UNTAMED 13 FIGHT CARD PUTS MASSACHUSETTS MMA ON THE MAP

Posted on | May 19, 2007 | 1 Comment

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A full house of excited MMA fans braved foul weather Friday night to come out and watch 10 bouts unfold on the Untamed 13 fight card held in Mansfield, Massachusetts at the Holiday Inn. While a storm of fat raindrops raged outside, inside the small auditorium fighters rained punches down on each other with few fights going the distance.

Promoted by Full Force Productions, the event featured several up-and-coming local stars battling it out along with guest appearances by the Lauzon brothers and local hero Pat Schultz.

Two amateur bouts kicked off the card, with the first match pitting John Robinson (Irish) against Jarrod Tirrell (NEFFC) at 205 pounds. In what would turn out to be an ongoing theme through the night, this fight ended early. Both men started out slugging with Robinson landing harder, more accurate shots. All Tirrell could manage was a fleeting leg kick before Robinson dropped him to the canvas. The two came too close to the edge of the ring, and the referee brought it back to the center. Tirrell wound up getting back to his feet and trading punches with Robinson and sneaking in a few knees. Once Robinson found his proper distance, he dropped Tirrell once again with a few well-placed, powerful roundhouses. The referee jumped in to stop the contest once Robinson added insult to injury with a few more huge shots to the head.

Next came 155-pounders Brandon Douglas (BMAC) and Josh Johnson (Best Way/ATT) in the second amateur battle. Douglas worked quickly, scoring a takedown instantly, and Johnson made the perennial mistake of languishing too long in a headlock hold that went nowhere as Douglas pounded his ribs with knees. Johnson managed to guard himself from taking too many damaging blows from the bottom as Douglas furiously attempted to push his opponent’s head down to get an open avenue to land a few hammering punches. He did manage to connect with some damaging blows, but he couldn’t string enough together to earn a stoppage. Johnson survived the round with craft, desperate defense.

Johnson came out for the second round with a bit more urgency. He took Douglas down fast only to lose the advantage when Douglas reversed positions. Both men rolled around searching for submission holds with Johnson getting in some of his best punches to the ribs and face of Douglas. Johnson ended up with the advantage at the end of the round, landing hammer fists up to the bell.

The judges ruled the bout a majority draw, leading to a third and deciding round. Both fighters slugged it out for the opening seconds until Douglas went for the takedown and Johnson tried to lock up a guillotine. Douglas slipped out and wound up on top with Johnson trying plan B: a triangle choke. As they grappled both went for their own heel submissions with no success. Johnson managed to get into position to land some thudding punches to the ribs and head, but soon both fighters were back on their feet. Douglas landed a huge leg kick leading into Johnson securing another takedown. Going back to the ribs, he neglected to notice Douglas take hold of his arm and secure a vicious straight armbar that ended the fight.

Andrew “The Bobcat” Caron (Team Strikezone) took on Chris Ramos (Team Bombsquad) in the first professional match of the evening at 150 pounds. Both fighters gave it their all in the match, but Caron’s longer reach proved to be the difference.

Caron landed a few nice rights to start the match, and both fighters rolled to the ground from a clinch with Caron winding up on top. He worked his position until Ramos squirmed out and reversed. Caron spent the next few moments guarding well, and the referee broke up the fight when the two came to close to the ring apron.

Ramos hopped to his feet once the action resumed, kicking Caron’s legs from a standing position. Caron followed Ramos up to his feet and started slugging and moving forward until both men ended up grappling into the ropes. While in the clinch, Caron began working knees. He transitioned to a few left and right punches and went back to the clinch where both fighters fell to their knees. Caron wrestled Ramos to the ground again, where once again they were separated and brought to the center of the ring. Yet again, Ramos wriggled out and escaped to a stand up position.

Caron landed a huge right, a few knees, and another right while Ramos kept trying to connect with limited success. While grappling near the ropes, Caron worked to another takedown. The round ended with Ramos looking a little worse than Caron with a small gash on his forehead.

The second round was more of the same, though Ramos put out his best effort as the fight came to a close. A few glancing shots as both tried to deck the other punctuated the first few moments until both fighters sprawled and then rolled to the ground. Caron took the top position again, scoring knees to the ribs, a few elbows, and a couple weak punches as he lost some steam and couldn’t find his range. Finally, Ramos started doing fish flops trying to get out of trouble.

With the action waning, the referee brought the fight back up to the feet where Caron connected first with a quick right. As if the punch offended and energized him, Ramos unloaded and went ballistic, surging forward with an explosion of lefts and rights and ending with a solid uppercut. Caron recovered and clinched back up again, leaning against the ropes with his opponent. Finishing another takedown, Caron threw Ramos half out of the ring, and the referee halted the action yet again. The round ended with both fighters on the ground. Caron earned the unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring it 20-18.

The next fight featured two more amateurs as middleweights Billy Walsh (CBJMMA) and Shannon Seargent (NEFFC) faced each other in one of the shortest matches of the evening. Slugging and kicking from the start, with both missing takedown attempts, it was Seargent who did the first real damage of the fight landing a few big shots and a leg kick to the head. Walsh took his time to find his range and began trading shots, connecting with a solid knee, and following that up two bombing rights. Finally—proving the third time really is the charm—one last straight right wobbled Seargent. Walsh picked up on his opponent’s vulnerability and pounced on him as he collapsed to the canvas. Walsh secured the victory by raining a succession of blows to Seargent’s head until the referee pulled him off and stopped the contest. The fight took only one minute and 20 seconds.

During the following intermission, the event’s Co-Promoter Mike Varner climbed in the ring to announce his spot on the June 23 undercard of the Kimbo Slice vs. Ray Mercer showdown at CFFC 5 in Atlantic City. Varner will battle Nick “The Mad Monkey” Serra—the Renzo Gracie trained younger brother of Matt Serra.

The Serra brothers run a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gym in New York, and though Matt is much more famous after a stint on The Ultimate Fighter and a victory over George St. Pierre, his little brother is no slouch. Nick is an American BJJ black belt and has held titles in the grappling and NHB circuits. Varner, who has trained rigorously for both MMA and boxing while balancing his promotional duties, will have to bring his absolute best into the bout to prove he can put on a great show in more ways than one. If he’s as good at punching as he is at planning sellout MMA cards with fellow Promoter Mike True, he’ll do fine.

FULL CFFC 5 FIGHT CARD (from MMAONTAP.COM)

Kimbo Slice vs. Ray Mercer
Josh Rhodes vs. Homer Moore
Devidas Taurosevictus vs. Josh Neer
Mike Varner vs. Nick Serra
Jim Miller vs. Anthony Morrison
Danter Rivera vs. Alexis Aquino
Dan Miller vs. John Howard
Doug Gordon vs. Lyman Good
Gregor Gracie vs. Josh Lydell
Brian Demuro vs. Al Buck

Team Boneyard’s Lance Everson took on Ralph Green (C.A.I.N.) next in an absolute mismatch. Looking at the posted fight card on www.fullforce.tv later on in the night, it was no surprise that Everson’s opponent was listed as TBA. The two light heavyweights provided the second-fastest bout of the evening.

Everson began the contest landing a swift leg kick and chasing it with an overhand right. He secured the takedown soon after, assaulting Green’s ribs and head on the ground. While Everson pounded him with solid shots, Green tried to guard as well as he could, but not long after blood started flowing from his head, Everson changed tactics. He locked up Green’s arm from side mount and finished the fight with a keylock submission. Everson took only one minute and 48 seconds to win his trophy.

Middleweights Chaz Ackles (Strikezone) battled Greg Sterns (NEFFC) next in another fast-paced match-up.

Ackles landed the bigger bombs in the early slugging, and he also picked up the first takedown. From the top, Ackles pounded Sterns until he was literally red in the face. Desperately trying to guard, Sterns took plenty of punishment. Sterns fought hard to stay out of major trouble until Ackles attacked again, landing about six stellar shots, with the last one putting Sterns out for a few seconds. The referee stopped the match at exactly 2:00 in Round One.

Welterweights Joe Kavey (CBJMMA) and Jay Vaccaro (Dragon Warrior) went at it next with Kavey getting off to a great start only to get sloppy late in the fight.

Kavey won the first takedown, punching Vaccaro in the ribs with Vaccaro guarding well. Eventually Vaccaro found his way out and back to his feet only to get taken back down. Both traded shots from the ground and then settled into a lull. The referee stood them up, and Kavey connected on his second attempt to land a spinning kick. Ducking a punch from Vaccaro, Kavey went low and took his opponent down for a third time. Vaccaro held hopelessly to a headlock as Kavey landed a harsh knee to his ribs. Kavey switched over to punching Vaccaro’s ribs up until the round ended.

The second round started with Kavey missing a few kicks and punches, and then Vaccaro connected with a clean punch while Kavey went for another takedown. On the way down Vaccaro barely managed to slip in a guillotine just in time. Kavey tapped out 35 seconds in to give Vaccaro the comeback victory of the night.

Eric Brown (Fightzone) faced Leigh MacNeil (NEFFC/MSA) at 185 pounds before the final intermission.

Both fighters worked to a clinch early in the corner, and MacNeil came out with the first takedown. Both fighters ended up locked in a big, twisted pretzel as they fought for one submission after another to no avail. Brown eventually escaped and landed a few knees to MacNeil’s ribs on one side of his body before hitting him with a rib punch on the other side before the uneventful first round ended.

Brown proved to be the aggressor in the second, shooting leg kicks and grappling to another takedown. Instead of spending another round rolling across the canvas with MacNeil, he secured great positioning and proceeded to hammer MacNeil to earn a stoppage 53 seconds into the round.

During the second and final intermission, the security staff came to the ring for a display straight out of the WWE. Pat Schultz and his next opponent Josh Diekman mouthed off to each other while Diekman tried relentlessly to get at Schultz. “I just wanna punch him in the face,” Diekman told the crowd, later tossing the microphone to the canvas. Schultz took the professional route and gave a prepared speech, taking time to thank everyone for coming out and supporting their local stars before promising Diekman’s fans would be disappointed. After Schultz left the ring, Diekman seized the microphone again to heap insults on the departing Schultz. He then left the ring himself. Schultz made his way back to remind Diekman he was supposed to come down to his weight for the match, but Schultz wanted it so bad he decided to go up to heavyweight instead. Diekman made another run at Schultz after leaping over the ropes, but the amassed security staff prevented a free-for-all. Both finally departed center stage, giving way to the last two fights of the evening and closing the latest chapter of the bad-blood, trash-talking feud between the two. They will settle everything at the next Untamed show at Plymouth’s Memorial Hall on June 16, 2007.

Dan Ferrer (Santos) squared off with Spencer Paige at 145 pounds in the next match. Before the title eliminator, the referee announced the fight would make history as the first fight to take place in Massachusetts featuring full unified MMA rules. Elbows would finally be allowed.

Paige took a lunging punch to the head and sprawled out of Ferrer’s first takedown attempt to start the fight. He took his opponent’s aggression as a sign to get busy. Unloading a rib shot followed by a glancing kick to the head and a leg kick a little later, Paige took control with a couple of mean right hands. Ferrer attempted another takedown, and Paige sprawled out of it again. Ferrer just couldn’t scoop up a leg deep enough to finish. Paige recovered to the stand-up position and landed a nice left and right combo before Ferrer tried going for the legs again. Paige sprawled out once more and landed a right hook and a straight right, backing Ferrer up. Unable to adjust to fighting on his feet, Ferrer finally managed to grab one of Paige’s legs and nearly finished a takedown until Paige connected with a rib punch and an elbow to the back as the bell sounded.

The clash between the striking strengths of Paige and the grappling-minded Ferrer trying to initiate his ground game skills left Ferrer frustrated and battered after the first frame. He didn’t fare any better in the second round. A look of imminent defeat on his face, Ferrer went into the second round clearly hoping to bring the fight to the canvas and somehow gain a slim advantage and maybe a lucky submission.

Instead, Ferrer missed another takedown attempt and Paige unleashed a series of bombs early in the second. His longer reach winning out every time, Paige rejected Ferrer’s each and every attempt to tackle him. Not even daring or desiring to take Ferrer down himself, Paige had his opponent in the prone position several times and literally refused to sink to his level, always electing to let Ferrer back up. The fight became so one-sided that Paige even began to make faces and shrug his shoulders, baiting Ferrer to come forward to be hit again and again.

Finally, Paige landed the most technically sound, amazingly accurate high kick to the head a fighter could possibly connect with. The roundhouse heard around the room left the audience in absolute awe. Their astonishment gave way to loud cheers as Paige took complete advantage of his opening when Ferrer slumped and fell to the canvas in a swoon. The kick landed square on Ferrer’s temple, and Paige put the exclamation point on his win by landing a few more punches to the same spot. Ferrer stood up on shaky legs after the ref halted the action, clearly in a different world.

The Full Force Lightweight Title was on the line in the final match of the night between Will Kerr (Strikezone) and Jack Wilmarth. Both fighters began by trading roundhouses until Wilmarth went for a wild flying knee that Kerr sidestepped. Both fighters grappled their way to the ground where they worked their way too close to the edge of the ring. Once positioned back at the center, Kerr jumped back to his feet and landed a kick to Wilmarth’s chest. Wilmarth shot for the takedown again and seemed to have no chance until he finally turned over a single leg. Kerr wisely worked a reversal, grabbed hold of Wilmarth’s heel and masterfully executed a tight submission to end it and take the vacated title.

Taking Massachusetts by storm, the Untamed circuit is putting the sport of MMA on the map in the state. Featuring fighters from all over New England, their latest card attracted another full house to add to the list. Selling out the bulk of their shows, Full Force Productions runs a classy, professional outfit that always provides the fans just what they came to see and more. There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that world class fighters from the New England area will continue to be called to grander stages like the UFC to join guys like Joe Lauzon, and just like him they’ll make the best of their first chances to shine. As long as these fighters continue to have plenty of venues and circuits to fight in around the state to hone their competition skills, more and more local heroes will keep on making it to the big show and beyond.

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