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 It was a hot Spring day on the beaches of Rio on Saturday, but it was an even hotter night in the confines of The Underground. Whether it was the lack of air conditioning or the amount of back-and-forth decisions, KOTB 18 had the fans sweaty and chapado deep into the night.
With only the hardcore KOTB fans in attendance, a pair of heavyweights looking for their first professional wins would get the night started, as Romanian Nicolae Filimon took on Russia’s Andrei Fedorlov in a battle of 18-year-old grappling prospects. Filimon was the first to make a move with a nice takedown into side control, but Fedorlov immediately recovered half-guard and full-guard respectively. From here, the rest of the fight would play out, as Fedorlov looked for submissions off of his back while Filimon attacked with hammerfists and elbows. The damage would start to wear on the Russian in the form of a deep cut and the blood seemed to be causing him some problems. Filimon would then take full advantage with a brutal hammerfist that put his opponent out cold on the mat.
Nicolae "Ciocoiul" Filimon (1-2, 1-0) defeats Andrei “The Undertaker” Fedorlov (0-1, 0-1) via KO (Strikes) R1 - 02:29
Up next was a pair of KOTB veterans in desperate need of a victory, as Krabis Kropelis took on Marcus Aurelius in a featherweight matchup. The fans and local media were expecting a sense of urgency from these two, but neither fighter really put it out on the line. In a fight where zero strikes were landed (yes, you read that correctly), the difference would be top control and takedowns. To give you an idea of how bad it was, Aurelius won the first round in the judges’ eyes and never even landed a strike. The latter two rounds would see Latvia’s Kropelis basically lying on top of his Canadian opponent while the crowd booed mercilessly. Both fighters absolutely need to impress in their next outings to wash the bad taste out of the mouths of KOTB fans.
Krabis “Pool” Kropelis (4-3, 1-3) defeats Marcus “The Tutor” Aurelius (1-4, 1-3) via Decision (Unanimous)
We’d move to light heavyweight for a standup showcase between Cleveland’s Billy Craddock and France’s Marc Du Vale, who once competed at KOTB’s very first event. With both fighters holding white belts and abysmal wrestling games, one could have predicted that this one would take place almost entirely on the feet. The first round would be the closest, with Du Vale having moderate success with his punches and a nice headkick. The rest of the round and the fight would be all Craddock, however, as he manhandled his opponent in the clinch with damaging knees while peppering in punches and elbows. Craddock even managed a late takedown before finishing with 30-25s across the judges’ scorecards.
Billy “Crash” Craddock (4-2, 2-2) defeats Marc Du Vale (1-5, 1-4) via Decision (Unanimous)
We’d stay at light heavyweight for a matchup of talented 20-year-olds, as New York’s Mario Barrera took on Finland’s Aleksis Aaltonen. Despite the lack of professional fights from these two competitors, both come in very skilled and well rounded. Over a tightly contested three rounds - including a 10-10 second round in one judge’s eye - Aaltonen’s crisp boxing would prevail over Barrera’s muay thai attack. Barrera was more than game and had his moments with clean kicks, solid punches and some good work in the clinch, but Aaltonen’s constant forward movement and pressure would give him the edge. Both fighters look like they have bright futures ahead of them, so a rematch could be a definite possibility down the line.
Aleksis Aaltonen (1-1, 1-0) defeats Mario Barrera (1-1, 1-1) via Decision (Unanimous)
The featured undercard bout would be a welterweight affair between reliable veteran Walood Kassab and British striker Dan Howson. Kassab immediately went to work with a takedown and clinch attempts, trying his best to make this the grinding type of fight he prefers. Howson, though, sat back and countered with a number of heavy combinations that had the Omani fisherman reeling early. The end would come from a devastating right hand and follow up punches from mount. Howson is happy to have his first professional win under his belt and looks forward to a matchup on home soil in KOTB’s end of the year event. Kassab has now lost two fights in a row for the first time in his career and looks to get back on his feet in early December.
Dan Howson (1-1, 1-1) defeats Walood “The Dugong” Kassab (3-4, 2-4) via TKO (Punches) R1 - 00:50
We’d open the main card at middleweight, as Rio’s Ryan Gracie looked to make it 3-0 in KOTB competition against promotional newcomer Bruce Lee out of China. With a few members of the Gracie clan in the crowd, this one would be all Lee, as “Neto” never even got a chance to fully commit to a takedown attempt. Instead, Lee came out throwing the heavy combinations he’s known for. After an impressive jab-jab-straight-hook combination, Lee would overwhelm his opponent with hammerfists after a 1-2 combo that put the Brazilian on his backside. Gracie’s corner and the partisan crowd booed the ref’s decision mercilessly, but the grappler was just not intelligently defending himself. The impressive stoppage would net Bruce Lee a ‘knockout of the night’ bonus.
Bruce “The Dragon” Lee (3-0, 1-0) defeats Ryan “Neto” Gracie (3-1, 2-1) via TKO (Strikes) R1 - 00:23
We’d move to welterweight for what we thought would be a grappling showcase between Ireland’s Roddy Banks and local newcomer Juan Perez Jr. Despite both fighters holding purple belts in jiu-jitsu, this one would end up being a quick and dirty scrap on the feet. Perez came forward with kicks and clinch attempts, but Banks countered with a nice uppercut and a straight right hand early. Then, out of nowhere, Banks came flying forward with a flurry of strikes, pinning his opponent against the cage and forcing the stoppage – the first non-submission finish in his career. Banks now looks forward to fighting at KOTB’s NYE card in London against Dan Howson, who competed earlier in the night.
Roddy Banks (4-0, 1-0) defeats Juan “Brazilian Bomber” Perez Jr (2-1, 0-1) via TKO (Strikes) R1 - 00:49
In our final non-title fight on the card, Kyrie Perry took on Starling Silva in a high stakes matchup at middleweight. Perry has been quiet since his father’s accident and his last fight, which was surrounded in controversy, but he appeared to be in good spirits in the days leading up to the fight. We’re not sure if Perry recognized Silva’s excellent wrestling defense, or if he’s just falling in love with his hands, but Perry would not attempt a single takedown in this entire fight. It appeared to pay off in the first round, however, as he had Silva on shaky legs after some strikes against the cage. Silva, though, would recover and remain as stoic as ever for the remainder of the fight and out-landed his opponent at range with punches and kicks, while mixing in some knees from the clinch. The Brazilian sensation has quietly turned himself into the number one contender in the middleweight division.
Starling Silva (3-0, 3-0) defeats “The Golden Child” Kyrie Perry (3-1, 3-1) via Decision (Unanimous)
Our co-main event would see Sean Soffman look to defend his lightweight for the second time, this time against local challenger Emerson Sheik. The media thought this one would come down to the challenger’s takedown defense, but the outcome would surprisingly be decided by his ability to avoid danger on the ground and escape to the feet. It wouldn’t be easy, as the champion put him on the mat twice per round on average, but the challenger remained patient and repeatedly got to his feet and picked his shots. The damage would wear over 25-minutes and the judge’s preferred the damaging strikes to the plethora of submission attempts and awarded all five rounds to the challenger. The new champion will enjoy some time off before fighting the winner of Daghammar/Estima, while the champion looks to rebound against newcomer Danny Charles in December.
Emerson Sheik (4-0, 3-0) defeats Sean “Soffman” The Strangler (4-1, 4-1) via Decision (Unanimous)
We almost lost this main event a week ago after the release of Rick Sharp, but former Korean marine Seok Yi flew in on short notice against the formidable welterweight champion James La Grande. Yi would start things off with a wild hook, but La Grande easily defended and worked his way into an early takedown. The submission star quickly jumped for a leg lock, but Yi would manage to escape and reverse the position. Yi would quickly find out that he wasn’t any safer in top position against La Grande, as the Brazilian locked up a tight triangle and put the Korean striker to sleep before he realized what had happened. Our middleweight champion might disagree, but La Grande just might be the best damn 270k grappler in the world. Regardless, KOTB is proud to house both of these elite stars in Brazil.
James “Flames” La Grande (10-1, 2-0) defeats “Rock Lee” Seok Yi (6-5, 0-1) via Submission (Triangle) R1 - 01:57
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