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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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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