Ace Grapplers Battle at “Body Count”

*originally published in May ' 05 on fullcontactfighter.com*

It was an all-out war between two ace grapplers that highlighted the latest edition of New York City’s only MMA show. On April 17^th, at an undisclosed location, Machado Jiu-Jitsu purple belt Rene Driefuss took on Grapplers’ Quest champ Glenn Ortiz, and the 150-plus fight fans in attendance were treated to a fast and furious battle. Dubbed “Body Count”, the fifth edition of this ‘underground’ event also featured the usual ‘style versus style’ action – Greco-Roman against Wing Chun, judo versus streetfighting – but it was the nonstop submission melee that thrilled the crowd, and put Driefuss on the map as a serious threat in the local lightweight ranks.

On paper, the 158-pound Driefuss seemed to have all the tools necessary to be successful in mixed martial arts. Hailing from Marcos Santos’ school here in the Big Apple, and with striking skills courtesy of Gleason’s Gym and B-Warriors Kickboxing Academy, he most certainly had trained for all aspects of the game. But could he use them in the ring against a quality opponent? Enter: Wrestling Plus’ Glenn Ortiz. Sporting a resume that included bouts dating back to the old BAMA FightNights, and with a ton of experience in the local grappling tournaments, the game 148-pound Ortiz was certainly a quality opponent.

“I had no idea who he was,” said Driefuss afterwards. “I only heard at the last minute that he was a good wrestler.” But knowing little about Ortiz didn’t seem to make a difference, as Driefuss countered almost every takedown and submission attempt, and kept up his own onslaught of close subs mixed liberally with punches. At 4:43, Driefuss had a mounted triangle on Ortiz and was raining down elbows, and the ref was forced call a halt to the bout. Said the Machado fighter: “In the end I decided to play a highly-aggressive striking-based game in order to secure a convincing win.”

In the other bouts on the card, 320-pound wrestler Brian Vetell wasted no time taking 237-pound Wing Chun stylist Chidozie “Shawn” Obasi to the mat. Scoring a throw off of the tie-up, Vetell immediately had Obasi out of his element – and the tapout via kimura came at a mere 36 seconds. This was a good win for the Woodhaven Mixed Martial Arts rep, whose last venture into the ring ended in a loss. Squaring off against a streetfighter, Combined Martial Art’s 157-pound Rob Guarino also wasted no time getting his win. Taking out 160-pound streetfighter Felix Rodriguez with a quick flurry, Guarino ended his bout at 36 seconds as well (though this one was via knockout). The other streetfighter on the card fared no better, as the 165-pound Tommy Diaz fell prey to judoka Peter Storm’s armbar at 1:14 into the bout. Coming out strong only to get thrown and mounted, Diaz was unable to get the 173-pound Storm off of him, and had no recourse but to tap once the submission was on. Rounding out the card was the only shootfighting-style bout of the night. With only open-handed strikes on the feet and no striking allowed on the ground, 180-pound Planet Jiu-Jitsu rep Matt Fischer and Team Endgame’s 199-pound Sean Bermudez both traded sub attempts for positional dominance. Fischer ended up with the better end of the deal, nailing the heelhook at 2:25.

With the next NYC MMA event slated for July, promoters Peter Storm and Jerry Mendez have scheduled a grappling-only event for the end of May. What’s next for the impressive Driefuss? Says the up-and-coming warrior: “I’m very, very interested in fighting anywhere!”