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Empire 31 Recap and Bonus Awards
The 10th of March saw Empire 31 come to Los Angeles, here's a quick review of what went down and who walked away with the $30,000 bonuses.
Prelims
155lbs - David Currie beat Ip Man via Unanimous Decision
170lbs – Uncomfortably Numb beat Manny Baddabing via Unanimous Decision
145lbs – Bucky The Badger beat Titus Garner via Split Decision
170lbs – Angelito Barraquinha beat Sven Larsson via Unanimous Decision
145lbs – Keiji Hashimoto beat Angus Troyer via Unanimous Decision
Main Card
145lbs - Freiherr Albrecht Alexander von Altenburg vs Mike Cope
Kicking off the main card saw a 145lbs rematch between Alternurg and Cope who first squared off at Empire 13 with Mike Cope earning a unanimous decision victory largely thanks to his superior performance on the ground that night. At Empire 31 however this wasn't to be the case, Alternburg had obviously worked on his ground game as the two opponents largely nullified each other in that aspect this time out with both fighters scoring takedowns without really threatening to end the fight on the mat. The fight was won and lost on this occasion on the feet as Alternburg and Cope traded pretty evenly over the course of the three rounds, but ultimately it was Altenburg who impressed most in the eyes of the judges with his damaging counter striking to earn a unanimous 30-27 victory on all cards.
Winner - Freiherr Albrecht Alexander von Altenburg via Unanimous Decision
170lbs – Henry Lucas vs Sativa Sensei
Next up saw another rematch as Lucas took on Sensi. These two first fought way back in the final card under the old banner of Blitzkrieg New York where Lucas scored a vicious KO victory via head kick in the opening round. Sensi was keen to try and avenge his prior loss to Lucas but unfortunately it was a case of deja vu as less than 30 seconds into the fight Lucas landed that same trademark headkick that rocked Sensei and had him wobbling all over the place. Moments later a beautiful 3 strike combo was landed by Lucas which ended the night for Sensei leaving the referee no other option but to drag Lucas away from him as he continued to pepper down more stikes on to his fallen foe.
Winner – Henry Lucas via TKO, 0.35 seconds into Round 1
265lbs – Gim Allon vs Paul Waul
Moving ahead it was time for the first Heavyweight action of the night as Gim Allon looked to avenge a TKO loss to Paul Waul suffered previously in VFC before both guys moved over to Empire. This fight opened up with Waul taking Allon into the clinch much to his downfall as Allon was able to get the better of him and land more stikes before taking his opponent to the mat upon separation. He then used this opportunity to soften up his opponent with his ground and pound before the buzzer sounded to end a dominant round for Gim Allon. Waul came back strong in the second round and was getting the better of the striking before he decided to once again take the fight into the clinch. Allon was quick to pull guard and land a beautiful sweep on his opponent and again finished the round on top landing strikes on the tiring Waul. Just moments into the third round Allon threw a beautiful 1-2 combo dropping Waul, Allon was quick to follow him to the mat and began reigning down strikes, as soon as Waul put his hands up to protect himself it was gameover as Allon locked in an Americana and cranked it viciously leading to a verbal submission and a victory for Gim Allon as he picked up his first win via submission since April 2011.
Winner – Gim Allon via Americana (Submission) 0.50 seconds into Round 3.
265lbs - Renzo Machida vs Charles Gunn
It was time for more Heavyweight action as two of the hardest hitting guys in the division squared off in the Co Main Event. Given their past histories of knockouts few people expected this one to go the distance, it turned out they were not wrong as Gunn was quick to come out swinging in this encounter. Machida's defence however was not dissimilar to his namesake Lyoto as he manged to avoid everything Gunn threw and began to take over the fight early on slowing down his opponent with an onslaught of leg and body kicks. Just over a minute into the fight Machida saw his opportunity to capitalise on his tiring opponent and landed a picture perfect straight right that stunned his opponent before following it up with 2 more brutal shots which put Charles Gunn out cold and moved himself up the heavyweight rankings.
Winner – Renzo Machida via KO, 1.10 into Round 1
265lbs – Cedric Myton vs Conquer This
To finish the night it was time for the 3rd and final Heavyweight clash of the evening in the main event which would determine who would take on the current Empire Heavyweight champion, Don Marciano.
This was one of those fights where it was hard to separate them on paper, two highly skilled strikers with a ton of power behind every strike. It proved no easier to separate them come fight time as the skill of both strikers made it difficult for either of them to land that telling blow in a standup contest that remained relatively even throughout the fight. It was Myton however who chose not to just make it a standup war engaging the clinch in every round where he thought his more diverse clinch game including knees, elbows and punches would take his toll on his opponent who has been known to largely rely on dirty boxing in the clinch. It proved no easier to separate them in the clinch however than it did in the standup portion of the fight, where Myton used his more diverse clinch game to land with more accuracy it was This who chose to attack in volume with a barrage of dirty boxing to try and throw Myton off his game. As the fight ended both fighters raised their arms with reason to believe they had come up victorious but ultimately this one would come down to the judges. Despite one judge scoring the fight a 30-27 victory for Conquer This, the two other judges scored it 29-28 for Cedric Myton leading to a split decision victory and a date with Don Marciano at Empire 34 where he'll be looking to avenge his three previous losses to The Godfather and take home Heavyweight gold.
Winner – Cedric Myton via Split Decision
That completes our recap of the event and all that's left to do is to inform the winners of the $30,000 bonus awards
Submission of the Night –Gim Allon – Gim began his career in June 2010 beating his opponent via Rear Naked Choke and followed up that win with a victory by Kimura in his 7th fight. With over 20 more fights under his belt since then it was fair to say that black belt Gim Allon was due another submission victory, unfortunately for his opponent Paul Waul it was this weekend that he decided to make that happen and it was also enough to earn himself the Submission of the Night award.
KO of the Night – Renzo Machida – A perfect display from the Heavyweight contender as he danced his way around his opponent before landing a brutal KO.
Fight of The Night – Myton vs This– A really close fight which could have went either way, as proven by the judges decision, earns these two the Fight of The Night at Empire 34.
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