2012-08-29
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Syndicate 130 Review

Event Review: Syndicate 130
Sydney Fight Championship
2012-08-25, Tokyo, Tokyo Bowl
Attendance:36,233, Event Rating:448
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Fans in Tokyo were treated to a tremendous night of MMA action when The Syndicate invaded the Tokyo Dome Saturday night.  With over 36,000 fans in attendance, fighters gave it their all on a card that saw two titles change hands.  The judges had a busy night at Syndicate 130, with six of the ten bouts on the fight card going the distance, but fans were still treated to their fair share of brutal knockouts.  Let's review the action.


Featherweight Jamie Reyes (13-3) picked up his 13th career win and got stronger as the fight went on in his matchup against Dwayne Hicks (18-9).  Reyes proved to be the aggressor in round one, throwing multiple punches and kicks to keep Hicks off balance.  Hicks did his best to try and control the pace of the fight, twice pulling Reyes into the clinch to slow the action.  It was a close round of action, but Reyes' aggression appeared to be just enough to win him the round.  Reyes opened up in round two, really starting to shift the momentum in his favor with well timed punches and carefully placed leg kicks.  With Hicks appearing to be running out of gas, Reyes continued to pour on the punishment in round three.  With just over two minutes gone in the round, Reyes rocked Hicks with a wicked shot to the chin.  Hicks somehow managed to keep his wits about him and prevent Reyes from taking him down, and survived until the end of the round.  Reyes clearly won the favor of the judges, picking up a 30-27 unanimous decision win.


Tweedle Dee (14-4-1) came out and made a statement against Hofniel Apollyon (15-5) in our second contest, putting Syndicate middleweights on notice that he is a force to be reckoned with.  Dee avoided Apollyon's initial attack with ease, and after a failed clinch attempt, dropped his opponent to the ground  with a nice takedown into side control.  Dee wasted no time moving into full mount and started raining down punches on Apollyon.  Apollyon initially put up resistance, but eventually succumbed to Dee's nasty ground and pound and had to be saved by the referee at the 2:38 mark of round one.


Gristle McThornbody (31-7) showed absolute dominance in his light heavyweight battle with Sun Kato (26-8), landing 38 total strikes compared to just 18 for Kato.  The fighters were in and out of the clinch for the better part of the first round, with Kato throwing a number of strikes that just weren't finding their home.  McThornbody came out throwing in round two, making some solid connections with Kato's head, and rocking him with just under two minutes gone in the fight and opening a nasty cut on his head.  The fighters locked up in the clinch briefly, with neither having much success before Kato broke the clinch.  McThornbody used the opportunity to unleash on onslaught of kicks and punches on Kato, scoring himself big points with the judges.  As round three began, Kato came out of his corner obviously shaken but determined to keep fighting.  McThornbody wasted no time making him pay for that decision, tagging him with a few strikes before drilling him with a right hand to the temple to put him on the ground.  McThornbody backed off anticipating a stoppage, but the tough as nails Kato, staggered back to his feet.  With his hands dropped, Kato moved toward McThornbody, only to eat a huge right hook that knocked him out cold, giving McThornbody the KO win just 25 seconds into round three.


The fourth fight was short and sweet as Johnny Ballantine (29-14) wasted no time disposing of his fellow light heavyweight opponent, Mark Harrison (10-4).  Ballantine set the tone early, smacking Harrison with a solid combination and cutting him on the first exchange of the fight.  Harrison tried to keep the pressure off and close the distance with a few token strikes, but Ballantine was relentless in pouring on the punishment.  Finally, just past the one minute mark, Ballantine drilled Harrison with a nice straight punch and followed it up with a right hook and a left hook, sending Harrison crashing to the ground and forcing the referee to dive in for the save.  A very impressive win for the veteran Ballantine that earned him Knockout Of The Night honors.


Usain Watts (27-9) picked up his fourth straight win in a pier six brawl against middleweight counterpart Jim Renka (11-3).  The first round was a back and forth battle with both fighters landing some nice, substantial blows.  Watts was doing damage with his hands while Renka repeatedly punished Watts with stinging leg kicks.  Renka managed to open a cut on Watts early in round two.  The fighters clinched and exchanged some nasty blows before Watts broke free.  Watts managed to do just enough to edge Renka in round two, but an argument could be made to award the round to either fighter.  Renka new that he would have to do something big to take the fight and came out like a house of fire for round three.  He clearly dealt out the majority of the punishment and looked crisp while Watts started to show signs of fatigue and got sloppy.  Renka landed some heavy blows, but Watts was able to absorb the punishment and hang on to the end of the fight.  It was a close fight but the judges awarded a 29:28 decision to Watts.


The sixth fight of the night was a crowd pleaser that saw Bart Scott (16-6-1) take the rubber match in his third meeting with Aitch Bubbles (20-5-3) while winning the Syndicate lightweight title.  The first round was a tight one, with both fighters standing and trading blows from a distance before Scott pulled Bubbles into the clinch and administered some punishment before the round ended.  It was a very close round, but Scott came out ahead and all three judge's scorecards.  Scott went back to the clinch early in round two, but this time paid the price as Bubbles avoided damage from Scott while landing some nicely placed punches and stuffing multiple takedown attempts.  Bubbles clearly controlled the action in round two and was rewarded with a 10-9 round from the judges.  Bubbles scored with some solid strikes in round three, but was ultimately un-done by a pair of takedowns that Scott scored, allowing to keep Bubbles on his back for the majority of the round.  Though he did little damage, the takedowns gave Scott just enough of an advantage to steal the round 10-9.  The fourth round saw Scott immediately take the fight to the canvas and go to work on Bubbles, but after taking some punishment, Bubbles managed to take Scott's back and slow the action enough to force a referee stand up.  Scott continued to try and take the fight to the ground with no success and Bubbles managed to stay on his feet and land some nice shots to end the round.  This round could have gone either way, but all three judges awarded the round to Scott 10:9.  Scott once again took the fight into the clinch to start round 5, but Bubbles did a great job of avoiding damage and staying on his feet.  Bubbles was able to mount somewhat of an offense from the clinch before breaking free just before the three minute mark in the round.  Feeling like he had the fight in the bag, Scott started to back off, looking to wear the clock down.  Bubbles continued to press forward but Scott was able to hold him off and leave the fight in the hands of the judges.  As the judges scores were read, a dejected Bubbles dropped his head while Scott exalted in his victory as Louie DePalma wrapped the Syndicate lightweight title around his waist.


Pablo Soriano (31-9-1) looked strong in his bid to get back into title contention and got redemption for a February loss to Tad Ghostal (20-7) by using stellar striking and clinch work to end the night early for Ghostal.  The fight started out slowly with both fighters trying to find their range and trading punches.  With less than two minutes expired in the round, Soriano took the fight to the clinch and went to work controlling Ghostal.  Soriano stayed active in the clinch, trying to punish Ghostal but came up empty more often than not.  Ghostal did a fabulous job of defending himself, but Soriano's control of the cage won the favor of the judges and earned him a 10:9 round one.  The fighters went back to slugging it out for the first couple of minutes of round two before Ghostal decided to take the fight into the clinch again.  Both fighters went to work in the clinch with each getting in some good shots, but the judges saw the round for Soriano 10:9.  Ghostal came out head hunting in round three, knowing he needed to do something big.  Soriano used nice defense and counter punching to keep Ghostal off balance.  Ghostal unleashed a body kick just before the four minute mark that Soriano dodged and then unleashed a nasty straight right that rocked Ghostal.  Ghostal tried to hold his own, but ultimately fell victim to a huge overhand right that put him down for the count. With that big win, Soriano has certainly put himself in position to make another run at the gold.


In less than one minute, James William (17-6) and John L. Sullivan IV (22-6-1) had cut one another open and the bloodbath commenced.  Both fighters stood tall for the first couple of minutes in the fight lashing each other with a barrage of kicks and punches.  William clinched up with Sullivan IV about half way through the round and went to work on Sullivan IV's body while occasionally absorbing some punishment from his opponent.  The round was close, but William appeared to control the action and the pace, earning a 10-9 round from two of the judges, while the other judge saw the round as a draw.  Round two was another close one with William once again trying to control the fight by clinching up, but the clinch was short lived and both fighters were throwing leather and firing off leg kicks to get the best of one another.  Sullivan IV drilled William with a head kick just before the four minute mark of round two that opened his cut even wider, causing the blood to pour down his face and drip all over the canvas.  He managed to survive the round but Sullivan IV won the round on all three judges' scorecards.  With blood splattering everywhere, William and Sullivan IV continued to unload on one another throughout round three with Sullivan IV pulling ahead as the round came to a close and earning the win on the wings of a 10:9 third round.  A very impressive performance by both fighters in what proved to be a gruesome crowd pleaser.


In the co-main event, Fist Fighter (26-9-2) was able to prove to the world his superiority over Sergeant Pepper (25-7-2) in a heavyweight re-match that saw these two fighters battle to a draw in their last meeting.  Fighter used the clinch throughout the first round to control Pepper and prevent him from being able to strike from a comfortable distance.  Despite his smaller stature, Fighter had his way with the larger Pepper and easily won the first round.  Pepper managed to land a takedown late in round two, but it was far too late as Fighter had dominated him standing for the bulk of the round.  Pepper could not keep Fighter on the ground and ultimately fell short in the second round to fall behind two rounds to none.  Fighter once again showed his dominance in round three, pulling off a beautiful reversal after a takedown by Pepper and then once again using the clinch and his excellent kickboxing to outpoint Pepper for a clean sweep with another 10:9 round.  Fighter's last loss was in a title bout.  Could he be far from getting another shot?


The main event of the evening had the fans on their first from start to finish when Sly Randolph (19-7-1) entered the cage to defend the Syndicate bantamweight title against Li Xiaolong (17-5).  Randolph started the fight off quickly in the first round by shooting for a takedown and depositing Xiaolong on his backside.  Randolph worked his ground and pound for more than two minutes until Xiaolong gave up his back, allowing Randolph to work multiple submission attempts and continue to pound on his opponent.  Some how, Xiaolong managed to survive the round.  Randolph repeatedly attempted to get the fight back on the ground in round two, but Xiaolong valiantly fought off his attempts while trading heavy punches and kicks with him.  Just past the three minute mark, Xiaolong took the fight into the clinch with both men trying to work the other over in close quarters.  It was a close round, but Xiaolong evened things up by coming away with the round 10:9.  Xiaolong managed to pull ahead in round three by once again using the clinch and some timely striking to outpoint the champion Randolph.  Neither fighter appeared to be in trouble despite lots of strikes thrown and landed.  Randolph came storming back in round four, scoring a couple of timely takedowns, but Xiaolong did a phenomenal job of getting off his back and out of trouble.  With both fighters having won two rounds, the fifth round was going to be all important.  Randolph tried with all of his might to get Xialong back onto the ground, but Xialong was having none of it, stuffing three takedown attempts early in round five.  Xiaolong was able to trap Randolph in the clinch for the entire second half of the round, controlling the champion and working just enough to make the judges give him the nod.  There was electricity in the air as the ring announcer announced the winner and new bantamweight champion, Li Xiaolong!  This phenomenal fight now only turned the crowd on its ear but also picked up the Fight Of The Night award.

 

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