Friday, June 10, 2011

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Liveblog: CFFC 9 Part 4

Vagner Fernandes vs. Drew Puzon. Huzzah. Puzon was a tough dude back when Reality Fighting and Ring of Combat were the only MMA events New Jersey had to offer, so homeboy is definitely seasoned. At first it looks like Puzon might be in trouble, as Fernandes wields some healthy striking to go with his grappling game. But all it takes is one mistake, and Puzon is soon on Fernandes back, judiciously applying the rear naked choke. Fernandes taps at 3:29 of Round 1. And now it's time for Igor Gracie and Quinton McCottrell to do the dance. McCottrell's first mistake is poking Gracie in the eye with his very first punch. His second mistake is letting Gracie get his hands on him. After a brief recovery period, Gracie comes after his foe and ties him in knots - first with an armbar attempt and then with a guillotine. McCottrell taps at 4:01 of Round 1. Time for Cholish and Massouh. Hoo-ha. Round 1 is a lesson in poise, with Massouh roughing Cholish up a bit on the feet and Cholish firing right back with some technical striking. With jiu-jitsu Yoda John Danaher calmly voicing instructions from outside the cage, Cholish finds Massouh's chin with his right hand, then pounces on the stunned fighter and guillotines him at 2:01 of the second round. Cholish is now the CFFC lightweight champ. And that's it.

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Liveblog: CFFC 9 Part 3

Roger Zapata and Mike Wade enter the cage. I know nothing about these guys. Hey, cut me some slack. I'm not omnipotent. The opening frame sees a lot of hugging against the cage. Like, a lot. The last minute, though, is some nice back and forth action on the ground, so that's something, right? Wade manages to put Zapata in some hairy positions in Round 2, and though Zapata escapes, it's easy to see who's racking up points. The final round is all about Wade doggedly getting the takedown and Zapata doggedly punching him from the bottom. Wade takes the unanimous decision. Trevor Suter and Steve Perez are up next. Suter is so mean and aggressive, pitbulls keep him as a pet, so this should be a good one. Sweet Jesus, this one is fast-paced. Perez is on Suter like some kind of angry wrestling demon right off the bat, but they battle back and forth in insane fashion. Round 2 has Perez nailing the slam and catching Suter in a rear naked choke at 1:52 of the frame. Very impressive.

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Liveblog: CFFC 9 Part 2

I just ran into legendary female fighter Laura D'Auguste. You might remember her from such classic films as "Oh My God She Killed That Girl!" and "I'm The Best Female Fighter In The World So Kiss My Ass". She retired at the top to marry one of the Bittencort BJJ black belts and become a housewife, and she's quite content doing her thang. *Sigh*

First fight of the evening and it's hard-hitter Ariel Sepulveda against Shedrick "Chocolate Thunder" Goodridge. There's a joke somewhere in there re: that nickname, but, uh, I got nothing. Round 1 has Goodridge getting the early advantage on the ground, dominating position and going for subs, but Sepulveda's got a whole arsenal of sweeps and subs of his own, and soon he's got his foe defending. In Round 2 Sepulveda still can't seem to avoid the bottom, but he still manages a huge crowd-pleasing slam and an attempted Peruvian Necktie (!). The final round is pretty much all Sepulveda, as he nearly taps Goodridge with a choke and is dropping bombs at the bell. The split decision goes to Sepulveda. Next up is promising scrapper Artur Rofi against Nihad Rosic. In his last fight, Rofi snapped his opponent's arm then TKO'd him with punches. We'll see if Rosic takes a similar amount of punishment. Um, no, this time an armbar is enough. After a brief struggle on the feet, Rofi gets the takedown, mount, and extends the arm. It's over in two minutes exactly.

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Liveblog: CFFC 9 Part 1

MMA Journalist is here at the Resorts Casino in sunny Atlantic City for the ninth installment of the Cage Fury Fighting - an event where men are men, and evil lives in fear. Tonight the marquee bout features John Cholish. You might recognize the name; he once lopped off the head of the dreaded gorgon Medusa, and turned the Kraken into one heck of a structurally-unsound statue. Anyhoo, he's taking on last-minute replacement Jameel Massouh, who had a three-fight run in the WEC but might have a rough time with what Cholish is bringing. Also on the card is Igor Gracie, the veteran Drew Puzon and Ariel "I Knock Teeth Out" Sepulveda. So stay tuned.

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