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 Leonard Washington def Ryan Edward via TKO.
The light heavyweight title was up for grabs in the main event, and Washington did not hesitate to do the grabbing. He dominated the fight from start to finish, never letting Edward really get on track. There was only one noticeable weakness in the new champion’s game. Namely that he got tired very early in the fight. Fortunately this one was over in the second round and Edward was just as tired, unable to capitalize on the opening.
Alfonso Lopez def Calvin Johnson via TKO.
Lopez came from behind to take this fight. He was almost certainly going to lose the third round, and with it the fight, when suddenly he changed levels. After working Johnson’s legs over with kicks the entire fight, suddenly Lopez went high and caught his opponent in the side of the head. Johnson tried to hang out and play defense until the bells in his head stopped ringing, but Lopez would have none of it. He knocked Johnson down with a big right and pounded out the victory from there.
Stone Kirby def Mr Small via TKO.
Kirby set out from the beginning of this fight to dominate with Muay Thai, and he did just that. From the opening bell Kirby was able to clinch up with Mr Small and throw all sorts of elbows and knees. This fight was very one sided and in the end it was just a matter of how Kirby was going to be awarded the victory. He managed to find a way to end the fight right around a minute and a half before the end of the third round.
James Braddock def Sam Hades via TKO.
This fight was over as soon as it began, literally not reaching the one minute mark. Braddock threw a slew of strikes, and while quite a few of them didn’t land, it kept Hades from being able to do much of anything except cover up and play defense. The “Rope-a-Dope” strategy made famous by Muhammed Ali didn’t work for Hades, as he ate a couple big shots to the head and they ended his night early.
Matt Tolbowl def Franz Beckenbauer via TKO.
This was a fun fight to watch for lovers of the ground game, although it didn’t last very long. Tolbowl got a very early takedown and both men immediately went to work with their jiu jitzu. There were multiple submission attempts from both the top and the bottom. Positions changed several times with Tolbowl trying more than once to get to mount, but never got better than half guard. But ultimately it was his ground and pound that won the fight. Tolbowl landed eleven shots of varying strength in under three minutes, including the big diving left that ended the fight. Beckenbauer was active in defense, but there’s only so much you can do in a position like that.
Hannibal Lecter def Vadim Leonov via Kimura.
There was no secret to how this fight would go depending on who won. Leonov completely dominated the standup. He threw a bevy of strikes and more than a few of them landed and did damage to Lecter. Lecter did nothing but try for takedowns, and once he was finally able to get Leonov to the ground the fight switched completely the opposite direction. Lecter had almost all of the transitions, and tried to get Leonov to submit no less than ten different times before finally getting Leonov’s arm away from his body and forcing a tapout.
Arthur Pandora def Rhys Cao via unanimous decision.
This fight was boring and completely one sided. The only surprise here was that Cao didn’t get knocked out despite the number of kicks his body absorbed. Cao took nine different kicks to the head, and over twenty five to his legs and body. If Cao has no broken ribs and was able to walk the day after this fight, well, that will be a victory for him in and of itself given the amount of damage he absorbed.
Mark Sutter def Stanley Wiggins via unanimous decision.
This fight was a pretty one sided affair. Wiggins was the victim of takedowns each round and had great difficulty getting off of his back. That said Sutter had the blues getting through his defense and was only able to rack up enough points to win each round. It was a dominating win, but I’m sure Sutter wanted a ground and pound knockout. A testament to Wiggins’ defense here: Sutter threw 37 ground strikes throughout the fight, but only landed eight.
Dudu Paraiba def Antonio Silva via Arm Triangle.
This was a great fight for those who love good jiu jitzu. Both men wanted to be on the ground and both men were seeking submissions constantly, whether they were on top or bottom. The two men combined for a whopping 34 submission attempts and 22 attempted transitions. Ultimately it was Paraiba who managed to secure the victory from half guard.
Mirko Boban def Lelouch Laperouge via TKO.
There come points in every fighter’s career where he must answer the call or seriously consider hanging up his gloves. This was one such fight for the now 9-12 Laperouge.
Boban drug his opponent down to the ground on multiple occasions, never failing a takedown attempt. Meanwhile Laperouge was nothing except a punching bag. He threw no strikes whatsoever and did little to try to improve his position on the ground. Boban came out and put on a fantastic show to open the card. His opponent can’t say the same.
Bob Roberts reporting
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