Warren
Wins IFL Title We saw almost every kind of finish that MMA offers on this night, starting with a quick rear naked choke victory for Jeff Turner over Chayn Poole, just 14 seconds into the first round. There was no let down in the fights to follow with the next fight going all the way into the third round where Joel "The Little Juggernaut" Chapman, out of Kalamazoo, eventually bested Jeff "Beach Boy" Thomas, with what was ruled a triangle choke, but could have easily been called a very impressive neck crank from the top, in Jeff's guard. Another fight pitted two very skilled competitors, Jon Cousino and Sammy Watchmaker, weighing in at 176 and 170 pounds respectively. Watchmaker came out determined to use his leg kicks to wear down Cousino. Sammy landed many kicks to Jon's right thigh in the first, and even when Jon attempted to check the kicks, they still either did damage, or almost took him off his feet. Proving that the dedication to leg kicks is always fruitful in MMA, Watchmaker eventually landed a huge right that was certainly set up by Jon being weary of Sammy's kicks. The fight went to the ground after Jon was dropped by the right, where Sammy locked in a tight guillotine attempt, but Jon was not ready to leave the cage just yet. When the second round began, there was a nice exchange by both fighters, and they went to the clinch up against the cage. Watchmaker landed another nice right, but looking at Jon, you wouldn't have known it. Jon kept his composure and scored an impressive standing leg sweep that would have made any Judo fan proud. After little work on the ground, the fighters get stood up where everyone could now see that Watchmaker, who started off real strong, was now very worn down. The crowd started cheering, knowing now that a underrated facet of MMA, conditioning, was now showing it's importance again. The man of the night, Jimmy Smith, yelled from behind me, "He's gassed! He's gassed!," and sure enough Jon sees it, moves in and delivers an almost identical leg sweep, but this one much more powerful. On the impact, Watchmaker turns over on his stomach, looks at the ref, and taps out. Cousino's hard work was rewarded tonight. Moving on through the myriad of finishes at the Palace tonight, Josh Taveirne ground and pounded his way to a win out of side control over "Bad" Billy Ward; Andrew "Silent Assassin" Peterson quickly submitted Josh "Country Boy" Dotson with what was called a knee bar, but looked like a good old fashioned ankle lock; and Vince Murdock took a majority decision over Mohammed Alshatri. In the more anticipated fights of the night, Sean "The Undertaker" Baker entered the cage as a huge fan favorite, and showed that he was worth all the fanfare. His opponent, John Horn, fought well, but didn't have enough to keep up with "The Undertaker." Baker came out fast, putting together quality combinations, which forced Horn to backpedal into the cage, where Baker took him down. "The Undertaker" was on top, in Horn's guard, but he was able to use his strength advantage to create some space, and rain down blows, until the referee stopped the fight. While Jimmy Smith and Jason "Hitman" Holmes were not able to compete in the way they wanted to, they wanted to honor the fans who came out to see them, so they engaged in a grappling exhibition. Right from the start it was clear that the "Fight-Quest" star was strong, and very quick, but Jason held his own as well. After some submission attempts on the ground, Jason found himself on the top, in Jimmy's guard, and while trying to defend as best as possible, Jimmy slipped in a very fast arm bar, and finished the fight. This was not what the fans expected, but it certainly generates more interest for a possible future fight between the two. In
the last fight of the night, the Flyweight belt was up for grabs
as two female competitors entered the cage. Randa Markos and Kelly
Warren had quite a weight on their shoulders as they were now the
main event on this night. The girls seemed unfazed by the pressure
that was placed on them. Both came out fast, and engaged in what
may have been the best set of exchanges on the night. The first
round was fairly even in punches landed, but Warren clearly landed
the more effective punches. The second round started off the same,
but it soon became apparent that Warren was determined to walk out
the winner, and that she was deserving. After an exchange, the fight
went to the clinch, where Kelly landed some good knee strikes on
Randa, which caused the fight to eventually go the ground. Here,
Warren showed off her Jiu Jitsu skills, where she took advantage
of Randa giving up her back, and locked in a great rear naked choke.
Jason "Hitman" Holmes who was in Kelly Warren's corner
threw his arms up in victory as soon as he saw the choke go in.
Kelly Warren, out of Dragon Karate, is now the IFL Flyweight Champion. |