2012-11-22
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GFC I Review

Event Review: GFC I
Gladiator Fighting Championship
2012-11-17, Las Vegas, The Palmtree
Attendance:2,143, Event Rating:147
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Gladiator Fighting Championship made its debut on the Las Vegas MMA scene on Saturday night with a tremendous fight card.  The Palmtree was almost filled to capacity with fans eager to see what this new fight org was all about.  GFC certainly did not disappoint.  The night started out somewhat slowly with first three fights going the distance, but then the final seven fights on the card ended with exciting first round finishes.  Let's recap the night of action.
 
The night started off with a welterweight tilt between Damian Roshan (26-14-2) and Dingle Berrian (18-7).  Berrian came out aggressively, looking to hurt Roshan early, but was quickly deposited onto his back by a nice takedown.  Roshan went to work with some nice ground and pound while mixing in some submission attempts throughout the first round.  Berrian attempted a few submissions of his own from his back, but was clearly out-grappled  and had no answer for Roshan's ground attack.  The second round looked like a carbon copy of round one, with Berrian aggressively stalking Roshan but ending up on his back after a takedown.  Again, Berrian desperately tried to submit Roshan, but was on the receiving end of more ground and pound and submission attempts.  Berrian knew he was down two rounds to none and needed to do something special, but Roshan quickly imposed his will in round three, dropping Berrian with a nice takedown and completely controlling him on the ground for the remainder of the fight.  A very impressive performance from Roshan who punished Berrian with over 60 strikes landed on the ground.
 
The second fight may have seen some of the most odd scoring ever in MMA.  Gorge Junior (17-9) came out tremendously aggressive and maintained a high level of energy throughout the fight, earning him the favor of the judges over Jonny Utah (14-18).  The part that is odd is that while Junior threw a tremendous amount of punches, he landed very few of them.      Junior came out and threw everything but the kitchen sink at Utah in round one.  Utah was able to avoid most of Junior's advances and even land some very crisp counter strikes.  Somehow, all three judges scored the round 10-9 for Junior, obviously not appreciating Utah's counter striking strategy.  The second round saw Junior once again throwing punches from all angles and swinging wildly, clearly looking for the knockout punch.  Again, Junior was able to avoid most of the assault while scoring with some punishing blows of his own.  Again, the judges scored the round for Junior 10-9.  Utah clearly thought he was ahead in the fight and needed only to have a strong third round to come away with a victory.  Utah scored with more solid punches in round three while Junior continued to swing away wildly.  Utah raised his hands in victory as the round ended, only to fall to his knees in utter shock as the decision was announced, giving Junior the unanimous decision win.  Despite only landing 14% of his punches and a total of 13 strikes in the fight as opposed to Utah's 81% accuracy and 50 landed strikes, Junior comes away with the victory, much to the dismay of the fans in attendance who reigned down boos as the decision was announced.
 
The third fight pitted wily veteran Maek Houzo (25-21) against a much younger and inexperienced opponent in Harrison Hansen (5-3).  Houzo looked to take the fight into the clinch early, but Hansen was able to immediately break free and take the fight to the ground with a takedown.  Hansen was able to use well placed ground strikes and submission attempts to dominate round one.  Houzo fought back in round two, scoring three takedowns in the round.  Hansen held his own, making multiple submission attempts from his back, but it wasn't enough to keep Houzo from taking the round.  Houzo secured the clinch quickly as round three began, but was able to do little damage before Hansen pulled him to the ground.  Hansen went to work on the ground but was not satisfied with his positioning, so he allowed Houzo up, only to take him to the ground again.  The action eventually slowed to a crawl, to the referee stood the fighters up.  Hansen secured the clinch and tried an unsuccessful takedown when Houzo suddenly pulled guard.  Realizing he needed to find a way to finish, Houzo desperately looked for a submission opportunity but it simply wasn't there. Hansen held on and came away with a 29:28 unanimous decision win.
 
Onni Jokinen (13-7-1) had a strong showing against fellow welterweight Frankie Figgs (6-6) in the fourth fight.  Jokinen punished Figgs' early with nasty punches and kicks to the body.  Figgs pulled Jokinen into the clinch, hoping to have more success battling up close.  Figgs could not mount an offense and started to lose momentum after being hit with a crushing knee to the head.  Jokinen followed with some short punches and then hit Figgs' off switch with another set of knees to the head at the 2:11 mark of the very first round.
 
It took longer for the fighters involved in the fifth fight to walk from the dressing room to the cage than it did for the fight to end.  Cris Dorh (14-8) entered the cage with high expectations, but those expectations were quickly crushed by the right hand of Brutal Delux (15-12).  Dorh badly wanted to take the fight to the clinch, but with each attempt to pull Delux in close, he suffered the consequences.  On Dorh's second clinch attempt Delux drilled him with a huge right hand and then quickly pounced on the prone Dorh, reigning down punches until the referee stopped the fight just 14 seconds into round one.
 
Jesse Wolfe (15-8) looked absolutely dominant in his lightweight matchup with Anthony Kiedis (17-9-1).  Wolfe was the aggressor from the opening bell and did a nice job of hitting heavy punches on Kiedis from a distance.  Kiedis brought Wolfe into the clinch, hoping to reverse his fortunes but the beating only continued for Kiedis.  Wolfe did a nice job of fending off takedown attempts from the clinch and continued to punish Kiedis with short punches before finally rocking him late in the round.  Wolfe dropped the groggy Kiedis to the ground with a trip takedown and finished him off with some brutal ground and pound with just three seconds remaining in the round.
 
The seventh fight was another quick contest that saw Risky Gamble (20-4-1) make short work of his opponent Tony Danza (22-18-1).  Danza initiated the clinch at the outset of the fight but Gamble quickly broke away and started the punishment.  Danza held his own initially but was hit with a high kick shortly after the one minute mark that rocked him.  Gamble followed up with a huge uppercut that ended the night for Danza at the 1:46 mark of round one.
 
James Woods (17-9) used some slick to surprise Peter Parker (8-7) and come out on top in the eight fight. Parker clearly had the advantage early in the fight, stifling Woods' takedown attempts and landing some nice punches.  Just prior to the one minute mark in the first round, Parker made the fateful decision to take Woods to the ground.  Parker went to work with some ground and pound but suddenly out of nowhere Woods snagged Parker's arm and locked on a tight arm bar and forcing the tap out.
 
The co-main event of the evening saw Jean Charles (11-6) turn in a very impressive performance against Bada Bada (19-16).  Charles kept Bada off balance early with stinging low kicks and then stunned him with a solid kick to the head.  Bada tried to take the fight to the ground, but Charles managed to hold him up and secure the clinch.  Charles continued to deny Bada's takedown attempts while assaulting him in the clinch with heavy punches and knees.  With just over three minutes gone in the fight, Charles rattled Bada with a huge uppercut and finished him off with three consecutive knees to the head, forcing the referee to jump in for the stoppage.
 
The main event turned into a Muay Thai showcase for Payakaroon Bot (8-2) as he put on a clinic in clinch work in his win over Voodoo Hex (11-6).  Bot was cut open by an early punch but he was able to avoid any more serious damage before getting Hex into the clinch.  Once in the clinch, Bot unleashed a dizzying array of elbows and knees, leaving Hex battered and beaten.  As the round drew close to ending, Bot rocked Hex with a huge elbow strike, doubled him over with a couple of knees to the body, and then came back with another tremendous elbow, followed by strikes to the head, forcing the referee to stop the fight.

 

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