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HFC 23 - Silva vs Qanar
Hello Hardcore MMA fans! Tonight we saw another great round of fights between some great fighters and capped off the night with an amazing title fight which turned out to be our fight of the night!
I'm joined by our very own "Hardcore" Harley Blaze this evening to go over some of these fights.
Blaze "Hey guys, gals, and Blazers around the world! Tonight was a great event and we crowned a new champion. I can't wait to break down these fights. Good job J.W."
For?
Blaze "For not messing up the fights again."
Dude.. that wasn't, never mind.. moving on...
So I was thinking, it's going to take a little while, but since we haven't been able to get any previews done the last few weeks, and yesterdays review was cut a bit short, I want to go over a quick breakdown of every fight on the card tonight. With only 2 decision victories, we have 8 finishes we can highlight and some well earned FotN awards.
Blaze "You're just hoping fans forget that you screwed the pooch yesterday smoking all that Sheba. I told you man, even you're not that Hardcore!"
Undercards:
Bilal Vinsson vs Sean O Sullivan (145)
Our first fight of the evening got the crowd started with a great matchup between Vinsson and O Sullivan. A combined 18 fights between them, nobody expected a fight like this to be an undercard, much less the opening fight. But when at Hardcore, we do things a little off the books.
O Sullivan stood toe to toe with Vinsson throughout the first round, and nearly all of the second. While neither fighter was able to display much efficiency in the way of striking, Vinsson was able to get the fight to the ground a few times where he turned into the Tasmanian devil and unleashed a flurry of strikes on poor ole' O Sullivan.
O Sullivan wanted to keep this fight standing, but was only able to land just over 20% of his strikes. Vinsson didn't fare much better from range, but on the ground, well.. Let's just say I didn't count the strikes. The score cards show he landed 36 of 50 strikes from GnP.
Despite taking a loss to an eventual TKO under the constant barrage of strikes from Vinsson, O Sullivan showed he can take a punch, or 36, before finally giving way. Both of these fighters put it all out there, and Vinsson will walk away with his head a little higher after this late 2nd round TKO finish.
Vinsson wins via TKO (strikes) 4:59 of round 2.
Blaze "Man, these two looked like they were just feeling each other out from range. Neither looked to take it to the clinch, and though Vinsson wanted to take it to the ground, O Sullivan did a pretty good job at defending the takedown. But Vinsson was just too much, and man, I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that ground and pound. That was some brutal shit man!"
Jore Maki vs Bane Darwin (265+)
Let me start off by saying this fight was runner up for KO of the Night award. Not much to talk about in this fight due to the quick finish, but I know you'll have something to say about it. One thing I can say though, is I always enjoy a quick KO finish where the fighter is put to sleep before he ever touches the mat.
Maki wins via KO (punch) :28 round 1
Blaze "Haha, you know me well bro! I just commented last night about how we didn't have any of those 30 second KO's, but we were not lacking tonight. Maki displayed some great awareness and lethal striking power and put an end to this fight in only 28 seconds."
Juan De Souza vs Roundhouse Luke (205)
Another undercard featuring two more experienced fighters as De Souza (6-7) squared off against Luke (5-6). Neither fighter stands out as an excellent fighter based on their records, as both of these guys came into this fight needing a win to get back to a .500 win percentage. With the recently released HFC rankings, these two guys need to step up their game to grab a spot in that top 20 before the roster is trimmed down to the top 20 fighters.
Luke got rocked half way through the 1st round by a nasty right hand from De Souza. The next shot sent him crashing to the mat and had the fans on their feet in anticipation for the big finish that was sure to come. But, much to the dismay of the fans, and myself, Luke was waved back to his feet as De Souza was looking for the big KO.
Some back and forth blows between these two until about 3 minutes into the 2nd round when De Souza launched a crisp counter combo that dropped Luke again. And again, De Souza stepped back and waved Luke to his feet. I guess at this point, he was pretty confident he could score that KO.
30 seconds later, De Souza launched another counter right that dropped Luke for the 3rd time, and the 3rd time was the charm as De Souza dove in and finished the fight via TKO.
De Souza wins via TKO (strikes) 3:31 of round 2.
Blaze "Well, honestly I thought this fight was done in the first. I mean, he had the perfect chance for the quick finish but got a little too cocky. I understand wanting to land that big highlight KO, but when you don't finish a fighter when you have the chance, you're only giving a chance for something bad to happen. I think I heard Souza's corner barking at him to finish the damned fight. Maybe that's why he finally jumped in and put an end to this fight at last."
Boxing Mcsparr vs Darko Milicic (170)
Hey Harley, you want to take point on this fight? I'm backing a bowl.
Blaze "Yeah man, I'd be happy to cover this one. Just pass that mofo when you're done."
Blaze "Our next fight between Mcsparr and Milicic was nothing short of spectacular. These two men have no quit in them, none at all. This fight went down to the wire and was left in the judges hands. Now you know me, I'm not a fan of leaving a fight to chance, and that's exactly what you do when you leave it to the score cards. But Mcsparr lived up to his name and made the veteran Milicic look silly out there. The man looked like a terminator out there with a speed upgrade. Mcsparr was all over the place, range, clinch, punching, kicking, throwing bows, the man was NOT about to lose this fight. I am sure he was fighting more accurately and aggressively than Milicic, but when you land 32 punches to the face of your opponent, usually the opponent looks like a bloodied and battered half rotted pumpkin before finally going to sleep. But Milicic said to thell with that, I'll sleep when I'm dead."
Well, I can't say I disagree with you, Harley. Here, take this.. So looking at the numbers, man, this was a one sided fight all the way. The judges would have a hard time messing this one up. Mcsparr landed an amazing 32/35 head strikes, 10/15 body punches, 2/3 head kicks, and was just as efficient in the clinch with 14/15 head strikes and 7/13 body strikes. He was just too accurate and too much to handle for Milicic.
Milicic seemed to want to throw tons of combinations, which I suppose can be good in a boxing match that you want to counter in, but it didn't work for him tonight. He was only able to land 2/23 combos and about 40% of his other strikes, if that. He did take the fight into the clinch twice, but was completely dominated in the clinch. I don't know why he tried to keep going back, but I guess he was just looking for any answer to stop the machine gun bee stings coming from Mcsparr. Great job by Mcsparr!
Mcsparr wins via Unanimous Decision
Herlock Von Ryan vs Dale Steyn (170)
In our final undercard of the evening, we have two solid fighters coming in to show the world who belongs where on the new rankings as Von Ryan (9-6) took on Steyn (4-5).
Steyn wasted no time getting the fight to the ground via a nice counter takedown, but Von Ryan pulled a quick sweep and jumped into mount. Expecting a quick finish, again, we were disappointed. A few minutes of wrestling on the ground and the ref stood the fight back up.
Round two was more of the same but Von Ryan took the fight to the ground this time and started trying to work in a submission. Steyn displayed some nice defense and was able to ward off his attempts and we move to round three.
Round three was much teh same, a takedown by Steyn and a submission battle back and forth until the final bell ending the fight. As expected, a grappling event that neither fighter was able to finish and we went to the judges where Von Ryan picked up the decision.
Von Ryan wins via Unanimous Decision
Blaze "Man, honestly, this fight was kind of boring to me. From the ratings, I would say the fans too. There was some very good wrestling and BJJ displayed, but you know me. I like to see the blood and teeth flying across the cage as the gladiators beat the shit out of each other. But hey, to each his own, and nobody can take this victory away from Von Ryan. Excellent job by Von Ryan tonight."
Main Cards:
Alan Ragasatria vs Ruddo Ryokale (135) (SotN)
And our first fight of the main cards, and our only submission of the night earning Ragasatria the SotN award.
Tonight seemed like a crazy night with several fights being finished or stopped within seconds of the bell. I don't know if it was a plan for the refs to have some fun or just worked out that way, but here's another example of a buzzer beater finish as this fight ended with 1 second left in the 1st round.
Ragasatria took the fight to the ground quickly and tried to lock in a quick submission victory but was warded off by some nice defense from Ryokale. Then, Ryokale went all out submission fest and quickly moved from submission to submission trying to find an opening to finish Ragasatria until the ref had seen enough and stood the fight back up.
Shortly after the 4 minute mark, Ryokale took the fight to the clinch and then quickly back to the ground where this time Ragasatria was ready to jump on a submission and locked triangle that quickly changed to a Guillotine that forced the tap with only 1 second to go in the round. Great finish by Ragasatria and a great display of BJJ from both of these warriors.
Ragasatria wins via Submission (Guillotine) 4:59 of round 1
Blaze "Are you f**king kidding me?? 1 second left? Bro, I would have rather been put to sleep than to know I tapped out with only 1 second left on the clock. Maybe he knew he was outmatched at that point and just wanted it to be over, or maybe he didn't want to go back to his corner and hear a lecture. Whatever the case, you tapped out with 1 second left in the round, and that's not what I would call Hardcore. But I am sure Ryokale will be back with a chip on his shoulder looking to finish his next fight. "
Leon vs Daniel Yonic (185)
Another runner up for KO of the Night as Lentz took it to Yonic in another 30 second KO. I don't think anyone saw this quick finish coming as neither of these fighters makes a habit of losing, but boy, Lentz didn't hesitate. He walks away from this fight completely unscathed as it only took him 4 strikes to put Yonic to sleep like a baby on a cold winter night snuggled up with a blanket in front of the fire place.. Yonic yawned as he drifted off into peaceful bliss and woke up with the worst hangover of his life to the ugly face of his ring side manager waving a stink stick under his nose. He was taken to the local medical facility to be checked out, but has been released with no permanent damage.
Lentz wins via KO :33 of round 1
Blaze "That's what I like to see! Not only was it a quick KO, it was a complete domination of another great fighter! This has got to shake Yonic's confidence a little, but he's a hell of a fighter and will bounce back in his next fight. I thought this fight was KO of the night, but there were some great ones so I can't really argue with the result."
Chip Nickel vs Rooga Chooga (185)
This fight was one of the fights I was anticipating the most. Chooga was looking very good in the newly released rankings and Nickel was the only thing standing in his way of the #1 contender label. And stand in the way he did.
Nickel landed a big head kick early that dropped Chooga, but the fight was not over as Nickel waved the now bleeding Chooga to his feet. Some more impressive striking from Nickel over the next couple of minutes before another brutal knockdown from a big right. Again, Chooga gets back to his feet and they go at it.
Eventually, in the final minute of the opening round, Nickel landed a beautiful counter right that put Chooga down again, and again the 3rd time is the charm as this time Nickel dove in and finished the fight from mount.
Nickel wins via TKO (strikes) 4:11 of round 1
Blaze "Man, what a dominate performance by Nickel in this one! Chooga is no joke, but he was made to look a fool by Nickel in this fight. I can't wait to see how Chooga reacts to this one sided loss, but I also can't wait to see Nickel in action again. If he keeps this up, he might become my new favorite fighter to watch."
Co-Main Event:
Boris Krylov vs Antonio Nagashima (265) (KotN)
And now we get down to the nitty gritty as we are finally at our Co-Main event of the evening. This bout coming from the heavyweight division features two of our premier fighters in Krylov and Nagashima battling it out for supremacy.
With these fighters coming into the fight with a combined record of 15-5, it was no doubt this would be a war and everyone thought this would be a finish. I don't think anyone wanted or expected this one to go the distance.
This fight is one that I love to display as hardcore, with both men being bloodied in the first round, and neither one backing down to the challenge. The cage had to be cleaned after this fight, and there were still a ton of blood stains all over the canvas for the main event. This made for a beautiful backdrop for the title fight.
These two warriors went toe to toe and never looked back. Krylov was a little more rounded in his attack but both fighters were pretty aggressive. Unfortunately for Nagashima, he was only able to land 9 of his 23 strikes and failed to connect on any other strike but those to the head.
Krylov, on the other hand, did a very good job of mixing his strikes up and keeping Nagashima off balance not knowing where the next strike would come from. But one thing was for sure, it was coming.
In the waning seconds of the 2nd round, seemingly out of nowhere, Krylov launched and landed a beautiful head kick that put Nagashima face first onto the mat. This is a KO victory if I've ever seen it, but due to the fact that the aggressive Krylov wasn't going to take any chances and was about to jump in to finish the fight, the ref, former rugby player, decided to show his best Goldberg spear and launched himself to tackle Krylov to save the hapless Nagashima.
Krylov wins via KO (head kick) 4:51 of round 2
Blaze "Man, another last second finish, but at least this one was a legit KO finish. And what about that ref! You should have him go sign up for BFC and see if he's got what it takes. That was a sick ass tackle! As for the KO, I can't argue with that beauty of a kick that won the KO otN award. There were some faster ones tonight, but that one definitely stood out to me in watching these fights."
Main Event:
Felix Silva vs Dro Qanar (205) Title Fight (FotN)
And now, for the moment you've all been waiting for! The fight of the night, the belt on the line, the warrior without a manager in sight, this fight had it all! Well, almost all.. I didn't see the entourage of half naked women all over Silva. Maybe that was Fury's entourage.
Either way, Silva will have his women now! The 205 belt has been vacant for some time now since the previous title holder left the org to avoid fighting against Silva. Now, we can all see why as Silva displayed some serious skill against Dro Qanar in this one. And take it from me, Qanar is no slouch!
With the Madness champ leaving for GAMMA, and no HFC champ, we needed a new champion. And with Silva next in line for the title shot, it was simply a matter of putting up the HFC #1 contender against the Madness #1 contender to determine who would be our first ever combined HFC light heavyweight champion of the world.
Another fight where blood was the theme, these two gladiators did not let the crowd down. Are you not entertained? It was a blood-fest, and with the already blood covered canvas, I can imagine it was a bit hard to get your footing out there. I've never seen so much blood between two fights in my life, this one may go down as a record for the HFC.
Silva was the more aggressive fighter, but that could be from all the blood that Qanar was spilling in this fight. Qanar displayed some solid striking defense from range, but once in the clinch things really opened up for Silva as he completely dominated the fight in the clinch.
Many questioned why the ref didn't stop the fight to let the doctor take a look at that cut, but in the HFC we love blood and I saw Harley down there talking to the doc telling him not to interfere unless it was life threatening.
These two went back and forth but with only 5 seconds to go in round 2, Silva landed an uppercut from hell putting Silva against the cage. Qanar appeared to be completely out of it, possibly unconscious while standing as Silva landed a barrage of strikes until the ref finally decided to save Qanar.
And NEW HFC Light Heavyweight Champion of the World... Felix Silva!!!
Amazing job by our new champion, we hope to see him back in action soon, but without a manager to book his fights, we're not sure how soon he'll be defending this title. So other contenders out there, stay on point and get yourself ready to challenge. Because if we don't see Silva defending that belt again this summer, you'll be finding yourself in a tournament for the new championship!
Silva wins via TKO (strikes) 4:55 of round 2
Blaze "Man, what a show! Crazy part is that Qanar actually looked pretty good out there, but when you look at this fight on paper, it looks very one sided. But nobody can argue with a finish like that, and hats off to Silva for not only earning himself the belt, but also to stay ruthless and make sure the fight was won before quitting. And then, I completely agree with him being so aggravated at the ref for taking so long to step in. That could have been very dangerous for Qanar."
And that concludes our review of HFC 23. We want to thank all of our managers and fighters for helping put on this event, one that will be remembered (and felt by some) for a very long time. Never have I seen so much blood between the main and co-main events, and we loved every second of it!
As we move forward and narrow down these rosters to only the elite fighters of the 350k range, expect nothing short of spectacular fights from our warriors here in the HFC, the true home of Hardcore!
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