2013-01-19
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GFC VII Review

Event Review: GFC VII
Gladiator Fighting Championship
2013-01-05, Las Vegas, Hard Knocks - Las Vegas
Attendance:3,000, Event Rating:206
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A raucous capacity crowd packed into Hard Knocks arena on Saturday night for an exciting fight card that some some of the strangest and most inconsistent judging that we have seen to date in GFC.  Half of the fights ended in either a majority or split decision, showing clear descension among the judges and leaving GFC management and a number of fighters extremely frustrated by the lack of consistency.  Though he was frustrated by the judging, org owner Todd Chandler was quick to point out that fighters who finish their fights are not subject to the feelings of the judges and there is a lesson to be learned from this fight card.

The first fight was a lightweight bout that had a clear winner when Clifford Donovan (1-1) had his way with Shaun Bapp (1-2).  Donovan initiated the clinch early in round one and proceeded to spend the entire round pummeling Bapp with knees to the head and body, throwing in the occasional elbow for good measure.  Round two saw more of the same, with Donovan once again pulling Bapp into the clinch and abusing him with powerful knees.  Bapp did manage to pull guard late in the round, but Donovan quickly stood up, yanked Bapp back into the clinch and continued the assault.  The third round proved to be a continuation of Donovan's brutal beating of Bapp.  Bapp was once again taken into the clinch and never managed to escape through the entirety of the round.  Donovan continued to throw knees and work Bapp over until the end of the round, earning him a clear cut 30-26 unanimous decision.

The second fight one the card was a quick and dirty welterweight battle between Dingle Berrian (19-7) and Koby Stott (6-10).  Stott came out intent on taking the fight to the round but had no success with a number of early takedown attempts.  Berrian repeatedly punished Stott for his efforts with heavy head kicks.  With just over a minute gone in round one, Stott once again failed with a takedown attempt and was knocked to the ground and rocked by one of Berrian's kicks.  Berrian waved Stott back to his feet and unloaded with a huge head kick that he missed, but he quickly gathered himself and launched a flying knee into Stott's temple that ended the fight in the blink of an eye at the 1:28 mark of the very first round.

Not wanting to be outdone by the welterweights, Logan Mitchell (12-9-1) came out firing away in his matchup against Nicolas Karkmananis (2-3).  Karkmananis drilled Mitchell early with a nice shot to the face that cut Mitchell open.  The punch appeared to serve as a wake up call for Mitchell as he began to settle in and find his range, hitting Karkmananis with some heavy blows to both the head and body.  Karkmananis landed a couple of pretty combinations, but he simply absorbed too many punches and did mount enough of an offense for the judges' liking.  Lifted by a strong first round, Mitchell continued to connect with Karkmananis early in round two and it became clear that his punches were starting to take their toll.  With approximately a minute and a half gone in the round, Mitchell tagged Karkmananis with a punch that cut him open, then rocked him with another shot to the head, and finally took him down with a straight left.  Mitchell pounded on his fallen opponent and wailed away with more punches until the referee dove in for the save, giving Mitchell the win by TKO at the 1:39 mark of round two.

Fight number four was a lightweight fight between Ben Harper (20-17-2) and Rocco Kailea (4-2-1).  Harper used the bulk of round one repeatedly attempting to initiate the clinch, but Kailea did a very nice job of avoiding that situation and punished Harper's efforts with solid leg kicks and the occasional punch to keep him honest.  The times when Harper was able to secure the clinch, Kailea was able to quickly work his way out of the situation and take the fight back to striking distance.  The second round saw Harper have a little bit more success getting Kailea in the clinch and and managed to inflict a little bit of punishment.  Kailea still did his share of damage and probably came out slightly ahead on the scorecards in round two.  Harper came out a scored a takedown early in round three, but Kailea was able to control the action and forced the referee to stand them up.  After the action resumed, Kailea strung together a nice set of strikes and rocked Harper with a solid head kick.  Kailea then showed off his impressive Muay Thai skills by faking a low kick that completely fooled Harper and went high, sending Harper crashing to the ground with a high kick.  Kailea moved in to finish off Harper but the referee tackled him before he got there, waving off the fight and giving Kailea the win via TKO at the 2:08 mark of round three.

The unpredictable judging ensued in the fifth fight when Harrison Hansen (7-4) met Jonny Utah (15-19).  The first round was clearly dominated by Hansen, as he hit a couple of very solid takedowns on Utah and worked aggressively to control the fight.  Utah was unable to mount and type of offense in the round and all three judges gave Hansen the nod 10:9.  The second round is when things started to get a little strange.  Neither fighter was really able to mount a significant offensive effort and  the fighters spent the bulk of round simply jockey for position to mount an attack.  The fans rained down boos on the fighters and the judges looked somewhat confounded as to how to score the round.  Two of the judges gave the round to Hansen 10:9 and the other judge scored it 10:9 for Utah.  The third round saw Hansen attempt to repeatedly take Utah into the clinch or to the ground with little success.  Utah was able to land a few punches along the way, but was not very active.  Utah appeared to have a slight advantage in round three, but Utah hit a late takedown and went for a submission attempt that may have swayed the judges who were still awake.  One judge scored the final round a draw, one scored it for Utah, and one scored it for Hansen.  When the smoke cleared Hansen won the fight 30:28, 30:27, 28:29.  The fans were not pleased with the lack of action and both fighters were booed out of the cage.

The sixth fight saw Nikira Stag (4-1) leave little doubt as to who the winner was in his fight with Bruce Leroy (5-3).  Stag immediately took Leroy to the ground as the first round commenced and went to work using his superior wrestling and BJJ.  Stag worked attempted a couple of early submissions and then settled in to work some ground and pound for the remainder of the round before attempting a last ditch submission as the round came to a close.  Stag was able to secure another takedown early in round two, but Leroy managed to slow the pace and force the referee to stand them up.  Leroy attempted to land some strikes on Stag but had little success and ate a few punches in return for his efforts.  Once again, Stag clearly won the round.  Round three saw Stag land three additional takedowns while preventing Leroy from causing any damage in their brief standup exchanges.  Stag clearly dominated the fight for a 30:27 unanimous decision win.

The seventh fight was short and sweet as heavyweight fighters Christian Cong (24-24) and Fred Sanford (15-8) collided.  Cong tried desperately and repeatedly to take Sanford down, but Sanford was having none of that idea and repeatedly turned back Cong's efforts.  Sanford whipped Cong with some well placed kicks in between Cong's takedown attempts.  Sanford cut Cong open with just over a minute gone in the fight with a nice head punch and then stunned him with a couple of solid low kicks.  Taking a page out of Dingle Berrian's book from earlier in the night, Sanford missed a high kick but followed it up with an outstanding flying knee that knocked Cong out cold just 1:26 into round one.

The eighty fight saw the judges once again disagree.  Lighweights Jean Charles (12-8) and Paul Bruens (27-20-1) matched up in for three rounds of back and forth fighting.  Bruens secured an early takedown in the first round and looked to score some ground and pound but Charles defended well.  The referee eventually stood the fighters up due to lack of activity and Charles took advantage by getting the better of the standup exchange for the remainder of the round.  One of the judges scored the round for Bruens ,one for Charles, and one scored it a draw.  The second round looked much the same as the first with Bruens getting the fight on the ground early.  Once again Charles was able to slow the action and force a standup by the referee.  Charles came on somewhat stronger in round two and earned the favor of two of the judges 10:9.  Charles showed superior conditioning in round three and was able to work over Bruens in the clinch and use well placed strikes to wear down the veteran.  Charles left no doubt in the minds of all three judges in the final round and came away with a 10:9 round from all three judges.  The fighters waited anxiously for the decision and Charles thrust his arms up in victory as the ring announcer announced his split decision victory.

The co-main event crowned the first ever champion in the history of GFC.  Rolando Garcia (28-14-2) stepped into the cage to square off with Jesse Wolfe (17-9) to determine who would be crowned the lightweight champion.  Wolfe came out strong and aggressive in round one, working Garcia over with leg kicks and well timed punches throughout the round.  Garcia managed to score a takedown with less than a minute left in the round but it was too little too late.  Garcia took the fight to the ground early in the second round and went to work looking for the submission.  Wolfe did a nice job of defending himself and even managed to get into Garcia's guard at one point.  Two of the judges scored the round for Garcia but one judge felt that Wolfe did enough to earn a draw for the round.  The third round was a solid standup exchange for the bulk of the round, with Wolfe having a clear advantage.  Garcia was able to get the fight to the ground with very little time left in the round, but Wolfe got the 10:9 nod from all three judges.  As the championship rounds commenced, Garcia knew that he needed to up his game and came out with an early takedown and went to work looking for the submission.  He was able to control Wolfe on the ground for the majority of the round and though he was unable to secure the submission, all three judges gave him the round 10:9.  Drawing on his success in the fourth round, Garcia went right back to the well in the final round, taking Wolfe down early and working away on the ground, trying to score a submission in between strikes.  Wolfe did a very nice job of defending, but could not get back to his feet until late in the round.  He tried desperately to mount a last minute attack, but it just wasn't enough.  Two of the judges scored the fight 48:47 for Garcia while the third judge scored the fight a 48:48 draw.  The fans were absolutley delighted with the fight and gave both a fighters a standing ovation as they excited the cage.  The veteran Garcia became emotional and thanked the fans as org owner Todd Chandler strapped the lightweight belt around his waist.

The main event was a welterweight war between a pair of up and coming youngsters, Jonathan Desjardins (15-3) and Tomasz Szczerek (12-5-1).  The first round saw the fighters exchange with one another in the clinch for the majority of the round.  Each trying to gain the upper hand score an advantage with dirty boxing.  All three judges were impressed with Desjardins efforts and awarded him the round 10:9.  The second round saw Szczerek rebound with a nice round, landing some nice blows in the clinch and stinging Desjardins with some solid strikes from a distance.  The fight was all even at one round a piece heading into round three.  The third round saw the fighters once again spend some time in the clinch but also exchange some heavy strikes from a distance.  It was an incredibly close round with two judges scoring the round a draw while the other gave the round to Szczerek.  Desjardins wasted no time taking the fight back into the clinch to star the fourth round.  The fighters battled back and forth, but Desjardins conditioning started to shine through and he was able to gain a slight edge on Szczerek.  Szczerek took the fight into the clinch to start round five and Desjardins made him pay by getting the best of him.  The fighters really worked each other over, but Desjardins came away with a slight advantage and all three judges scored the round in his favor.  When the smoke had cleared on this great fight, two judges scored it 49:47 for Desjardins while the third judge scored it a draw.  Your winner by majority decision, Jonathan Desjardins.

 

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