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 As the crowd gathered in, concession lines filled, show programs were handed out and Glorious Domination blared through the arena speakers; Fight fans from around the world knew they were in for a treat and about to witness something special! How could they not when an event features four Title fights and high stakes Title eliminators out the wazoo! Final numbers are still coming in but early reports from Dave Meltzer are declaring this event achieved the 2nd largest attendance and 4th highest rating in OFC History! On top of this, the OFC made waves once again jumping 17 spots in the Global Rankings but hey, it's not like we pay attention to that sort of thing. So...Without further ado, let's run it all back with a Full Review!
What better way to start then with the Main Event, OFC Middleweight Champion Darren "Hurt" Lockyer putting his title on the line against #1 Contender and OFC Newcomer Peter Parker. Since Lockyer's arrived on the scene, all he's wanted is to be placed in the cage as quickly and as often as possible taking on any and all challengers, doesn't care if there's a title involved but if there is, even better. Reminds me a lot of the Cowboy Donald Cerrone and as an org owner you gotta love having these types of fighters on the roster, and the fans don't complain either. Parker seems to have been cut from the same cloth, so when you put these two mad men in a cage together it basically becomes a fight to the death, almost like cock fighting...and I'm not talking penis. That's the exact mentality we saw from these two men when the fight started and both came out swinging. Intensity was at an all-time high for the opening minute before Parker took an illegal knee to the groin and crumpled to the ground. I understand the need to show the replay, but I thought the number of times was a bit excessive and I'm not sure why our production crew added wonky sound effects. Parker seemed a bit off for the rest of the round and understandably so, like a hired Hitman Lockyer took advantage until momentum seemed to shift as the round came to a close.
The 2nd round started similar to the first as it looked like Lockyer was beginning to run away with things...that was until Parker began connecting. And he actually dropped Lockyer to one knee momentarily when he connected clean with a right hook but he stayed calm and poised not looking to gas himself. It wasn't long after when Parker dropped him for real this time with a beautiful combination before ushering Lockyer back to his feet. Lockyer tried his best to recover but he just looked like your drunken uncle at a cousin's wedding, stumbling all over the place. He attempted to circle but ended up walking straight in to a hook, cleaning his clock and falling face first. Obvious choice for Knockout of the Night for the newly crowned OFC Middleweight Champion Peter Parker whose gotta be on cloud 9 at this point. He'll go for cloud 10 at OFC 256 when he defends his shiny new piece of gold against #1 Contender Kim Il Sung.
Our Co-Main event saw OFC Light Heavyweight Champion Greg "Technicolour" Coleman who's been on quite the roll lately defending his title against OFC vet and former Champ Shuya Nanahara. You just knew this one wouldn't go the distance with a combined 43 Knockout Victories between them. Shuya came out aggressive connecting with some wild striking in the opening minute and actually stumbling Coleman at one point but he recovered quickly. The Asian sensation may have been getting the better of the stand up before Coleman countered with a straight left and wisely moved the fight in to the clinch. This was the beginning of the end and I'm talking Biblical proportions for Shuya, he very well may have been seeing blue lights and hills of flames like James Franco or Seth Rogen as Coleman went to town with the knees of doom. Cutting, Rocking and Dropping Shuya before finally finishing the fight with a series of ground strikes from mount. Coleman looked like a calculated killer out there, I'm talking plastic covered Dexter like kill rooms type of savagery, but with a dark passenger who is a very bad man.
The 3rd Title fight of the evening showcased the Welterweights; Champion Malcolm Mitchell versus Sairanix Lokren. To keep a 25 minute fight short, let's just say a dominant performance was shown from one man and not so much for the other. Lokren was firing from all cylinders...well, two cylinders; his left and right hands. Getting pre-fight advice from recent WWE signee James Ellsworth, he knew any man with two hands has a fighting chance. Taking the first 4 rounds clearly before finally rocking Mitchell in the 5th but was unable to finish. It didn't seem like Mitchell got many shots in until the New Champion Lokren's post-fight speech, where he called for a title...after just winning the title. Yeah, he may have also just won himself a longer medical suspension. Disappointing night for the now former Champion Mitchell on the other side of things, who seemed to be taking the loss rather hard making it sound like he was contemplating retirement.
The 4th and final Title fight of the night featured the Bantamweights; Long reigning Champion Jose Cronos defending his title against another OFC newcomer Dan Price. The New kid on the Block must've been drinking from the same punchbowl as the previously mentioned and newly crowned champion Lokren. He looked to be just about as dominant and impressive throughout, yet with a bit of a more diverse attack incorporating and landing leg kicks efficiently. There were a couple slight scares that could be compared with a PG-13 Horror movie in the 2nd and 4th rounds for Price, seeing Cronos get multiple takedowns and work for submissions but Price didn't jump once. By the end of the fight the Brazilian Cronos was showing signs of damage to his legs, hobbling reminiscent of Faber against Aldo. All in a day's work for Price who walks away with the unanimous decision Victory and the OFC Bantamweight Championship. There's a couple key matchups in the division going down next weekend, only question now is, will he stay in Montreal for Blood Night or make the trip to Vegas?...I'm guessing Vegas Baby!
The Submission of the Night went to Luke "Luck" Johnson who was making his OFC debut against Jay Hunter. Not only was it the only submission of the show but it was also one of the slickest we've seen in awhile. Closing the distance, clinching up and getting a nice trip takedown in to side control almost immediately, it was pretty much over before it started for Hunter. Slitherin' to the back like a snake, Johnson who's record now moves to 38-11-0, got the RNC but Hunter refused to tap and went night night. While unconscious, one of our cameramen radioed in that he heard Hunter mumble "OFC...I'll...Find you", not quite sure what that means but it may have something to do with The Walking Dead reruns being played in the Locker rooms. It only took a single submission attempt to put the entire division on notice for Johnson. Early negotiations are already under way to get him back in the cage, where I'm sure he'll be looking for the exact same outcome.
Our final performance bonuses went to the Fight of the Night winners in a Lightweight tilt; Childish Gambino and Parker Allen. On paper, Allen had a slight advantage in the stand up and in the fight this showed to be true as well. Cutting Gambino early with a lovely straight hand before dropping the rapper/actor half way through the 1st round. It looked like it was all over for Gambino but he kept pushing forward à la Chris Leben while continually being countered and peppered, somehow, someway, surviving the round. Allen was ready to finish things off and head over to his after party as he clobbered Gambino with an overhand right to start the 2nd quarter and the fight fans fingers' already begun tweeting the results. But like a Broken Matt Hardy that was followed by DELETE chants and Gambino coming back with a combination, landing a flurry of punches that got past Allen's guard. The referee had seen enough and it was all over! Gambino burst into tears after that incredible comeback, this win obviously meant a huge amount to him. For Allen, he's gotta be banging his head against the wall because this is the 2nd straight fight he's allowed his opponent to comeback after a dominant 1st round and failing to finish.
A big thanks to everybody who was a part of the event and the OFC for making last night possible, hope you guys all enjoyed it no matter the outcome of your fighter's fights! Before we go, I also wanted to give a shout out to newly crowned OFC Heavyweight Champion Cannondale Trail, who captured the vacant title Friday night against Derp Wyatt! Trail hurt Derp with a massive Uppercut 26 seconds in to the 2nd round before teeing off on him like Mark McGwire. I feel bad for his sparring partners over at Samran Muay Thai. Moving forward, we got 3 Events this week; OFC 251: Coherence on Wednesday and 2 Events on Saturday including the OFC's 1st Event outside of Canada! I'm hoping to hold one Event a month outside of town, it's looking like London and Tokyo will be next on the docket. So have a great week guys and as always, my inbox is always open, if you ever need a contract for one of fighters just let me know. Till next time, Live Long and Prosper!
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