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 What a card we had this Saturday, fight fans. KOTB 16 saw two new champions crowned, a new leader in promotional knockouts and a pair of wild back and forth fights that resulted in late Hail Mary arm triangle submissions. All in all, KOTB 16 was one of the promotion’s most exciting and highly rated cards in history.
Opening the undercard was an interesting welterweight matchup between a pair of veteran journeymen making their promotional debuts. Nanu Negi, a well-decorated Punjabi boxer, opened the fight by landing some clean punches and kicks but was quickly taken to the ground, which is where most of the fight would take place. Damien Ching, a well-rounded Hawaiian fighter, brought in a ton of experience from fighting in Europe, Los Angeles and Hawaii, and decided his best chance in this fight was on the mat. The two fighters engaged in a frantic mess of sweeps and submission attempts and seemed to have split the first two rounds. The third round was much the same, but with seconds remaining, with both fighters gasping for air, Negi worked a tight arm triangle submission, forcing Ching to tap out with under a minute left on the clock.
Nanu “Nanu007” Negi (2-4, 1-0) defeats Damien Ching (0-5, 0-1) via Submission (Arm Triangle) R3 - 04:25
I’m not sure if Todd Hunter watched the previous fight, but he sure found a way top it. The New Jersey brown belt was still searching for his first professional win and was matched up against another super-heavyweight looking for a win in Moscow’s Lane Herman. Like the previous matchup, the majority of this fight was spent on the mat. While the two were pretty evenly matched up in the grappling department, Herman seemed to be cruising to a decision victory by doing damage with some crisp punches and ground and pound. Hunter, though, wasn’t about to let another victory slip by. With a few minutes to go, Hunter would land his final takedown and immediately started fishing for arm locks before latching onto another late arm triangle submission and forcing the tap with only five seconds remaining. The ‘fight of the night’ bonus is hopefully something Herman can take out of this performance.
Todd Hunter (1-2, 1-2) defeats Lane “Heman” Herman (4-3, 1-3) via Submission (Arm Triangle) R3 - 04:55
Up next we had a pair of Brazilian featherweights making their debuts. Santa Catarina’s Marcelo Cavaliers came into the fight looking a little tired, a little bloated and a little bit confused. Despite holding a clear advantage in the boxing department, Cavaliers immediately jumped in with a clean takedown right into Mauricio Abelha’s wheelhouse. The Rio-born brown belt immediately regained guard a fished for submissions before locking in a tight triangle choke in just under two-minutes. It’s an important debut for “B-Boy” in a division that’s quickly filling with contenders.
Mauricio “B-Boy” Abelha (2-0, 1-0) defeats Marcelo Cavaliers (2-2, 0-1) via Submission (Triangle) R1 - 01:59
Two surging middleweights looking to reach contender status were up next, as Din Aleshi took on Joseph Annuaku. Coming off a questionable decision loss, Annuaku looked out of sorts from the start of this fight. After stuffing an early Annuaku takedown attempt, Aleshi turned it on and fired off accurate kicks and punches for about two minutes in a surprisingly one-sided fight. After finishing things off with a pair of devastating hooks, Aleshi took to the mic and thanked the fans in his usual manner. Annuaku has since been dropped by his management, which is a shame as he was a fight away from being a real contender in the division. We have high hopes he turns it around and returns to KOTB action soon.
Din “Dalesh” Aleshi (4-0, 3-0) defeats Joseph Annuaku (5-3, 2-2) via TKO (Punches) R1 - 02:09
Closing out the undercard was a bloody light-heavyweight affair; something that is becoming a habit in fights featuring Diederik Boschman. Sao Paulo’s Zico Ali was coming off the first knockout loss of his career against title contender Yuri Boyka, and was probably hoping for a better follow-up fight than what resulted. Boschman immediately went into the clinch against the boxer - a place where Boyka had success - and began unloading with punches and slicing elbows. It wasn’t long before the repeated strikes opened a life-altering gash onto the eyebrow of Ali, forcing the doctor to intervene. The knockout victory is fourth in KOTB competition for the former Surinamese wrestler and third via cut, both promotional records.
Diederik “The Hidden Blade” Boschman (4-1, 4-1) defeats Zico “The Kick” Ali (3-4. 0-2) via TKO (Cut) R1 - 02:12
Opening the main card was a matchup of heavy-handed welterweights, as Rio’s own Carlos Fierro looked to continue his undefeated streak against Las Vegas’s Diesel Hendrix. The American came out the aggressor and landed an assortment of punishing shots early. This seemed to have put the Brazilian on his heels, and while Fierro landed a few good shots of his own, the toll would start to wear on him. The final nail in the coffin would be a huge uppercut that crumpled the hometown fighter and some follow-up punches that would force the referee to intervene. Hendrix continues to be on the fringe of contender status and looks forward to a marquee fight against Lucas Campos at KOTB 21.
Diesel Hendrix (4-1, 2-1) defeats Carlos Fierro (3-1, 1-1) via TKO (Strikes) R1 - 02:59
After some heated arguments over the past few weeks, the crowd was largely split in their cheers and boos for our next fight - one of the most anticipated non-title fights in KOTB history. At a combined weight of 600 lbs, Blob Sapp and Conrad Mcgillicutty were destined to put their stamp on the division and the cage during this matchup. Sapp rushed in and swung for the fences early, but despite a damaging uppercut, he was hitting mostly air. The surprisingly mobile 7’4’’ Irishman kept on his toes and slipped in and out with jabs, straights and uppercuts before landing a crushing left hand. Mcgillicutty pounced with a barrage of punches and forced the referee to step in and stop any further damage. To his credit, a bloodied and badly beaten Sapp never once fell to the mat, which is quite an accomplishment considering the damage taken. The outspoken Mcgillicutty has silenced the few doubters he has and will wait for his title shot sometime next month.
Conrad “The Joker” Mcgillicutty (5-2, 1-0) defeats Blob “Voodoo Child” Sapp (4-2, 2-2) via TKO (Strikes) - R1 - 01:50
In what was a common theme on the night, we had another highly anticipated matchup that ended in a surprisingly one-sided fashion. The baby faced Marty McFly was coming off of four straight first round finishes and appeared to be on the brink of title contention, but nobody told Simon Sims. The Australian kickboxer was coming off a pair of first round finishes of his own and looked extra sharp in this one. The two competitors stood in the pocket and exchanged for over a minute to start the fight, with Sims getting the better of them. Sims would then send McFly tumbling to the mat with a big right hand and followed it up with a brutal straight right that went right through McFly’s defenses, knocking the American out cold. Sims has rebounded nicely from his debut loss and appears to be the number one contender. He’ll try and solidify that spot next month when he takes on the polarizing former super-heavyweight, Thiagus Davaru Silva.
Simon Sims (8-2, 3-1) defeats Marty Mcfly (5-1, 1-1) via KO (Punch) R1 - 01:24
Our co-main event was the first of two title defenses on the night, as Nathan Fisher made his middleweight debut against the champion, Eric Ashton. The champion found himself in an unfamiliar situation early, as Fisher was able to get a takedown and force Ashton to fight from his back. With his ground and pound attack nullified, Ashton worked hard to advance position and fished for a kimura, while Fisher positioned himself for some ground and pound and submissions of his own. The round would play out in somewhat of a stalemate, but it ultimately went to the challenger in the judge’s eyes. Ashton would turn things around by getting his own takedown to open the second stanza. Fisher looked comfortable, however, and waited for his opportunity. After about a minute of fighting for position, Fisher would hit a lightning quick armbar that came out of nowhere, much to the delight of the Brazilian fans. We now have a new champion and a potential rivalry, as Ashton was very vocal about the title being rightfully his.
Nathan “The Constrictor” Fisher (4-1, 1-0) defeats Eric Ashton (7-2, 2-1) via Submission (Armbar) R2 - 01:34
Our main event featured the first light-heavyweight title defense for Cuba’s Third Round Romero against Russia’s Yuri Boyka. If there was one takeaway from this fight, it’s that Boyka is one scary dude. The former prison-fighting champion was basically flawless, and considering that Romero has dominated everyone in his path up until now, it makes the performance even more impressive. The stoic Russian moved into the clinch early and methodically started working knees and punches. Romero had been working on his clinch game leading up to fight, but he really wore himself out by trying to break Boyka’s grip while taking so many shots. A flurry of destructive uppercuts would spell the doom of Romero at just over three minutes into the opening round. Romero was respectful in his post fights comments but seemed confident in a future title run.
Yuri “Hands of Stone” Boyka (5-1, 2-0) defeats Third Round “YOLO” Romero (7-1, 2-1) via TKO (Punches) R1 - 03:26
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