Back to back double events for MMA Hype, and yet another success. We had a total of 20 fights on Sunday where we saw a lot of returning fighters, and a lot of them impressed us even more than their first fights. Hype 10 was our most successful event in history, with 2711 people in attendance, and an event rating of 83 which will surely be a tough one to beat.
Hype 9 - Fight of the night went to Nour Jradi and Donal MacCarthy for their impressive standup war, which was also voted fan favorite at the end of the night. The 2 fighters went all out in a 3 round bout and had to be separated by their crew when the final bell rang. A tough one to judge, even though Jradi got away with a 30-27 decision. I personally saw that fight as a split decision, but we don’t get to pick the judges.
Hype 9 - KO of the night went to Kwame Shikongo who took his kickboxing background to the next level and made a meal out of his opponent with kicks, most importantly the head kick that ended the fight before Nurzhan even hit the ground. Shikongo improved to 2-0 with MMA Hype which puts him as a clear contender in the 185 division.
Hype 9 - Submission of the night went to Craig Donnelly who took his chance on the ground against a superior wrestler. He had a tough start of the fight when he got taken down and dominated early, but he turned the tides around when he took the matter in hands by attempting a few submissions that gave him the edge in round 1. Round 2 started off the same way, but as soon as he got on his back, he locked in a brilliant guillotine that forced his opponent to tap. Donnelly is now a top contender in the heavyweight division with a record of 2-0 with MMA Hype.
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Hype 10 - Fight of the night went to Giovani Hatfield and Santiago Perez that had the fans cheering the whole fight. Hatfield came out on top with a dominant performance against Perez who came out with more of a control gameplan. Perez did manage to control the pace of the fight by clinching a lot, but unfortunately he ate too many punches throughout the fight to score any meaningful points in the eyes of the judges. Hatfield had a couple opportunities to end the fight when Perez was rocked and all over the place, but he chose to play it safe and kept pushing with an aggressive pace. The fight was a perfect set up for the main card that came afterwards.
Hype 10 - KO of the night went to Jimmy John who only needed a little over a minute to finish his opponent. John found his range early on in the fight by avoiding a few strikes and landing some of his own. Both fighters came on swinging, but John’s patience and accuracy were just too much. He rocked his opponent just after the 1 minute mark then waited for the perfect opportunity to land a monster hook that knocked his opponent out cold. A first professional victory that he will remember all his life.
Hype 10 - Submission of the night went to O Brian Nortega who despite having a hard time generating any offense on his feet, managed to take his opponent down late in the first round. The purple belt quickly took his opponent’s back and sunk in a sweet rear naked choke that created a limp body that he had to push away. His performance was impressive, just like his post fight interview that was related to sniffing a lower body section… yeah.
