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Well it's official, Steel Penn ICON: Las Vegas is here to stay. With two great events down and more to come the future is looking bright and violent. A sell out crowd saw New Years Nightmares go down and not one person left disappointed with what they saw. But if you couldn't make it, here is what you missed.....
Brian Fury and Janusz Bomba kicked this off with a spirited war of attrition that saw both men scrap all over every inch of the cage. Bomba took the Belgian down early but couldn't find the submission as both traded position and demonstrated some beautiful sweeps. As the fight went on it became clear that Bomba had no answer for the clinch of Fury who bullied him with uppercuts and over hands to the head of the Pole, growing in confidence as the fight went on. It was an important decision win for Fury who showed character and resolve to overturn a first round deficit and still take a comfortable decision.
This intriguingly poised match up of light heavyweight grapplers Gradnje and Gonzales was the joy to watch that many had hoped for. Both fighters threatened with takedowns, a plethora of submission attempts and superb counter grappling for as long as this one lasted. Both men looked equally dangerous and vulnerable over the first two rounds before purple belt Gradnje caught brown belt Gonzales in the fight ending guillotine early in the third. The pain of defeat for Gonzales may be softened slightly by his Fight of the Night award and rise in his stock with fans following this exciting battle.
In the cut throat ICON:LV featherweight division every win is priceless and Jack Harris will be as delighted as any winning fighter on the card after being rocked in the first round by a beautiful combination from Bruce Shashia only to battle back for a hard fought but thoroughly deserved decision victory. Shashia has no answer for the wrestling of Harris who was relentless once his wits had returned and used his enormous frame to trap and control Shashia who will head home thinking about what could have been after that first round where Harris was so badly hurt.
Deco Early had a debut to remember as he obliterated Jonathan Vinyard, picking up the Knockout of the Night award in the process. It looked like it might go horribly wrong for the Scotsman who found himself on his back and fending off a kneebar in the opening seconds. Escaping and scrambling to take top position Early never looked back as he controlled Vinyard and landed a few good shots to his grounded opponent. Despite clearly taking the first frame on the judges scorecard Deco came out like a man possessed and needed only 5 seconds to KO the American. Punishing him for a sloppy takedown attempt with a crisp one-two he has time to measure a brutal right hand that turned out the lights and gave him a perfect start to his career.
The welterweight scrap between Darko Markovic and Nilz Artzing had snoozefest written all over it, so a first round stoppage came as a very welcome surprise. Markovic took Artzing down and looked far more active than we have seen before, pursuing submissions and landing heavy ground and pound that his opponent had no answer for. The end looked near as Artzing got cracked with two short but heavy shots that saw him clinging on for dear life before another Markovic barrage turned out the lights.
Some fighters play the long game in the clinch, hanging heavy and puncturing opponents gas tanks with body shots, Viet Lights Out is not one of those fighters. He throws heavy leather with every shot. Key Stone looked shell shocked as he was busted open early and brutalised in the clinch by Lights Out who sent a message to the lightweight division that he has enough power in short shots to separate any man from his senses at 155lbs. It was a strong showing in his first ICON:LV outing that left Key Stone licking his wounds and with work to do before he returns to the cage.
Gabriel Douglas gave us all a lesson in not believing the hype. Bruce Lee looked sensational in his 5 second debut but he had no answer for the boxing of Da Beast who was quickest to the punch and mixed up his strikes to perfection. Punches in bunches, power shots, fakes, heavy jab use, he utilised it all to stifle the striking of Lee. Bruce Lee seemingly had his heart set on the highlight reel finish as he threw head kick after head kick, going to the well so many times that it must be dry by now. The importance of mixing up your strikes was perfectly on display as head hunting Lee was out struck and out foxed by the gritty and determined Douglas who has really upset the apple cart at 135lbs and built himself a perfect platform on which to build divisional dominance.
Many feared the gulf in jiujitsu experience between Freddy Lee and Nissan Fairtex would lead to a one sided affair, they were right. Fairtex cut open young Lee with a crisp jab that seemed to wake up the Steel City native who ducked under the next punch for a takedown and from then on it was just a case of how long could Fairtex last. He gave a solid account of himself but the BJJ prowess of Freddy Lee was just overwhelming and when he cranked the kimura at 1:25 it already looked overdue. Lee clearly has work to do on his stand up but that Black Belt around his waist is not just to hold his trousers up.
The co-main event at ICON:LV 2 looked for all the world like a Fight of the Night contender and it did not disappoint, probably only failing to scoop the award because they didn't last as long as actual winners Investitor Gradnje and Randy Gonzales. Adam McGrath and Graeme Campbell put on a show to wow those in attendance with a beautiful display of how a great ground battle is every bit as riveting as any stand up brawl. McGrath won the race to the takedown, and despite his initial shot being stuffed he would not be denied and powered through to get top position. From then on it was cat and mouse with a momentum swings galore as McGrath and Campbell traded position. It was Campbell who took the round though, utilising superior ground and pound when the opportunities arose to move ahead on the score cards. When round two began Campbell came out hard planting McGrath on the mat but Campbell was in no mood to play games any more, locking up a triangle choke with only seconds gone to secure a huge victory.
In the evenings main event Rock Lee evened out his ICON:LV record by knocking out Kevin Coonaments in the second round . Rock Lee looked every part the master of counter striking as he busted open Coonaments early as the latter made his desire to see this fight go to the mat obvious. Coonaments got his wish not long later and relentlessly searched for the submission but Rock Lee kept his cool in defending chains of submission attempts to make it to the second round. When the second frame got under way Rock Lee was clearly the fresher fighter, fending off Coonaments takedowns with ease and making him pay for them. Rock Lee caught Coonaments coming in and sent him to the mat, clearly in trouble he invited him back to his feet where the wounded Coonaments swung his fists in an attempt to fool Lee but there was already blood in the water and Lee countered the flurry with a single perfect shot to the chin, turning out the lights less than a minute into round number two.
Review written by Halam Walker
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