|
 GFC XIX was the talk of the town in Las Vegas on Sunday night when Gladiator Fighting Championship once again filled The Parisian to capacity. Fans took in a fantastic night of MMA action that saw seven finishes in the ten fights including a string of five straight first round finishes in the middle of the card. Let's recap the action:
Nicolas Karkmananis (6-5) showed is dominance in the first fight, picking up a very impressive win over Rafael Oliveira (2-4). Karkmananis used a very unorthodox strategy in the first round, repeatedly clinching up with Oliveira and pulling guard, often times to simply try a small ground offensive attack and them stand back up. Despite the questionable strategy, Oliveira was unable to get anything going and Karmananis easily took the round on the judges' scorecards. Karkmananis came out firing to start round two and was able to rock and knock down Oliveira early. Karkmananis followed him the ground but once again, inexplicably he stood back up. The fighters worked in and out of the clinch for a little while before Karkmananis was able to secure a takedown about halfway through the round. He went to work looking for a submission, but Oliveira was able to slow the action and force a referee standup. Karkmananis once again went to work getting in and out of the clinch. He was able to land some nice offense along the way while in the clinch and clearly won the round. The third round saw Karkmananis continue with his unique strategy and saw him knock Oliveira to the ground on a couple of occasions. With the fight starting to draw to a close, Karkmananis broke free from the clinch and charged Oliveira like a crazed dog, throwing wild punches from every direction. Oliveira slumped over on the cage and eventually crumpled to the ground before the referee jumped in for the stoppage. Karkmananis takes the win by TKO in dominant fashion at the 3:59 mark of round three.
The second fight was a welterweight battle between Frankie Figgs (9-7) and Yo Hwan Lim (8-3). The fighters moved into the clinch early on in round one where Lim went crazy throwing everything but the kitchen sink at Figgs. Figgs did a nice job of defending himself and broke the clinch about halfway through the round. After a brief exchange from a distance, Figgs once gain initiated the clinch and Lim once again went to work throwing strikes. Lim's aggression earned him the favor of the judges in round one. After exchanging strikes from a distance to start round two, Figss took the fight to the ground only to stand back up and then score another takedown and stand up again. He seemed to clearly be indecisive about his strategy but finished the round showing nice aggression from striking distance and took the round on the scorecards. Figgs exerted his control in round three, showing physical dominance and clearly showing himself to the be the stronger of the two competitors. He moved in and out of the clinch on a number of occasions and was able to land some decent offense while controlling the pace of the fight. When the smoke had cleared, Figgs took a unanimous decision 29:28 on all three judges' scorecards.
A pair of plus sized heavyweight collided in the third fight when Christian Cong (25-25) battled TheRock Obama (9-11). Obama came right out of the gate repeatedly attempting to take Cong to the ground, but Cong repeatedly rebuffed the takedown attempts and punished Obama with stinging counter strikes. Obama clinched up with Cong, hoping that by closing the distance he'd have better success getting him to the ground. Obama continued to relentlessly pursue a takedown, but Cong continued to turn him back with ease and tag him with heavy strikes. With less than a minute left in the fight, Cong caught Obama by surprise and hit a takedown of his own, landing in side control. Cong alternated knees to the body and strikes to the head to completely overwhelm Obama. Obama stopped defending himself while Cong unloaded on him. With the final seconds of the round ticking down, the referee jumped in to stop the fight with just one second remaining, awarding the fight to Cong via TKO.
The fourth fight on the card seemed like it was over before it even got started. Fredrick Felino (11-5) came out in a very calculating manner looking to get Nikira Stag (6-2) to the ground and he succeeded. Unfortunately for Felino, Stag was well prepared and went right to work looking for a triangle after he was deposited on his back. Felino did not appear to take Stag's attempt seriously, but quickly found himself in serious trouble and was forced to tap out just 42 seconds into the fight.
Richard Cullen (18-14) put his striking prowess on display in the fifth fight when he took on Tubby Hayes (17-10-1). Cullen did a remarkable job of timing his strikes and simply picked Hayes apart. Hayes desperately tried to mount an offense but was unable to landing anything but a weak leg kick. Cullen was swinging for the fences with his strikes, landing some serious damage to Hayes. As the two minute mark of the fight approached, Cullen landed a vicious counter combination that sent Hayes crashing to the ground. Cullen dove in for the finish, pounding away on Hayes until the referee pulled him off. A dominant performance for Cullen.
In the sixth fight, another pair of heavyweight locked horn when Fred Sanford (16-10) took on Turo Hamara (13-7). Sanford came in with a clear strategy to chip away at Hamara with kicks, but his approach became somewhat predictable. As the fight wore on Hamara started to find his range and dial in his timing, dodging the attacks of Sanford and landing some heavy strikes of his own. With Sanford's head bleeding from a cut earlier in the fight, Hamara opened it up further around the three and a half minute mark and then rocked him with a shot to the jaw. With Sanford reeling, Hamara faked a kick and then hammered Sanford with a two punch combination that turned the lights out for good at the 3:49 mark of round one.
Santa Schwein (20-12-1) made a fantastic case for a title shot in his GFC debut, scoring an impressive first round stoppage over former GFC middleweight champion Auron Almasy (15-10). Schwein came out swinging wildly and trying desperately to get his opponent into the clinch. Almasy did a very nice job of keeping his distance and was able to land some well placed counter shots on his opponent. The fight looked to be fairly even up until the two and half minute mark when Schwein finally managed to secure the clinch. Almasy unsuccessfully tried to pull guard and when he got back up off of the ground, he paid the price. After dodging a couple of wicked swings from Schwein, Almasy was on the receiving end of a shot to the jaw and then a huge hook that dropped him like a rock. Schwein jumped into side control and continued to pound away until the referee called for the stoppage.
The eight fight proved to be a tremendous battle to crown the inaugural GFC featherweight champion. Jesse Wolfe (19-10) who started with GFC in the lightweight division, recent moved down to his natural weight class of featherweight. His opponent Jake Sawa (11-7) is a recent GFC signee who wanted nothing more than to wow the crowd and put on GFC gold in just his second GFC appearance. Wolfe entered the fight looking determined and highly aggressive, keeping tremendous pressure on Sawa from the beginning. Sawa managed a takedown fairly early on, but Wolfe executed a sweep and was able to inflict some punishment from top position before deciding to stand back up. Sawa got one more takedown in toward the end of the round and desperately tried to pull off a submission, but Wolfe fought it off with ease. Wolfe continued to pressure Sawa in round two, showing absolute dominance and punishing his opponent with deadly strikes. Wolfe rocked Sawa with about a minute to go in the round but Sawa somehow managed to survive. The third round saw Wolfe once again pursue Sawa. Sawa managed to a takedown early in the round, but once again allowed Wolfe to sweep him. Wolfe maintained control for the rest of the round and eventually stood up just as the round was coming to a close. The fighters got into a frantic exchange to start round four with Wolfe coming out on top. Sawa scored a takedown a minute into the round, sensing he had no business trying to stand and trade with Wolfe. Wolfe was able to slow the action to a crawl and force a referee standup. Wolfe continued to punish Sawa and turn back his takedown attempts for the remainder of the round. Sensing that he was within striking distance of championship gold, Wolfe continued to press forward and take the action to Sawa in the final round. Sawa landed a few nice strikes of his own but Wolfe was unphased and continued to pouring on the punishment for the remainder of the round. A tremendous performance by Jesse Wolfe earned him the right to be called the first GFC featherweight champion with a 50:45 unanimous decision win.
Cooper Abreau (10-1) continued on a torrid win streak, picking up his ninth straight victory in the octagon and making Rashad Jackson (20-16) his latest victim. Abreau ate a few punches early but was quickly able to get Jackson to the ground where he is in his element. Abreau worked his ground and pound game throughout the round and tried a few selective submissions but was unable to finish Jackson. Regardless, Abreau maintained total control over the fight and won the round. Jackson was able to land some nice strikes to start round two, but was quickly deposited on his back once again. Jackson showed off some impressive ground work by bucking Abreau off and working his way into mount. Abrea managed to escape the mount and get back into guard, but Jackson managed a nice switch and mounted him once again. It was a close round, but surprisingly, two of the three judges scored the round for Abreau while the other scored it a draw. Round there started with a bang as both fighters were throwing some serious leather with each scoring some solid blows. Abreau quickly realized that he needed to return to his roots and took Jackson to the ground again. Abrea worked some ground and pound but got sloppy and allowed Jackson to take his back. Abreau worked some excellent defense to keep Jackson from doing any damage from the top. Jackson was eventually able to work his way into mount, but it was too late and he was not able to finish the fight. All three judges scored the fight in favor of Abreau who has easily solidified himself as a welterweight contender.
Ivan Priebcko (21-8-1) came in and wowed the crowd in his GFC debut, vanquishing one of GFC's favorite sons, Cael Sanderson Bot (16-6) in impressive fashion. Priebcko is not the most stylistically gifted striker, but what he throws, he throws with power. Priebcko waded in carefully, tagging Bot with leg kicks and body shots to start the fight before eventually pulling him into the clinch. Once in the clinch, Priebcko leaned heavily against Bot, wearing him down while throwing the occasional strike, even cutting Bot with a nasty elbow. Bot was smothered and unable to mount an offense in the first round and was clearly frustrated as he came out for round two. Bot tried to get Priebcko to the ground early in round two but was not successful. Priebcko smacked him with a nice combination that sent him to the ground. Not wanting to engage Bot on the ground, Priebcko waited for him to stand back up only to tag him with a leg kick and then send him to the ground again with a hook to the temple. Once again, Priebcko forced Bot to get back on his feet before throwing a combination that landed and rendered Bot unconscious. A very impressive knockout for the newcomer that certainly got the attention of the other heavyweights on the GFC roster.
Article views:
190
» Donate to this author |
