Saturday, June 6, 2009

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Liveblog: Caged Combat Part 6

It's time for AMA FC's Terry Bulman vs. Motor City Boxing's Richie Lictawa. These two come out swinging and are actually pretty crisp with their striking. Then it winds up on the ground, and after they take turns reversing each other, Lictawa is in the mount raining down leather. Ref Miragliotta steps in at 4:07 of the first round to give the Motor City Boxing rep the win. Final bout of the evening and its features Team Pellegrino's Justin Haskins taking on the always dangerous Team Rush fighter Doug Gordon. An interesting aside about Gordon: he has 11 kids at home, and he fights just so he can have some relative peace and quiet in the cage. Anyhoo, Haskins takes Gordon down and ground and pounds him pretty effectively for the first round, and he continues to out-wrestle him in the second. Can Gordon pull of a last-minute reversal of fortune like he did against Gregor Gracie? He almost does via an arm-in guillotine, but Haskins perseveres, and continues to pound on Gordon from the top to earn the unanimous decision. That's it, folks.

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Liveblog: Caged Combat Part 5

Fight Factory's Zach Makovsky is up next to take on Midwest Elite fighter Nate Williams. Makovsky is another top local stud managed by Monte Cox, but now I won't talk about his future lest I jinx him. Anyway, Makovsky has zero trouble getting the takedown, and despite some expert scrambling by Williams the Fight Factory rep is always one step ahead, either stuck to his back hunting for the choke or dropping bombs from above. Round 2 is more of the same, and though it's clear Williams has got skills, whatever he's got pales in comparison to what Makovsky is bringing. Mercifully, Makovsky finds the rear naked choke in the last round, forcing the tapout at 2:33. Two unknowns in Sam Orapeza of Fight Factory and Mitch Filer of Motor City Boxing step up to the plate. Based on the crowd's reaction to his name, I'd guess that Orapeza is either the mayor of Philadelphia or he sold a quabillion tickets. Okay, that one doesn't last long. Orapeza pulls Filer to the ground, works his way onto Filer's back, and puts him to sleep with a rear naked choke. Ref Mullhall has to pull them apart at :47 of Round 1. Congrats to the mayor of Philly.

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Liveblog: Caged Combat Part 4

AMA FC veteran Joey Brown and Evolution FC veteran Al Buck enter the cage. These guys have been in the game so long, they bring in with them a combined 240 years of martial arts training. The two mix it up early, throwing kicks and punches, and Buck scores the KO 38 seconds in when he puts his shin to Brown's head. Next up: Rhino Fight Team up-and-comer Jeff Lentz against Team Pellegrino star Steve DeAngelis. Monte Cox manages DeAngelis, and when I spoke to him last night he mentioned some pretty big opportunities for his ward should DeAngelis shine tonight. In other words, the next time we might see him fight would be on TV, so let's see how this one goes. Round 1 sees DeAngelis scramble onto Lentz's back and almost get the choke, but the Rhino rep escapes, gets on top and just punishes him. Lentz is the bigger of the two, and his size advantage really shows when he starts muscling his way around. Round 2 is all Lentz, dropping leather from above, and Round 3 is more of the same. Lentz is just too big and too relentless, and eventually referee Dan Miragliotta has to step in. The official time of the TKO is 2:31 of the third round. Tough loss for DeAngelis, but he'll be back.

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Liveblog: Caged Combat Part 3

Bombsquad fighter Mike Guerin and Gold Team Fighters striker Plinio Cruz take to the cage. Guerin was some kind of credentialed wrestler (All-American?), so expect a takedown at some point. They touch gloves and the first thing Cruz throws is a roundhouse kick right to the nuts. Guerin understandably needs some time to recover and ponder the kids he won't have, but what follows next is Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar I as the two swing bolos and rock each other from pillar to post. The crowd goes wild. Round 2 starts off just like the first, with Cruz blasting Guerin in the sack. He loses a point this time, and when they resume they go back to war, sometimes mixing in takedowns just to use the opportunity to throw punches while the other rises back to his feet. Round 3 begins and there's no groin shot, but the two bloody and exhausted warriors keep throwing bombs until finally the Bombsquad rep lands a body blow that leaves Cruz crumpled on the floor. The official time of the KO is 2:54 of the third round. Wow, what a crowd-pleaser.

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Liveblog: Caged Combat Part 2

First up is Bellmore Kickboxing's Chris Presta against Bombsquad's Brandon Hoxie. Clearly, Presta came ready to fight and Hoxie came ready for a jiu-jitsu match, as Hoxie jumps to guard and tries feebly for armbars while the Bellmore rep avoids them and beats the ever living crap out of him. Thankfully, ref Kevin Mullhall steps in and calls a halt to the slaughter at 2:09 of Round 2. This beating was so one-sided and intense that Hoxie is now being strapped to a board to be carried out by paramedics. Yikes.

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Liveblog: Caged Combat Part 1

Day two of the Caged Combat double-header, and MMA Journalist is again cageside for the action. There are eight bouts scheduled, with Doug Gordon vs. Team Pellegrino's Justin Haskins as the marquee attraction. Monte Cox is absent - he's at the Strikeforce event, of course - but I did manage to locate the staff cafeteria. The selection included roasted chicken, sausages and peppers, ancient pasta and mashed potatoes. It was slightly better than the cafeteria at the Tropicana, although Fight Factory's Steve Haigh seemed dismayed that there wasn't much for a vegetarian like himself.

Cage Combat Day One Postscript

The Troxell/Morrison fight was good and action-packed - both men looked impressive. Soto looked like a killer, and Main is definitely someone to keep an eye on.

Liveblog: Caged Combat Part 6

Team Combat's Anthony Morrison and AMA FC's Tim Troxell take to the cage. Both guys are proven warriors who've waged many a war in the cage, so expectations are high for this one. Round 1 doesn't disappoint. Troxell avoids Morrison's murderous counterpunching to throw leather and go for a couple subs. However, in Round 2 things grind to an abrupt halt when Morrison accidently puts his foot through the bottom of the fence. Things resume once the fence is resecured, and Morrison scores with some ground and pound late. Morrison puts a lot more fist in Troxell's face, both on the feet and on the ground, and when time runs out Morrison is awarded the unanimous decision. Final bout of the night and it's Tom Gallicchio vs. Dom O'Grady. In the opening seconds O'Grady rocks Gallicchio and then goes for a guillotine, but the Team Pellegrino stud escapes, gets on top and very nearly sinks a head/arm choke. O'Grady survives, but he remains on his back for most of the round. Gallicchio puts O'Grady on his back and keeps him there for all of Round 2, and after securing back-mount in Round 3, Gallicchio works for the choke until the bell. He's awarded the split decision. That's it for tonight.