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 SPFT FN 4 Review
Hayashi’s Lounge in London, England today saw a near capacity crowd as 1,964 bloodthirsty fans packed in to watch an exciting evening of fights that included two champions putting their belts on the line. A total of ten fights were scheduled on the card for the first SPFT event partnered with Heat Rising Clothing, and the night was a sign of great things to come for the organization.
First on the card was a Heavyweight bout between rookie Kru Datsik (0-0, 25) and Junior Dos Santos (1-1, 24). Both fighters were looking to keep the fight standing and did exactly that putting on a show. The night started off with a bang as Datsik got cut by a nice one-two combo from Dos Santos in the beginning seconds of the first round. The combo opened Datsik’s eyes to his opponents striking power and almost immediately went for the clinch and got it. The rest of the first round played out in the clinch with Datsik being the busier fighter and showed great control not letting Dos Santos break out despite numerous attempts. In the second round, Datsik tried going back to the clinch early but Dos Santos wouldn’t let him so he settled for peppering him with kicks from the outside. The rest of the fight played out just like that, with Datsik using his height and reach advantage that belied his inexperience by throwing and landing kick after kick that wore Dos Santos down to the point of exhaustion.
RESULT: In a standup battle that had the crowd on it’s feet, Datsik (1-0) won a Unanimous Decision over Dos Santos (1-2) with all three judges scoring the fight 30-27.
Next up was another tilt between Heavyweights as Tim Sylvia (1-0, 25) took on Hank Mardukas (0-2, 24). Sylvia opened up the action with three takedown attempts in a row right from the start, but couldn’t succeed in getting Mardukas to the mat. Mardukas countered those attempts with a stiff jab that cut Sylvia. After some back and forth action that included another takedown attempt by Sylvia and some missed kicks, Mardukas rocked him with an uppercut that sent him to the floor. Mardukas let him stand back up on wobbly legs then threw a powerful right hook that knocked him out cold!
RESULT: Mardukas (1-2) def. Sylvia (1-1) by KO (punch).
Zach Irracha (13-13, 29) faced off against Tommy Lotus (21-27-2, 32) in a Middlweight division match. Irracha, coming into the fight with a 7 loss streak, started the fight off with good control in the clinch but Lotus was able to take him down twice in the final minute and attempted a late kimura that Irracha was able to defend. With the fight fairly even heading into the second, Irracha went right back to the clinch where he had success for most of the first round. Around the midway mark, after Lotus managed to break the clinch, it was Irracha that tried a takedown this time getting it easily only to stand back up seconds later to bring it back into a clinch. In the third round it was a back and forth battle with two early takedowns by Lotus that Irracha was able to stand up from easily. It was the final clinch by Irracha approaching a minute left that Lotus was unable to break that may have swung the round in his favor.
RESULT: Irracha (14-13) def. Lotus (21-28-2) by Majority Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-29)
The fourth fight of the evening featured two more fighters from the Middlweight division, The Steel Penn Alliance (2-0, 18) and Camel Monkey (3-0, 25). Monkey wanted to live up to his pre-fight prediction (Quoted in the preview as saying, “I’m going to get him to the ground then go ape sh*t on his ass”) and did so by dominating the first round with three takedown attempts that were all successful, even ending the round in side control. The second round went much the same with Monkey scoring two more takedowns but in truth the round was a snoozer with Monkey in control but not doing much even when he had a full mount on Alliance. Two more takedowns by Monkey, both stood up by the referee, were the start of the third round. Alliance showed good heart by landing some nice kicks in the halfway point of the third round, knowing he was down and needed to do something, but in the end Monkey was able to score two more takedowns.
RESULT: Monkey (4-0) def. Alliance (2-1) by Unanimous Decision (30-28, 30-28, 30-27)
Next up was Matanel Barak (1-1, 20) against Busta Smirnov (1-0, 23) in the SPFT Heavyweight division. The first round saw both fighters actively looking for a submission off of their back as Smirnov scored the first three takedowns but it was Barak with just as many sub attempts from his back, then late in the round Barak scored a takedown only to fend off two sub attempts by Smirnov. The second round was once again dominated by Smirnov, who managed three more takedowns but this time Barak wasn’t able to fight his control to attempt a submission off his back. Smirnov looked to be in control of the fight after scoring an early takedown to start the third, but Barak did well to take Smirnov down after a referee stand up, though he wasn’t able to apply the finish.
RESULT: Smirnov (2-0) def. Barak (1-2) by Unanimous Decision (30-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Pamela Anderson (22-9, 32) took on SPFT debutant Dragon Slayer (3-2-1, 24) in the Middleweight division for our sixth match of the night. Slayer got off to a great start, dominated most of the first round with his striking. Anderson was able to get a takedown, pulling guard, late in the round but Slayer was content to lay on top control until a referee stand up. In the second round, Slayer once again put his striking ability on showcase and rocked Anderson with an uppercut in the third minute that eventually led to a right hook that put Anderson on the ground and forced a referee stoppage.
RESULT: Slayer (4-2-1) def. Anderson (22-10) by TKO (Strikes) after 4:24 of round 2. It has been widely speculated that Anderson pulling double duty as a ring “girl” affected his focus for this fight.
In the first of three Lightweight bouts, Marvin Zaha (0-1, 22) squared off against Shannon Khoury (9-17-1, 34). Zaha, perhaps wary of Khoury’s knockout ability, aggressively sought the clinch throughout the first round, coming in to clinch then breaking off and throwing kicks then repeating the process, effectively wearing Khoury out in the early minutes of the fight. Early in the second Zaha continued his dominance before landing with a beautiful head kick that dropped Khoury. Sensing blood in the water, Zaha went after Khoury and forced the ref to step in.
RESULT: Zaha (1-1) def. Khoury (9-18-1) by TKO (Strikes) after 1:45 of round 2.
The final undercard bout was another Lightweight matchup between Laz Staz (0-3, 21) and Grim Reaper (1-1, 25). Reaper looked hungry for the win from the get go, landing a large amount of nasty leg kicks. Staz was never able to find an answer, missing with the few strikes he threw before eating a kick to the head that put him on the canvas. Reaper let him stand back up only to land another head kick seconds later that put Staz down. With bad intentions, Reaper pressed forward and forced the referee to tackle him to the ground effectively ending the fight.
RESULT: Reaper (2-1) def. Staz (0-4) by TKO (Head Kick) 3:48 into round 1.
With the undercard fights out of the way it was time for the Co-Main event where Horacio Vanderbeet (6-3, 19) was the challenger to Jon Snow (3-2, 21) in the SPFT Lightweight Championship bout. Vanderbeet came out the aggressor immediately taking Snow to the canvas and searching for an early submission victory but couldn’t quite find it. Snow was able to kick him off to see them back to their feet, but after a failed takedown attempt of his own found himself on his back yet again moments later. The rest of the round played out with Vanderbeet in top control, though Snow should be commended for trying to stay in the fight searching for a submission despite being outworked. The first round seemed to take a lot out of Snow as he was breathing heavily in the second and couldn’t stop another takedown attempt by Vanderbeet. They remained in that position, with Vanderbeet on top in Snow’s guard before he was eventually able to pass into full mount and rain down some ground and pound causing the referee to call the fight.
RESULT: Vanderbeet (7-3) def. Snow (3-3) by TKO (Strikes) in 4:22 of round 2 to become your new SPFT LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLD!! Vanderbeet used his post fight interview to talk himself up, and indeed at only 19 years old and already a champion looks to have a very bright future in the sport of MMA with SPFT.
In the Main event of the evening we saw the current Middleweight champion of the world Elmo Elmo (6-3, 25) defend his title against former ADCC champion Sepp Maier (27-19, 29). The action started right away as Maier got the takedown on Elmo kicking off what would be a ground chess match with no less than 15 total submission attempts combined from both fighters in the first round alone with Maier staying in the guard of Elmo the majority of the time. The second round began with another takedown by Maier and it looked as though he might end the fight early by rocking Elmo with some ground and pound shortly after the minute mark. Elmo was able to regain his composure, though, and it was back to both fighters searching for position with Maier using his extensive experience to edge out the round. Round 3 began with yet another takedown from Maier, but this time Elmo fought back to his feet and showed good balance by stuffing three takedowns in a row before Maier hit payday with the fourth. The rest of the round played out much like the first round with both fighters looking to latch onto their opponent’s limbs for a submission. Despite most likely wanting to keep the fight standing, Elmo had been giving a good showing for himself on the ground and was doing enough to stay in it but still looked to be at a slight disadvantage.
It was then on to the championship rounds. With Maier spending the majority of the fight thus far in top position Elmo knew he had to make something happen in the last two rounds to keep his belt, but was taken down again to start the fourth round. Maier then forced Elmo to defend sub attempt after sub attempt before he was finally able to stand back up at the midway mark. Elmo managed to keep it standing until the final few seconds of the round but Maier clinched him to prevent him using his superior boxing to his advantage. In the fifth and final round Elmo came to life and was finally able to keep the fight on the feet, causing the crowd to stand on their tip-toes trying to get closer to the action. The round belonged to Elmo, showing that he did indeed have the advantage standing up, but in the end he wasn’t able to find the knockout that would propel him to a win.
RESULT: Maier (28-19) def. Elmo (6-4) by Unanimous Decision (49-46, 49-47, 49-47) becoming your new MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLD!!
Awards
Fight of the Night: Elmo Elmo vs Sepp Maier
KO of the Night: Grim Reaper
Submission of the Night: N/A
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