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 Rematches, title defenses, debuts and comebacks were all on the menu Saturday night, as the King of the Beach promotion made its second straight appearance at Hayashi’s Lounge in downtown Rio. KOTB 8 currently sits at the promotion’s second highest rated and second highest attended card in history, so it should be considered a moderate success. But enough about us, lets get into the recap:
The Nogueira name couldn’t have been better represented than by the performance Jeferson Nogueira gave in his first professional fight. His American opponent, Billy Craddock, began the fight by utilizing his strong muay thai skills, battering Nogueira in the clinch with knees to the body and the head. The blows were wearing on the bleeding Nogueria, who looked to be near defeat. It was then that Craddock decided to pull guard, but he immediately found out how bad of a decision that would be, as Nogueira immediately mounted his opponent and stretched out his opponent’s arm for a beautiful armbar finish.
Jeferson Nogueira (1-0, 1-0) defeats Billy Craddock (2-1, 0-1) via Submission (Armbar) R1 - 03:57
In our second straight Brazil versus USA match-up, Minneapolis wrestler Rust Cohle took on Belem’s Anderson Freitas. Freitas, who was making his professional debut, started out by landing a couple decent jabs and straights, but Cohle eventually managed to get this fight onto the ground with trip takedown. This is where Cohle would make his move, by mounting his opponent and hammering his opponent into the ground with strikes, forcing the referee to intervene at the 02:35 mark.
Rust Cohle (6-1, 1-0) defeats Anderson Freitas (0-1, 0-1) via TKO (Strikes) R1 - 02:35
Our next match-up saw a pair of up-and-coming, undefeated super-heavyweights looking to follow up their respective victories at KOTB 4. Canadian Kevin The Beast knew his chance to win this would be on the floor and it showed, as the Beast dove for a number of takedowns, but Bogtrotter recognized this strategy and countered with heavy punches at range and in the clinch, eventually dropping his opponent with a fight-ending uppercut. The British heavyweight has had a great start to his young career and continues to move up the ladder.
Bruce Bogtrotter (2-0, 2-0) via Kevin The Beast (2-1, 1-1) via TKO (Strikes) R1 - 01:47
Two fighters from opposite sides of the Niagara Falls border were up next, with Joseph Annuaku representing the American side and Mike Saban representing the Canadian one. The muay thai specialist Saban attempted to get things into the clinch right off the bat, but Annuaku had other things planned, taking down and mounting his opponent before forcing the tap in under a minute. That’s two impressive performances now for the Tokyo-based Annuaku, who now looks forward to the upper part of the division.
Joseph Annuaku (5-1, 2-0) defeats Mike Saban (0-1, 0-1) via Submission (Armbar) R1 - 00:50
Our final fight on the undercard saw the previously winless Marc Du Vale outwork Carlos Gypsy in a tightly contested light-heavyweight match-up. The 6’8’’ Frenchman, Du Vale, used his length in the opening and closing rounds to land a very high percentage of leg kicks and punches, while the Argentinian had his best success in the second round with a controlling clinch and a pair of takedowns. Du Vale now has the monkey off of his back with his first professional victory, and looks to start a run in the division.
Marc Du Vale (1-3, 1-2) defeats Carlos Gypsy (3-3, 0-1) via Decision (Unanimous)
Opening the main card was a fight destined for fireworks, as bruisers Tito Griffin and Mick McManus met in an intriguing super-heavyweight bout. Griffin, who was looking to make a good first impression for the promotion, pushed the pace from the opening bell by throwing a series of hooks, jabs and uppercuts. McManus looked to counter and avoided most of the damage, but couldn’t quite pull the trigger. Griffin then sent a hellacious overhand right that would land right on the button, and before McManus could regain his senses, Griffin came down with a big left hand and some unneeded follow-up punches.
Tito Griffin (2-2, 1-0) defeats Mick McManus (1-1, 1-1) via TKO (Strikes) R1 - 00:46
A title shot would be on the line next, as light-heavyweights Third Round Romero and Bruno Santoyo engaged in a stimulating rematch. Fortaleza’s Santoyo was excited at the chance to rematch the Cuban boxer Romero, who beat him in the semi-finals of a QFC tournament in London, but he did not look 100% going into this one. Already breathing heavily, Santoyo was dropped by Romero within seconds of the opening bell, and got up only to take a monster uppercut to the chin. Romero suddenly looks like the man to beat in the division, and he’ll get his shot at champion James Diaz at KOTB 12 in October.
Third Round Romero (6-0, 1-0) defeats Bruno Santoyo (3-3, 0-1) via KO (Punch) R1 - 00:09
Our furry-faced friend from Sao Paulo, Thiago Machado, continued to wreck shop over KOTB’s featherweight division with another impressive performance in our next fight. Hawaiian boxer Akira Mahalo failed to capitalize on the success of his KOTB debut and made a strategic error by taking Machado to the floor early in this one. Machado immediately latched onto a guillotine from his half guard, which didn’t initially look dangerous, but Machado held on, moved to full guard and put Mahalo to sleep. That’s three straight “fight of the night” bonuses to start his career, and Machado now looks confidently towards a title bout with champion Chris Karter.
Thiago Machado (3-0, 3-0) defeats Akira Mahalo (2-2, 1-1) via Submission (Guillotine) R1 - 00:27
Our third straight number-one contender matchup would see debuting Korean grappler Jin Kazama take on a previous title contender in American PJ McDermott. After taking numerous punches to open the bout, Kazama managed to get things to the ground and attack with a series of impressive submissions. McDermott’s submission defense held strong, however, and forced the referee to stand this one up. We’d see this exact cycle again, with another Kazama takedown, some submissions and another standup. McDermott, noticeably frustrated, countered Kazama’s next takedown attempt with a crushing right hand and a follow-up, fight-ending uppercut.
PJ McDermott (2-1, 2-1) defeats Jin Kazama (5-1, 0-1) via KO (Punch) R1 - 02:52
Finally, our main event and first ever title defense would be held in the welterweight division, as returning champion Parker Allen took on Murphy MacManus. For the third straight card, our main event would double as our “fight of the night” in another crowd-pleasing slugfest. Both fighters stood in the pocket and exchanged for a good three minutes, with Allen perhaps getting a slight advantage with his combinations against the kicking-centered attack of MacManus. Allen then decided to move things into the clinch, but MacManus was more than game in this position, landing some damaging punches to the body and head before a pair of devastating uppercuts would seal Allen’s fate. MacManus will now take on a rejuvenated PJ McDermott on a stacked KOTB 12 card in October.
Murphy MacManus (3-0, 2-0) defeats Parker Allen (2-1, 1-1) via TKO (Punches) R1 - 03:13
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