The Sprawl And Brawl Video Review - IFC: Battleground Boise
Posted by Randy Harrison on 05.28.2008
With a huge featherweight title fight coming up on Sunday night, The Sprawl and Brawl takes a trip back to 2003 to see Jens Pulver in another fight for a 145-pound world title in his hometown! There are two other big title fights and a ton of familiar names on the card for the IFC's event, Battleground Boise!
Welcome to another edition of The Sprawl and Brawl Video Review folks, a look at the smaller circuits of MMA with the focus on shows that a lot of fans may not have had the chance to see. This week we're headed back to 2003 to get a look at another IFC event, Battleground Boise. I've already reviewed a couple of IFC events previous to this one and both of those events had plenty of action, which always makes me a happy reviewer. This card took place in October of 2003 in Boise, Idaho and was the first sanctioned MMA event in Idaho (as far as I've known and been told), which makes it another historic night for the IFC as they were the first MMA organization to put on a sanctioned event in Montana as well, a couple of years from this event. Tonight's card has some names that fight fans that have followed the UFC in this timeframe might know, as well as one huge name that was sure to draw the people in. A future star of The Ultimate Fighter, Nate Quarry is on the card, as well as UFC veterans Mike Kyle, Justin Eilers and Bill Mahood. The main event features the huge star in question as Jens Pulver, in the midst of his sabbatical from the UFC and before he fought in PRIDE, faces Richard Hess. There's eleven big fights on the card, so let's get to all the action from Boise!
IFC: Battleground Boise
We get the pre-fight video package and we're told that there are two titles on the line tonight, the Women's World Middleweight Title is up for grabs and Jens Pulver faces off against Richard Hess for the World Featherweight Title. From there, we head to a hideously cheesy video package for the International Fighting Championship's World Tour. Jeff Blatnick is in the booth and will be calling all of the action, which will lend a certain air of nostalgia to the event. And of course, because it's an IFC event, I have to deal with the plague that is Big Poppa Schnake. He rambles and rambles, spouting cliches like a spiky-haired volcano and with that, we're off to the cage for the first fight.
Match One: Middleweights
Dan Ethel (0-3) vs. Mitch Coats (0-0)
They talk about Coats and how he's an experience Muay Thai fighter and that it will come into play in the fight heavily. If this is anything like pro-wrestling, Dan Ethel was already in the cage and they said nearly nothing about him, so he should lose convincingly.
Round One
Coats gets a good jab right into a takedown and Ethel falls back into a deep guillotine attempt, though Coats has an arm in that should save him. Coats just relaxes in the hold and waits it out until Ethel breaks the attempt and holds to control Coats. Coats drops a couple of hard elbows and tries to push Ethel down to the mat while he postures up to strike and he does land a couple of good shots but there's not a lot landing for either man. Coats postures up with a flurry of punches and he's able to break free of the guard and gets past into side control but can't capitalize and Ethel gets it back to half-guard. Coats works a couple of hard shots to the body and then postures up for some HARD elbows and punches that Ethel mainly blocks but some of them do get through. He changes it up right into a keylock attempt from the top and Ethel is hanging on and fighting it, actually breaking free of the submission and holding Coats again. Coats postures up again into a couple of hard punches and he gets into the full mount with a VICIOUS flurry of punches and elbows and the referee steps in to save Ethel from more of a beati..OH GOD, his face is a mess. Ethel is bleeding everywhere, though mainly from the nose.
Winner: Mitch Coats, TKO at 4:47 of Round One
Fight Analysis: Coats had this one pretty much the entire time and dominated as soon as he got his head free of the guillotine attempt. Ethel looked like he had nothing on his back and he just got beaten up until the referee decided that he'd seen enough.
Match Two: Welterweights
JD Carter (0-0) vs. Hank Weis (0-0)
Weis comes out to the cage and apparently has a background in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and kickboxing. JD Carter is next on his way to the cage and this arena looks EMPTY. I mean there are huge rows of empty seats on the floor of the arena and whole sections that are empty in the bowl. The audio in the arena is horrible so you can't hear the ring announcer at all, but that's ok because it looks like to fit in with the "battleground" theme, he's wearing black fatigues and combat boots with greasepaint all over his face. An absolutely retarded idea if I've ever heard of one. Matt Hughes joins the commentary team or at least makes a passing remark to Schnake and we're underway with the fight.
Round One
Carter comes out flicking the jab and faking a right hand while Weis shoots right into a takedown attempt which Carter counters with a front facelock into a sprawl. The audio for Hughes' microphone is HORRIBLE and you can't hear a word he says. Carter finally lets go of the front facelock but gets swept almost immediately afterwards and Weis has him in an arm triangle that he eventually lets go of and the audio for Hughes gets fixed now and he says that his biggest challenge is learning better striking as Weis starts hammering some knees to the body in side control before taking full mount. Weis postures up for a flurry of punches and Carter tries to buck out from the bottom but he can't get free. Weis just hammers away with some hard punches and Carter manages to bridge into the top position with a sweep and he's in the full guard until Weis sweeps him right back into a full mount. Carter ends up leaving himself wide open for an armbar and he tries to hold out as long as he can, actually getting out of it as he turns his body away from it. Weis gets the back and sinks his hooks in, wrapping up a rear naked choke and ending the fight before Carter can use any more of his nine lives.
Winner: Hank Weis, submission (rear naked choke) at 4:14 of Round One
Fight Analysis: Weis managed to get the fight to the mat where he needed it to be and then completely took over on the inexperienced Carter, dominating on the mat before getting the finish with the choke. He nearly had the armbar and Carter probably should have tapped there, but it became a moot point when he gave up his back and got choked out a moment later. Excellent gameplanning from Weis in this fight.
Match Three: Lightweights
Larry Garrison (2-0) vs. Randy Spence (5-4)
Spence is on his way out to the arena first and the announcers say that he took this fight on short notice and that he's been working hard on his cardio as well as his boxing to get ready for this fight and that he's ready to get after it and wants to use his bread and butter combination that is a left jab-right cross combo. Garrison is a hometown boy from Boise and he's apparently got a background in submission wrestling and striking. They talk about how Garrison switches from orthodox stance to southpaw stance throughout the fight, which could pose problems for Spence.
Round One
Garrison comes forward and is looking to use his strikes to set up the takedown and he lands a right hand on the button that puts Spence down to his back. Spence gets things back to guard almost immediately and looks to be trying to get a sweep going, but he just gives that up for a triangle choke attempt. Spence looks to lock it up as Garrison hits a powerbomb slam and then ANOTHER AGAINST THE CAGE! HE LITERALLY SLAMMED HIM INTO THE CAGE! Spence absorbs those slams and transitions to a straight armbar attempt and it's not a full on straight armbar and OH GOD, GARRISON'S ELBOW POPPED OUT!! That thing is at an UGLY angle and it's sticking way out from his arm.
Winner: Randy Spence, submission, (armbar) at 1:14 of Round One
Fight Analysis: Too short to get a feel for either man's skills but I've seen Spence previously and he has some serious skills when it comes to the submission game. That armbar injury was possibly one of the sickest I've seen, and I watched Frank Mir snap Tim Sylvia's forearm live on PPV. That was a nasty, NASTY elbow dislocation and you'd have to wonder how long it took Garrison to recover from that one, though considering he didn't fight for two years after, you'd have to think it took a while if not physically, then psychologically.
Match Four: Featherweights
Jorge Evangelista (2-0-1)vs. Chevo Vidales (0-0)
Evangelista comes in with a reputation for having heavy hands, has knockout power with his right and left hands and will be looking to use his speed to get off his power shots. Chevo is a mat specialist and is apparently a very good jiu-jitsu fighter, but according to Schnake, he's nervous about making his debut in a larger fight organization like the IFC.
Round One
Funny visual as the referee towers over the fighters by a good six inches during the staredown and we're set to get the fight underway. Evangelista rushes forward with a front kick and a flurry of punches leading to Vidales trying for a clinch and he actually ends up on the bottom and fully mounted by Evangelista. Evangelista is working away to the body and head before he postures up for a HARD right hand and a big flurry of punches as Chevo rolls to his stomach and taps out. Seconds after the fight is over, Vidales has two huge lumpy bruises on the right side of his face and a cut under his right eye.
Winner: Jorge Evangelista, TKO, at 1:00 of Round One
Fight Analysis: Evangelista just overwhelmed Vidales who looked frightened to death to be out there. I'm not surprised that he tapped from that big left hand because honestly, a lot of the guys that are straight-up jiu-jitsu guys aren't used to getting punched in the face like that. Crazy power from Evangelista to welt up Vidales' face like he did, as quickly as he did.
Match Five: Light Heavyweights
Chris Kiever (2-1) vs. Nate Quarry (4-1)
Kiever lists his style as freestyle fighting and apparently his big strengths are going to be his cardio and his well-rounded skills that allow him to be comfortable either on the feet or on the mat. Quarrys comes to the cage with Matt Lindland in his corner and his style is listed as submission wrestling. You can tell that it's Lindland in the corner because his ears stick out so far he almost gets stuck in the entryway on the way to the cage.
Round One
They trade leg kicks as there's a big unwieldy graphic, outlining the ways to win a fight that overlays over the first few seconds, obscuring the action. Quarry gets a Thai clinch but ends up on his back after Kiever catches his leg when he throws a knee. Quarry works from the guard and tries to control Kiever before pushing him away and nearly getting a kneebar attempt in. Kiever just misses with a big right hand and the fight ends up back in the full guard as Quarry tries an armbar off of his back. Kiever pulls free of it and stands above a prone Quarry, trying to pull free to do some striking. Quarry pulls Kiever back into the guard and lands a good left hand before setting up another armbar attempt, though he hits another couple of left hands out of it. Kiever's back into Quarry's guard and he's trying to posture up for some punches but Quarry is defending well and looking to inch the guard up Kiever's back. Quarry throws some up-kicks that land and Kiever throws some leg kicks in response before diving back into the guard. Quarry isolates and arm and lands an up-kick to the face before he forces Kiever right into a DEEP triangle choke. Kiever has no choice but to tap out and submit.
Winner: Nate Quarry, submission (triangle choke) at 4:33 of Round One
Fight Analysis: An amazing performance from Quarry as he managed to control the ENTIRE fight from his back and dictated the pace of it from beginning to end. I've never seen someone be so dominant from a downed position in terms of controlling everything about the fight, but Quarry did it. He had serious skills here and it's no wonder that he got the chance to be on The Ultimate Fighter. I really think he could have won that tournament if he hadn't been hurt in the early part of the season.
Match Six: Welterweights
Eric Heinz (2-2) vs. Steve Gomm (6-6)
Gomm makes his way out to the arena and he's got a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu background and a kickboxing background as well. Gomm is coming off of a big loss to Nate Marquardt, which there's no shame in, and he's going to be trying to work his jiu-jitsu skills in this fight. Heinz is on his way out now and he's a hometown fighter from Boise. He's a wrestler for the most part, though he apparently has some kickboxing skills that he can use. Both men are supremely motivated for different reasons and seem to have well-rounded skills which should make for a great fight.
Round One
Heinz has one of those weird temporary back tattoos for some website, which makes me want to see him lose badly. Heinz throws a leg kick and a good combination that lands and Gomm just misses with a high kick. Heinz rushes forward throwing a combination but Gomm catches him with a nice counter left and stops him in his tracks. Heinz gets a nice takedown but Gomm shows off his jiu-jitsu skills by transitioning through a myriad of submission attempts back-to-back. Gomm throws some knees while he's on his back and Heinz is on top in the guard, trying to avoid another armbar attempt. Heinz postures up to try to throw some punches and does so, but there's not a lot on them and they end up back in the closed guard. Gomm does some open-handed striking from the bottom as Heinz tries for a can opener but there's nothing there. Another neck crank attempt from Heinz on the top as Gomm continues to throw up a high guard to look for an armbar attempt. Gomm gets it all the way attempted but Heinz manages to muscle his way out and land some solid strikes from the top. Gomm throws a high guard up again and tries for another armbar but Heinz pulls free again and lands another couple of left hands. Gomm has a small cut over his left eye and Heinz actually manages to get past the guard into side control, hammering away until the bell sounds to end the first round.
Round Analysis: Gomm had tons of submission attempts but not a lot else and Heinz landed some HARD shots while he was avoiding the submissions. Heinz also had the takedown that got the fight down to the mat, so if I had to score it, I would give it to Heinz, but just barely because of the strikes he was able to land and the damage that he did with them while showing good submission defense.
Round Two
Heinz throws a combination to start the round and a lazy leg kick that gets caught by Gomm but he lets it go. Gomm hits a nice combination and then lands a NASTY knee to the face of Heinz, taking his back and sinking in a rear naked choke to end the fight! WOW, that was very quick, and Heinz is gushing blood from a cut on his temple after that knee strike.
Winner: Steve Gomm, submission (rear naked choke) at 0:49 of Round Two
Fight Analysis: Gomm felt like he'd taken enough of the beating in the first round and he turned things around in the second round rather quickly. That knee was a beautiful shot and as soon as he landed it, it seemed like just a matter of time until the fight was over. Despite losing the first, Gomm had beautiful transitions and submission skills and added to the striking he did in the second, showed how well-rounded a fighter he was.
Match Seven: Heavyweights
Mike Kyle (3-3) vs. Jason Reed (1-1)
Reed is an Idaho fighter and looks like he's going to be using some Muay Thai as he's got the Thai boxing trunks on and according to the announcers he took this fight on rather short notice, so it's going to be interesting to see if his cardio is an issue. Kyle is well-known through MMA circles as being a bit of a dirty fighter and just this past year he was finaly able to get back into the sport after a lengthy suspension. Kyle is even more of a hometown fighter, being from Boise proper. He's coming off of a 12-second KO win in his last fight, which should tell you where his strengths lie.
Round One
The bell rings and Reed throws a leg kick to start and they trade combinations before Kyle gets a Thai clinch and lands a couple of good knees. Kyle shoots in for a takedown and gets it, ending up in side control on top of Reed and pushing him against the fence. Kyle takes full mount very quickly off of that and postures up for a CRAZY flurry of punches. Reed sticks his arms straight up and tries to avoid but he can't and just covers up instead, taking a bunch of punches both lefts and rights. Kyle hammers away with a few more hard left hands and Reed taps out to end the beating.
Winner: Mike Kyle, submission (strikes) at 1:52 of Round One
Fight Analysis: Kyle was just way too strong for Reed, and even with a full camp I think he would have still been unable to defend himself against Kyle. Reed looked a little shell-shocked and Kyle was supremely confident, which led to the punishing end of the fight. Kyle had a bunch of potential and still does, but seems to lack the mental temerity to be able to put it all together for a run to the top of the division.
Match Eight: Light Heavyweights
Bill Mahood (8-2-1, 1 NC) vs. Tom Sauer (17-8)
Not a lot of pre-fight talk about either man and they just get right to the fight, which is fine with me. Sauer does have Jeremy Horn in his corner though, so he's going to have some good instruction all the way through the fight.
Round One
They touch gloves to start and Sauer tries a high kick that gets blocked and Mahood follows it up with a couple of leg kicks that land. Mahood tries a high kick but it gets caught and he's slammed onto his back by Sauer. Mahood closes things off with the guard and controls Sauer while he's being pressed up against the fence. Short elbow lands for Sauer and he postures up for a couple of punches but Mahood does well to be elusive and avoids taking any of those punches straight-on. Mahood lands a bit of a short elbow from the bottom and they go back to jockeying for position on the ground until Mahood kicks Sauer away. Sauer stays on top though and nearly gets full mount before Mahood closes it off and completely controls Sauer's head and body. Mahood gets it back to full guard and pushes himself off the fence to give himself a little space to move as Sauer continues to maul from the top, without really throwing any strikes that land. Sauer gets a short elbow from the top and Mahood uses his feet to try to push Sauer away again but he can't get any space to get up. They struggle a little more and the bell sounds to end the first.
Round Analysis: Sauer worked the top position for the entire first round and landed the better strikes when there actually was striking, so he gets the nod in the first round, but it's more of a situation where the guy that did something wins over the guy that couldn't do anything, though it's a fight that could go either way.
Round Two
They circle a little before Mahood throws a spinning back kick to the body which lands and they just go back to circling. Some leg kicks land for Mahood as well and Sauer lands a big right hand before they move into a clinch. Sauer gets a big takedown on Mahood and he's in the half-guard before moving all the way into full mount, pressing Mahood up against the fence. Mahood gives up his back and then turns into it, moving into the top position and landing a big right hand before diving in to pass the guard into side control. Mahood looks to be setting up for a keylock, giving it up to just HAMMER down some elbows and hard punches, flurrying with some hammerfists as well that have Sauer in trouble. HUGE left hands and elbows from Mahood and Sauer turns to give up his back and the referee stops the fight. Sauer is pissed off at the decision, but Mahood just punished him and punished him repeatedly.
Winner: Bill Mahood, TKO at 3:10 of Round Two
Fight Analysis: Once Mahood got on top, this became a completely different fight. It was a great move from him to get off of his back and to put Sauer onto his and once he got to the side control and landed those hard elbows, it was just a matter of time. Mahood has some skills on all levels, but to me he's a guy that's always going to be just one step below the top, top levels of the sport. Impressive performance from him nonetheless as he overcame the early adversity and finished strong.
Match Nine: IFC-ISKA US Heavyweight Championship
Justin Eilers (4-2-1) vs. Gary Marshall (2-4)
Marshall is a huge 265-pounder and apparently has great stand-up with a 33-2 kickboxing record. He's also an IFC Native American champion. Eilers is a Boise fighter and he's best known for his UFC stint which came after this fight, and led to him being on the receiving end of a couple of highlight reel knockouts. They talk about Eilers' handspeed and how he has some of the best hands in the heavyweight division.
Round One
They touch gloves and Eilers works the jab a little, circling away from the bigger man in Marshall. Marshall lands a good left hand and Eilers continues to circle away, just missing a high kick. Marshall throws a high kick and nearly puts himself off-balance and falls over, though he steadies himself and gets back protecting himself. Eilers with a good one-two combination that lands and he follows it up with a good leg kick. They each miss a combination and Eilers works with good jabs to keep Marshall at bay. Eilers rushes forward into a clinch against the fence and Marshall tries to throw some inside knees to the body but he misses landing it. Eilers gets a big takedown into the half-guard and he moves from there right into a full mount. Eilers lands a HARD elbow that just misses and he postures up to throw some NASTY elbows and punches and Marshall's had enough and he's tapping out. Holy hell, that was vicious.
Winner: Justin Eilers, TKO at 4:25 of Round One
Fight Analysis: Eilers had the speed to keep away from the big man and keep him from using his size and he had the technique to be able to hammer out the stoppage once he got on top. Those shots from Eilers had serious bad intentions on them and it's easy to see why the UFC came calling. Like Mahood though, Eilers seems like a top of the bottom or bottom of the top kind of fighter, who is just a shade below being at a world-class level.
Match Ten: IFC Women's World Welterweight Championship
Jennifer Howe (10-0) vs. Judy Neff (5-0)
Howe is coming off of big wins over Tara Larosa and Amanda Buckner and is a jiu-jitsu specialist, though she's apparently brought Robbie Lawler and Matt Hughes into her camp to train on wrestling a stronger oppoenent. Neff is an Idaho native and has her background in submission wrestling, though she has also done powerlifting previously. Neff looks ripped as SHIT for being 135 pounds and apparently this fight has been rumored for a couple of years previous to it actually happening here.
Round One
Neff throws a hard leg kick and they trade combinations before Neff gets a clinch and tries to land a couple of knees inside. Howe pushes her away and Neff throws another hard leg kick before they begin to circle. Neff gets back into the clinch and throws another couple knees to the body, but Howe gets a nice left hook which leads to Neff getting a takedown. Neff drops back for an anklelock but it's not there and she ends up on top of Howe, throwing punches until Howe makes it back to her feet. They continue to circle and Neff throws the leg kick again while Howe responds with a combination of punches. Neff shoots in for another takedown but Howe sprawls well away from it and they're circling again. Another leg kick lands from Neff and she follows it up with a body kick that misses, leading to more circling, with Howe backing away. She lands a great one-two combination that stuns Neff but Neff gets the clinch and takes Howe down again. Neff tries for another anklelock while she stands above Howe and then tries to drop back with another one but Howe is able to pull free. Howe reverses to the full mount as Neff tries to get back into the guard and Howe starts RAINING down rights and lefts, landing HARD elbows and Neff taps out and quits!!
Winner: Jennifer Howe, TKO at 4:24 of Round One
Fight Analysis: Neff held the advantage in the early-going, but Howe was able to use her speed and advantage in striking to seemingly tire Neff into making a mistake on the ground. Howe took the mount and finished the fight soon after, not even getting a chance to use her jiu-jitsu skills, instead hammering out the finish. Those elbows were vicious that ended the fight, and it's easy to see how Howe managed to beat both Buckner and Larosa with skills like that.
Match Eleven: IFC World Featherweight Championship
Richard Hess vs. Jens Pulver
Everyone already knows Pulver's story, so let's focus on Hess' background. He's excited to be fighting at Featherweight as most of his fights have been at lightweight where he's been at a disadvantage and he's 9-0 in amateur boxing matches. He took the fight on short notice, but I guess when the opportunity to test yourself against someone the caliber of Pulver comes up, you jump on it. He has one of those advertising back tattoos and it makes me cringe and hope for his destruction. Pulver comes from to the cage and it's surprising that with him being from Boise that he wouldn't have been able to fill the house. No crazy haircut from Pulver for this fight and he's looking ultra-intense.
Round One
They touch gloves and Hess throws a front kick to the body that lands and he follows it with an inside leg kick and Hess drops down for a single-leg. Pulver sprawls out of it and PUNISHES the body with a few hard punches to the body. Pulver scrambles and puts Hess onto his back before pulling out of the guard and allowing him back to his feet. Pulver throws a high kick that just misses and he nearly slips throwing it. Pulver rights the ship and lands a hard uppercut as Hess continues to try to throw the front kick to keep him at bay. Hess tries for a shot after eating a big left hand and Pulver sprawls out of it into a modified guillotine choke that causes Hess to tap out!!
Winner: Jens Pulver, submission (choke) at 2:14 of Round One
Fight Analysis: This was like the fight he had with Cub Swanson, just a couple minutes longer. The finishing choke was almost like a mixture of a guillotine and an anaconda, but either way it was successful. It's crazy to see how much of a night and day difference it is for Pulver when he fights at lightweight and when he fights at featherweight. Seeing this peformance, it looks like Faber could be in for a hell of a fight on Sunday night.
Pulver gets the microphone, but because of the shitty sound system, you can't hear or understand a word he's saying, though he looks pretty happy with the win in his hometown. We get to see more replays of the main event finish and that leads to Schnake and Blatnick breaking down the night of action. They go through the three championship fights and they thank the ring announcer, the referees, and the Idaho State Athletic Commission before they thank us for watching the night of fights as the credits roll
The 411: An exciting night of fights that saw eleven bouts and not one of them going to a decision. The earlier fights were a little one-sided, as was the main event, but there were a couple of bright spots in the Mahood/Sauer fight and the Gomm/Heinz fight. It's probably no coincidence that the two best fights were the ones that actually went to the second round. A solid night of action for MMA's debut in Idaho, but it was a little disappointing to see all those empty seats. That kind of took away from the atmosphere for me and makes this a good but not great show.
