2015-11-21
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KOTB 17: Nossa! (Review)

Event Review: KOTB 17: Nossa!
King of the Beach (270k+)
2015-11-14, Rio de Janeiro, The Underground - Rio
Attendance:1,000, Event Rating:96
Author:

Nossa! was a fitting title for KOTB 17, as we had a ton of early finishes in a flurry of knockouts, chokes and joint locks. KOTB prides itself in the grappling presence in its roster, and this was prevalent during the five submission finishes and extended grappling exchanges throughout the night. The fans of the striking arts were not forgotten either, as we had a number of sub-2-minute knockouts on the card to mix things up.

 

Opening the night’s proceedings was a lightweight rematch between Malaysian muay thai specialist, Jon Duangjan, and Rio’s Pablo Esposito. “Destruction” won the previous meeting with a devastating second round headkick, but “Breaker” would find himself some revenge in this one.

 

After taking a few shots coming in, Esposito would secure a takedown and latch on to deep kneebar and force the tap to go along with the screams of his opponent. A rubber match is sure to be on the horizon for these two combatants some time in the future.

 

Pablo “Breaker” Esposito (2-4, 1-4) defeats Jon “Destruction” Duangjan (1-4, 1-2) via Submission (Kneebar) R1 - 01:46

 

A pair of undefeated light-heavyweight grapplers were up next, as England’s Norbert Fortenberry made his promotional debut against KOTB-veteran, Dan Jons. The American looked poised to make it 4-0 in KOTB competition after securing an early takedown and quickly advancing to mount. Fortenberry, however, had other ideas and quickly moved back to half guard while latching onto a surprisingly tight guillotine choke from the bottom. The Brit kept squeezing and shifted back to full guard before forcing the tap in an impressive debut performance.

Norbert Fortenberry (5-0, 1-0) defeats Dan “Snipe” Jons (3-1, 3-1) via Submission (Guillotine) R1 - 01:10

 

The grapplers kept piling into the cage, as former title challenger Anderson Gracie looked to get back on track against another upstart Brazilian in Andre Soares. The featherweights threw out a few sloppy strikes before Gracie pulled guard and the fun really started. With Soares on top, the two struggled for position while Gracie set up a beautiful sweep and landed in the guard of Soares. Soares, though, quickly changed his focus and began moving his hips and fishing for a triangle choke. Gracie looked poised but perhaps was too confident in his defense because he found himself tapping out soon after. Soares is moving up the ladder rather quickly and is suddenly looking up at the top 5 in the division.

Andre Soares (2-0, 2-0) defeats Anderson “The Boa Constrictor” Gracie (2-3, 1-3) via Submission (Triangle) R1 - 01:58

 

We’d move back to light-heavyweight for another matchup of grapplers, only this time it would be wrestling versus BJJ. Russia’s Sergey Beznisko showed a strong ground and pound game in his debut and looked forward to matching that success against another Brazilian in Ronaldo Lima, who was coming off of a title loss in his last appearance.

Beznisko, confident in his grappling defense, quickly took Lima down and began working from side control. After defending some loose submissions, it began apparent that the end was near, as Beznisko landed a barrage of shots to a visibly uncomfortable Lima. The referee recognized the accumulation of damage and quickly moved in to save the Brazilian.

Sergey Beznisko (2-0, 2-0) defeats Ronaldo “The Machette” Lima (3-2, 2-2) via TKO (Strikes) R1 - 01:20

 

Closing out the undercard was another featherweight matchup between talented Finnish newcomer Veikko Susi and crowd favorite Eduardo Dias. The fans were hoping these two would engage in a back and forth affair to break-up the streak of one-sided undercard fights, but they would have to wait a bit longer.

Susi would force himself through the kicking range of Dias and planted his opponent on the mat after a damaging left hook. The Fin would then jump into mount and quickly finish the job and looks like he may be moving up the ladder quickly.

Veikko Susi (1-2, 1-0) defeats Eduardo “Pelé” Dias (3-2, 2-2) via TKO (Strikes) R1 - 00:57

 

We saw the emergence of yet another contender in the shark tank that is our middleweight division to open our main card, but it would not be the one known as “Sharky”.  Instead, Britain’s Ozamataz Buckshank wiped out another German fighter with sharp boxing and moves himself near contender status.

Sven Kowalski, who was making his promotional debut, opened with a picturesque three-punch combination, but quickly saw the tides turn. Buckshank bobbed and weaved and landed a flurry of punches that had his opponent backpedaling. The 76-second mark was somehow twice the amount of the British fighter’s debut, and now looks forward to a big test in KOTB’s inaugural middleweight champion, Thatcher Halverson.

Ozmataz Buckshank (2-0, 2-0) defeats Sven “Sharky” Kowalski (3-3, 0-1) via TKO (Punches) R1 - 01:16

 

Lightweight veteran Gary Finkler might have just made his swan song as a professional fighter, but at least it was a victorious one. American fighters Lionel Wright and Gary Finkler came into the fight stark contrasts of each other in both styles and attitude, and everything came to display Saturday night. Wright was as wild and violent as ever, connecting on heavy head kicks and a liver punch to open the fight while jawing at his opponent.

Finkler stayed composed, but recieved more punishment and allowed Wright to escape from an early takedown. He finally tackled Wright to the floor with his final takedown of the fight and attacked with submissions and transitions before finishing with an armbar from mount.

Gary Finkler (5-2, 2-2) defeats Lionel “whatUsay” Wright (3-3, 2-2) via Submission (Armbar) R1 – 03:36

 

We’d stay at lightweight for our ‘knockout of the night,’ as Stockholm’s Dag Daghammar starched Italian grappler Raecius Felix in just 45 seconds. Felix obviously recognized the Swede’s standing advantage and dove for a number of takedowns from the opening bell, but Dregen’s takedown defense would stay strong.

The Daghammar may well be the number one contender with Finkler out of the picture, but will look to solidify the spot against former Tradition Fight Club standout Victor Estima in early December.

Dag “Dregen” Daghammar (3-0, 2-0) defeats Raecius Felix (2-1, 1-1) via KO (Punch) R1 – 00:45

 

Our co-main event would see the rematch of KOTB’s first-ever middleweight title fight, and Thatcher Halverson once against bested rival Bago Biga. The two entangled in a grappling showcase while setting a promotional record with eight sweeps.

Halverson would take the first round with damage and top control and looked like he might again best the Romanian with his ground and pound attack. The end would come in the form of a lovely counter armbar, however, as Biga was caught off guard while trying to separate. A ‘submission of the night’ bonus on a night like this is quite the accomplishment.

“The Avalanche” Thatcher Halverson (4-1, 3-1) defeats Bago “Badaboom” Biga (4-3, 2-3) via Submission (Armbar) R2 – 03:52

 

Augusto Azevedo thought his brand of “jungle jitsu” was the one to finally break the champion Chris Karter’s streak, but the American had just too much on the line to lose his title on Saturday night. With his parents seeing him fight on Brazilian soil for the first time, Karter overcame another first round takedown and overwhelmed his Brazilian opponent with heavy leather for a late first round finish.

 

Azevedo will look to rebound back into immediate title contention, while Karter looks towards another grappler in Sydney Fighting Club kingpin Prathamesh Randhawa – the first non-Brazilian opponent in Karter’s KOTB career.

“The Little Ginger Prince” Chris Karter (5-1, 4-0) defeats “Amazing” Augusto Azevedo (3-1, 3-1) via TKO (Strikes) R1 – 04:57

 

 

 

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