Sunday, July 1, 2012

CFFC 15 Postscript

Another fine installment from CFFC, with this one featuring just one decision out of eleven fights. Seriously, the judge sitting next to me was sweating it, worried that Nick Lembo wasn't go to pay him for nothing. That's a sure sign of action, folks. Some thoughts on the card:
  • The first couple times he fought, Yusuf Yoldas got handled. But something clicked with the dude, and now he fights like an old school Chute Boxe rep. Yoldas completely tore up Darius Heylinger on the feet - so much so that Heylinger was like a deer caught in the headlights - and when Heylinger sought refuge on the ground with a takedown in Round 3, Yoldas easily submitted him with a triangle. This was a beating, pure and simple, and Yoldas now has me intrigued.
  • Ugh, I hate seeing one of the nicest guys in the sport go out on his shield, but that's what happened with Fight Factory rep and BAMA Fight Night veteran Judah Ciervo. Ciervo had Chuck Liddell-level takedown offense, which really seemed to stymie wrestler Lenny Baker. However, Baker began winging left hands, and Ciervo didn't seem to have the reflexes he used to to be able to dodge them. The end result was Ciervo KO'd pretty hard against the cage late in the first.
  • Mike Murray is another veteran who's been at the game for a long while, and though he scored the win via submission last night against flyweight Darren Mima, I couldn't help but think how the version of Murray I saw wreck Glenn Ortiz way back on one of the early ROCs would've put Mima away faster. This one was pretty much a boxing match, with both men delivering punishment and Mima edging ahead slightly with a higher success rate. A knockdown in the opening seconds of Round 2 had Mima following the TSMMA fighter down into his guard and instantly getting caught in an armbar (Mima disputed the tap, but it was plain as day on the replay). It was a good win, but the Murray of old would've killed him on the feet.
  • Shedrick Goodridge got a raw deal in his bout against Rex Harris. In a fight that was all about who could impose their will via wrestling and ground and pound, Harris grabbed the fence (which elicited a warning), grabbed Goodridge's gloves (another warning), kneed Goodridge in the face when Goodridge was down (the ref missed it), and battered Goodridge in the back of the head with punches (he was warned for that too). Then came the bell signaling the end of Round 1, and Goodridge was too wobbly and messed up for the doctors' liking. Harris got the TKO when the bout was waved off, but Goodridge deserves a hug or a cookie or something for that sad turn of events.
  • Local favorite Rob Fabrizi and Jeremy Uy came out, drew their six-shooters, and blazed away. Eventually, a left sent Uy to the canvas, and Fabrizi rode off into the sunset on his pony named "Linguini".
  • Manny Walo came out looking to stifle Brad Desir, and by pressing him up against the fence for much of the fight, and by dropping bombs whenever Desir failed a takedown and wound up horizontal, Walo did just that. I wasn't exactly an impressive performance - Desir came to bang and Walo came to cuddle - but it was enough for Walo to get the decision, and hand Desir his first loss as a pro.
  • Mike Stewart ran through Erick Tavares like he was nothing. The official time of the KO was :42 of Round 1, and though I have no doubt about Stewart being a tough, high-ranking Northeast light-heavyweight, I wonder if Father Time has caught up to Tavares.
  • Danny Holmes is surprisingly technical on the ground (looking at him, you immediately think "brawler"). That said, in the never-ending scramble that comprised their fight, it was Anton Berzin who eventually came out on top, and he caught Holmes in an armbar midway through the first round.
  • Tim Williams ate the veteran Lewis Rumsey for dinner. Rumsey managed a few escapes - slick, awe-inspiring ones that had him getting out of arm-triangles and whatnot - but Williams did not stop, and found the rear naked choke a little over three minutes into the first. Good stuff.