2016-01-01
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KOTB 23: Cafetão

Event Review: KOTB 23: Cafetão
King of the Beach (270k+)
2015-12-26, Rio de Janeiro, The Underground - Rio
Attendance:1,000, Event Rating:95
Author:

What a better way to follow up a day of warm wishes and love, than with an action packed night of fights. KOTB 23 would see a lightweight title fight, a pair of extremely important middleweight fights, as well as a number of very highly touted newcomers making their debuts.

 

Opening up the event was a pair of veteran action fighters in our light heavyweight division, as Romania’s Heliade Radulescu took on Fortaleza’s Bruno Santoyo. Radulescu looked poised to win his third straight in the opening moments, pressuring with a strong clinch and opening up a decent cut on his Brazilian opponent after scoring with an elbow and a pair of knees. Radulescu then inexplicitly pulled guard, marking beginning of the end. Santoyo, suddenly wide eyed, passed to half guard and immediately latched onto a kimura and forced the tap in just over 90 seconds of the first round.

Bruno "Pitão" Santoyo (4-5, 2-3) defeats Heliade "Zburatorul" Radulescu (3-2, 2-2) via Submission (Kimura) R1 - 01:33

 

The only welterweight fight on the card saw a pair of fighters looking for their first professional victories while making their promotional debuts. The contemptible Mexican grappler, Osvaldo Martinez, would be the fighter controlling the action in this one, as he moved into the clinch and took his opponent down with ease. Indonesia’s Boaz Saloza was aggressive on the feet, looking for big combinations and dirty boxing, but wasn’t able to land anything significant. Saloza quickly got to his feet after an early takedown, but Martinez would quickly get another one just moments later. The Mexican fighter then rained down heavy ground and pound and forced the referee to intervene.

Osvaldo "El Pendejo" Martinez (1-1, 1-0) defeats Boaz Saloza (0-2. 0-1) via TKO (Strikes) R1 - 03:59

 

The first of two highly touted light heavyweights was up next, as Los Angeles’s Darnell Cane took on New York’s Mario Barrera. The book on Darnell Cane is a short one, having not fought in a few years, but it’s one that expressed a heavy takedown and ground and pound attack. This tactic would stay evident in his promotional debut, as Cane dove in again and again for takedowns. Barrera was game, however, and looked as sharp as he ever has at KOTB. Barrera’s muay thai and boxing attack looked incredibly precise, as he landed kicks and punches at will before a heavy combination turned his opponent’s lights out with just seconds left in the round. Barrera’s second KO victory earns him his second ‘knockout of the night’ bonus, and the New Yorker rebounds nicely from his only career loss.

Mario Barrera (2-1. 2-1) defeats Darnell Cane (1-1, 0-1) via KO (Punches) R1 - 04:50

 

A pair of featherweight brown belts were next on the docket, as Latvia’s Krabis Kropelis took on Nevada’s Mario Curran. Kropelis opened the fight with a nice takedown but the two fighters got tangled up in half guard, which forced the referee to step in and stand them up. While on the feet, this fight was completely in the hands of Curran, as he showed really strong boxing and kicks for such a young grappler. Curran rocked Kropelis with a right hand and rushed in about half way through the opening round, but the Lativan managed to get another takedown and started looking for submissions. Curran, though, would defend and began repeating his standup success to open the second round. Another takedown would follow, but Curran’s defensive grappling was just too much of a puzzle for Kropelis to solve. “Chief” would force another standup and finalized his brutal standup attack in the final minute after swarming his overwhelmed opponent.

Mario “Chief” Curran (2-0, 1-0) defeats Krabis “Pool” Kropelis (4-4, 1-4) via TKO (Strikes) R2 - 04:22

 

Our featured undercard bout would see the second of our highly touted light heavyweight newcomers, as TWGC silver medalist Curt Hennig made his debut against Finland’s Aleksis Aaltonen, who looked to repeat the success of his victory over Mario Barrera at KOTB 18. Our eventual ‘fight of the night’ winner would begin with a flurry, as Aaltonen landed a number of shots before being taken down for the first time in his career. Hennig would then fight for position with his opponent before taking mount about half way through the round. The American’s base proved too much for the Finnish fighter, as he mixed in some ground and pound before riding the round out in the mount position. Aaltonen, not wanting to be in that position again, spent the next two rounds defending takedown attempts while peppering his opponent with single pot shots. Hennig showed some improved boxing during the exchanges, but the lack of completed takedowns would allow his Aaltonen to steal the decision and stay undefeated in the promotion.

Aleksis Aaltonen (2-1, 2-0) defeats “Mr. Perfect” Curt Hennig (0-1, 0-1) via Decision (Unanimous)

 

Bruce Zimbardo made his promotional record eighth appearance to open the main card, as he took on Swedish wrestler Magnus Karlsson in a super heavyweight contest. Karlsson, who’s not a small man himself, had a lot of success in this fight, landing seven takedowns and spending a lot of time in top control while working in some ground and pound. Zimbardo, though, would get the judges’ nod through an active and accurate striking game and solid defensive wrestling. The towering Caribbean striker used his length to land demoralizing kicks and punches to the body, while going upstairs with crisp boxing. Karlsson was vocal immediately after the fight and requested a rematch, Zimbardo was happy to oblige and promised a knockout in their next meeting at KOTB 27.

Bruce “The Great” Zimbardo (6-4, 4-4) defeats Magnus Karlsson (5-3, 2-3) via Decision (Unanimous)

 

New York’s Steven Kopp came into this featherweight match with a lot of popularity for a person with only one professional fight, as he tried to follow up his dominating debut against another Brazilian in Vitor Nogueira. This boost in hype and popularity gave both fighters the chance to shine on the main card, for which only one of the two capitalized on. For the second straight fight, Kopp dominated a hometown favorite with punishing ground and pound. The American fighter looked like he’d been developing his jiu-jitsu and standup skills in the lead-up to the fight, but they wouldn’t be needed in this one. Kopp is moving up the ladder rather quickly, while Nogueria has lost two tough fights to start his career.

Steven Kopp (2-0, 2-0) defeats Vitor Nogueira (0-2, 0-2) via TKO (Strikes) R1 - 03:57

 

We’d move to middleweight for the first time on the card, as Kyrie Perry made his fifth appearance against a fellow American KOTB veteran in Billy Styles. Perry, who came into MMA straight out of the USC wrestling gym, has made great strides in his boxing game in recent months and showed some of it in his most recent fight, a three round decision loss. Styles was expected to be an exciting, yet tough, test for Perry on the feet, but the Miami product was kept off-guard by the threat of takedowns and spent too much time loading up on his shots. Perry looked the best he ever has, using takedowns and an effective top attack, while also out-boxing his opponent on the feet. The impressive display would wear on Styles and awarded Perry the first stoppage in his career. The impressive young man seemed hungry to challenge the best in the division and requested a match with KOTB’s first middleweight champion, Thatcher Halverson.

“The Golden Child” Kyrie Perry (4-1, 4-1) defeats Billy Styles (3-3, 3-3) via KO (Strikes) R3 - 01:54

 

We’d see a new middleweight contender emerge after our co-main event, as undefeated Brazilian phenom Starling Silva took on Russian newcomer Anton Obuhov, a recent black belt recipient. Obuhov is also a talented boxer, so it wasn’t a surprise to see Silva go straight for the clinch in this one. Silva’s vice-like clinch, striking versatility and elite takedown defense proved too much for Obuhov, and it was noticeable early, as the Russian wasn’t able to drag the fight to the mat and couldn’t land when given the opportunity. After almost finishing Obuhov at the end of the first round, Silva would find it early in the second, landing a brutal clinch knee that had the crowd gasping. Silva has been looming in the title picture since his debut, and it looks like his time may be now.

Starling Silva (4-0, 4-0) defeats Anton “Punk” Obuhov (3-4, 0-1) via TKO (Knee & Punches) R2 - 01:45                       

 

And finally, our main event, as hometown champion Emerson Sheik looked to defend his lightweight title for the first time against Swedish banger, Dag Daghammar. In his first five round appearance, “Dregen” also had the first grueling fight in his career, a defining moment for the young Swede. Sheik forced his type of fight for all five rounds, using his strikes to lead him into the clinch. The two fighters fought tooth and nail for clinch position for most of the 25-minutes, but it was Daghammar who would land the more effective dirty boxing. Combined with his effective striking at range, Daghammar was able to take a sweep on the scorecards from all three judges. Neither fighter sustained any heavy damage, so a rematch may be near in the future for these two.

Dag Daghammar (5-0, 4-0) defeats Emerson Sheik (4-1, 3-1) via Decision (Unanimous)

 

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