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Ring Of Fire 31: "Undisputed" |
By J. R. Gordon, lead writer Martial Arts Radio.com
December 01, 2007, the Broomfield event center again hosted the Colorado based promotion Ring of Fire. This was the thirty-first installment for the promotion and was aptly titled, "Undisputed" as there were three title bouts in the lineup. The large crowd also got to witness three women's MMA bouts.
The first five bouts of the night were elimination (amateur) bouts.
Bout one: Jay Wymer Vs Hanme Clark. Early in the bout there was an even exchange of striking, but after Clark got the takedown he controlled the fight. Once on the mat Clark transitioned to full mount where he worked his Ground-and-Pound (GNP) strategy. Wymer turtled up in defense and after rolling from stomach and back several times to try to escape and avoid punches he had to tap out from the strikes and at 2:10 of round Clark got the win.
Bout two: Brian Wood Vs Ryan Olivera. Wood landed strong hook punches early then scored big with a huge slam takedown. On the ground Olivera tried for a guillotine choke, but after escaping Wood secured back control and worked elbow strikes before methodically working slipping his arm around for the RNC and the win at 2:04 of round one.
Bout three: Kate Martinez Vs Sharyan Hefner. Martinez came into the bout having an IKF world championship in kickboxing on her resume while Hefner had a Golden Gloves boxing background. What the crowd was treated to was what no one expected...a very technical ground war. Martinez used a superwoman punch to set up a standing guillotine attempt that she parlayed into pulling guard. On the mat Martinez was active off of her back with submission attempts and before being mounted Hefner had to defend several close armbar attempts. Once in mount Martinez worked GNP then transitioned to a topside triangle choke. When Martinez rolled to her back to finish the choke Hefner defended and Martinez had to switch to another armbar attempt. This time she got it set in and when Hefner tapped Martinez got the submission victory at 2:30 of round one.
Bout four: Cody Donovan Vs Ian Berg. Round one saw strong striking from both combatants and Donovan electing to try to get a shot for the takedown several times. Berg defended the shot well and Donovan closed out round one with several head kick attempts.
Round two saw Donovan successful in his takedown attempt after each fighter rocked the other with hard punches. Donovan had three strong armbar attempts, but after escaping Berg scrambled back to standing after taking some GNP. The end of the round had Berg hurting Donovan with his strikes, but the bell closed out the round before he could capitalize on the opportunity.
Round three had Berg again landing strong punches while Donovan scored with more of his GNP after getting a takedown. Berg weathered the GNP attack and escaped into side control. From there the referee stopped the action and took a point from Berg after he landed an illegal knee to the head of a downed opponent. Strong striking from Donovan punctuated the end of the third round.
When asked to score the bout one judge had it for Donovan, one for Berg and the other saw it as a draw. In elimination bouts (but not in professional) there must be a winner declared by the judges in a fight that goes the distance. The one judge that had it as a draw was asked to score (rescore) the fight based on the entirety of the match rather than on a round by round basis; the way Pride judges used to score their bouts. When asked for this consideration the winner was declared as Donovan due to the fact that he had scored more damage to his opponent through the entirety of the fight.
Bout five: Cat Albert Vs Nikki Garcia. In round one after shooting, then sitting back into guard Garcia tried for the entirety of the round to position herself for submission attempts. Albert however worked a very calculated GNP strategy from the top consisting of a great variety of knees, elbows, punches, elbows and very strong shoulder strikes.
Round two had Albert getting the early takedown after a punch exchange and scoring more GNP until the action slowed and the referee stood the fighters. Albert landed a flush overhand right that set Garcia back then followed with a left that put her down. On the ground Albert landed strong knees to the body before switching to face punches to close out round two.
Round three started with an even punch exchange, before Albert got a leg trip takedown into side control for her strongest GNP of the fight. After several unanswered face punches the referee stopped the bout and Albert was credited with the win at :45 of round three.
The rest of the bouts on the card were contested in the professional division.
Bout six: Luke Holdorf Vs Jamie Schmidt. After a good punch kick combination from Holdorf the action was stopped while he recovered from an accidental ground kick. Upon restarting each fighter landed good strikes including knees while clinched. Schmidt scored the takedown and immediately had Holdorf defending an attempted armbar. After a scramble for position tried for a reverse triangle choke, but Schmidt escaped and set in a Kimura shoulder lock. Holdorf escaped the Kimura several times, but when rolling to escape Schmidt transitioned to an inverted armbar and he got it set in tight for the submission win at 1:55 of round one.
Bout seven: Douglas Lima Vs Eric Davilla. After striking and clinching against the cage it was Lima that got the leg trip takedown. Davilla was able to stand, but Lima pulled standing guard and pulled him back to the floor. Davilla stayed busy between escaping submission attempts and landing his own punches while his grounded opponent worked an active ground game as well as throwing accurate upkicks throughout the round.
Round two had each landing good punches with Lima getting in good knees from the clinch. Lima then got a hip toss takedown off of the cage and he took the back of Davilla. After barrel rolling Lima got a body triangle with his legs and then he worked for the Rear-Naked-Choke (RNC). Davilla escaped the choke and turned in, but Lima transitioned from a triangle choke attempt to an armbar and he got the submission victory at 3:52 of round two.
Bout eight: Shane Carwin Vs Sherman Pendergarst for the Ring of Fire Heavyweight Championship. After defending the shot from Carwin Pendergarst was subjected to a prolonged series of knee strikes to the face and body. Carwin then shot for, and got the takedown to land in top control. From his dominant position Carwin landed strong and accurate GNP and at 1:41 of round one the referee stopped the bout due to unanswered strikes. Carwin is now the Ring of Fire heavyweight champion.
In his post fight press conference Carwin said he's looking forward to testing his skill against the best in the world. He also stated, "I thought I worked out hard as a wrestler, but MMA training is twice as hard."
Bout nine: Christian Allen Vs Lan Thao for the Ring of Fire Featherweight championship. After an early clinch Thao drug Allen to the ground and Allen ended with full guard. From his back Allen kept Thao busy defending submission attempts including a very tight triangle choke that Thao defended by seemingly breathing through his ears while landing knee strikes to the body of Allen. Allen switched to a reverse armbar late in the round, but Thao defended and round one ended.
Round two had each landing strong strikes before Thao again got the takedown to land in side control. Allen maintained head control to try for the reversal, but Thao escaped and during the ensuing scramble Thao slickly set in a Kimura lock with his legs from the scarfhold side control position. At 2:155 of round two the submission was secured and Allen tapped out making Thao the new Ring of Fire Featherweight champion.
In his post fight press conference Thao stated that he comes from a small Wisconsin town that has no professional trainers. He is self trained and in his corner were his high school wrestling coach and his wife. He stated that this was the biggest crowd he had competed in front of, but that he was not phased by that. He also stated, "I won my last championship with that lock, so now people will know it so I'll have to come up with something different."
Bout 10: Michelle Waterson Vs Lynn Alvarez. Waterson landed a strong Muay Thai teep front kick to open the match, but Alvarez closed the distance with punches. Waterson then turned the tide and rushed Alvarez across the entire floor of the cage to push her up against the side. Alvarez jumped to a standing guillotine and pulled Waterson to the mat. Waterson worked body punches and escaped the choke. Waterson continued her GNP attack, but Alvarez remained calm and at the appropriate moment she again looped an arm around the neck of Waterson. This time she got the choke/neck crank, closed off and when Waterson tapped out at 1:19 of round one Alvarez took home the submission victory.
Bout 11: Eliot Marshall Vs Rob MacDonald for the Ring of Fire Light heavyweight championship. Both combatants scored early with head punches before MacDonald rushed Marshall into the cage to try for a takedown. Neither fighter was able to gain an advantage, and after separating MacDonald again tried for, and this time got a takedown. Off of his back Marshall displayed his stellar grappling skills with multiple submission attempts while MacDonald was active with a GNP attack. MacDonald briefly stood, but from his knees Marshall got MacDonald back to the floor and into his guard. Marshal again tried to secure multiple submissions, but MacDonald evaded and after both fighters stood MacDonald got another takedown into side control. From there MacDonald worked between top-side submission attempts and GNP before electing to stand again. Out of the clinch MacDonald scored again with a takedown and both fighters worked their way back to standing and MacDonald got a big hip toss takedown and he worked from side control to end round one.
Round two started with MacDonald using punches to enter into the clinch. He twice scored takedowns and from standing he tried to set in a standing guillotine choke. MacDonald let the choke go and landed a short hook that dropped Marshall. On the ground MacDonald took full mount and unleashed a relentless GNP flurry that had the referee stepping in to stop the bout giving MacDonald the TKO win at 1:41 of round two. MacDonald is now the new Ring of Fire Light heavyweight champion.
MacDonald said that this is his most satisfying win and that he wants to come back to Colorado to defend his title. He stated that during his more than one year lay off from fighting that he had rededicated himself to the sport. MacDonald said that he became a beginner student of every facet of the sport and that he retooled his training in every way. He put on the gi and white belt to train Jiu-Jitsu, he worked on hand positioning and footwork with boxing, he trained diligently in Muay Thai, worked harder on his conditioning and he stayed dedicated to his wrestling.
The popularity of our sport continues to grow as was made evident in the post fight press conference when event creator/promoter Sven "Boogie" Bean announced that he is committed to bringing great shows to the Colorado fans, but in addition to that the show hopes to go on the road in the coming year.
Be sure to check the site event calendar for upcoming events.
Best in Health and Training, J. R. "Crusher" Gordon.
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