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By
J. R. "Crusher" Gordon, MartialArtsRadio.com
April 28, 2007
For the second time
the Colorado based fight promotion "Ring of Fire" held a show at the
new Broomfield event center, and for the first time in the event's history the
matches took place inside of a cage instead of a ring. Check back for a
future article based on the ring Vs cage debate that continues in our
sport. For now...on to the fights.
ROF 29 Photo Gallery can be found here.
Bout one: Sean
Doherty Vs Leonard Snow. Both fighters came out trying to gauge their
distance with Snow using his jab and Doherty working his kicks. Doherty
used a kick to set up the clinch and from there he scored with a hip toss
takedown that landed him in side control. Both fighters scrambled back to
their feet and they ended up clinched against the cage with Snow securing the
takedown this time by way of a double leg. Doherty was active with a high
guard and Snow had to slam his way out of an attempted armbar. Doherty
continued to be active with submission attempts while Snow opened up with his
Ground-and-Pound (GNP) attack. Doherty rolled for an attempted Heel-hook
submission, but he did take the top position as round one ended. Round
two began with Snow shooting for a takedown and Doherty willingly falling back
to pull guard while looking for an armbar. At :34 of round two Doherty
got the submission locked in and when Snow tapped out Doherty took home the
win.
Bout two: Sean
Logsden Vs Adam Johnson. Johnson immediately closed the distance and
clinched in order to transition to the double leg takedown. Logsden
however controlled the takedown and ended up with full mount. From the
top Logsden immediately began his strong GNP attack and when Johnson turned
face down to avoid the strikes Logsden secured back control, then transitioned
to an armbar. At :24 of round one Johnson tapped out and Logsden got the
submission victory.
Bout three: Josh
Kirby Vs Brandon Thatch. Thatch came out with crisp punches and he
finished a flurry with a good head kick when Kirby backed up against the
cage. Kirby clinched and got the takedown, Thatch immediately reversed
and took full mount. Thatch then transitioned to side control and began
his GNP attack. When Kirby rolled away from the strikes Thatch got back
control and at 1:26 of round one he sunk in the Rear-Naked-Choke (RNC) and
got the win.
Bout four: PJ Sierra
Vs Jesse Henley. Henley closed in looking to land some punches, but
Sierra ducked the strikes and got an ankle pick takedown. Henley quickly
swept and ended up on top, but Sierra had full guard and was hanging on to a
tight guillotine choke from the bottom. Henley worked to escape the
choke, and after doing so he transitioned to full mount and worked some
GNP. Sierra rolled face down to avoid the strikes and from back control
Henley continued his GNP attack before looking to set in an RNC. Sierra
defended the choke, but Henley reset it and had it in tight. Sierra
however refused to tap and he lasted until the bell sounded to end round
one. Round two had Sierra trapping a low kick and going for the takedown.
Henley sprawled well and quickly spun himself into position to secure back
control. From there he took off where round one left off and began
working for the RNC. This time the choke was too tight to defend and at
:47 Sierra tapped out and Henley took home the win.
Bout five: Isaac
Diamondes Vs Cody Donovan. Diamondes opened with a right cross that sent
Donovan to the canvas. The referee immediately stepped in and stopped the
bout and at :08 of round one Diamondes got the KO win.
Bout six: Scott
Jorgenson Vs Tyler Toner for the Ring of Fire Young Guns championship.
Both fighters came out with good kicks before some time was spent by each
probing the distance with their respective jabs. Jorgenson initiated the
clinch, then both fighters got off some solid body punches while on the
inside. After separating more striking ensued with Toner getting the
better of the exchange forcing Jorgenson to clinch again. Toner worked
his way out of the clinch and began picking his shots with both punches and
kicks. After Toner landed a solid flying knee strike Jorgenson again clinched,
but he was unable to secure the takedown. After separating, then
clinching again Jorgenson attempted a standing guillotine choke that had Toner
going to the ground and pulling guard to escape. Jorgenson briefly had
back control during a scramble, then he stood and kicked at the legs and body
of the still downed Toner until round one ended. Round two again saw both
fighters landing good strikes initially, then Toner ducked under a head kick
from Jorgenson and both fighters ended up on the canvas. After a brief
scramble both fighters stood and it was Jorgenson that got the takedown off of
the cage. He worked some GNP as Toner showed an active guard. The
action briefly slowed and the referee stood the fighters. Jorgenson
trapped a kick from Toner and from there he worked into position to attempt a
standing guillotine before switching to knee strikes. Toner elected to go
to the mat and he ended up with half guard briefly before attaining full
guard. On the ground Jorgenson was landing solid knee strikes on Toner as
round two ended. Round three Had Jorgenson immediately going for, and getting
the double leg slam takedown, then he stood and kicked at the legs of Toner
before dropping back into Toner's guard. Jorgenson worked Toner up
against the cage and from there he landed the strongest GNP of the fight
working with both punches and elbow strikes. Toner spun for a knee bar,
but Jorgenson defended well and worked more solid GNP from side control.
Toner then looked to set up an armbar from the bottom that missed, but he was
able to attain full guard. The referee stood the fighters when the pace
slowed and Jorgenson again immediately got the takedown and
Toner threatened with submissions using his rubber guard. Jorgenson
however avoided danger and was again working his GNP as the bell sounded to end
the hard fought bout. The judges gave the nod to Jorgenson with an
unanimous decision and he is not the Ring of Fire Young Guns champion.
Bout seven: Dennis
Davis Vs Luke Caudillo. Caudillo worked his striking early on, but it was
Davis that gained the advantage with a hip-toss takedown. Each fighter
scrambled and they both ended up again standing. In the middle portion of
the round both fighters were content to trade standing strikes with both
landing clean shots and neither exhibiting a clear advantage. They then
clinched and Davis pulled Caudillo down into his guard and worked for
submissions from his back. Both fighters again worked their way back to
standing and good punches were landed from both from the outside as well as in
the clinch. Davis again pulled guard and looked to land submissions as Caudillo
worked his GNP attack from the top that included a good series of shoulder
strikes to end round one. Round two opened with Davis landing a head
kick, but Caudillo seemed unfazed by the strike. Caudillo then trapped a
body kick from Davis and used it to get a takedown. Davis tried for a
triangle choke from the bottom, but Caudillo defended well and landed more GNP
strikes. The referee called for a brief time out to check a cut on the
back of the head of Davis. The ringside doctor gave the OK for the fight to
continue and both fighters threw hard punches from the outside before Caudillo
scored a takedown. Davis however quickly escaped, stood and landed a
flying knee strike. Caudillo again seemed nonplused by the strike and he
answered with a low kick/punch combination that dropped Davis with ten seconds
left in the round. Davis scrambled to his feet and kept his distance
until round two ended. Round three began with Davis shooting for and
getting a single leg takedown that he parlayed into a GNP attack. Caudillo
defended the striking and got pushed up against the cage. The referee
again stood the fighters and both came out swinging hard and working their way
into and out of clinch range. Caudillo shot for a takedown and got it,
but from the bottom Davis set in a tight guillotine choke. Caudillo
defended the submission, escaped and passed into side control, but Davis
quickly worked his way to standing. Caudillo again dropped Davis with a
punch and when Davis elected to stay on the mat Caudillo dropped into his guard
to work more GNP until the bell ended round three. The judges made their
call and it was Caudillo announced as the winner by way of split decision.
Bout eight: Anthony
Njokuani Vs Donald Cerrone. Njokuani quickly put his Muay Thai skills on
display showing crisp punches and kicks. Cerrone answered with a hard
body kick before landing a few punches of his own. Njokuani trapped a
Cerrone kick and tripped him down to set up some GNP before standing and
letting Cerrone up as well. Njokuani continued to show his preference for
striking by way of landing multiple low kicks before Cerrone got a takedown and
immediately working his way into back control and looking to secure the
RNC. Njokuani was able to defend the choke, but in the ensuing scramble
Cerrone took full mount and used his GNP to set up an armbar attempt.
Njokuani escaped the inverted armbar, and Cerrone transitioned to a triangle
choke. Njokuani stood and slammed Cerrone looking to escape the choke, but
Cerrone held it on, made a quick adjustment and at 4:30 of round the referee
called an end to the bout when Njokuani lost consciousness. Cerrone is
still undefeated in MMA and in the post fight press conference he was asked
what he'd like to do next to advance his career. He answered that he'd
like to be in line for a title shot in the near future. This bout was
announced as the fight of the night in the post fight press conference.
Bout nine: Christian
Allen Vs Ryan Hass for the Ring of Fire Bantamweight championship. Both
fighters initially worked strikes from the outside with Hass electing to rely
on punches while Allen relied mainly on his kicks. It was Hass that
initiated the clinch, but Allen worked his way into a standing crucifix hold
and he used that to spin Hass to the ground for the takedown. Allen then
went back to standing and landed a few kicks before the referee stepped in and
stood Hass. Allen again landed a few kicks before landing a left/right
punch combination that dropped Hass. Hass stayed on the mat and when
Allen elected to bring the fight back to standing the referee again stepped in
to let Hass stand. Allen began peppering away with rapid fire head kicks
before again dropping Hass with Allen. Again Allen let Hass come back to
standing and this time Allen landed a solid flying knee. Hass remained
standing and after separating from the clinch Allen landed a flush right hook
that scored him the KO victory and gave him the Ring of Fire Bantamweight
title at 4:52 of round one. Asked what is next for the rising star
he said that it was up to promoter Sven Bean.
Bout 10: UFC veteran
Mike Nickels Vs Carpaccio Owens. Owens stepped forward to close the
distance and Nickels threw a straight right hand that landed flush. Owens
fell face down on the canvas and Nickels followed him to the mat and landed
four unanswered strikes before the referee elected to stop the bout at :07 of
round one. It Owens that received the loudest (also standing) ovation of
the evening when during his post fight interview it was announced that his next
fight will be as a soldier for the United Stated armed forces. In his
post fight comments Nickels voiced his sentiments against the current war, but
he too was cheering for Owens with the rest of the crowd. In the post
fight press conference it was obvious that there is no bad blood between the
two fighters as Nickels was wearing a set of dog tags that had been given to
him after the fight by Owens. In the post fight press conference it was
announced (confirmed) that Nickels' next bout will be a return to the UFC to
face Stephan Bonnar. Asked what his gameplan will be for facing a fighter
as well rounded as Bonnar Nickels answered, "I'll bring it right back to
him just as well rounded." Nickels' 7 second KO was given the award
for Knock Out of the night.
Bout 11: Eliot
Marshall Vs Marcus Sursa for the first ever Ring of Fire title bout in the
Lightheavyweight division. Sursa opened with a haymaker right hook that
missed, then he followed it with a right head kick that was blocked by Marshal.
After taking a few low kicks Marshall opened up with some striking of his own
before clinching and getting a single leg takedown. Marshall pressed
Sursa into the cage and worked to improve his position. Sursa however
scrambled well and ended up with half-mount. Marshall was not to be
outdone in the grappling aspect of the bout and he swept Sursa to end up in
side control. Sursa was able to work his way back to standing and
Marshall landed several strikes before Sursa got the single leg takedown.
Marshall rolled his way into full mount before transitioning to back control
and trying several times to get an RNC as round one ended. For round two
Marshall came out striking before clinching to get the takedown. Sursa
briefly held a guillotine choke from the half-guard, but Marshall escaped and
took side control. Sursa was able to scramble to his knees but Marshall
transitioned to back control and again he looked to sink in the RNC.
Sursa defended the choke well, but Marshall set in a body triangle with his
legs and continued to work for the choke. Sursa nearly pulled off a back
door escape, but Marshall transitioned to an armbar attempt. Sursa
defended the joint lock and tried for one of his own that Marshall was able to
escape. There were several positional changes as both fighters scrambled
for a dominant position. The scramble ended with Marshall again taking
back control and setting in a RNC as the ten-second clacker sounded.
Marshall held the choke tight and when Sursa tapped out with one-second
remaining in round two Marshall was awarded the win and he took home the Ring
of Fire Lightheavyweight championship. This bout was awarded submission
of the night. Marshall was asked what he feels is in his future in the
sport and he answered that he knows that there are other things that he
needs to experience as a fighter before making big decisions about what may be
next. He is glad that he got a solid foundation in Jiu-Jitsu before
entering MMA and he gave thanks to Renzo Gracie and Amal Easton. Credit
was also given to Duane Ludwig for helping him make progress with his stand up
skills and his new found determination to not move backward, but only forward
in a bout.
When asked why the
Ring of Fire had not had a title in this (Lightheavyweight) division until
now event promoter Sven Bean answered that previously there had been deep
talent in the division, but not a large enough pool of fighters to justify
title bouts. With the continued growth of the sport the talent pool has now
grown large enough to make title fights in this division valid.
The sport continues
to grow in Colorado and the entire Front Range region. I'd like to give a
personal thanks to all of the fighters and promoters in the state for
literally making this a better place for us to live by providing the fans
continuously improving fights.
Be sure to check the
site calendar for upcoming shows.
Best in Health and
Training, J. R. "Crusher" Gordon.
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