|
.png) EVENT REVIEW
Following on from the fledgling organizations most successful card to date, RFC 7 gave us a bit of everything you could expect from a night of MMA action.
Devastating (T)KO’s, a slick submission, a slugfest and that most dreaded of all, a snoozefest. Still, one bad fight out of ten aint too bad. Here’s how the night went down.
Fight 1 – Alun Warburton (0-1-0) vs Mark Levy (1-0-0)
185lb
Two youngsters making their MMA debuts got the nights action underway. There was a little controversy before the fight as 16 year old Welsh kid, Alun Warburton failed to make the 185lb limit by 20lbs! the fight only went ahead after Polish sensation, Mark Levy agreed to take half of Warburtons purse in order for the fight to go ahead. Seemingly quite nonchalant about missing weight so badly, you got the impression Warburton maybe hadn’t taken his debut seriously enough
Supremely confident going into the fight, Levy taught Warburton a harsh lesson about not preparing properly for a fight. At the opening bell, Warburton walked straight into a Levy jab which he followed up with an overhand right which could be heard from the back of the arena. After sending Warburton crashing to the floor, Levy motioned him back to his feet. Still clearly wobbled, Warburton stood back up but seemed oblivious to the fact that Levy was winding up an uppercut that took him clean off of his feet when it connected. After only thirteen seconds, Warburton had been dealt a lesson he will not forget in a hurry. Earning KO OF THE NIGHT for his work, Levy walked back to his corner, shaking his head in disdain for his opponent before celebrating with his corner. The last time I seen a punch like that was when Angelo Moore clobbered Michael Bizping at RFC 6. could we have a young pretender to the throne in Mark Levy?
Result – Mark Levy – W – KO (Punch) – 0m 13s RND 1
Fight 2 – John Doo (1-5-0) vs Mohammed Omad (1-0-0)
145lb
Competing in his second RFC event, John Doo was hoping to halt a two fight skid. His opponent, Syrian brawler, Mohammed Omad has quite a story to tell. After escaping from an ISIS prison, and almost certain death, Omad fled his native Syria. Leaving behind his family, he made the journey across the European continent, eventually settling in Amsterdam where he was forced to fight on the underground scene to make a living. After hearing the kids name mentioned a couple of times, Nordic Warrior Alliances, Hans Knutsson decided to see what the fuss was about and tracked him down to a seedy basement fight club in Sloterdijk, Amsterdam. He was impressed enough by what he saw to take young Mohammed under his wing and after dispatching four opponents with ease in his amateur MMA career, he was signed to Amsterdams Rehab Fighting Championship. Asked about his pro debut, Omad was confident his experiences had equipped him with the necessary tools to deal with anything. “It’s just a fight in a cage” he would say.
The majority of the first round was spent with Doo pressing Omad up against the cage, dropping for the occasional takedown. With his lack of wrestling skills apparent, Omad struggled to free himself from the clinch but when he did, he managed to hit Doo with a couple of nice punches to the head. Unable to really establish his range, Omad was missing with most of his shots and toward the end of the round, Doo managed to get the fight to the floor but was unable to do anything.
Early in the second, Omad caught Doo with a nice combination that opened a cut on his cheekbone. Both fighters were throwing shots at each other but with the majority of them falling short, or being blocked, neither did much damage. Doo did manage to land a nice headkick that was shrugged off by Omad before moving into the clinch and pulling guard. Surprisingly, it was Omad who attempted a submission by dropping back looking for an ankle lock that had Doo looking like he was going to tap but he managed to slip his leg out and jump into Omads guard. With Doo not looking to do much, Omad constantly tried to get back to his feet and with the referee not happy with the lack of action, he stood them up just before the bell sounded the end of the round.
It was clear by the laboured striking at the beginning of the third that both fighters were tiring. Doo, again instigated the clinch where he was content to rest his weight on Omad to take a breather. Both fighters now throwing sloppy strikes, they seemed unable to muster any sort of meaningful offence yet to Omads credit, he did try to break free, only for Doo to stifle his attempts. To the boos from the crowd, the remainder of the fight played out pretty much this way. Omad trying to free himself, missing with sloppy strikes and Doo, trying to get the fight to the floor. The final bell sounded to bring to an end quite an underwhelming contest. Nevertheless, overcome by emotion, maybe to do with his journey to get to where he is today, Mohammed Omad broke into tears and hugged John Doo before going back to his corner. We went to the judges for a decision.
Result – Mohammed Omad – W – Decision (Unanimous) – 28-30, 27-30, 27-30
Fight 3 – Pedro Lakandula (2-0-0) vs Hingle McCringleberry (1-1-0)
135lb
After almost being lulled to sleep after the previous fight, fans couldn’t have asked for a better wake up call. Pedro Lakandula and Hingle McCringleberry put on the nights FIGHT OF THE NIGHT. Both coming into the fight off devastating KO victories, there was only ever one way this fight was going to play out.
Straight from the off, both guys didn’t take a backward step. It was Lankandula who found his range early though. Getting the better of the early exchanges by using his jab to set his shots up. McCringleberry meanwhile went looking to knock Lankandulas head off of his shoulders with some vicious looking head kicks. Had one landed properly, there’s no doubt that’s what would have happened but Lankandula used some neat footwork to avoid the kicks and counter with some lovely boxing. McCringleberry did come close however, skimming Lankandulas head, making enough contact to open a nasty gash on his forehead. Taking it in his stride, Lankandula brushed it off and landed a beautiful one-two that sent McCringleberry stumbling backwards.
The fighters kept this up and with no let up in the action, both fighters landed some big shots. It was Lankandula though who seemed to be doing the most damage. With McCringleberry still looking for the headkick, Lankandula had to keep his wits about him. Another headkick landed just short, with McCringleberrys toes catching Lankandulas head. Again, Lankandula waded in and belted McCringleberry with a three punch combination that would have dropped many fighters and although wobbled McCringleberry still came forward.
Lankandula had now found his groove and began landed almost at will. Mixing stinging head shots with some tasty body shots, he set about wearing McCringleberry down. Ive never seen a fighter take so many shots and keep coming forward, and not only that. McCringleberry was still looking for the headkick finish! Due to the noise of the crowd, the fighters barely heard the bell to sound the end of the round.
The second round was pretty much a re-run of round one. McCringleberry came out for the round with a nasty looking mouse under his right eye that obviously affected his vision as Lankandula connected with almost every left hand he threw. Moving beautifully in and out of range, Lankandula landed with hooks, crosses, jabs and more body shots. McCringleberry was now showing signs of wear as he began breathing heavy midway through the second. No matter how badly he seemed hurt, he kept coming forward, still looking for that headkick.
Midway through the round, and taking too much damage, McCringleberry tried to get the fight into the clinch. Lankandula was having none of it though and broke free almost immediately. Lankandula cracked McCringleberry with a left to the jaw that sent his gumshield flying across the Octagon and before they got back to business, both guys, grinning from ear to ear, high fived in the middle of the cage. How McCringleberry stayed on his feet, and not only that, keep coming forward, is anyones guess. But that’s what he did.
It was absolutely unbelievable that these guys carried that pace on into the third round. Both knew exactly what the other was going to do and both did exactly what the other thought they’d do. Lankandula continued to hammer McCringleberry with crisp. Accurate punches, McCringleberry continued to throw that headkick looking for the KO. As was expected now, Lankandula landed at will but McCringleberry too, began to find a home for that headkick. Surprisingly, Lankandula walked through them, landing combinations as he did so. The fight came to an end with the crowd chanting the fighters names. What an awesome display of skill and heart. Despite his total dominance, Lankandula looked the more relieved at the fights end. The fighters embraced in the centre of the Octagon and in a show of sportsmanship, and respect, Lankandula raised McCringleberrys arm. Asked at his post fight interview about he felt the fight went, McCringleberry, smirking said he didn’t really lose the fight, he just ran out of time and that one of his headkicks would have eventually landed and KO’d Lankandula. FIGHT OF THE NIGHT honours were never going to be given to anyone else. The post fight stats were amazing. Lankandula threw an astonishing 165 punches, landing 141. WOW, hows that for accuracy and WOW, how did McCringleberry take them? McCringleberry threw 56 kicks, 54 of them headkicks and he landed 13 of those. Unbelievable.
Result – Pedro Lankandula –W- Decision (Unanimous) – 30-27, 30-27, 30-27.
Fight 4 – Rafael Luiz Mendoza Ramos (2-1-0) vs Dre Driver – (1-1-0)
185lb
Both fighters made their RFC debuts at last months RFC 2 event with vastly different results. Driver KO’d Vigo Halk in devastating fashion in the first round while Mendoza lost a lopsided decision to young gun, Tyron Spong. Those results meant nothing going into tonights fight though.
Mendoza opened the fight by cracking Driver on the side of the head with a big right hand and not to be outdone, Driver fired back with a crunching left to Mendozas body. With both fighters equally skilled in the boxing department, it was expected that Driver, holding a purple belt in jiu-jitsu would look to use his grappling to win the fight, and that’s what he should have done. Finding his range, and landing some nice shots, Driver got a bit too cocky. Landing a well timed left jab, left hook, right hook combination, Driver, strangely looked toward the judges as if for acknowledgement? As he did so, Mendoza popped him with a left jab that surprisingly wobbled Driver. Mendoza seemed to hesitate for a second, unsure if Driver was gaming him but when he realized he wasn’t, he wound up with a massive right hook left hook combination that knocked Driver clean out on his feet! Just for good measure, Mendoza caught him once more on his way to the floor and that was all she wrote.
A beautiful KO now gets Mendoza back in the W column but unfortunately for Driver, he falls back into the pack.
Result – Rafael Luis Mendoza Ramos – W – KO (Punches) – 1m 59s RND 1.
Fight 5 – Kono Notaku (1-1-0) vs Miues Rafki (2-0-0)
135lb
After decisioning Piotr Janicki in an underwhelming fight back at RFC 2, Kono Notaku promised fans a more exciting fight next time out. His opponent, Miues Rafki, came into the fight off a slick first round W by way of an armbar in the QFC. Notaku was confident he would dispatch Rafki using his superior muay thai and arguably, put himself at the forefront of the chase for the 135lb strap. Rafki though, put paid to any title aspirations Notaku may have had.
Aware that he wouldn’t be able to match Notaku on the feet, Rafki immediately took the fight to the floor and almost sinched in a leg lock. After a battle for position and control, Rafki again tried for the leglock only for Notaku to pull out and look for an armbar of his own. With Rafki looking to pass Notakus guard, Notaku was content to control the position from the bottom and after being lulled into thinking Rafki was trying to get to his feet, he attempted to post up only for Rafki to latch onto his arm and try to pull a kimura off before transitioning into a triangle attempt. Seemingly too strong for him on the floor, Rafki got back to his feet, letting Notaku back up with him. Rafki immediately shot back in and took Notaku down, landing in his guard. Waiting for the opportunity to advance position, Notaku was content to keep Rafki from posturing up but a lapse in concentration left his head exposed to a guillotine attempt from Rafki which he easily escaped from. The round ended to boos from the crowd.
Not wanting to give Rafki a chance to get the fight to the floor, Notaku immediately rushed in to clinch with him where he began to work his body over with his knees. Switching it up between knees to the body and elbows to the head, Notaku managed to keep the fight in the clinch, stuffing Rafkis takedown attempts in the process. In a spell of sustained pressure, Notakus offence began to take its toll on Rafki as he tried in vain to get out of the clinch and get the fight to the floor. Notaku dominated the rest of the round working from the clinch and at the rounds end, Rafkis body and arms were showing signs of bruising from the barrage of knees Notaku had landed.
Early in the third, Notaku went to work on Rafkis legs and becoming desperate, Rafki lunged in for a takedown. After a short struggle, he did manage to get the fight to the floor but it was Notaku who went looking for a guillotine. Rafki took a moment to gather his thoughts and senses before going searching for a submission of his own. Passing into side control, Rafki set up a kimura which Notaku managed to defend and get himself back to half guard. In his haste in looking for his own submission, Notaku again left his arm vulnerable and Rafki latched on, trying to force a kimura. After a struggle, Notaku got his arm free, but it was clearly hurt. Sensing this, Rafki went all out trying to separate it from his body and after short struggle, Notaku could no longer hold his arm down and Rafki cranked in the kimura forcing the tap.
An ecstatic Miues Rafki leapt up, clearly delighted with his victory. Notaku meanwhile, looked to his corner shaking his head. Maybe it was overconfidence, thinking he was going to take Rafki apart in the third but Notakus chances of competing for the belt now seem slim. Although nearly beaten, Rafki showed heart in coming back tonight and if he can add another W to his record before the New Year, he’ll be in with a shout of competing for the belt himself.
Result – Miues Rafki – W – Submission (Kimura) – 3m 55s RND 3
Fight – 6 – Channarong Khumanan (1-1-0) vs Mason Gates (3-1-0)
205lb
Looking to get back to winning ways after being (T)KO’d in his RFC debut, Mason Gates surprised most with his gameplan against Channarong Khumanan. An boxer, first and foremost, it was expected Gates would try to keep the fight on the outside, establish his range, and pick Khumanan apart with punches. Not the most exciting fighter to watch, Gates has an excellent fighters ‘brain’ which he’s used to earn himself two decision victories. Channarong, on the other hand, likes to fight in the clinch where he can utilize his powerful muay thai to wear his opponents down with punishing body work.
With neither fighter able to get any meaningful offence together in the first, most of the round was spent with Khumanan looking to pull gates into a clinch. Once there though, neither fighter offered up much in the way of striking and after jostling for position, they would break the clinch only for the process to start again! We got a short burst of action toward the rounds end with Khumanan landing a few knees to Gates’ mid-section but strangely, this seemed to take more out of Khumanan than it did Gates. The round came to a close with Gates looking relatively fresh but Khumanan was already starting to breathe heavy!
Round two picked up where round one left off but there was a little more urgency in Khumanans work now. As well as trying to work the body of Gates, he tried to get the fight to the floor on a couple of occasions but Gates wouldn’t let him. More often than not, when Gates would manage to break the clinch, he would instigate another but once there, he was unable to do anything and the fighters did nothing much more than lean on each other until one of them decided to push off. The crowd were now showing their displeasure with the fight, and the referee for not forcing the action and splitting the fighters when they were pressed up against the cage doing nothing.
Round three got underway to boos from the crowd and the fighters did themselves no favours by clinching almost from the opening bell. Gates’ willingness to engage with Khumanan in the clinch, or rather, lack of will to break the clinch was probably the most confusing aspect of this fight. Given his boxing ability, Gates would have fared a lot better had he utilized his skills rather than allow Khumanan to dictate where and how the fight would play out. With both fighters badly gassed by this point, the fights end was as lacklustre as the rest of the fight. Sensing he was down on the scorecards, Gates began to let go with his hands midway through the round and connected with a stinging uppercut and a lovely one two combination. Khumanan responded by tying him back up and against the cage where they stayed until the fights end.
Although there was a clear lack of action during the fight, Khumanan seemed to have done enough to get the W just by the fact he dictated where the fight took place and controlled Gates for the majority of the fight, we went to the judged for a decision.
Result – Mason Gates – Decision (Unanimous) – 28-29, 28-29, 27-30.
*WOW, unbelievable. Just how the judges managed to come to that conclusion is anyone’s guess! A decision like that would usually have the crowd up in arms and showing their dis-satisfaction with the result by booing but, with the crowd completely disinterested in the outcome and with many of them chattering among themselves, or at the bar, they missed the verdict and the fighters slipped out of the Octagon*
Fight 8 – Mark Thomson (1-1-0) vs Raivo Kull (3-0-0)
145lb
After the damp squib of the previous fight, the fans were growing restless and with the ‘Estonian Eagle’ up in the next fight, they were hopeful the nights action would pick up again. His opponent, Mark Thomson was riding high after his first round sub of Stuart Head in his MMA debut, Kull, meanwhile hoped to extend his winning streak to three and put himself in the 145lb title picture.
The fight got underway with and Thomson shot in for a takedown only for Kull to slip to the side and crack him with a right to the head. Knowing full well he would be no match for Kull on the feet, Thomson knew he had to get the fight to the floor. After taking another shot on the chin, he finally managed to counter a Kull headkick with a nice double leg, landing in Kulls guard. Thomson showed his superiority on the floor by controlling Kull and out of nowhere, dropped back looking for a heel hook. Realizing early that he never had it, he jumped back into Kulls guard. His sloppy attempts at landing some ground n pound gave Kull the opportunity to put his feet on Thomsons hips and he was able to create enough space to get from under him and back to his feet.
Showing a bit more confidence in his ability to take Kull down now, Thomson tried again almost instantly to get Kull down only to be countered with stiff left followed by a stinging body kick which stopped him in his tracks. Taking a step back to recover, Thomson, somewhat predictably now, shot in again only for Kull to catch him with another body kick on the way in. if it wasn’t for Kull to move straight in and clinch with him, Thomson may well have gone down. Kull sensed his opponent was in trouble and created enough space for himself to let go with a combination of punches and elbows that snapped Thomsons head left and right, leaving him dazed. Shaking it off, Thomson, with all technique now out the window, tried to drag Kull to the floor, Kull gave him a sweet elbow to the head for his efforts. Just for good measure, Kull belted Thomson with a thudding body shot before stepping back and breaking the clinch.
Desperation was clearly setting in now as Thomson telegraphed a takedown attempt from halfway across the Octagon. Standing rooted to the spot, Kull planted an uppercut to Thomsons head and just as his head came up, Kull stunned him with a front kick to the face. Spurred on by his success now, Kull moved looking to finish. A straight right followed by a body kick set up a beautiful head kick which sent Thomson tumbling backwards to the floor. Not wanting any part of Thomsons ground game, Kull waved him up to his feet. His legs already gone, Thomson took a stinging kick to his right knee before almost stumbling into a takedown attempt. Kull planted a stiff right to his jaw and another headkick that sent Thomson back to the floor. Kull followed him down this time and pounded him out with the referee calling the fight off with just one second to go till the end of the round.
A beautiful display of accuracy and patience sees Raivo Kull continue on his win streak. Now undefeated at 3-0-0, he’s now one of the favourites for the 145lb belt. Thomsons one dimensional style of fighting wouldn’t be so bad if he was actually good at that one style he so doggedly stuck to tonight. If he’s to make any sort of impact in RFC, he
Article views:
243
» Donate to this author |
