|
 HFC 55 - Dos Anjos vs Batle
Event Review
I don't even know where to begin with this event. What an amazing event with some organization changing results! We had two title fights on the line tonight from two of our longer tenured champs against up and coming stars.
Our own HFC writer predicted an upset victory for Ford over Patriot which caught the eye of many, but even he didn't think Battle had a chance against ADA, the 2020 HFC Fighter of the year. But instead, Battle stepped up and claimed the top spot at 185 and Dos Anjos moves on to 170 to compete there after months of pondering the move.
We'll start things off with the FotN awards, and then take a look back at a few of these fights.
Fight of the Night:
Dre Battle vs Ademaro Dos Anjos
We already touched on this fight shocking the whole org, but what a fight it was. This award could have easily been handed to Ford vs Patriot, or even a few of our undercards that were right there. But taking the usual FotN standards, and then adding in the monumental outcome of this fight, we couldn't see any other fight topping this one.
KO of the Night:
Ed Ford
Ford came into this battle ready to go to war. He knew what he was getting into the cage with and he never backed down. He got his chance and he didn't disappoint not only defeating the champion, but finishing the fight via TKO (Strikes). This fight was runner up for the FotN, but the finish is what allowed Ed Ford to win this KO of the Night award in compensation.
Patriot is rocked!
Ford's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
A bone on bone clash there as Ford blocks the leg kick.
Oh Patriot is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Ford drops Patriot with a naaaaasty hook - Patriot is in real trouble here! Ford dives in to side control and pounds out his opponent for a TKO victory! The crowd goes nuts!
Sub of the Night:
Chris Travis
It's always easy to award a Sub of the Night award when there was only one submission victory on the card. Submissions are becoming less and less frequent in the HFC, so it's still always an honor to be able to hand this award out. But when you see a fighter pull a reverse to get into top position, and then fall victim to a beautiful triangle, it makes the award feel well earned. Check out this one..
Travis postures up as if he's going to throw some strikes but drops back for an ankle! Ferreria is in big trouble! He looks ready to tap! But no, he's escaped and dives on top of Travis, into his guard.
Travis has thrown up a leg looking for a triangle. Ferreria doesn't defend quickly enough and Travis has managed to lock this one up! Can Ferreria escape?! NO! He's tapping out! Damn, that was a quick submission - congrats to Travis on a fantastic submission victory.
Undercards:
Rukter Demenok DEF Your Sweet Destruction via Decision (Unanimous)
Almost got a feel like Demenok was playing save and taking pitty on YSD. He dominated the fight, but was not putting much into his punches or he would have likely finished this one. YSD is on a losing streak that would make the 90's Bills super bowl teams proud.
Olli Lindholm DEF Billy Bob Brown via TKO (Strikes)
With a little talk coming into this one and Lindholm sort of hyping himself up a bit, many were waiting to see if Brown would come out and shut him up. We got quite the opposite, in fact. Lindholm dominated the fight throwing a little bit of everything at Brown but a heavy dose of Punches to the head and body really did a number on Brown. Landing 26/34 punches and a couple of kicks for good measure to a total of 9 total scoring strikes combined by brown, it was only a matter of time before this fight ended. Brown never gave up, never went out, but the ref had seen enough to jump in and save Brown for further damage.
It's wroth noting that after the fight, Lindholm grabbed the mic away from our announcer and asked, emphetically, for a title shot. No word has been issued from the HFC yet as to rather or not this will happen, but we've heard no rumors of a title fight being drawn up.
Alan Spence DEF Simeoni Jukola via KO (Punch)
The first round was very close, back and forth, but the second round was all Jukola. With a lead in the fight going into the 3rd and final round, Jukola just needed to keep up the pressure and not get caught off guard. On the flip side, Spence knew he had to bring it and finish the fight to get the win, and that's exactly what he did.
About half way through the 3rd and final round, the KO of the Night runner up happened..
Spence lands an uppercut, right on the button! Jukola tumbles backwards into the cage, staring vacantly into space! He's got no idea where he is, who he is or what day it is... Poor guy.
If not for the sheer magnitude of what the Ed Ford KO meant, this one would have taken the award for sure. Huge shout out to a runner up for a beautiful finish.
Kai Kona DEF Saggy Dinglestomper via Decision
Yes, another decision. Two men slapped around each other until the fight was over. Saggy got a few ball smacks in there, his signature "Sag Smack Sack Attack" we call it, but Kona stood the test of time scoring more points with the judges and taking this one in the end.
Leif Leifsson DEF Jeremy Motts via TKO (Punches)
Manager Bjorn had his fighters hyped up and made a little noise prior to the fight, and it seems to have paid off. Leifsson making his debut under new manager, came out swinging and was looking for a finish right out of the gate. He looks like a different man under new managment and he may very well be a man on a mission towards his shot at gold. Still far too early to tell, but no doubt Leifsson will be looking to climb his way to the top. And sitting at 3-0 in the HFC, and all 3 ending by (T)KO, he is poised to do just that.
Motts is no slouch, he's a veteran that still has something to show these young guys, but it's obvious that the younger guys have started surpassing him.
Jet Gunner DEF Ko Van Den Born via TKO (Cut)
A huge win for Gunner here as he gets the doctor stoppage over Van Den Born. His hype jumped up and now Gunner finds himself as the new #1 contender in the division. You never want to see a fight end with doctor stoppage, so we all know Van Den Born is disappointed as are all of us, but he's going to be back, no doubt.
Gunner scorred the cut early in the fight and zerod in on the thing, looking to inflict as much damage as possible. Perhaps this is why the ref stopped the fight and the doctor stopped it, because they knew it would only get worse. And everyone is so damned scared about this COVID shit.. almost like people seeing blood in the 90's and yelling "Oh no, what if he has AIDS!??" Get over it people, it's just blood!
Main Cards
Chris Travis DEF Alex Ferreria via Submission (Triangle)
This was a bit of a shocker to many as Ferreria, who has been in multiple title fights, was a heavy favorite to many over Travis who has had a bit of a shakey career to date. The man has skills, they just haven't translated to wins in the cage often enough. Well, things changed in this one! Travis put Ferreria on his ass (after inflicting a cut, mind you) about half way into the first round. From there he followed and started sub spamming without much success, but was by far more aggressive and scoring with the judges.
The secound round Ferreria kept the fight standing and won the better part of the exchanges, but nothing exciting happened in this middle round of action.
But boy, it didn't take long into the 3rd to get some serious action in as just over the 1 minute mark Travis dropped Ferreria to his knees and then dive tackles him into guard and starts working the subs. A sweet reversal by Ferreria gave him a temporary advantage in position on top, but it actually opened up an opportunity for the opportunistic Travis to catch him with a Triangle, forcing a tap out.
Slash Slinging DEF Shaquan Woods via Decision (Split)
What a close fight.. this was a split decision and I am already thinking about a potential rematch down the road. Woods was the better fighter from range, landing 17 shots to Slingin's 4, but the 3 takedowns keeping the fight on the ground the majority of the time really hampered Woods as Slingin has the clear advantage grappling.
Woods would not be finished, never tapped, and held up against the GNP very well, but the persistence of Slingin was just too much for Woods. This fight could have easily gone the other way if Woods had managed to stand up one more time in that last round.
What a great battle, and after a couple of months, I have a feeling we will be seeing these two throw down again.
Co-Main Event
HFC Lightweight Championship Title Fight
Ed Ford DEF Gorgon Patriot via TKO (Strikes)
I'll be the first one to tell you that I thought our writer bit off more than he could chew with picking Ford to dethrone the champ in this one. I had no doubt that he could do it, but picking against the champ after already being proven wrong in the past is hard to do. Now, Patriot is under new management, so some say that could have played a part in this fight. But it's not like he went from a stud manager to a nobody. He went from a great manager to the current #1 manager in the industry. So it is hard to use that as a reason to levy that Ford got lucky here, or had that advantage. So we have to simply step back and say.. wow, Ford is a baaaad maaaan!
Ford has only lost 1 fight since joining the HFC from the SMASH roster, and that was against hard hitting Moxley, and only by a decision. Ford was devastated and vowed to make a come back. He bounced back with a quick win and that lead to 3 in a row and a title shot. Now here we are with Ford hoisting the gold after a monumental TKO over the former champ, Patriot.
The fight was pretty strait forward back and forth exchanges for three rounds.
Round 1: Patriot dominated
Round 2: Patriot dominated
Round 3: very close (announcer leaned Patriot)
Now we are coming into the 4th round, the championship rounds. These are the rounds that Patriot should have the advantage in, he's the champ, he's the one who's had longer fights. Ford was in a hole, losing the fight in all three rounds by many viewers eyes. His corner let him know, I heard Harley mention that he could hear Andy Down barking in Fords ear to turn up the heat and finish this damned thing!
I guess that it worked, because Ford came out in that 4th round and knocked the shit out of the champ with a huge right that cut Patriot and put him on his ass. Patriot bounced right back up after a little yoga move, but Ford smelled blood and went for the kill. Despite the nasty welt on his leg and bone on bone cracks, Ford held in there and delivered a hook that got the crowed at a roar. When 14,000 fans are all on their feet cheering, this building felt like an earthquake was going on. This fight earned KO of the Night, and the finish can be found above under the Of The Night awards.
Main Event
HFC Middleweight Championship Title fight
Dre Battle DEF Ademaro Dos Anjos via TKO (Strikes) Decision (Unanimous)
Talk about instant stardom over night? Come into a fight against the reigning HFC Fighter of the Year who's never lost inside the HFC, and take his belt. That'll get the job done every time, just look at that hype gain! If you know anything about the Convicted Crew, and their manager, CK, you'll know that these boys are hard to beat and run with no lack of confidence. So when Dre Battle said he's going to TKO Dos Anjos, I just figure he's talking shit because he doesn't think he can lose. I'm used to it, and usually, those guys are right. Well, he was just about right again. I hear it from a good source that Battle would have won that fight via TKO if not for a managerial decision. But when you're in a fight of this magnitude, a win is a win, and the belt is the belt.
Battle was far more aggressive from range in this one, but landed much less shots. 45 total strikes from range to Dos Anjos' 68. One sided affair in that department, edge Dos Anjos. Then in the clinch, Battle only landed 2 strikes to Dos Anjos' 13. Advantage Dos Anjos. On the ground, Dre managed to improve position 2 of 4 attempts, but more importantly limited Dos Anjos to only 1 successful transition on the ground while defending all 7 submission attempts. Advantage Battle.
So when I break down the fight, many judges would have awarded Battle with the victory on a point based system. These judges must have looked at the damage those strikes inflicted, as well as the ability to defend on the ground against a superior BJJ opponent and scored the fight his way. This would have been a great fight to get a rematch of, but we'll have to wait as ADA has made the move to 170 to contend in that division.
An absolutely amazing fight from both fighters, and there are now two Convicts running their divisions as Sosa has himself a running mate. And Dos Anjos will likely soon be competing for the 170 crown making it 3 Convicts. Is there another alliance in the HFC that want's to step up and make a claim as top alliance within the org? Because these guys are trying to run away with it.
That concludes another HFC event review, and possibly one of the wildest cards we've ever had to date. Looking forward to seeing ADA compete at 170, but he has a tough test as he starts off against Slash Slingin for a contender spot. Battle currently has no opponent lined up, but there's some commotion going on between him and the big man, Massive Wanker.
In a jest, Wanker called out Battle in an open weight fight. Much to my surprise, Battle accepted and is asking for the fight. We have not heard back from the other camp yet, but HFC fully supports this fight and it sounds a lot like a MAMF fight.
Thank you all for the continued support! We keep pushing forward and upward with every event and plan to have our first ever PPV in the coming months, maybe as soon as February if these super fights line up. We have the best managers in the game, several future #1 P4P fighters in the game, and I'm just damned proud to be a part of it all!
Stay HARDCORE!
Article views:
39
» Donate to this author |
