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 Even without an appearance from Fedor and his ugly sweater on Saturday night, the OFC achieved the 2nd Largest Attendance in Org History! Also cracking the top ten Highest rated Events is nothing to scoff at. I guess that's what a card featuring three title fights and a few former OFC Champions will do for ya! The world of Canadian Combat is proving to feature a bright future with the Return of GSP and continued Greatness from the Best org North of the Border. I mean, what other Fight Club offers imaginary Ring Card Girls painted with the likeness of Elisha Cuthbert in her prime, at least that's how I picture them. With a prologue like this, you know the fights witnessed were something special. So...Without further ado, let's run it all back with a Full Review!
Our Main Event of the Evening featured OFC Welterweight Champion Sairanix "Berserker" Lokren looking to defend his title for the 1st time against the man with the World in his hands; Mr Universe. The hype was through the roof for this one...but it was also pretty freaking late by the time it started, so the inebriated were out in full force. Know how I know this? I caught one guy in my aisle repeatedly cheering for Mr Galaxy, A for effort. Universe came out swinging but Lokren showed his footwork to be on par with a ballerina, avoiding punches with ease while looking like a young Anderson Silva. By the end of the round, it was clear to see Lokren came in with a game-plan, picking his opponent apart, wearing him down without getting too reckless. I couldn't hear what Universe's corner was telling him in between rounds but my advice would be to get the fight in to the clinch, he has superior Muay Thai and keeping at a distance from Lokren just isn't going to work since he found his range. A minute in to the 2nd Round and that magnificent bastard may have just read my mind, as he managed to get the clinch! Unfortunately, Lokren was just too well prepared, blocking strikes from the clinch effortlessly. The highlight of the round for Universe came near the end, as he countered with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. But without that sequence, it was overall more of the same. Universe would need a big 3rd round in order to turn things around...
Once again showing signs of telepathy, Universe rushed Lokren pushing his back up against the cage to gain the clinch. From there, he landed a knee that literally took my breath, it very easily could've broken Lokren's rib-cage. This may have woken Universe up a bit, saw some pep in his step as he proceeded to land some nasty leg kicks. But it seemed like Lokren retaliated with two or three of his own strikes, after each time he was struck. The exchanges were clearly going in his favor, so it was looking like Universe would need a finish heading in to the 4th. And a finish is exactly what we got...from Lokren, he dropped Universe with a big left hand and jumped in to finish him off. Lokren moves his record to 17-7-0 as he now waits for the OFC 261: Obey Main Event to play out between Fahad Al Qarni v Eddie Melo, in order to crown a new #1 Contender.
Co-Main Event time where the Featherweight title was on the line, with Champion Marlo Stanfield taking on "The Versatile" Gurney Halleck. The easiest way to describe this fight is to rewrite what I just did for Lokren and Universe. Except in this tale, Halleck is the Lokren here. Earning the Fight of the Night honors, mainly because there was one major difference in the two fights, the same difference that makes it okay to believe in fairy tales. I know this may not make much sense just yet, but we'll get there, don't you worry. The first 4 rounds saw Stanfield take more shots to the dome than a PornHub compilation. But it was two minutes in to the 4th when momentum shifted, Halleck may have gotten a little too confident and comfortable as he was keeping his hands dangerously low letting Stanfield rock him with a free shot. Luckily for Halleck, he was able to get the clinch and regain his composure, otherwise that would've been a blunder to remember. After the slight scare and leading on all scorecards heading in to the 5th round, a unanimous decision victory and the crowning of a New Champion in Halleck was all but inevitable. *Adds in Record Scratch sound effect* In the final minute of the final round, Halleck threw an off balance right hand and Stanfield countered with a crisp one two that dropped Halleck! After waving him to his feet, Stanfield dropped him again but this time he dove in to drop bombs, finish the fight and retain his title. Heartbreaking loss for Halleck, who was so close to claiming the Championship he could taste it. I feel sorry for his next opponent, you just know there's going to be a chip on his shoulder heading in to the fight. On the flip side, miraculous victory for Stanfield who now has a new tale to tell his future grandchildren. This is the stuff Legends are made of!
Our Final Title Fight of the Night featured the big boys, Heavyweight Champion Vunny Bin taking on worthy contender Oleksandr Usyk. This was the fight I admittedly was most looking forward to. Both of these monsters were on absolute tears heading in to this collision of killers. Almost as soon as the fight began, Usyk got Bin in the clinch. This seemed to be one of the key contributing factors in Usyk's strategic planning for this fight. This is also where we witnessed the war of punches versus elbows. These previously mentioned daggers, I mean Elbows cut Bin in the opening minute and proceeded to open it up even more late in the round. I feel like Usyk put the entire division on notice with this 5 minutes of sheer dominance, pretty much forcing every Heavyweight in the OFC to give their clinchwork coaches a call or a text at least. 2nd Round saw more of the same, you can tell frustration was setting in for Bin as he tried to counter attack with knees, but they came off more like a bullied younger sibling trying to stand up for himself...to no avail. 3rd Round saw Bin land his first and only strike out of the clinch, landing a straight punch to the midsection. He tried to land another and that's when things went from bad to worse, as Usyk dropped him with a huge uppercut. Still trying to survive, Usyk cracked Bin on the jaw with a powerful right hand and he fell backwards against the cage. Usyk kept the pressure on and the referee was forced to jump in to save Bin! Usyk gave the performance of a lifetime in being crowned the New OFC Heavyweight Champion. He now has some time to let it all sink in while a new challenger is named. But I have a feeling whoever is named the #1 Contender isn't going to be too happy about it.
Our Knockout of the Night went to Don Cartagena, who needed all of five seconds to wrap it up over OFC Lightweight Newcomer; Sigurd Wallace. First combo and Wallace was on his butt wondering what happened, but hey, it's better than waking up in the hospital. He got back to his feet and Cartagena cracked him again with a massive lead left hook for his troubles, sending Wallace tumbling to the floor, out cold. I'm happy to report that Wallace did wake up upon his arrival at a local hospital. The one positive he can take from this is the fact that he can only go up from here...so there's that! Meanwhile, if needed for comment, Cartagena can be found in the club for his post fight after party with some ring card girls that look like Elisha Cuthbert...in her prime!
And that about wraps it up for this Review! I just wanna send a monster shout out to some other big winners on the card; Tat Moh, Jordan Belfort and Satoshi Tanahashi, these guys impressed the hell out of me, full on Linda Blair Exorcism style! As always, the entire event was sponsored by MayheM sportswear, make sure to show some support by stopping by his shop, damn, say that 5 times fast. Next up on the OFC calendar we got an important card on Wednesday in Montreal before we head out to Sydney for the very first time for OFC 262: Down Under, where the Light Heavyweight Championship will be up for grabs between; Shape Shifter and Zoey Malone Jr, can't freakin' wait for that one! And finally, you know the drill by now, if you have any fighters in need of a contract, just let me know and I'll send some your way! I want to put a major focus on recruiting for our Lighter Weight Classes to help the divisions grow. Have an awesome week guys and don't forget, it's Family day in Ontario on Feb 20th, make sure to spend some time with loved ones no matter how much they get on your nerves or don't...and just enjoy the day off however you wish!
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