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UNDER CARD
Bantamweight Fight
#19 Yun Fat Chow (2-2, 0-2 NGF) v #12 John Keel (6-2, 1-0 NGF)
I thought that this was going to be a great fight and man, did these two not let us down. This event was a sold out show, 5,000 people packed to the rafters, nearly all of them got to see this one and it started the night off with a bang! Yun Fat Chow came out, he looked quick and you could tell he was trying for a knock out, a lot of wild strikes, but big uppercuts and overhand punches that had definite bad intentions behind them. John Keel fought through these wilds strikes to counter well, he was a technician out there, landing 24 of 39 head punches, 13 of 21 body punches and 13 of 16 leg kicks. Keel did get caught in the 2nd round that opened up a nasty looking cut, but he came out in the 3rd and landed two huge overhand rights, the 2nd knocked Chow out cold at 18 seconds of the 3rd round. After the fight, Chow did not show to the after fight press conference which in turn had NGF president Fernando Bumleros announcing that he was releasing the fighter.
Middleweight Fight
#26 Bennie Wilson (5-7 NGF) v #15 Leroy Guns (7-4, 2-0 NGF)
This one went a little longer than I thought, but had the same outcome. Leroy Guns was just too much for Bennie Wilson, who once again, threw wild strikes and had the crowd cheering. Wilson looked solid in the first, missing most of his strikes, he was 0 for 13 on combinations, and Guns countered well, but it was thought that Wilson took round 1. Wilson took the center again in the 2nd, but Guns, who bobbed and weaved very well, waited, he countered and found an opening with a big left hand that dropped Wilson to one knee, Guns pounced and dropped 7 heavy strikes that caused Wilson to tap.
Featherweight Fight
#19 Yukioris Gamboa (4-3, 0-2 NGF) v #14 Jack Brown (5-2-1, 2-0 NGF)
Jack Brown has moved into serious title contention after this fight. He’s out spoken, he is crass and he doesn’t give a crap what you think, and man, does he back it up. I was surprised that Brown couldn’t finish this fight, but he showed another side, the fighter who could fight 3 hard rounds and control them all. Yukioris Gamboa just couldn’t get things going, he was taken down and he was grounded out. He looked solid when it was standing, but he could do nothing once on the mat. Brown was 4 for 4 on takedowns, and he just looked awesome on the mat, landing 29 of 52 ground strikes and he controlled Gamboa at all times, not allowing him to do anything. All three judges gave 10-9 for Jack Brown and he has to be considered a title contender.
Light Heavyweight Fight
#13 Cal Paxton (4-1, 1-0 NGF) v #17 Donald Duck (6-2, 1-1 NGF)
I don’t think I’ve ever had my jaw drop open any more than I did with this fight. Cal Paxton joined the NGF last night; he joined it with a statement. He was nasty in this fight and he put down a fantastic fighter in Donald Duck. Duck didn’t look sharp, but Paxton was a big reason for that. Both guys came out moving well, they were feeling each other out, both landing little shots to the body and head. Paxton was able to land a very quick hook that cut Duck early on. It was clear that Paxton was the more elusive fighter, he was a little quicker getting in and out, and he showed very good defensive skills, Duck was only able to land 1 of 7 head punches and none of his 6 combinations attempted landed. Paxton continued that 100% landing streak on head and leg kicks as he was 1 for 1 on each of them. Around the 3 minute mark, Paxton was able to land a few jabs and then launched an over hand right that connected right on the jaw of Duck and sent him to the canvas, Paxton followed and this fight had to be stopped at 3:06 of the 1st.
Featherweight Fight
#16 Barry Allen (9-1, 1-0 NGF) v #6 Gideon Draper (4-3, 0-2 NGF)
Gideon Draper took this fight on just about 7 days notice, and you could tell the training might not have been there to game plan for Barry Allen. Draper did come out aggressive, he pushed the pace and at some point early, a jab, cross and then body shot combination landed and Allen showed a cut, it was hard to tell if it was from the jab or cross. It was a very exciting round, both guys showed that they are very good fighters. It went back and forth, leg kicks, punches but Allen was able to land a body kick that you could tell really did some damage to Draper, he began to breathe very heavy after the kick. Moments later, it looked as if Draper dropped his hands to possibly feel his ribs, and Allen landed a monster straight right, connecting right on the button and Draper was in real trouble. Seconds later, Allen followed up with one of the sickest head kicks you’ll see, completely knocking Draper out and he fell like a tree to the mat at 1:37 of the 1st. KOTN, possibly KOTY!
MAIN CARD
Bantamweight Fight
#6 Yoshiteru Goto (8-6-1, 2-0 NGF) v #8 Jon Erik Andersen (11-9, 5-5 NGF)
Yoshiteru Goto is a great fighter, maybe one of the more un happy guys, but he’s a great fighter. Goto and his manager want fights and they want them quick, but one thing is for sure, if he stays with the NGF, a champion ship shot is right around the corner. Goto simply dominated one of the best fighters in the division, he beat him up over 2 rounds and then, when he had enough, he put an end to this fight. Andersen is one of the more accurate strike landers and he couldn’t land anything against a much quicker Goto. JEA finished landing just 10 of 31 punches standing, he was just 2 of 20 in kicks and while in the clinch, he could only land 3 strikes out of 50 attempted. Goto worked the stand up and he dominated the clinch game. Goto landed 44 of 44 head and body punches while in the clinch. It was in the clinch that this fight ended. Goto was locked into a Muay Thai clinch, Anderson just couldn’t escape, and Goto landed two very quick punches, the 2nd wobbled JEA’s legs. Then two massive uppercuts from Goto, snapped Andersens head back and had him fall back into the cage, complete gone, but no ref, Goto beat Anderson with another 4 or 5 punches before the ref finally came in, just horrible referring. Goto wins with an impressive TKO 4:48 of the 3rd. He is currently waiting for his next fighter, who wants him?
Light Heavyweight Fight
#11 Ivan Grozni (10-5, 3-3 NGF) v #7 Rogerio Mustacho (8-3, 7-3 NGF)
A entertaining fight in this one, these two really battled in met up number 2 for them. Ivan Grozni is a huge puncher, he can knock heads off with his power, but he often forgets to use the rest of his skills and if he doesn’t land his big punch, he’ll allow way too many strikes to land and that makes it almost impossible to win a decision. Rogerio Mustacho came out in this one with the clear game plan to stay at jab range; use is slight reach advantage and stay away from Grozni’s right hand. Grozni came out and pushed the pace, he threw big strikes, but Mustacho used good foot work to back away and counter. Mustacho also used the clinch whenever Ivan got him backed into the cage. The first significant strike was a high kick landed by Mustacho, it looked to glance off the top of Groznis head, but it opened up a pretty ugly looking gash. The first was a very close round, Grozni did push the pace, he threw more strikes, didn’t land a lot of them, but he also was cut and Mustacho did record the only takedown of the round. The 2nd you could see Mustacho get a little more momentum, at one point Mustacho was doing the Muhamed Ali, moving his feet really quick, in a running motion, and throwing quick jabs, all landing on Grozni who was just standing there. The third was uneventful, Rogerio was able to land a lot of little quick strikes and then get out of the way of a wild hook or uppercut from Grozni. In the end, the numbers were staggering; Grozni was only able to land 20% of his strikes, which included 8 of 34 head punches while Mustacho landed 60% of his strikes, including 27 of 38 leg kicks. I think it’s time for Grozni to change a little bit, he’ll always have his power, but it’s time to maybe start looking to do something else. Mustacho took all three rounds in this one.
Featherweight Title Fight
#2 Marcos Silva (9-5, 1-1 NGF) v #1 Vaughn Shaunessey (15-5, 3-0 NGF)
Vaughn Shaunessey had a few things working against him, he was fighting in front of a crowd that sounded about 75% in favor of Silva, he came out and said he was feeling a little under the weather, and he had me predict a Marcos Silva victory…he collectively told all of them to SHUT UP! This fight looked to be almost over 5 seconds in, Silva rushed towards Shaunessey but stopped, and Vaughn launched a monster overhand right, landed on the button, but Silva showed a great chin, but it clearly affected him. Vaughn looked outstanding, he was very quick and accurate, pin point shots landed the entire fight as he was 7 of 9 in head punches. Marcos Silva was still very affected by the early punch, his fighting posture gave off the feeling he was a bit scared to get hit again, his hands were up, but in the open hand style, looking to catch a punch instead of trying to block and go offensive. In fact, most of this fight, Silva didn’t go offensive, he was on his heels and defensive. A looping left hand landed by Shaunessey and Silva was cut under the right eye. By this time, Silvas face was showing swelling around the eyes and temple. Just after the 2 minute mark, Shaunessey landed a beautiful head kick that had Silva stumbling to the mat, but Shaunessey waved him back to his feet. It wasn’t long, after 3 hard leg kicks, one taking Silva right off his feet, Shaunessey landed a straight right hand right on the nose of coming in Silva, which crumpled his legs and sending him to the mat, this time Shaunessey followed up with more strikes and this one was stopped 2:41 of the 1st, and STILL FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMPION, VAUGHN SHAUNESSEY!
Co-Main Event:
Heavyweight Fight
#6 Vadim Kalashnikov (12-5, 1-1 NGF) v #15 Elbrys Gora (13-3, 1-2 NGF)
It’s not every card that you see a title fight get pushed out of the co-main event by a non-title fight, but that’s how big of a hyped fight this one was. Vadim Kalashnikov and Elbrys Gora are simply two of the biggest fighters, hype wise, in the NGF. That’s the good, now the bad, is that fact that Elbrys Gora is just a one trick pony that will spend all fight long trying for takedowns, and when he gets it, he’ll use his jiu jitsu, which isn’t a fan friendly style. In this one, it was Kalashnikov that went in and got the 1st takedown, a very strange plan, he went to the ground with Gora, where he’s clearly at a disadvantage. The fight got back to standing quickly though and Kalashnikov was able to catch Gora with a hook that cut Gora on the cheek. For the next 30-40 seconds, the fight turned into Gora shooting in for a takedown and Kalasnikov stuffing it. ZZZZ Around the 2 minute mark, Gora finally drove through a sprawl attempt and got the takedown, it was now time for a bjj clinic. Gora landed in half guard, he controlled Kalashnikov and didn’t allow him to improve, he then started looking for his submission, which was only a matter of time. It was on the 6th submission attempt, a kimura was locked and very tight, no choice for Kalashnikov as he tapped with a very painful expression on his face. I wish I could write more about this fight, huge hype and a disappointing fight for the fans and Kalashnikov, but not for the bjj master Elbrys Gora as he finally gets his fist NGF win with the SOTN at 4:35 of the 1st.
Main Event
Light Heavyweight Title Fight
#2 Johnny Jackson (11-4, 2-1 NGF) v #1 Brett Riverboat (12-2, 7-2 NGF)
Now on to the main event, a fight that had me with full body shivers thinking of it. When the two walked out to the cage, I have never felt such a tension in the building. 5,000 fans going nuts, lights down, walk out music, it was awesome! The bell rang; the two met at the middle, touched gloves, and then proceeded to put on one of the best fights of the year. Neither fighters need any feeling out process, they just started throwing, both also showed very good footwork as many of the early strikes missed their mark. The first significant strike was landed by Jackson as Riverboat started to move in, Jackson landed a head kick that put Riverboat on his heels and opened up a cut, a problem that seems to happen a lot for Brett. Moments later the fight went to the clinch, the next 3 minutes were spent there, both guys worked very hard, but Jackson was getting the better strikes, he landed 21 of 40 head punches in the clinch, but Riverboat landed a couple of significant strikes during that round as well. In the 2nd it was Brett Riverboat that landed the first significant strike, a lighting quick jab that cut Johnny Jackson, which is also something that Riverboat does in most fights, cut his opponents. Just seconds later it was Jackson landing a head kick from hell which knocked Riverboat to the mat and had him rocked, but Jackson made a mistake in my opinion, he didn’t follow, he stepped back and waved Riverboat up. In fact, Jackson took the fight in the clinch, and even as Riverboat was hurt, Jackson looked very tired and he stalled more then struck this time in the clinch. It was in one of those resting moments that Brett was able to get free and land a quick hook on the break, right on the jaw and Jackson got the “doll” stair in his eyes and he staggered to his right. Riverboat sensed that this fight was about over, he landed another huge right hook and Jackson dropped to the mat, Riverboat didn’t make the mistake Jackson made and he followed with 2 more punches and this fight was stopped at 2:59 of the 2nd and STILL LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION, BRETT RIVERBOAT! What a FOTN and possibly FOTY!
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