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The final event under the name Steel Penn Icon-Las Vegas was a big success. A sell out at the Hayashi's Lounge and the fans that packed it let us know how great of an event it was. I do not have the final numbers sitting in front of me, but I am sure Meet the Future owner Jacob What will pleased with the turn out and sales. Mr. Monk has to be certainly happy with ICON-LV 5 Hostile Takeover as it was one of the highest rated events in his organizations history. We are going to take a look into each of these fights and see why it was such a great final event.
Gustavo Gracie versus Carlos “The Rattlesnake” Jimenez
In the first preliminary bout we got to see Gustavo Gracie take on Carlos "The Rattlesnake" Jimenez. I picked Gustavo Gracie to win this Middleweight bout in the first round by submission and he did not disappoint me. Right after the opening bell Gracie shoots in and gets the double pulling Jimenez down into guard. Gracie easily passed to half guard, but during a mount attempt he had to fend off a submission. The two warriors traded submission attempts and grappling tactics until Gracie was able to take full mount near the four minute mark. Jimenez was happy to give up his back and Gracie sunk in the leg hooks and was able to slap on a rear naked choke for the submission victory at 4:26 of the first round. Gracie hyped himself up after the fight, and he should have because that was amazing ground work.
Bruce Shashia versus Janusz Bomba
In our next bout at Featherweight I said Bomba needed to come out aggressive and that is exactly what he did. To start off the fight he was throwing kicks everywhere and they looked good, they would have looked better if some of them would have landed. In this first minute of the round I though Bomba’s aggressiveness might be all he needed until Shashia landed a massive body shot that would have sent most people to the ground. Instead Bomba clinched and looked to control. The clinch gets broke and the two start exchanging again. Shashia then lands an amazing jab square on the nose and we have blood! Bomba goes back to the clinch and gets a third takedown stuffed and then tries to pull guard. Shashia allows Bomba to stand back up and its jab, hook, hook, hook, hook, and Bomba is face down! Shashia wins by TKO. I picked the correct winner, but I had this fight going to decision. Oh well I am still two for two and that’s what matters.
Investitor Gradnje versus Kurt “Swift” Zukaryian
Kurt Zukaryian did not take my advice of staying away from the ground as he attempted an early take down to start the fight off. After defending the takedown attempt Gradnje tried one himself only to have it stuffed as well. The two men clinch up against the cage and Gradnje drags Zukaryian to the floor, but ends up in a strange position. As the two look for ways to get the dominate position somehow Zukaryian ends up on top with Gradnje in full guard. After a few seconds of no action we get a warning from the referee and Gradnje throws on a loose triangle choke, but it was enough as Zukaryian taps out at the :45 second mark of the first round. Once again I miss the prediction of the round, but I am now three for three as Investitor Gradnje is your winner.
Jack “The Tank” Harris versus Brian “Cold Bloded” Fury
Jack Harris is a lay and pray guy as I pointed out in the preview to this event. I predicted he would get the takedown and do just enough to point out the victory. Well in the first round Harris proved me wrong, he did get the takedown nice and early but instead of just doing enough he overdid it. Sixteen submission attempts all defended well by Brian Fury and the round goes to Harris 10-9.
In the second round Fury starts the round by trying to grab a clinch but Harris gets the takedown. Harris really wants to finish this fight as we see another ten submission attempts until shortly after the 3:00 minute mark. The action slows down and we get a stand up from the ref. Once we get back up from the ground Fury tries to clinch and Harris circles and gets Fury’s back. Harris lands a massive suplex that I thought could have ended the fight. Harris then looks for a few more submissions before the close of the round. I personally scored that round 10-8 for Harris.
We get much of the same in the third round with Harris getting the takedown and looking for submissions. Fury gets a sweep but Harris is able to use his superior grappling skills and he takes the dominate position once again. We get a few more submission attempts from Harris and as time is running out we get an attempt from Fury and then the buzzer sounds. All of the judges scored it 30-27, I scored it 30-26 Harris wins by decision.
Anderson “Shogun” Christopher versus “The Wasp” Wade West
West comes out firing away, and landing some nice shots on Christopher. West grabs the clinch and is able to do some damage with knees to the body. It appears that Christopher is tired as West will be able to do whatever he wants in this one. West breaks the clinch and throws some kicks and some body punches and goes back to the clinch. From the clinch he lands a nice elbow busting Christopher open which usually has a bad effect on fighters. We go back to the clinch so West can work over Christopher some more, and then right back to striking distance. Christopher takes some flush shots to the jaw. Around the three minute mark West landed some body shots and then he landed a head kick that was partially blocked, but it was still enough to rock Christopher. Jab to the body and a hook to the head and that is all she wrote for Christopher. Wayde West is your winner by knockout at 3:22 of the first round via punch.
That wraps up the preliminary fights and it is time to get on to the main card. I would like to point out how dominate Wayde West looked in that last fight and I would like to also remind everyone to drop by Meet the Future for any of their apparel needs. Now on to the main card bouts.
Julius Caesar versus Marek Contofalsky
Caesar comes out throwing, and landing. Punches to the face and body landing around fifty percent, and then he lands a big inside leg kick. Caesar then takes he fight to the clinch where he would control the fight, preventing Conto from taking him down. Caesar then breaks the clinch and we get back to striking, only this time Conto is striking just as good if not better than Caesar. So since Caesar had been working on the clinch he decided to go back to it, but Conto landed an elbow that cut Caesar and then took the fight to the mat. I have it scored 10-9 for Conto.
On to round two and Caesar lands a kick that hits the no no spot and we have a break in the action for Conto. For the rest of the first minute Caesar outstroke Conto but not nothing over whelming. Caesar lands a left then a big right that sends Conto to the ground, and Caesar jumps on his rocked opponent. Caesar was throwing some shots from the ground while he tried to pass the guard, but he was unsuccessful. We get a referee stand up and Caesar grabs the clinch to take a breather. Conto holds onto the clinch as the round closes with a frustrated Caesar who wanted to throw some more strikes from range as the round closes. I have Caesar winning this round 10-9.
To start the third round we get both fighters exchange until Caesar grabs a clinch. The clinch gets broken but Caesar gets it right back. In the clinch Caesar stuffed a lot of takedown attempts and the two fighters exchanged a few shots most of which were blocked. The action has clearly slowed way down as these two fighters seemed to be pretty gassed out. Caesar tried to get back to range but Conto was able to hold on until the end of the third round. A very lack luster third round that I gave to Caesar 10-9. All three judges scored the fight 30-27, but I strongly feel Conto won the first round. Still I ended with the same result Caesar wins the unanimous decision.
Donovan “Ronin” Robertson versus Deco “Glass Knee” Early
Robertson comes out and looks to take the fight right to the ground, but Early stuffs the takedown. Early then gets a takedown himself and the two men are right next to the cage. Robertson easily gets it back to full guard but then looks to sweep. Early defends the sweep perfectly but Robertson creates a little bit of space and turns his body right in to an armbar. Robertson quickly extends the arm and Early taps out at :48 seconds of the first round. The fight went the way I thought it would, I just thought it would last a little longer.
“The Viking” Agnar Gorm versus Lotas Mauras
Mauras comes out and sticks Gorm right in the nose. Gorm drops down and gets the takedown right after taking the shot on the button. Mauras doesn’t look bad at first getting into closed guard. Gorm starts throwing strikes and slips into half guard. The two men are pressed against the cage and Gorm throws a big shot and as Mauras reacts Gorm grabs a kimura. That’s all she wrote for the big striker, Mauras taps out in less than a minute. Gorm is your winner at :58 seconds of the first round via submission. Well I can’t call all of them right, but that is my first prediction I got wrong, big ups to Agnar Gorm.
Austin “Hollywood” Worner versus Gabriel “DaBeast” Douglas
The first round was complete domination for Gabriel Douglas. Douglas was landing very nice strikes, nothing devastating but some very nice accurate shots. I lost count of how many unsuccessful takedowns Austin Worner had because of Douglas’s awesome takedown defense. Things did look to get a little dicey for Douglas as Worner was able to clinch and it looked as though he was going to get a takedown. Douglas was able to defend it and get back out to range where he slapped Worner around for the last minute or so. I scored this round in favor of Douglas 10-8.
We get to see much of the same in round two. A massive amount of stuffed takedowns from Worner as Douglas just pelted him with accurate shot after show. Douglas looked very classy out there with his boxing in the second round, changing levels and countering anything that came near him. Worner was unable to even get a full clinch in the second round and it really looked like an amateur against a pro in this round. Once again I have Douglas winning 10-8 in round two. This fight has been so one sided even if Worner is somehow able to finish in the third I think I would still want to give the win to Douglas.
Douglas comes out striking like he is down two rounds not up at the beginning of round three. He seemed to hurt Worner early but did not capitalize on it. Worner then continued to get takedown after takedown stuffed and Douglas made him pay for it. Once we hit the 3:00 minute mark it seemed Douglas knew he had the fight won and he laid back and just looked to counter. Worner then looked to strike a little bit as he went wild but nothing was landed that mattered. Douglas continued to smack around Worner until the final bell sounded. I think Worner did head and shoulders better in round three but I still scored the round 10-9 Douglas. I had Douglas winning 30-25 but all the judges seen it as 30-27. Gabriel Douglas wins via unanimous decision.
Arshnoor “THE BURTALIZER” Singh versus Viet “Maokhamphiou” Lights Out
In the main event we have two strikers looking for knockout victories. One a Muay Thai striker and the other a boxer so it promises to be a good one and it did not disappoint. The first minute of the fight Lights Out threw some big shots, but Singh was able to avoid most of them. Singh landed a few punches and some very nice kicks to the mid-section and legs of Lights Out. Singh dumped it on after words dropping Lights Out with a leg kick. Back to his feet he takes a big kick to the stomach and then two head kicks that absolutely rock Lights Out. A big hook knocks Lights Out to the mat, and Singh follows up with some more shots to the head as the ref has to step in and stop the fight. Singh wins by TKO via strikes at just 1:19 of the first round.
As stated before a big time card to end the ICON project here in Las Vegas. Wayde West wins Knockout of the Night. Submission of the Night goes to Agnar Gorm. Last but not least you’re Fight of the Night winner Arshnoor Singh versus Viet Lights Out. I was just handed some new information for everyone to hear. Our owner Dan Monk has extended the partnership with Meet the Future so please grab all of your fighters needs from there. The next time you will be hearing from me will be under the Honor Fighting Championship brand name.
This has been Tony Rossi with your review of the final ICON card here in Las Vegas. All opinions in this review are those of the writes and may not be the views of Honor Fighting Championship. This article is owned by HFC and may not be reproduced or reused without written expressed consent from HFC.
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