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 SLAUGHTERHOUSE 6 REVIEW
UNDERCARD
Robert McCall v Ryo Narushima – 205 lbs
What had been billed as a close fight turned into a dominant performance by Ryo Narushima. Within 30 seconds of the opening bell Narushima took his opponent into the clinch and devastated him with a series of knees to the body and face, setting the tone for the duration of the fight. McCall did little to attempt to break the clinch and a result rapidly found himself treading in deep water. Rounds two and three continued much in the same manner and it soon became apparent that the younger fighter was simply unable to adapt his gameplan to the sheer aggression and workrate displayed by Narushima. Even working on the outside, the one area where McCall's boxing background might have given him an edge, he found himself outclassed. While unable to secure a finishing knockout blow, the sheer amount of attrition inflicted by Narushima over the course of the three rounds left the judges in no doubt as to who the superior fighter was.
Result: Narushima by Unanimous Decision
RP McMurphy v Decker Dogwood – 265 lbs
All credit to Decker Dogwood for coming out all guns blazing, but this was always going to be an extremely tough matchup for the 18 year old. For the first minute and a half of the fight it appeared that Dogwood might be in with a chance as he managed to land several body shots against his taller opponent, but McMurphy's counter strategy came into play and he secured the takedown attempt. With the fight now on the ground there was only going to be one winner. Dogwood's attempts to improve position proved futile and, worse still, McMurphy was able to rain down a series of elbows and punches unblocked. Dogwood was able to sustain himself through to the second round, but soon found himself on the ground once more and from there McMurphy pounded his way to victory.
Result: McMurphy by second round (T)KO (Strikes)
Holt McCoy v Sungwon Jung – 205 lbs
Holt McCoy's best chance of winning this fight was always going to be via submission, but when you can't take the fight to the floor it's always going to be a long day at the office for a BJJ specialist. Or, if you are coming up against a particularly talented standup fighter, a very short day at the office. In this instance it was the latter as Sungwon Jung dominated the opening exchange working his opponent over both inside and outside the clinch. Predictably McCoy's standup game was no match for Jung and with the takedown opportunities failing to present themselves, it was only a matter of time before Jung landed a crunching blow to finish the fight. Three minutes into the fight and that is precisely what happened, with a beautifully timed left hook taking McCoy to the canvas where Jung wasted no time in dispatching his opponent.
Result: Jung by first round (T)KO (Strikes)
Saiyan Southbrook v Stew Sauced – 205lbs
Southbrook's aggressive approach to this fight looked to unnerve the former light heavyweight champ and, for a while, it appeared this approach might just be working. Opening with a wild combination followed by a left hook which landed flush, Southbrook put the pressure on early and often but over the course of this fight Sauced's counterpunching was on point and although he threw less shots, he landed with greater efficiency. Ultimately it was that efficiency which told true and Sauced was able to dispatch his opponent in the second round with a lovely combination followed by a straight right which left the up-and-coming youngster unconscious up against the cage. Sauced will now be angling for another title shot but with some stiff competition in this already deep division he may have to prove himself once more before getting his chance at the belt. For Southbrook he can take some heart from this performance, the 23 year old is clearly better than his 4-3 record indicates and this fight will have given him some vital experience to build upon.
Result: Sauced by second round KO (Punches)
Update: Sauced will indeed face Kuma Nelson once again in his bid for the heavyweight title. The matchup will occur on the 5th December at Slaughterhouse 9, tickets are already on sale.
Parker Phoenix v Hugo Lewis – 185lbs title fight
Mixed martial arts fans can be fickle sometimes, but for me this was a clear nomination for fight of the night. A real back and forth battle which went the duration, perhaps it was only the absence of a knockout which deprived these two fighters of a bonus award. Phoenix started out strong and looked like he had edged the first two rounds, albeit by the finest of margins. But the challenger was never out of this fight and even in the rounds where the champion looked to have an edge, Lewis landed some crunching hits. The third round was more of a toss up, but Lewis came in strong for the two championship rounds leaving the result as anyone's guess. Indeed the judges struggled to reach a unanimous verdict, scoring the fight 48:47, 46:49 and 48:48 leaving the fight to be ruled as a draw with the champion retaining his title. Next up for Phoenix is another tough matchup with Syn/Evo veteran Kenneth Wayne; for Harris, he will undoubtedly be disappointed not to have taken the belt having come so close but, judging by this performance, he will definitely be in title contention once again in the not so distant future.
Result: Draw
Rusty Driver v Svyatoslav Vakarchuk – 265lbs
Svyatoslav Vakarchuk couldn't have hoped for a better start to the fight. Within seconds of the bell he had managed to take Driver to the floor and it appeared that the 26 year old boxer had just found himself in hot water. But the American showed some tremendous athleticism to push Vakarchuk off and regain his feet. From there Driver stuffed the younger Ukrainian's attempts to bring the fight back down to the floor and delivered punches with such precision and power that it took only six strikes before Vakarchuk was laid flat out on the mat. Now 2-0 in Slaughterhouse, Driver will have his sights set on bigger and better things as he seeks to move on up in the heavyweight division. For all his undeniable talent, Vakarchuk's chin looked exposed in this short fight and he will want to make improvements on his ability to block and evade punches lest he suffer another knockout in Slaughterhouse's hardest hitting division.
Result: Driver by first round (T)KO (Strikes)
Donald Evans v Kocoa Ebone – 205lbs
Ebone started this fight out strongly as he capitalised on some poor footwork from Evans to land an uppercut followed by a well placed jab to the body. From there Ebone sought to maintain the pressure on his opponent, landing a total of 23 strikes to his opponents 16 and clearly was the more aggressive fighter in this instance. But knockout power is a highly sought after commodity in the world of MMA, and although Evans threw far less punches he managed to find his target with greater efficiency and precision. And it was this display of counterpunching ability which ultimately stood the test of time in this light heavyweight bout as Evans cracked his opposite number with a perfectly timed hook to send him out cold two minutes into the second round. Making his Slaughterhouse debut, Evans' gameplan was on point – for most of the fight he managed to avoid the clinch and consistently punished Ebone's attempts to get up close and personal. In the one occasion when Ebone did manage to clinch, Evans skilfully managed to break away albeit while eating a few punches to the head in the process. Next up for the 22 year old from New York is a fight with skilled standup fighter Sungwon Jung at Slaughterhouse 9 in what should be an entertaining bout.
Result: Evans by second round KO (Punch)
Bruce Hardman v Michael D Amato – 265 lbs
This was one of the hard matchups to predict and D Amato surprised the crowd with a dominant performance to take every round on the scorecards. But most surprising of all was the absence of a knockout – both fighters have a reputation both for delivering knockouts and for having suspect chins, so to see this fight go the distance was most unusual. This was a truly classy performance from D Amato, he outworked his opponent throwing a total of 134 strikes to Hardman's 91 and landed consistently with greater precision (his strikes finding the target 46.2% time compared to Hardman's 36.2%). But although Hardman's striking ability clearly wasn't quite on the level of D Amato, he deserves credit for showing tremendous heart to take this fight the full three rounds. For D Amato, this performance will have been a big confidence boost as he looks to move up to greater things. D Amato's next fight is yet to be confirmed, but with heavyweight champion Magnus Cross preparing to face off against Connor MacBurns (who D Amato has previously beaten) in Slaughterhouse's next outing, D Amato has made a convincing case for a title challenge.
Result: D Amato by Unanimous Decision
CO-MAIN EVENT
Don Diego v Robbie Alcatraz – 170lbs
This fight was not remotely close. Don Diego produced an absolutely dominant performance from start to finish Landing a total of 71 strikes to Alactraz's 5. Alactraz was lucky to get out of the first round still standing as a series of body shots threatened to take his feet away; saved by the bell, it looked like Alcatraz had recovered his senses but with seconds of the start of the start of the second round a delicious head kick sent the 37 year old to the floor. Reluctant to engage with Alcatraz on the ground, Diego allowed his opponent back to his feet before again knocking him down with huge combination just a minute later. Again, Diego waved a wobbly Alcatraz to his feet before cracking him with massive right hand before finally following up with a series of strikes which forced the referee to jump in and call a halt to proceedings.
A third successive defeat for Alcatraz will have been a devastating morale blow for the 37 year old San Franciscan and he may well be contemplating the prospect of retirement. This was his 50th fight in the ring and although he still retains a very respectable record of 29-20-1, it would appear that physically he is no longer able to compete with opponents of Don Diego's caliber. For “The Fox”, this spectacular win on his Slaughterhouse debut has propelled him into the spotlight and no doubt he will soon be angling for a shot at the title – current welterweight champion Kezz The Convict is due to fight against Sweet Jones, and the Don may well fancy his chances against either champion or contender.
Result: Diego by second round (T)KO (Strikes)
MAIN EVENT
Kuma Nelson v Hughtavious Mingo – 205 lbs title fight
For all the talk before this bout, Kuma Nelson clearly displayed why he is the reigning light heavweight champion. A potent cocktail of physicality, technical excellence and sheer aggression made this an exceptionally short fight. Nelson landed all nine of the punches he threw and connected more often than not with his patent kicks to the legs and body (finding the mark 71.4% of the time). Although hardly a large sample to work with, Nelson clearly displayed his superior standup in the mere one minute and six seconds this bout landed. Meanwhile Mingo failed to find the mark once over the brief duration.
Hughtavious Mingo is an undeniably talented fighter. At a mere 23 years of age he is arguably the hottest prospect in this division and has certainly earned his right to compete for the title. However, in this instance he was simply not on the level of the 35 year old European. Meanwhile “The Lucid Nightmare” shows no signs of slowing down, the former Evo veteran has clearly displayed his dominance at the top of the division and in the opinion of many commentators is, pound for pound, the most talented fighter operating out of Slaughterhouse. The question on the lips of many is who can stop him? Nelson will take on the next challenger in Slaughterhouse 9 on December 5th, keep your eyes out for what should be another entertaining bout.
Result: Nelson by first round KO (Punch)
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