Sunday, December 14, 2008

Underground Combat League Postscript

Alejandro Richardson won by armbar, Kevin Wall won by rear naked choke, Arjang Jameh won by unanimous decision and Joe Funaro, brother of James, had an absolute war with Kirkland Campbell that ended in a draw. The night was short but sweet.




Liveblog: Underground Combat League Part 4

Arjang Jameh vs. Luis Carreno is a Tae Kwon Do against Tonglimoodo bout, which means a lot of flashy kicking by Jameh and a close heelhook attempt by Carreno. Jameh takes the unanimous decision. It's main event time, with Joe Funaro taking on Kirkland Cambell. At the last UCL James Funaro, Joe's twin brother, knocked Campbell out with a kick, so it looks like Joe is out to do the same. Campbell is a ground and pound machine, though, and while he's taking a hell of a lot of punishment, he's dishing it out too. It goes the distance and ends up a draw - good fight. And that's it.

Liveblog: Underground Combat League Part 3

I kid you not, they have just pulled down the frontgate and shut the curtains of the venue. We are deep undercover here, folks. First up is a grappling match between Manny Martinez of Sadistic Athletics and Alejandro Richardson of the Warriors. Sadly, Swan and Cleone are not here to support their teammate, but despite a 50-pound weight disadvantage Richardson manages to nail the armbar late. Next up: Xavier Morales vs. Kevin Wall, which pits a 260-pound jiu-jitsu guy against a 210-pound Warriors rep in NHB. This one is a slugfest that Wall wins with a rear naked choke in the first round.

Liveblog: Underground Combat League Part 2

The title of this edition is "Declassified" - not very apropos, as this one is way more classified than usual (in other words, sorry to everyone who wanted me to let them know about this one ahead of time, as the promoter wanted this one as secret as possible). Anyway, representatives from Fighthouse, Ray Longo's, Vamos BJJ and I think the Russian mafia are in attendance.

Liveblog: Underground Combat League Part 1

MMA Journalist is here at an undisclosed location in New York City for the latest installment of the Underground Combat League, NYC's only MMA show. Tonight the UCL goes back to its roots with an event inside a dojo (with all the bouts happening on a mat and not in a ring - a la the "Gracie in Action" tapes). The card looks to have the usual mix of style vs. style match-ups, and the main event may or may not feature two homeless men sparring with a broken bottle and a rusty lead pipe.

Observations from My Couch: TUF 8 Finale

  • Is it me or did Dave Kaplan look like the late Evan Tanner's miniature clone?
  • Admittedly, Junie Browning did show a lot of skill and talent. As long as he's not acting like a douchebag, he's actually kind of likable.
  • Wilson Gouveia TKO'd the heck out of Jason MacDonald - a feat made less impressive by the fact that Gouveia failed to make weight. That five-pound weight difference really is an unfair advantage. I mean, anyone can knock anyone out when they weigh five pounds more.
  • Anthony Johnson's knockout of Kevin Burns was indeed sweet justice, but when he knelt over the fallen Burns and carved out his eyeball with a pocket knife... I'm sorry,but that was excessive.
  • I was deathly afraid that Ryan "The Human Blanket" Bader was going to show up. I was pleased that it was Ryan "The Punch People in the Head So Hard They Do Cartwheels" Bader that we all got to see.
  • Efrain Escudero fought a smart fight against Phillipe Nover. Nover will be back. No doubt about it.

Asylum Fight League Postscript

Good show. Louis Gaudinot looked fantastic nailing that spinning backfist KO, Adam Rosello and Kevin Horowitz waged an absolute war, and Edwin Uzquaino and George Siderius fought a very technical grappling chess match.