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 GFC XIX was the talk of the town in Las Vegas on Sunday night when Gladiator Fighting Championship once again filled The Parisian to capacity. �Fans took in a fantastic night of MMA action that saw seven finishes in the ten fights including a string of five straight first round finishes in the middle of the card. �Let's recap the action:
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Nicolas Karkmananis (6-5) showed is dominance in the first fight, picking up a very impressive win over Rafael Oliveira (2-4). �Karkmananis used a very unorthodox strategy in the first round, repeatedly clinching up with Oliveira and pulling guard, often times to simply try a small ground offensive attack and them stand back up. �Despite the questionable strategy, Oliveira was unable to get anything going and Karmananis easily took the round on the judges' scorecards. �Karkmananis came out firing to start round two and was able to rock and knock down Oliveira early. �Karkmananis followed him the ground but once again, inexplicably he stood back up. �The fighters worked in and out of the clinch for a little while before Karkmananis was able to secure a takedown about halfway through the round. �He went to work looking for a submission, but Oliveira was able to slow the action and force a referee standup. �Karkmananis once again went to work getting in and out of the clinch. �He was able to land some nice offense along the way while in the clinch and clearly won the round. �The third round saw Karkmananis continue with his unique strategy and saw him knock Oliveira to the ground on a couple of occasions. �With the fight starting to draw to a close, Karkmananis broke free from the clinch and charged Oliveira like a crazed dog, throwing wild punches from every direction. �Oliveira slumped over on the cage and eventually crumpled to the ground before the referee jumped in for the stoppage. �Karkmananis takes the win by TKO in dominant fashion at the 3:59 mark of round three.
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The second fight was a welterweight battle between Frankie Figgs (9-7) and Yo Hwan Lim (8-3). �The fighters moved into the clinch early on in round one where Lim went crazy throwing everything but the kitchen sink at Figgs. �Figgs did a nice job of defending himself and broke the clinch about halfway through the round. �After a brief exchange from a distance, Figgs once gain initiated the clinch and Lim once again went to work throwing strikes. �Lim's aggression earned him the favor of the judges in round one. �After exchanging strikes from a distance to start round two, Figss took the fight to the ground only to stand back up and then score another takedown and stand up again. �He seemed to clearly be indecisive about his strategy but finished the round showing nice aggression from striking distance and took the round on the scorecards. �Figgs exerted his control in round three, showing physical dominance and clearly showing himself to the be the stronger of the two competitors. �He moved in and out of the clinch on a number of occasions and was able to land some decent offense while controlling the pace of the fight. �When the smoke had cleared, Figgs took a unanimous decision 29:28 on all three judges' scorecards.
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A pair of plus sized heavyweight collided in the third fight when Christian Cong (25-25) battled TheRock Obama (9-11). �Obama came right out of the gate repeatedly attempting to take Cong to the ground, but Cong repeatedly rebuffed the takedown attempts and punished Obama with stinging counter strikes. �Obama clinched up with Cong, hoping that by closing the distance he'd have better success getting him to the ground. �Obama continued to relentlessly pursue a takedown, but Cong continued to turn him back with ease and tag him with heavy strikes. �With less than a minute left in the fight, Cong caught Obama by surprise and hit a takedown of his own, landing in side control. �Cong alternated knees to the body and strikes to the head to completely overwhelm Obama. �Obama stopped defending himself while Cong unloaded on him. �With the final seconds of the round ticking down, the referee jumped in to stop the fight with just one second remaining, awarding the fight to Cong via TKO.
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The fourth fight on the card seemed like it was over before it even got started. �Fredrick Felino (11-5) came out in a very calculating manner looking to get Nikira Stag (6-2) to the ground and he succeeded. �Unfortunately for Felino, Stag was well prepared and went right to work looking for a triangle after he was deposited on his back. �Felino did not appear to take Stag's attempt seriously, but quickly found himself in serious trouble and was forced to tap out just 42 seconds into the fight.
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Richard Cullen (18-14) put his striking prowess on display in the fifth fight when he took on Tubby Hayes (17-10-1). �Cullen did a remarkable job of timing his strikes and simply picked Hayes apart. �Hayes desperately tried to mount an offense but was unable to landing anything but a weak leg kick. �Cullen was swinging for the fences with his strikes, landing some serious damage to Hayes. �As the two minute mark of the fight approached, Cullen landed a vicious counter combination that sent Hayes crashing to the ground. �Cullen dove in for the finish, pounding away on Hayes until the referee pulled him off. �A dominant performance for Cullen.
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In the sixth fight, another pair of heavyweight locked horn when Fred Sanford (16-10) took on Turo Hamara (13-7). �Sanford came in with a clear strategy to chip away at Hamara with kicks, but his approach became somewhat predictable. �As the fight wore on Hamara started to find his range and dial in his timing, dodging the attacks of Sanford and landing some heavy strikes of his own. �With Sanford's head bleeding from a cut earlier in the fight, Hamara opened it up further around the three and a half minute mark and then rocked him with a shot to the jaw. �With Sanford reeling, Hamara faked a kick and then hammered Sanford with a two punch combination that turned the lights out for good at the 3:49 mark of round one.
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Santa Schwein (20-12-1) made a fantastic case for a title shot in his GFC debut, scoring an impressive first round stoppage over former GFC middleweight champion Auron Almasy (15-10). �Schwein came out swinging wildly and trying desperately to get his opponent into the clinch. �Almasy did a very nice job of keeping his distance and was able to land some well placed counter shots on his opponent. �The fight looked to be fairly even up until the two and half minute mark when Schwein finally managed to secure the clinch. �Almasy unsuccessfully tried to pull guard and when he got back up off of the ground, he paid the price. �After dodging a couple of wicked swings from Schwein, Almasy was on the receiving end of a shot to the jaw and then a huge hook that dropped him like a rock. �Schwein jumped into side control and continued to pound away until the referee called for the stoppage.
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The eight fight proved to be a tremendous battle to crown the inaugural GFC featherweight champion. �Jesse Wolfe (19-10) who started with GFC in the lightweight division, recent moved down to his natural weight class of featherweight. �His opponent Jake Sawa (11-7) is a recent GFC signee who wanted nothing more than to wow the crowd and put on GFC gold in just his second GFC appearance. �Wolfe entered the fight looking determined and highly aggressive, keeping tremendous pressure on Sawa from the beginning. �Sawa managed a takedown fairly early on, but Wolfe executed a sweep and was able to inflict some punishment from top position before deciding to stand back up. �Sawa got one more takedown in toward the end of the round and desperately tried to pull off a submission, but Wolfe fought it off with ease. �Wolfe continued to pressure Sawa in round two, showing absolute dominance and punishing his opponent with deadly strikes. �Wolfe rocked Sawa with about a minute to go in the round but Sawa somehow managed to survive. �The third round saw Wolfe once again pursue Sawa. �Sawa managed to a takedown early in the round, but once again allowed Wolfe to sweep him. �Wolfe maintained control for the rest of the round and eventually stood up just as the round was coming to a close. �The fighters got into a frantic exchange to start round four with Wolfe coming out on top. �Sawa scored a takedown a minute into the round, sensing he had no business trying to stand and trade with Wolfe. �Wolfe was able to slow the action to a crawl and force a referee standup. �Wolfe continued to punish Sawa and turn back his takedown attempts for the remainder of the round. �Sensing that he was within striking distance of championship gold, Wolfe continued to press forward and take the action to Sawa in the final round. �Sawa landed a few nice strikes of his own but Wolfe was unphased and continued to pouring on the punishment for the remainder of the round. �A tremendous performance by Jesse Wolfe earned him the right to be called the first GFC featherweight champion with a 50:45 unanimous decision win.
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Cooper Abreau (10-1) continued on a torrid win streak, picking up his ninth straight victory in the octagon and making Rashad Jackson (20-16) his latest victim. �Abreau ate a few punches early but was quickly able to get Jackson to the ground where he is in his element. �Abreau worked his ground and pound game throughout the round and tried a few selective submissions but was unable to finish Jackson. �Regardless, Abreau maintained total control over the fight and won the round. �Jackson was able to land some nice strikes to start round two, but was quickly deposited on his back once again. �Jackson showed off some impressive ground work by bucking Abreau off and working his way into mount. �Abrea managed to escape the mount and get back into guard, but Jackson managed a nice switch and mounted him once again. �It was a close round, but surprisingly, two of the three judges scored the round for Abreau while the other scored it a draw. �Round there started with a bang as both fighters were throwing some serious leather with each scoring some solid blows. �Abreau quickly realized that he needed to return to his roots and took Jackson to the ground again. �Abrea worked some ground and pound but got sloppy and allowed Jackson to take his back. �Abreau worked some excellent defense to keep Jackson from doing any damage from the top. �Jackson was eventually able to work his way into mount, but it was too late and he was not able to finish the fight. �All three judges scored the fight in favor of Abreau who has easily solidified himself as a welterweight contender.
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Ivan Priebcko (21-8-1) came in and wowed the crowd in his GFC debut, vanquishing one of GFC's favorite sons, Cael Sanderson Bot (16-6) in impressive fashion. �Priebcko is not the most stylistically gifted striker, but what he throws, he throws with power. �Priebcko waded in carefully, tagging Bot with leg kicks and body shots to start the fight before eventually pulling him into the clinch. �Once in the clinch, Priebcko leaned heavily against Bot, wearing him down while throwing the occasional strike, even cutting Bot with a nasty elbow. �Bot was smothered and unable to mount an offense in the first round and was clearly frustrated as he came out for round two. �Bot tried to get Priebcko to the ground early in round two but was not successful. �Priebcko smacked him with a nice combination that sent him to the ground. �Not wanting to engage Bot on the ground, Priebcko waited for him to stand back up only to tag him with a leg kick and then send him to the ground again with a hook to the temple. �Once again, Priebcko forced Bot to get back on his feet before throwing a combination that landed and rendered Bot unconscious. �A very impressive knockout for the newcomer that certainly got the attention of the other heavyweights on the GFC roster.
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