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 Ladies and Gentlement it's Erik Steele here recapping WFC 17 Hilo, a tremendous night of action that saw WFC fan favourite Louey Draft regain his WFC Light Heavyweight title in a career defining performance and mysterious promotional newcomer Urijah Calaway defeat Billy Roberts for the WFC Heavyweight title.
Alistair Emelianenko v Big Ben - 265+ Pounds
Ben cannot be happy with this one; he spent most of the fight trying to avoid striking with the giant Emelianenko, however when he got the clinch or had Emelianenko on his back he was unable to do enough to prevent the referee bringing them back to standing. Emelinanenko, despite some questionable strategic moves like pulling guard performed well especially early in round 2 where his low kicks took a huge toll on Ben, with Ben tired Emelianenko took advantage landing hard combinations and eventually a thunderous head kick that left Ben staring at the ceiling wondering what happened.
Dexter Rutecki v Jake Aldo - 170 Pounds
The first round of this one was a very exciting grappling match Aldo got a quick takedown but Rutecki managed to reverse and claim top position, though even there he never really looked safe; when round two came around this turned into a bout where tactical errors were hugely costly for Rutecki; he was able to control Aldo against the fence but elected to break the clinch repeatedly and go back to striking, then after barely surviving the first round on the mat he took Aldo down - if he was trying to prove a point or just making poor decisions we may never know, but what we do know for sure is that Aldo secured a textbook triangle choke midway through the second round.
Farid Abdellaoui v Vergil Blanco Rocha - 170 Pounds
What a fight this one was; while Abdellaoui took a razor close first round with a superb double leg and groundwork outmatching the clinch efforts of Rocha later in the round the clinch proved to be the downfall of Abdellaoui as Rocha took it to him in the clinch during rounds two and three landing an incredible number of knees, elbows and punches to the head; Abdellaoui will never have his chin questioned after this one that's for sure but his current 2 fight losing streak is something he's going to need to solve because the WFC Welterweight division is not a safe place to be on a losing streak, even if the fights are tremendously exciting like this one!
Sultan Taylor v James Kirk - 265+ Pounds
For all the hype of the two big men meeting in the cage, this one was a disappointing fight; nobody likes cut stoppages in the first round, but after scoring a powerful takedown Taylor bloodied Kirk horribly with elbows and the cageside doctor elected to step in and end in bout within 30 seconds due to the cuts proximity to Kirks eyes. Not a happy result for the fans perhaps but a win is a win for Taylor.
Jesse Leis v Sam Kildahl - 185 Pounds
This fight was all ground, miraculously Kildahl actually managed to take the former Olympian Leis to the mat in the second round, an odd move considering his inability to achieve anything on the mat in round one and unfortunately for Kildahl he was quickly mounted courtesy of a beautiful switch from Leis after which it was elementary; Leis ground and pound was far too much for Kildahl and the referee stepped in to halt a brutal beating at 1:39 of round 2, putting Leis right up in the running with the big boys at Middleweight.
Tamanui Te Patu v Bolo Yeung - 265+ Pounds
Yeung's size came to haunt him in this one; after a solid first round of top control he was unable to repeat the performance in rounds 2 and 3, especially round 2 where he caught the wrong end of several punches while being unable to land anything of significance, round 3 was more of Yeung's kind of fight on the ground however he found himself unable to stay out of Te Patu's guard for any significant length of time when he did get himself into top position leading to the judges scoring Te Patu as having done more effective work in his time on top - with his record now at 1-3 in the WFC Yeung has to be considering a new plan of attack for his next outing.
Tim Washer v Sultan Conture - 265+ Pounds
This fight may as well have been under Submission wrestling rules; no standing strikes, no ground strikes that landed, no clinching and ended by submission in the first round - both men attempted to chain together submissions and counter submissions leading to Conture eventually seizing an arm triangle choke around the four minute mark; Conture remains unbeaten in the WFC with the win here and sits in perfect position to fight for a Super Heavyweight Title should Mr Cropper decide to bring one in while Washer slides back down the ladder for now.
Miguel Chavez v Tillakaratne Dilshan - 155 Pounds
Dilshan managed something nobody else in the WFC has done: survived a losing encounter with Chavez who beat him down for 3 rounds both at striking range and in the clinch, Chavez was clearly out to prove a point to WFC management that he wants a crack at the winner of the Miyagi vs Morrison title fight scheduled for WFC 19 - or perhaps he just wants a rematch with the defending champion Morrison in order to try and erase the crushing final round KO loss he suffered to Morrison after controlling the first four with his superior Muay Thai skills.
Urijah Calaway v Billy Roberts - 265 Pounds, Title Fight, Co Main Event
A three round title fight is not exactly common, but Billy Roberts is probably glad this one ended when it did as Calaway was beating him from pillar to post in this one; the difference maker was the clinch where Roberts had no real answer for the Wrestling and Dirty Boxing skills of Calaway who elected to pull guard on Roberts early in the first, the difference in their ground skill was fairly apparent early with Roberts trying too hard to force his way past the guard of Calaway and getting swept for his trouble - the grappling tired Roberts and left him fairly ineffective in the striking for the rest of the fight, Calaway punctuating a superb performance with a thumping high kick in the third that knocked Roberts down, with the win Calaway stamps his authority on the division, though with WFC legend Tom Kerr and veteran Zaru Kayne hot on his heels he cannot rest easy yet!
Master Shuai jiao v Louey Draft - 205 Pounds, Title Fight, Main Event
Shuai jiao made it clear before this fight that he was leaving the WFC due to what he claimed was a lack of competition, Louey Draft took offense to this and it showed as he delivered a clinical beating to Shuai Jiao down for four of five rounds with his efficient style of top control ground and pound; while he was unable to lock in his trademark Kimura he was able to take the judges decision and redeem himself in retaking his title from the man to whom he lost it and sending Shuai Jiao packing from the WFC - Jiao had his moments in the third round when body shots appeared to be tiring Draft, but Draft once again showed his massive heart in the fourth round slamming Jiao to the mat and mounting him immediately, however he became a little overanxious to finish and allowed Jiao to recover half guard, from there Draft remained calm and worked his way to his second WFC title victory.
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