Saturday, July 30, 2011

XFE 8 Postscript

Pretty good show. I still don't know what "XFE" stands for, but I'm know that the end product means a lot of good fights.


  • Matt Secor totally jacked Matt Dempsey's elbow. Or, more accurately, Dempsey jacked it trying to escape from Secor's straight armbar. He did escape, but tapped out seconds later; it was visibly dislocated, and the doctors had to splint it so he could leave the cage.

  • Whitney Francois (who had Philippe Nover in his corner) was totally tossing Charlie Joseph around the cage and pounding on him. But all it took was split-second mistake and the Lotus BJJ rep was hyperextending Francois' knee.

  • Pellegrino MMA stud Mervin Rodriguez and Fight Factory old schooler Brian Jackson had a great grappling battle. It was back and forth at first, with each man pulling off slick escapes like they were nothing. However, Jackson took control in the second and third rounds, and then the story was how impossible it was to make Rodriguez to submit. No matter what, Rodriguez just would not tap, and he gutted out of everything. Really, an impressive performance by both men.

  • Jackson MMA's Brendan Weafer just straight up slew Mike Santiago. Santiago had one big slam that was an attempt to get out of a triangle, but Weafer had him tapping seconds later.

  • Bombsquader Brian Kelleher had his way with Manny Millan. I don't think that's about Millan being deficient in anything as much as I think it's about Kelleher being very skilled and dangerous.

  • I did not agree with the majority draw in the Dwayne Shelton/Jeff Lentz fight, and had Shelton winning the decision. It was the best Shelton we've ever seen, and though Lentz got some serious licks in - he wobbled the Virginian with a punch at one point and chopped away at him with leg-kicks - Shelton put a serious hurting on him with a killer neck crank and kept battering him throughout.

  • Dustin Caplinger was not ready for the likes of Tom Marcellino. That's about it. I'd like to see Marcellino face some stiffer competition, especially since he's now an XFE champ. Like maybe Chris Liguori or some other top Northeast lightweight.

  • Daddis FC rep Brylan Vanartsdalen completely smoked Anthony Leone. Completely.

  • I did not think JA Dudley did enough to warrant the decision in his heavyweight championship bout against Brendan Barrett, but on the other side of the coin, it wasn't the biggest robbery ever. Dudley took a beating on the feet, and Barrett was constantly going for sweeps and subs from his back when they were on the ground. The Team Endgamer did have a ton of takedowns and spent a decent amount of time in top position. Oh well. The promoter seemed cool with a rematch, and in the meantime, Dudley - who's been at this a while - gets to enjoy being a title-holder. He's certainly put in the miles to get where he's at.

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