Gideon Abieezer: Coming into his own at 34 years old

Fighter profile of Gideon Abieezer by Ernie White

When Gideon Abieezer made his debut in Feral Combat at 33 years of age, 11-4 and moving up to a weight class he was 4 pounds under the limit for, nobody expected a ton out of him. When he was knocked out in 27 seconds by future champ Thomas Fu, it didn’t come as a huge surprise.

“He’s past his prime,” one fan said. Abieezer’s follow-up effort against Danny Trejo did nothing to deter those beliefs, but reinforced them, as he was dominated en-route to a third round TKO. When he earned his first victory in Feral Combat, handing Christian Soendergaard the last loss of his career, it didn’t really stir the fans back towards his favour. They claimed that “he beat another washed up old guy. So what?”

His next fight came against an organizational mainstay in Will Dickinson. People weren’t overly surprised that Abieezer controlled the fight on the ground after Dickinson ill-advisedly pulled guard. However, they were shocked by the flurry of strikes ending with a spinning backfist early in round two that put Dickinson out cold. People started taking notice.

Still, his detractors were unconvinced. When it was announced his next match would come against 21-year old knockout artist Craig Shilo, they pointed to the 13 year age gap and pointed out that the old guy wouldn’t be able to keep up with the younger, hungrier fighter. It turned out he didn’t have to keep up with him. Abieezer set a slow, methodical, grinding pace. He managed to land a takedown and get full mount in each of the three rounds, but was more content to simply control the position than take risks going for the finish. Still, he was awarded all three rounds and a decision win.

Abieezer was then charged with a difficult task: Thomas Fu, the man who knocked him out in just 27 seconds, fresh off of losing his title and hungry to get back to the top. Right off the bat, Fu was landing his strikes with pin point accuracy, but Abieezer grabbed on to an early double leg and took control of the entire round from there. As the second round started, Fu was much more prepared, and easily fended off the first couple of takedown attempts from Abieezer. The fight remained on the feet for a while, and things didn’t look good for Abieezer. However, he managed to get a takedown into guard halfway through the round, and slowly worked his way to mount. From there, he latched onto an armbar with 5 seconds left in the round. One FC defeat avenged.

The newly minted BJJ red belt was given a title shot at the undefeated champion, Hironobu Uematsu. Here is where his unlikely run would stop, according to the haters. Uematsu was just too good, they said. Too fast, too powerful. Abieezer was going to get knocked out before he had a chance to get his hands on him. Uematsu only got off one strike attempt in that fight, and it missed. Right after that, Abieezer landed a takedown into half guard. He grinded his way to mount, and eventually forced Uematsu to give up his back. From there, Uematsu defended well, but could not escape. It was only a matter of time before the patient Abieezer caught him, and he left no time to spare, latching in the rear naked choke with just two second until the bell. His dream was realized. He was a champion.

The hard work didn’t stop right there though. He had the belt, and now he had to defend it. The challenge came against Danny Trejo, who had beat him up for 10 minutes before leaving him wondering where he was while lying on the canvas. As the fight began, Trejo seemed to be fairly loose, moving in and out of the clinch, throwing strikes and landing some too. Even after Abieezer landed a big takedown into side control, he remained calm, fending off several kimura attempts and preventing himself from getting mounted. Eventually, he even managed to explode and get himself to his feet before the end of the round. Abieezer’s inability to get much done on top made the round close, but he just earned it by dictating the position. Early in the second round, momentum started shifting directions. Trejo was able to avoid most of Abieezer’s strikes, and dug in with buckling low kicks and hard punches. Abieezer managed to get a takedown midway through the round, but Trejo kept him from getting anything done, and the ref stood them up. After a few exchanged strikes, Abieezer managed another late takedown, but Trejo’s defense held, and prevented him from stealing the round.

The third round saw things go even further downhill for Abieezer. Already bloodied up from the second round, he was unable to get a single takedown. Instead, Trejo was having a field day with his striking. Late in the round, punches from Trejo clearly got to Abieezer, and he was even bloodier than before. He managed to hang on till the bell, but all the momentum was on Trejo’s side now after the most clear-cut round of the fight.

Trejo forced a clinch right as the round started, and Abieezer smoked him with a right hand that hurt him badly. Turning him against the cage, Abieezer was unable to free himself from Trejo’s clinch. Instead he unloaded with a huge uppercut in tight that put Trejo out, but he was held up by the fence. Abieezer continued to tee off with the ref oblivious to the damage taken by Trejo until finally jumping in to stop the onslaught far later than he should have.

Abieezer’s confidence seemed to be soaring as he thanked his fans in his post-fight interview, and it was finally evident that at 34 years of age, Gideon Abieezer is at the pinnacle of his career.

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