (1-0)
Round One
Bodor lands a hard leg kick and they trade combinations in the middle before another HARD kick lands for Bodor, nearly putting Sleeman down. Sleeman answers back with a couple of solid punches but Bodor lands a NASTY right hook that puts Sleeman down. He's not out though and recovers enough to shoot for the takedown, with Bodor sprawling out of it for a moment before he gets SLAMMED to the mat. Sleeman working from the guard and trying to push Bodor up against the fence, but Bodor sweeps him over. Sleeman ends up holding on to a front facelock and they move to a clinch against the fence with Bodor landing some knees to the body inside. BIG right lands for Sleeman and he shoots in, picking Bodor up and SLAMMING HIM HARD to the mat again. Sleeman in the half-guard, pushing Bodor up against the fence and working the body with punches. They work back and forth with the short punches for the remainder of the round as Sleeman almost ends up getting his trunks yanked off by the guard of Bodor at the end of the round.
Round Analysis: All Sleeman, minus the knockdown that Bodor scored early on. Sleeman took the best shot that Bodor has and has seemingly managed to gas him because from then on Sleeman got the takedowns and worked the top position and half-guard game well. Bodor looks really winded at the end of the round, but we'll see how he comes out in the second.
Round Two
Bodor with a leg kick right off the bat and he catches Sleeman with a good right hand but Sleeman gets the clinch against the cage and another big takedown, ending up in north/south on top of Bodor. Sleeman tries for an anaconda choke but Bodor rolls out of it and they scramble back to their feet. Sleeman gets another double-leg and takes Bodor back down, ending up in the half-guard and laying on top of him. Some short strikes from both guys as Bodor tries to sweep but he can't get Sleeman over and they're right back to hand-fighting, with both guys looking like they're trying for armlocks. Sleeman lets go of the arm and ends up in full guard, landing a good left hand as they trade more short punches on the mat. They continue to work the same way on the mat, and Bodor is just slapping at Sleeman's head from the bottom, trying anything to change the momentum. Bodor looks for a kimura with ten seconds left but there's nothing there and the bell sounds to end the fight.
Winner: Brian Sleeman, Unanimous Decision
Fight Analysis: A fairly exciting first round followed by an extremely slow second round. Sleeman has the wrestler's syndrome of getting on top and then doing absolutely nothing with it. As a fighter if you're going to stay in guard, do some ground and pound or try to pass, but if you just lay there and smother the opponent, it's a waste of time and position. Sure takedowns score points and you can rack up some wins, but if that's the style of fighter you are, you will surely never get the big money or make it in a bigger promotion. Sleeman was the personification of lay and pray, with a couple of big slams thrown in for good measure.
Match Six: Welterweights
Garyl Nelson (0-0) vs. Marty Armendarez (3-0)
Armendarez comes in undefaeated with one of those wins coming over young Jake Shields, who fights later on the card. Not a bad accomplishment to be able to tout.
Round One
They touch gloves to start and Armendarez gets two big straight rights to connect before he lifts Nelson up and slams him to the mat. Side control for Armendarez and he moves from there to a mount attempt but Nelson backs out of it and gets to his feet. Not before he eats two hard uppercuts, but he's back to his feet. WICKED right hand lands from Armendarez and he scores with a couple of body kicks and then hits a straight right that was almost a jab and down goes Nelson. Larry Landless steps in and stops the pummeling and the fight is over.
Winner: Marty Armendarez, KO at 1:16 of Round One
Fight Analysis: Overwhelming. Armendarez had it all working and just completely dominated and overwhelmed Nelson before Nelson could even get his feet wet. Armendarez looked like a beast and showed some really well-rounded skills with the takedowns and the stand-up clicking on all cylinders.
Match Seven: Heavyweights
Quinton Jackson (6-1) vs. Dave Taylor (1-0)
Round One
Rampage is rocking the amateur wrestling singlet, looking like he may have stolen it from the University of Memphis (do they have a wrestling team?) and he comes out on fire with a big right hand that puts Taylor down on his ass against the fence. Jackson pressures him and throws more big shots from a kneeling position, dropping some elbows to the top of the head to add injury to injury. Taylor reverses and puts Jackson down on his back, landing a couple of right hands from half-guard. Jackson reverses and takes the full mount up against the cage. He works to push Taylor's head against the fence and lands a couple of right hands, forcing Taylor to roll over and Jackson takes the back. Right hands to the head and face as Jackson controls, forcing Taylor back onto his back. Taylor gets the fight back to full guard and he tries for an armbar but Jackson is just too strong, throwing HARD right hands to block the submission. Jackson picks him up and slams him to break the hold completely and Taylor turtles again, eating more punishment from Jackson including a knee to the ass. Taylor eats more punches and then Jackson moves to the side and lands some NASTY knees to the body. Jackson with a hard elbow/knee combination to the body and he starts RAINING in knees to the side of Taylor's head. Jackson controls and the round finishes out with him on top. Between rounds you can see Taylor tell his corner that he's had enough and the towel comes in from his trainers to stop the fight.
Winner: Quinton Jackson, TKO (corner stoppage between rounds) at 5:00 of Round One
Fight Analysis: Jackson had a TON of potential here and he used well-rounded skills to get a big win over Taylor. He had the striking, the grappling, the elbows and knees, and all of it was working to perfection. We even got to see a baby-sized Rampage slam too, which was fairly cool. Good win for Jackson and you could see the talent and that he was destined for bigger and better things. Jackson gives us some posing after the fight too, looking like he's Hulk Hogan or something.
Match Eight: Welterweights
Jake Shields (3-2) vs. Randy Velarde (1-2)
Shields had seemingly not found himself yet in this MMA game, as he had a fairly mediocre record at this point. Of course, since then he's gone 17-2 so I'd say that he was able to get things figured out.
Round One
Velarde comes out with a high guard in front of his face and Shields lands a couple of leg kicks as Eddie Bravo talks about how Shields has been working with Chuck Liddell at SLO Kickboxing. Shields shoots in for a takedown and Velarde has a deep guillotine locked in, with the arm in being the only thing saving Shields at this point. Shields pops his head out and starts grounding and pounding from the top, passing to half-guard after landing a knee to the ass. Velarde does well to get the fight back to full guard and Shields continues to land the short punches to the head and body before passing to side control. Velarde gets it back to butterfly guard for a moment but Shields locks up side control, trying to strike but Velarde is doing well at controlling the body from the bottom. Knees to the body from Shields as Velarde walks up the fence and flips over to his feet, scrambling back up to a clinch against the fence. Shields gets a solid takedown and lands some right hands from the side control position up against the cage. Another knee to the body from Shields and some short punches to the face as he continues to control the position of the fight. Velarde tries to do the fence-walk move again but eats a couple of knees to the face for his trouble.
Round Analysis: All Shields in that round, as even the guillotine attempt by Velarde didn't look very menacing upon second viewing. Shields controlled with superior wrestling, and even managed to do some competent striking while he was on top. Good first round from Shields and Velarde is going to have to go back to the drawing board to get things back on track.
Round Two
Velarde lands a leg kick and Shields just shoots in and gets the takedown again against the fence. Velarde looks frustrated and starts elbowing Shields to the back before Shields moves to side control again, landing more knees to the body and the head. There's a whole lot of kneeing going on and Shields starts landing some of them right to the face and temple of Velarde. Velarde tries to walk up the fence again but he can't get Shields over and instead ends up giving up his back. Shields has both hooks in and is trying to slip in the rear naked choke, locking it up and forcing Velarde to tap out.
Winner: Jake Shields, submission (rear naked choke) at 3:19 of Round Two
Fight Analysis: Shields was just a cut above for the entire fight. He dominated phsyically and pushed Velarde around, doing whatever he wanted to for two rounds. He forced Velarde into the mistake against the fence and capitalized on it immediately, locking up the submission. Shields showed tons of potential and it's no wonder he's turned into one of the best 170 pound fighters in the world.
Match Nine: Light Heavyweights
Pete Werve (0-0) vs. Buck Greer (1-0)
Round One
Greer shoots in immediately and Werve sprawls out of it until he gets pressed against the fence and has to give up the takedown. Werve closes off the guard and controls the head of Greer, trying to work for a stand-up it looks like. Greer works his head free and tries to do a little striking but there's not a lot of room to get his punches off due to the defense of Werve. Greer tries to posture up to break the guard but he can't do it and they continue to struggle until Larry Landless stands them back up. Greer shoots in again and gets another takedown against the fence, drawing some boos from the crowd since they know what's coming. Greer continues to lay on top of Werve, actually posturing up to land a couple of elbows before Werve throws up a high guard. We're right back to Greer posturing up to break the guard and he FINALLY lands a big right hand from the top position. A couple of lefts score for Greer and Werve is bloodied up badly in the nose area. More HARD punches from Greer as it seems like the boos woke him up and got him pissed off. Greer continues to control from the top and the round ends in that position.
Round Analysis: Greer takes the round easily with the textbook takedowns and then the ground and pound. He didn't look like much early on, but he really turned on the power down the stretch in the first, busting up Werve's face pretty badly. Solid opening for Greer and it will be interesting to see how he builds on it in the second.
Round Two
Greer shoots in off of the bell and Werve sprawls for a moment but ends up giving up the takedown against the fence. Greer in the full guard and landing some short punches to the kidneys before trying to land a couple to the face. He presses Werve up against the fence and lands a few more smacks, but there's mainly a lot of grappling against the cage for a minute or so. Greer passes to side control and lands a bunch of left hands before trying to take the mount position. Werve is bleeding again from a cut under his right eye and he manages to get things back to the guard. Rights and lefts from Greer land and he's working over Werve pretty well, controlling the fight and avoiding any real damage. Werve tries some striking from the bottom but it's really ineffective and Greer just shoves him back down to the mat, immasculating Werve in the process. Greer works over the ribs a little bit and Werve just lays there and takes it until the round and the fight is over.
Winner: Buck Greer, Unanimous Decision
Fight Analysis: Greer was just too much for Werve and after a somewhat slow start he took the fight over and beat the hell out of Werve for eight minutes. He might want to consider learning some elbows or at least try to gain some more power with his punches because anyone with moderate striking power probably could have ended this fight, but for someone who is fairly new to MMA, Greer did well.
Match Ten: Featherweights
David Velasquez (5-4) vs. Charlie Valencia (1-0)
Valencia is fighting this one giving up almost ten pounds to Velasquez, so it will be interesting to see if that size will play a factor in the fight at all, either by overwhelming Valencia, or by causing Velasquez to tire a little chasing the smaller man. Velasquez says that his game is to beat down his opponents and that he's going to take him down and beat him. He's been training with Frank Shamrock and he says that Frank told him to take him down and beat him down. That doesn't sound like Frank at all. Valencia says that he's been wrestling for nine years through high school and college and that he has a third degree brown belt in judo. He feels like he's fairly well-rounded and he thanks Larry Landless for training him on some new submissions and some new techniques for striking. Velasquez holds a vast experience edge as well, having already appeared in the UFC, losing to Jens Pulver by TKO before this fight.
Round One
Valencia shoots in for the takedown and gets it, putting Velasquez down on his back and getting the fight into full guard. Heel strikes to the calves from Velasquez as Valencia looks to try to pass the guard or ground and pound. Velasquez closes off the guard completely and continues with the heel strikes as Valencia lands some punches to the body on the inside. Elbow to the ribs from Valencia and he presses Velasquez up against the fence. Velasquez tries to get up and catches a BIG right hand from Valencia and they clinch against the cage with Valencia hitting some hard knees to the thighs. Valencia hits a GREAT left hand that stuns Velasquez and throws a high kick that misses and they separate to circle the middle of the cage. Straight right lands for Velasquez and Valencia clinches and out of a scramble Valencia ends up locked in a standing kimura, which Velasquez transitions into an armbar attempt. Valencia defends it well and gets out of it, back into Velasquez' full guard. The crowd cheers for both guys as the action slows for a moment, in appreciation of the grappling that was on display a moment ago. Velasquez works really good body control but Valencia passes over the guard into mount and tries for an armbar of his own. Velasquez avoids it and the bell sounds to end the first.
Round Analysis: Great first round with some back and forth action, but Valencia takes it due to having the better position for most of the round. He actually landed the harder strikes too, which is suprising for a wrestler. Back to the drawing board for Velasquez in round two and he's going to have to find a way to keep this fight standing up.
Round Two
High kick from Valencia grazingly lands and he hits a beautiful combination punctuated by a big uppercut before putting Velasquez back down on the mat with a takedown. Into the full guard an Valencia throws some short punches before scoring with the most popular technique of the night, THE KNEE TO THE ASS!! Velasquez scrambles to his feet but he eats a ton of punches from Valencia as his reward. Velasquez throws a high kick that misses and tries for a takedown of his own but Valencia avoids it and ends up on top again, pushing Velasquez against the cage. They scramble again and the fight is back to its feet with Velasquez throwing a high kick that Valencia ducks under to grab a single-leg. He shoots for it but ends up getting thrown into a standing kimura by Velasquez. Valencia rolls with it and ends up on top and in side control before moving back to the guard. Valencia takes a breather for a moment from the top position and Velasquez takes advantage to try and roll out to his feet. Valencia lands a good left hand as they get back to their feet and the fight ends up back on the mat with Velasquez on his back and using the full guard. They do a little more work from there, trading short punches to the head and body until the round is over.
Round Analysis: Minus the short period in the middle where he looked a little gassed out, this was all Valencia again in the second round. The takedowns, the combinations, it all looks good and it's all scoring big points with the judges. Velasquez needs something drastic to happen in the third to have any shot at winning this fight.
Round Three
They touch gloves to start the third and circle a little, feinting with jabs and punches but not really doign anything yet. Velasquez misses with a leg kick and Valencia shoots in for a takedown, getting it and putting Velasquez against the cage again. Short punches back and forth from both men and they continue to do just enough to keep the fight on the ground, but not enough to actually finish the fight at all. Valencia moves to work the body and lands some SOLID shots to the kidneys and ribs as they continue to work from the guard. KNEE TO THE ASS from Valencia and he postures up to throw a couple of left hands before they trade more short punches. HARD body punches from Valencia and he's just smothering Velasquez with a flurry of punches. They slow and Valencia lands a BIG right hand just before the bell.
Winner: Charlie Valencia, Unanimous Decision
Fight Analysis: Great fight and the closest of the night, but Valencia was just a shade better than Velasquez in all aspects. He used his better wrestling to stay off of his back and cause trouble for Velasquez from the top position, while never allowing Velasquez to get in any kind of rhythm with his kickboxing. While they were standing, Valencia showed great hands and stunned Velasquez on more than one occasion in the fight. Great win for Valencia over a tough opponent.
Match Eleven: Welterweights
Joe Stevenson (6-3) vs. Kai Kamaka (1-3)
Kamaka trains at the "Jesus Is Lord" camp, and judging from how that went for Charlie Kohler, along with Kamaka's record, this could end up being rough for him. He says that he's been training wrestling, striking, jiu-jitsu, all aspects of MMA and he feels ready. He says that he's going to stay in his own gameplan and avoid Stevenson's takedowns. Stevenson feels like if he wins this fight he could be ready to go over to Japan and fight in PRIDE, and that he'd do well with the opportunity. He says he'll fight anyone, anytime, anywhere in PRIDE.
Round One
Stevenson stands Kamaka up with a HARD jab right off the bell and he ducks under a Kamaka high kick to get the takedown. Stevenson stacks him up and they trade leg submissions but there's nothing there for either of them. Stevenson turns around and ends up on top, dropping back for a heel hook and Kamaka gets one of his own, but again there's nothing there. Stevenson in half-guard and dropping HARD elbows to the ribs of Kamaka before he ends up in full guard and throws some punches to the kidneys. He moves to side control again and gets a side choke or a shoulder crank and the fight is over. No one seems sure what happened but it looks like it was a shoulder crank that ended it.
Winner: Joe Stevenson, submission (shoulder crank) at 2:16 of Round One
Fight Analysis: Stevenson was just too much man for Kamaka and despite them trading foot locks it was all Joe Daddy in this fight. Again, like so many fights on this card, you could see the raw potential was there, it just needed some refining. Big win for Stevenson, though he never did end up making it to PRIDE, which is a shame.
Match Twelve:
Jerry Bohlander (10-3) vs. Romie Aram (2-0)
Bohlander was thought of as Ken Shamrock's prized pupil out of the Lion's Den, a camp that produced fighters like Tra Telligman, Vernon White and Guy Mezger. Personally, I think Guy was the best Lion's Den fighter, Shamrock included, but that's just me. Aram talks about how he's going to try his best to finish with a submission but he's not going to press the issue. Bohlander says that he hopes the fight goes real fast, but that he's not counting on it because Aram is a tough opponent. Bohlander doesn't want to take any damage and he just wants to perform well and win.
Round One
They touch gloves and Aram shoots in to take Bohlander down off of a kick attempt and they're on the mat with Bohlander working the full guard. Bohlander rolls to his side and looks to be attempting a kimura but there's nothing there and they're back to grappling on the floor up against the cage. Short punches and struggling is the order of the day until Bohlander gets back to his feet. Aram takes him back down again immediately and we're right back to square one, with the crowd getting a little antsy. Aram tries to pass the guard but he can't get by it and they continue to grapple on the mat. Big right hand lands from Aram after he postures up, but that's about it for the action of the first round. Bohlander ends up cut from one of the punches, possibly that big right of a moment ago and we get a cool camera visual as the cageside camera has a blood splatter on the lens.
Round Analysis: Methodical would be putting it politely when you were talking about this first round. Outside of the takedown there was little to not action and this looks more like an instance of neither guy wanting to make a mistake, rather than neither guy knowing what to do. It doesn't make the fight any more interesting but at least there's a distinction. Aram had top position for the entire round and takes it in my book.
Round Two
Bohlander shoots right off the bat but he can't get Aram down and they clinch against the fence. Inside knee lands for Bohlander as Aram shoots for a single-leg and holds it tenaciously for nearly a minute before getting the takedown. Back into Bohlander's full guard and we're in a repeat of how things were in the first round. Short punches to the head from Aram, but they're not doing any damage. He's not trying to pass guard and he's not posturing up to strike, so why are they not getting stood up again? Aram finally lands a HARD forearm shot to the face of Bohlander, but that's after cuddling in the closed guard for two mintues. They're right back to the cuddling and struggling on the floor and they trade short punches for a bit before Aram changes it up with a short elbow to the forehead.
Round Analysis: UGH, am I watching YAMMA or something? One takedown and then the next five minutes is spent with two guys humping each other on the ground. Aram is really starting to bug me with his seeming inability to pass the guard or try to posture up to do any striking. Playing it safe might be a way to win, but it's also a way to piss off a crowd and their ticket dollars are what's paying your way to fight to an extent.
Round Three
Any guesses as to how this round is going to go? They touch gloves and Aram shoots in again, forcing Bohlander to sprawl against the fence and the crowd is already booing because THEY know what's coming. Aram switches to a single-leg and moves that into an attempt at a takedown but Bohlander sprawls out of it completely and lands some HARD knees to the face while he's got Aram in a front facelock. They clinch against the cage and Aram throws a knee to the body before grabbing a bodylock and trying the takedown. He gets the double-leg and takes Bohlander right back down to the mat again. Bohlander uses the fence to get back to his feet but gets taken down again by Aram. Short punches from Aram and Bohlander tries to push him away but can't get separation to get to his feet. Elbow lands from Aram and Bohlander is looking for a possible kimura from the bottom but it's not there. They struggle more with Aram continuing to throw the odd short elbow and it looks like he's cut Bohlander on the forehead again. Bohlander finally grabs the kimura and is close to finishing it off but he has to let it go with about ten seconds left in the fight. Aram's corner goes wild, and they're about the only ones as the crowd is underwhelmed with all of the "action".
Winner: Romie Aram, Unanimous Decision
Fight Analysis: Boring, boring, boring. That's about all I can say really. Aram had a gameplan and he stuck to it, it's just too bad that the plan was as exciting as watching paint dry. Congratulations to him on probably the biggest win of his career, but really, how can you take much pride in a win like that, knowing that you just hugged someone to a decision. A really down way to end the show for sure.
No credits or anything, we just get the end of the disc right after the end of the main event and the announcement of the decision.
Well that about wraps it up for this edition of The Sprawl and Brawl folks, so thanks for stopping in and checking it out. I hope you aren't too confused by the move and I hope you all enjoy the new PRIDE review. I'll be back next Wednesday with another review, and I have lots of events in reserve so it will just be the matter of throwing a dart and seeing which one I hit. In the mean time and in between time, I'll see you all here next time for an all-new Sprawl and Brawl Video Review!
The 411: A good show, but the boring main event dragged things down quite a bit. There was a ton of talent on display and it's interesting to see where all of these guys came from, seeing their early fights. Quinton Jackson looked nearly unbeatable, Jake Shields looked like he was finally getting a handle on MMA and Jason Lambert looked like a beast in his MMA debut. A fun show to watch in a historical sense and the fights are decent enough, just be sure to skip the main event.
