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 KOTB 10: Revanche (Review)
They say revenge is a dish best served cold, but the King of the Beach promotion kept things warm for our main event competitors on Saturday night. The main card of our second-highest rated event of all time would also feature our first-ever “Pride”-style freak-show fight, as one of our smallest competitors took on one of the largest.
The undercard opened with a somewhat stale three-round affair between European middleweights Brad Douglas and Toni Kroos. German muay thai specialist Kroos was determined to get things into the clinch, but couldn’t hold on long enough to do any significant damage on his Romanian counterpart. Instead, Douglas kept things at range and picked apart his foe with a variety of strikes. In the end, it was enough to take all three rounds on the judge’s scorecards.
Brad “The Orphan” Douglas (2-2, 1-1) defeats Toni Kroos (0-1, 0-1) via Decision (Unanimous)
Oman’s Walood Kassab continued his streak of alternating wins and losses in a welterweight showdown with Ireland’s Fergal Murphy, who is still chasing his first KOTB victory. Kassab, who later revealed he was nursing a torn muscle as a result of a work-related fishing accident, immediately took his foe down and began going to work with pinpoint ground and pound. Murphy attempted a pair of triangle chokes, but Kassab punched his way through and eventually knocked Murphy out cold. Kassab now looks to take a bit of time off to nurse his injury and focus on his career as a fisherman.
Walood “The Dugong” Kassab (3-2, 2-2) defeats Fergal Murphy (1-3, 0-2) via KO (Strikes) R1 - 01:57
A pair of rising featherweights were up next, as former title-contender Anderson Gracie took on the debuting Italian striker, Horatius Cocles. Cocles was probably hoping for a better introduction than what transpired, as Gracie quickly took him down and latched on to his trademark arm triangle submission. The Rio-born grappler is now right back in the mix and should be looking forward to a possible title eliminator bout in the near future.
Anderson “The Boa Constrictor” Gracie (2-1, 1-1) defeats Horatius “Legionaire” Cocles (0-2, 0-1) via Submission (Arm Triangle) R1 - 00:32
It was a classic striker versus grappler matchup when Simon Sims put his kickboxing pedigree on display against the jiu-jitsu attack of Papas Kanamun. William Sims, the father of Simon, recently had his retirement bout in MMA and his son couldn’t have made him more proud. Kanamun came out strong, looking for a takedown before getting into the clinch, while Sims countered with heavy punches, eventually forcing the referee to intervene on a slumping Kanamun. The Bulgarian is now in a must-win situation in his career, while Sims is back on track after his disappointing debut.
Simon Sims (6-2, 1-1) via Papas “Mucata” Kanamun (1-5, 1-3) via TKO (Strikes) R1 - 00:23
A second featherweight bout closed out the undercard, as Brazilian brown belt Augusto Azevedo took on Irish boxer Maellan Rowan. Rowan really battled the scale during the weigh-ins and Azevedo made him pay with a dominating 18-second “submission of the night” performance, the second of his young career. Azevedo then delighted the ring girls and crowd with some risqué post-fight dance moves, and the Amazonian suddenly and simultaneously moves into “contender” and “crowd favorite” status.
“Amazing” Augusto Azevedo (2-0, 2-0) defeats Maellan Rowan (0-2, 0-2) via Submission (Americana) R1 - 00:18
The fans in attendance were all-eyes for our next bout, as Swedish wrestler Magnus Karlsson looked to use his incredible size advantage against Chilean striker Alejandro Sepulveda in a special open-weight engagement. Sepulveda thrilled the crowd by coming out with a brilliant assortment of punch combinations, pushing his much larger opponent to fight from his heels. After a Karlsson takedown, Sepulveda would keep the heat on with submission attempt after submission attempt. Sepulveda’s family could be heard screaming for their namesake and the rest of crowd hung on every moment. Karlsson would rebound in the second round by using his size to mount his opponent and eventually knocking the Chilean out with some serious ground and pound. Regardless of size, it’s a nice feather in the cap for the Swede. A disappointed Sepulveda was seen leaving the arena with his immediate family in a broken-down hatchback. Hopefully the “fight of the night” bonus heals his wounds and helps his family get back on their feet.
Magnus Karlsson (5-0, 2-0) defeats Alejandro “Osito” Sepulveda (6-4, 0-1) via KO (Strikes) R2 - 01:56
The fans didn’t get a break from the action, as the bloodiest fight in KOTB history occurred in an important light-heavyweight battle between Diederik Boschman and Edward Smith. Things opened up with a possible gaffe by former title contender Edward Smith, as the British boxer decided to start the fight in the clinch. Unfortunately, that’s exactly where Suriname’s Boschman does his best work, as he immediately started battering his opponent with elbows and punches. An incredibly deep cut started covering both fighters in a horrifically bloody scene, forcing the doctor to halt the bout. To Smith’s credit, he was still looking to continue, but he’ll have to heal up and try to rebound in his next KOTB performance. Boschman, on the other hand, looks forward to a number one contender fight with Simon Sims.
Diederik “The Hidden Blade” Boschman (3-0, 3-0) defeats Edward Smith (3-2, 0-2) via TKO (Cut) R1 - 01:47
A finalist for “fight of the night” featured two up-and-comers in the deep waters of our welterweight division. Rick Sharp, who trains out of the heralded Iron Works gym in Sydney, Australia, took control out of the gate, dropping the American, Hendrix, with a counter combination. From there, Sharp would dominate with position and ground and pound, but Hendrix would show great heart and make it to the bell. The second round would see both fighters going back and forth on the feet in a tightly contested five minutes. Sharp would then put his stamp on things with another knockdown in the third round, finishing the fight with more smothering ground positioning and strikes. It’s an impressive debut all-around for the young Aussie.
“Slick” Rick Sharp (2-0, 1-0) defeats Diesel Hendrix (3-1, 1-1) via Decision (Unanimous)
Our co-main event would see a pair of giants engage in a thrilling slugfest, as Romanian Sandu Lungu took out American Shaquille O Neal with second round strikes. Lungu cut his foe early and followed up an exciting exchange by knocking O Neal down with a beautiful combination. O Neal showed incredible resilience and battled back with some heavy body kicks and clinchwork to survive the round. All would be for not, however, as Lungu continued to land in the second round and appeared to injure O Neal with a big left hand and followed up with some fight ending strikes. Early reports say O Neal has shattered his jaw and the American has decided to leave his manager and the promotion, hinting at retirement. Lungu had some strong words for both the main event competitors and looks to be setting up some future matchups.
Sandu “Big Bear” Lungu (5-1, 2-1) defeats Shaquille O Neal (1-1, 1-1) via TKO (Strikes) R2 - 00:28
Finally, our main attraction was on, as Thiagus Davaru Silva made his return to the KOTB cage to a hail of boos. The former champion was making his first appearance since being stripped of the title after being flagged for PEDs in his post-fight blood test. He’d be taking on Ezekiel Puchowski, who looked to avenge his earlier tournament loss to Silva. Puchowski opened up with a strong clinch and boxing attack, punishing Silva with punches. Silva appeared to be in much worse shape than he did during his title run, and seemed to be over-confident with his new standup game. This would cost him, as Puchowski stunned Silva with an overhand right before teeing off on his slumping opponent against the cage. Both fighters embraced in the post fight interviews and seemed to leave the beef behind them. Silva has since re-signed with the org and looks to move on in his career, while Puchowski looks forward to a title fight against the winner of Guy Mourtneant and Harry Milne.
Ezekiel “Power Trip” Puchowski (6-1, 3-1) defeats Thiagus Davaru Silva (5-1, 3-1) via KO (Punches) R2 - 02:17
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