2012-09-07
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Syndicate 132 Review

Event Review: Syndicate 132
Sydney Fight Championship
2012-09-01, Hilo, Hula's
Attendance:17,580, Event Rating:460
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A capacity crowd of 17,580 fans filled Hula's in Hilo on Saturday night to witness Syndicate 132 while well over 100,000 MMA fans from around the world joined via PPV from the comfort of their homes. Most fans love nothing more than to see a fighter finish a fight with a good solid knockout and man did they get a treat on Saturday. Eight of the ten fights on the card ended via KO or TKO and kept the bloodthirsty fans on the edge of their seats.

In the first fight on the card, veteran Quinton Jackson (15-8) gave rookie Jason Eckstein (0-1) a brutal welcome to the world of cage fighting. Eckstein came out of his corner looking somewhat timid, while Jackson was determined to push the pace and keep the youngster on his heels. While Eckstein tried to pick his spots, Jackson unleashed an onslaught of punches on him, tagging him just after the three minutes mark with a big right hand that rocked him. Jackson smelled blood in the water and finished Eckstein off with a huge three punch combination, knocking him unconscious and sending him to a loss in his first career fight. Jackson's heavy hands and highlight reel knockout were good enough to win him the Knockout Of The Night Award.

The next fight on the card lasted a little bit longer than the first one, but not by much. Middleweight Jeff Spicoli (19-9-1) used excellent work in the clinch to his advantage to finish off Ragnar Danneskjold (23-17) before he could make it out of round one. Danneskjold came out early trying to land strikes from a distance with little success, so he chose to take the fight to the clinch. This turned out to be a very poor decision as Spicoli stifled a couple of takedown attempts by Danneskjold while hammering him with heavy punches. Spicoli broke the clinch and ate and nice high kick from Danneskjold that cut him open. Seeing the site of his own blood enraged Spicoli sending him charging after Danneskjold, putting him in the clinch and administering a beating on him. Spicoli eventually broke the clinch and took the upper hand fighting from a distance. He rocked Danneskjold with a nasty cross and then snatched him into the clinch again. Spicoli drilled him with a few more shots to the head before annihilating him with a huge uppercut that dropped Danneskjold to his knees. Spicoli showed no mercy, unleashing a pounding and his dazed opponent, causing the referee to jump in for the stoppage 4:55 into round one.

The heavyweights did not disappoint in the third fight that saw Piotr Rasputin (26-11) fall to Shane Carwin (18-11). The fight started off with Rasputin stinging Carwin with a steady dose of leg kicks, while Carwin was throwing punches and looking to clinch. Just past the one minute mark, Rasputin pushed Carwin up against the cage and clinched him. He landed a couple of nice shots on Carwin before breaking the clinch. Rasputin continued to throw carefully placed kicks and jabs at Carwin while Carwin was looking to land the kill shot. Rasputin outpointed Carwin by a slim margin to take round one. The fighters spent the better part of round two in the clinch, with Carwin gaining momentum and wearing down Rasputin. The third and final round saw the fighters exchange blows from a distance for the first couple of minutes of the round with Carwin gaining the advantage using nice counter punches. Carwin got Piotr in the clinch again just before the three minute mark and landed some heavy blows that stunned him before breaking the clinch and rocking Piotr with a jab. Carwin followed with a left hook that sent Piotr crashing to the canvas and then mounted him and unleashed a bevy of punches before the referee dove in for the save. The big men left it all in the cage and earned Fight Of The Night honors for the efforts.

The featherweights were featured in the fourth fight with Christian Satanmury (24-10) taking on Peter Parker (17-8). Parker cam rout in round one and looked absolutely fantastic. He managed to keep Satanmury off balance with solid striking defense and well timed leg kicks. Satanmury simply could not get an offense mounted against Parker and found himself frustrated and dazed as round one came to a close. Round two appeared to be looking liking a repeat of round one, with Parker landing some solid blows early and holding Satanmury at bay. Parker drilled Satanmury with a leg kick but got cocky and lost focus for a split second, allowing Satanmury to unload on him with a massive left hand that dropped him to the canvas like a ton of bricks. The referee jumped in right away to protect Parker can called the fight, just 44 seconds into the second round.

Alun James (26-11) showed sheer dominance in his welterweight fight with Vladimir Zenin (20-7) finishing the fight in under two minutes and leaving Zenin reeling. The fight was a game of cat and mouse early, with both fighters carefully timing their punches but neither really connecting with their opponent. As the round wore on, James began to land some nice counter punches and cut Zenin. Zenin landed a nice punch and seeking to grab the momentum, moved in close to clinch James. Unfortunately for Zenin, James had other plans, slipping out of the way and drilling Zenin with a punch that dropped him to the canvas. James wasted no time pouncing and Zenin and crushing him with a few more punches for good measure before the referee stopped the fight.

After five straight fights featuring knockouts, the sixth fight of the evening went the distance but certainly did not disappoint. Bantamweights Michael Benoit (25-7) and Johnny McBraddish (31-11-1) put on a three round war that the fans absolutely loved. The fighters started out swinging away from a distance, but it didn't take long for Benoit to clinch up with McBraddish. Benoit fired away from the clinch, throwing haymakers at McBraddish, mostly focusing on his head. McBraddish tried to hold his own and slow Benoit down with punches to the body, but found himself on the short end of the stick. Benoit clearly took round one. McBraddish managed to keep his distance and land a few strikes for the first minute or so of round two, but then Benoit managed to get him back into the clinch. Once again, both fighters went back to assaulting one another in the clinch with Benoit clearly having the upper hand. With two rounds gone and one to go, McBraddish was clearly behind. Hoping to be able to land some significant strikes from a distance, McBraddish went back to work but it was like deja vu as Benoit yanked him into the clinch and administered a sound beating. Benoit had McBraddish rocked with less than a minute to go, but McBraddish held on and survived until the bitter end. All three judges gave the nod to Benoit, giving him an impressive win over a quality opponent.

Quality over quantity was the theme of our seventh fight when Billy Paxton (11-6) took on Leif Nygard (16-5). Paxton threw significantly more punches in this bout than Nygard, but unfortunately for him the majority of them did not connect. Paxton managed to catch Nygard with a punch early in the first round that cut him open, but that was the only significant damage he could muster up. Nygard pulled Paxton into the clinch with just over two minutes having passed in the fight and went to work on him with carefully placed knees and elbows. Nygard worked Paxton over for the bulk of the round and won the favor of the judges with ease. Both fighters came out of their corners bleeding as round two began. Nygard once again showed tremendous striking defense and timing with his strikes. Just over one minute into round two, Nygard let loose with a nasty head kick that dropped Paxton like a ton of bricks. Nygard jumped on his fallen opponent and unleashed a few more strikes before the referee called the fight.

Matt Miller (14-3) bounced back from a rough patch in his career to claim the vacant Syndicate featherweight title with an impressive win over Brutal Deluxe featherweight champion Shinichi Fuujin (28-10). Miller came out aggressive in round one, keeping Fuujin on his heels with good strikes and ultimately dropping him to the ground with a superb takedown. Miller used most of the round to pound on Fuujin and even advanced to full mount towards the end of the round. Fuujin was in deep trouble, but the round ended before he could be finished. Surprisingly, Fuujin opened round two with a takedown. Miller kept Fuujin held close and the referee quickly stood the fighters back up. Fuujin got momentum as Miller failed with a couple of takedowns and then found himself being punished in the clinch. After the fighters broke out of the clinch, Miller finally landed a takedown and went back to work with some excellent wrestling and ground and pound. It was a close round, but Miller's actions late in the round earned him the nod from the judges. Miller and Fuujin exchanged strikes throughout round three with Miller unable to get Fuujin back on the ground. It was a close round with two of the three judges awarding Fuujin his first round of the fight. Miller came back strong in round four scoring two takedowns in the round and absolutely controlling the action from top position. There was no question in the minds of the fans or the judges that Miller had dominated the fourth round. Fuujin badly wanted to keep the fight standing in the fifth round and was able to do so until around the two minute mark, but Miller had other ideas and promptly deposited Fuujin on his backside and kept him there the remainder of the fight. Miller employed a fantastic strategy and was rewarded for his effort with the Syndicate featherweight title and the respect of the fans.

Syndicate welterweight champion Antonio Montana (23-7) came out and showed pure dominance in our main event, making short work of his challenger, The Rhino (29-6). Montana showed a high level of aggression, using his shiftiness to avoid damage while doling out a substantial amount of punishment with nasty leg kicks and heavy punches. The first round saw Montana absolutely impose his will on The Rhino and beat him up. The second round started out with more of the same. Rhino simply could not mount an offense on Montana and continued to be punished by the aggressive champion. Just shy of the three minute mark in round two, Montana uncorked a solid head kick that rocked Rhino. Montana followed with a big straight left that dropped Rhino and then dove in to finish him off with a barrage of punches.

 

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