Amateur Fights
Living up to
their reputation of developing young fighters and providing them the
opportunity to compete in front of a large scale live audience, the evening
began with six amateur bouts. Per amateur rules, each of the fights were
scheduled for three, three minute rounds.
James Scott vs. Victor Gallegos
Three Rounds, 170 lbs
Decision: James Scott via submission (rear
naked choke) in round 2
Notorious
MMA’s James Scott displayed a proficient ground game as he put his wrestling
background to good use. Scott controlled the tempo of the entire fight
preventing Gallegos from gaining any separation. In round two we saw Scott trap
Gallegos in a rear mount as he eventually cinched in a rear naked choke for the
submission victory.
Mike McKeever vs. Isaiah Corzantes
Three Rounds, 125 lbs
Decision: Isaiah Corzantes via TKO
(punches) in round 1
McKeever
attempted to lock Corzantes up in a guillotine choke just short of the
conclusion of round one, however, Corzantes was able to slip out hence leaving
him in a prime position to end the fight with a vicious flurry of ground and
pound strikes.
Buddy Rodriguez vs. Alex Suarez
Three Rounds, Welterweights-170 lbs
Decision: Alex Suarez via submission (rear
naked choke) in round 1
Alex Suarez promptly
utilized his striking ability to put Rodriguez on his back and proceeded to pin
him down with an assault of hammer strikes. Rodriguez displayed a good defense
but unfortunately as he turned his back to Suarez in an attempt to escape, the
opportunity was created for Suarez to trap him in a rear naked choke for the submission
win.
Osama Awadalla vs. Brock Hogan
Three Rounds, 155 lbs
Decision: Brock Hogan via KO in round 2
I’ll admit
it, I didn’t think this fight would make it to round number two. Awadalla conjured
an image in my mind of what I would envision the son of Jerry Seinfeld would
look like if he were an accountant by day and cage fighter by night, whereas, Hogan arrived in what appeared to be peak physical condition. I will give
credit where it’s due, however, as Awadalla displayed great resilience while he
fought from the guard for the majority of round one and managed to survive. In
round two, Hogan came out like a fighter who was disappointed he needed to
fight more than one round. Hogan promptly took advantage of Awadalla’s
overzealous striking and landed a sharp right hook that propelled him into the
cage and subsequently to the canvas for the KO.
Alexandra Castillo vs Angelica Flores
Three Rounds, 125 lbs
Decision: Angelica Flores via TKO (punches)
in round 1
Flores spent
the majority of the first round picking her spots as she peppered Castillo with
an array of strikes. Flores finally picked her spot and landed a shot that hit
Castillo squarely on the jaw and dropped her to the canvas. Flores wasted no
time pouncing on Castillo and proceeded to pummel her until the referee was
forced to call a stop to the action.
Iron Boy 185lb Amateur MMA Title
Pete Rodriguez vs. Terry Lyles
Three Rounds, 185 lbs
Decision: Terry Lyles via submission (rear
naked choke) in round 1
Lyles
entered this bout with a very noticeable height and reach advantage as he was
6’3” compared to Rodriguez, who was 5’9.” Lyles kept Rodriguez at bay preventing
him from closing the distance to mount any offensive. Lyles was able to avoid a
lunging strike attempt by Rodriguez, then proceeded to wrap him up from behind and
drop him on his head. Lyles wasted no time and quickly smothered him creating
the opportunity to apply a rear naked choke for the submission victory.
Professional Bouts
Daviante Jones (1-3-0, 1 KO) vs. Darrell
Denslow (0-2-0, 1 N/C)
Three Rounds, Heavyweights
Decision: Daviante Jones via KO in round 1
The opening
contest of the professional portion of the card pitted Daviante “King Kong”
Jones and 45-year old Darrell “Superman” Denslow (two men in search of their
first professional victory) against each other. Blink and you might have missed
this fight. Shortly after these behemoths collided, Jones overwhelmed Denslow
with a barrage of strikes that had him back-peddling. Jones withstood a
desperation elbow that Denslow threw with his back turned to him and landed a
vicious right that dropped “Superman” to the canvas for a KO recorded in an
abrupt 13 seconds!
Vince Arredondo (1-1-0, 1 KO) vs. Steve
Coard (0-1-0)
Three Rounds, 155 lbs
Decision: Vince Arredondo via TKO (strikes)
in round 1
Steve Coard
entered the octagon with the hometown crowd behind him and was in excellent
condition. Whether it was a ploy to mess with the psyche of Arredondo or a simple
lack of experience, Coard seemed to be trying to play to the crowd as he
attempted a Superman punch and roundhouse kick, each to no avail, while
Arredondo maintained his composure. As Arrendondo avoided falling victim to his
opponent’s antics, he found his opportunity to hurt Coard with a stiff right
that dropped him to the ground. The two proceeded to struggle for advantage but
Arredondo would not be denied. Arredondo landed several brutal strikes,
including a knee to the jaw, leading the referee to call a stop to the action.
Iron Boy MMA 145lb Championship
Evan DeLong (17-10-0, 1 KO, 12 Submissions)
vs. Roman Salazar (13-8-1, 5 KOs, 3 Submissions)
Three Rounds, 145 lbs
Decision: Roman Salazar via UD (29-28,
29-28, 29-28)
The main
event of the evening found Indiana’s Evan DeLong go toe-to-toe with Arizona
native Roman Salazar for the Iron Boy MMA 145lb Title. The majority of round
one found DeLong fighting from the guard position as Salazar attempted to
create separation in order to land some strikes. The control over DeLong most
likely won this round for him in the judge’s eyes. As soon as round two began,
the two combatants engaged in an action packed exchange of blows until Salazar
was able to take DeLong down. DeLong was able to avert certain disaster as
Salazar had him in prime position to lock in a rear naked choke but a tactful escape
kept the fight alive. The latter half of the round saw DeLong vie for his own
submission victory bid as he also attempted to cinch in a rear naked choke. Unfortunately for DeLong, he was unable to finish off Salazar before the end of
the round.
The third and final round, despite much of it being spent jockeying
for position, still presented an air of tension and excitement as the two
fighters countered each other with well executed sprawls, until the final
seconds where the two traded blows in the center of the cage up to the final
horn. In my opinion, rounds two and three could have gone either way and a draw
would not have shocked me. Nonetheless, both men put on a hell of a main event
and the judges awarded a very narrow unanimous decision to the hometown
fighter, Roman Salazar, crowning a new 145lb Iron Boy MMA Champion.
