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 Mayhem 8: Klein vs. Lahey Review
By Jay Lawrence
Mayhem 8 crowned a new heavyweight champion, chose our next contender for the featherweight championship, and brought 1741 fans into the Hayashi arena in Vegas. This event was our 4th best in terms of attendance and our 7th best in terms of rating. It was a great show relative to the shows offered by other 290k orgs, but it was only an average show in relation to other DFC shows.
Main Event Heavyweight Title match - Boris Klein vs. Jim Lahey
The first round was mostly in and out of the clinch. Klein took it to the clinch, but Lahey controlled the clinch. Lahey was able to open a cut on Klein within the first minute and the cut really seemed to bother Klein through the rest of the fight as his aggressiveness appeared to fade quickly. Klein was sort of all over the place in the first round, taking the fight to the ground, but then standing up and clinching Lahey again. Lahey appeared to go with it and just punish Klein with a large arsenal of differentr strikes. This was definitely Lahey's round.
The second round involved quiet a bit of back and forth especially from the clinch. Both fighters were throwing knee strikes and giving it everything they had. They both appeared to be losing energy already though and toward the middle of the round Lahey also got cut open. Despite the cut, Lahey stayed in the fight and seemed to be going for a knockout with every strike, but just couldn't land a square hit. Lahey cleared dominated this round.
Round three was Klein's first good round. This was again mostly fought up close in the clinch. Klein had no problems controlled Lahey and Lahey seemed to be lost through most of the round. The critics say Lahey "took this round off" as he seemed to be more of the defensive fighter here, perhaps the cut was really bothering him. Klein got the nod on the judge cards for this round.
Round four finally got some striking from a distance. I don't know what Lahey's cornerman said to him, but Lahey came out hard and fast. Lahey got a nice leg kick on Boris which would've broken a weaker man and Lahey kept it going. Klein seemed really tired in this round, perhaps Lahey allowed Boris to drain himself in the last round, I am not sure. However, Lahey looked poised and determined to win this fight in round 4. He couldn't quite get the KO, but everyone in the arena thought it was going to happen soon.
Round five was one of the most exciting rounds. Klein was back in the fight and Lahey wanted a finish. Klein rushed from his corner with a nice punch combo that really showed off his boxing skills. Lahey responded with some kicks that kept Klein at a distance, until Klein was able to bring the fight back to the clinch. They both went back and forth with punches and knees while in the clinch and they took the fight all the way to the 25-minute mark. The bell rang and both fighters fell the the mat gasping for air. These two heavyweights really put on a good show for the fans. For that reason they earned Fight of The Night Award. As for the title, Lahey was the clear victor and the new DFC Heavyweight Champion. Lahey will be defending his title vs. the winner of Shreve vs. The Axe on 9-9-16 at Mayhem 9.
Co-Main Event - Arrin Mccreth vs. James Myres ***UNDERDOG VICTORY***
This fight went all 3 rounds and was left to the judges who had an easy decision in claiming Mccreth as the winner. It wasn't that Myres didn't fight well, actually Myres dominated the stand up from a distance, but Mccreth desperately kept the fight in the clinch for good reason. It was in the clinch that Mccreth really dominated this fight and Myres couldn't do anything in the clinch.
Granat Xhaka vs. Asdrubal Corachan
Xhaka continued his win streak and finished this fight at the 2:58 mark of the first round. Corachan couldn't land a single strike and Xhaka left untouched. Xhaka was heard saying, "I've had better sparring sessions then this fight tonight" as he was leaving. For being so dominate and finishing the fight early, Xhaka will be getting a title shot opportunity vs. Tomas Lindberg on 9-17-16 at Sin City 9.
Robbie Billie vs. Petie Mcpot
This fight went the full 15 minutes with Billie showing he is the better fighter on all platforms. Mcpot put up a decent struggle, but Mcpot just didn't seem to want to be in the fight. At the conclusion of the fight Mcpot was handed the mic and said to the crowd, "Fuck the fans, fuck the people, fuck DFC, and FUCK MMA!" It appears the stress of competitive fighting has made Mcpot buckle, or perhaps it was all the knees to his head from Billie. Either way, Billie is looking like a great young fighter with a lot of potential and Mcpot is no longer employed by DFC.
Jackie Lee vs. Gabriel De Angelico
I know sometimes fighters will take a pain reliever or Ibuprofen before a fight just to settle the nerves and relieve some of the imminent pain. I think De Angelico confused his Tylenol with a Percocet because he seemed to be a little loopy. Angelico is typically an on-point fighter with great takedowns and ground fighting abilities, but in 3 minutes of fighting Angelico only tried 3 takedowns and managed to get 1 punch in on Jackie. Jackie on the other hand was near perfect. Jackie landed 15/17 punches and 11/12 kicks. Jackie finished the fight in good fashion by knocking Angelico to the ground, pouncing on top of him and finishing him from mount until the ref could jump in. Jackie was only contracted to a 1 fight deal with DFC, but the scouts are trying desperately to get this show maker back in DFC.
Soloman Palmer vs. Connor Mcdavid
I tried to make a great analogy for this fight, but I really couldn't come up with anything. Connor appeared content to just block and dodge the entire fight with Palmer chasing him. Palmer couldn't land much, but since he was the only one attempting anything you can't blame the judges for raising his hand. I would say Palmer conducted some nice ground and pound especially in the third round, but defensive Mcdavid has a chin of steel and absorbed everything Palmer could bring.
Renato Sanches vs. Sausage McMuffin ***UNDERDOG VICTORY***
The two touched gloves, the bell rang, and Sanches immediately kicked McMuffin in the head with everything he had. The kick put McMuffin right to the mat, possibly fractured his jaw and McMuffin struggled to get up. Sanches kicked McMuffin on the inside of the leg as McMuffin tried to stand and Sanches went for the combo with a kick to McMuffin's head. McMuffin blocked the kick but Sanches followed up with an uppercut that McMuffin looked right into. McMuffin was instantly out cold and this fight was over in 11 seconds. Sanches looked great here and although Sanches was the underdog, he definitely didn't look like it! For his performance, Sanches earned the KO of the Night award.
Rolo Hardware vs. Victor Lutko
This was clearly a one sided fight with Hardware dominate in every aspect. Hardware was able to get an Americana in the 25th second of round 2. Hardware would've won the submission of the night award, however both fighters were fired from DFC after both of their Urinary Analysis reports came back positive for anabolic steroids and cocaine. Third party sources say Lutko and Hardware were partying together on Fremont Street the night before the fight. Having a fighting organization in Vegas does have its risks...
Basil Super vs. Marty Delgado
This fight was almost comical. Delgado really wanted to clinch with Super, but didn't do anything from the clinch. From a spectator's standpoint this fight looked like Super wanted to take Delgado's head off with punches and Delgado just wanted to hug him. The tweets after the fight are always additionally comical, but this one especially caught my attention- @Delgado Delgado would rather fuck the fight, he belongs in gay porn not MMA.
Christoph Griffinsky vs. Shane Robinson
You could tell Robinson did not want to fight against Griffinsky from the stand up, but Griffinsky's takedown defense was too good for Robinson. Griffinsky finished this one in just 39 seconds and he looks to be a great addition to DFC.
Another entertaining event at DFC for the fans of MMA and the managers of MMATycoon. Bringing at least two events every week, DFC promises to be a manager-first oriented organization.
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