XFA Brings It Again At The Cox Pavilion in Vegas
Posted on | June 3, 2008 | No Comments
By: Holli Yargo Hearne
PHOTOS BY: Brian D. Cole.
Saturday night was a busy time for Lion’s Den fighter Vernon “Tiger” White. His wife, Melissa, went into labor over lunch, giving birth to Isaiah White at approximately 4:00 p.m. Baby born: check. Kiss the wife: check. Kiss the new baby: check. Then it was off to the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, NV to battle in the XFA2’s main event against Muay Thai champion Anthony Brown.
White, who dropped from his IFL Reno Lion’s fighting weight of 205 to 185 for this show, entered the red, white, and blue roped ring to The Chemical Brother’s “Rockefeller Skank (Funk Soul Brother).” Brown, a Master Toddy Muay Thai disciple, entered the ring to a Rocky theme mix; taking most of the applause as the local favorite. Steve Mazzagatti officiated as referee.
The first round began with both fighters carefully sizing up the other, circling and hesitating to engage. However, when the strikes started flying, the heads started butting. Each man held his head, shaking off the collision and returning to position.
The action picked up in the second but neither fighter appeared ready to be the primary aggressor and for good reason. White is a decorated mixed martial arts fighter with a rounded mix of Muay Thai and kickboxing skills while Brown is a 10 year Muay Thai student of the infamous Master Toddy.
The crowd boo’d the two warriors in the third, unable to appreciate their precision and deliberation. White landed a back kick to Brown’s chest only to be repaid with a perfectly placed right hook. The match up of skill was so even it nearly neutralized a clear winner, making for a very difficult choice for the judges.
In the end, the unanimous decision went to Vernon “Tiger” White who thanked his coaches, sponsors, and wife. He announced the arrival of his son and immediately left the pavilion to return to Melissa and Isaiah at the hospital. Imagine the story he’ll be able to tell his boy one day.
While not the main event, the fight of the night clearly went to a ladies bout between Sally “Slick” Krumdiak, a MMA fighter who took the challenge on very short notice, and Miriam Nakamoto, a Muay Thai specialist. Nakamoto, whose asymmetric hairstyle immediately drew the attention of the crowd and press alike, pushed the action from the beginning. Having a good three inches on her opponent, the Muay Thai practitioner gave a clinic on kicks, flying knees, and jabs.
While the height difference kept Krumdiak hard at work, it wouldn’t be wise to dismiss this tough young woman, who was, herself a force to be reckoned with. In the second round, the smaller fighter managed to get past Nakamoto’s defenses to land some amazing combos and knees. The intensity was so great, they both crashed to the mat from a leg sweep delivered by Nakamoto.
In the three spot, Krumdiak impressed everyone after taking a beating of punches which landed hard in all the sweet spots but never laid her out. Nakamoto rained a shower of leather and knees into her opponent’s face but caused little damage. Surprisingly, this war went all three rounds with a 30-27 unanimous decision going to Nakamoto. The 27 score for Krumdiak would suggest that all the judges felt like Krumdiak wasn’t “in the fight” at some point but that was certainly not the case. Had Krumdiak not been giving it her all throughout the whole match, Nakamoto would have easily been able to finish her and that simply did not happen.
The third bout featured two Muay Thai gentleman; featherweights Travis “The So Cal Kid” Garlits and Kevin “The Soul Assassin” Ross. Master Toddy Muay Thai student Kevin Ross entered the cage wearing the traditional Mong Kol Muay head piece and armbands as well as hot pink Muay Thai trunks. His opponent, also a Muay Thai specialist, Travis Garlits, was much more subdued.
The first round was fast and full of action. The crowd took to their feet when Ross threw a back kick in Garlits’ solar plexus, sitting Garlit on his butt. The two displayed a fabulous balance of skill with Garlits having the better hands but Ross with the better kicks.
Ross continued pouring the heat in the second, rocking Garlits with a near knock out and keeping his opponent on the defensive throughout the entire round.
Garlits wasn’t able to close the distance with the crafty Ross in the third, who was now putting his boxing skill on display. The fight went to the judge’s cards where Ross was awarded the unanimous decision. While the decision itself was clearly sound, the 30-26 score across the board was insulting to Garlits and didn’t reflect the fighter’s excellent effort in this non-stop contest.
In other interest, bout seven’s Josh Hancock said “no mas” after his Muay Thai opponent, Shawn Yarborough capitalized on Hancock lowering his head to avoid a strike by throwing a knee square in the MMA fighter’s mouth. Hancock stumbled back and removed his mouthpiece to find one of his entire front teeth still cradled in the teeth indentions of the guard.
Bout one lasted only 38 seconds into the second round. Marcelino “Slingshot” Menchaca, who gave the XFA their first KO of the organization’s first show, was sent to the hospital following a doctor stoppage TKO. While the featherweight insisted he could continue, his cornerman, Lance Foreman, acknowledged that the bone of Menchaca’s forehead was visible following a vicious knee delivered by David M. Smith. The perfectly landed strike rewarded Menchaca with his first kickboxing loss and 19 stitches.
Bout two saw a mutual Muay Thai clinic put on by Lynn “Lights Out” Alvarez and Catia “The Million Dollar Cutie” Vitoria. Vitoria tended to keep the fight moving forward, dazzling the fans with two flying knees and a very affective leg sweep to gain the unanimous decision win.
In bout 4, Jodie Esquibel took her fight against Amy Davis on short notice. Despite being cornered by UFC light heavyweight Keith Jardine, Esquibel was able to go the distance with her opponent but lost the decision by a unanimous and appropriate 30-27 vote.
Jack Thames knew he was behind on points in the third round of bout 5. Although he was able to rock Douglas Edwards with an overhand right in the second, the welterweight did stretches, yelled to the crowd he was “all right,” and showboated throughout the final round. As entertaining as he was, it wasn’t enough to win over all the judges. Edwards took away the split decision win.
Mark Holst defeated Mark Beecher in bout 6 with an impressive TKO in the second. He thanked coaches and sponsors then rattled off what could have been airstrike coordinates to GSP in his native French Canadian.
UFC and The Ultimate Fighter alums Forrest Griffin and nemesis/best friend Stephan Bonnar, mugged for fan’s cameras (including this fan’s), enjoying the full-contact, all stand-up event along with the rest of the crowd. In all, Reis Sports Entertainment succeeded in delivering another quality XFA show to fans and viewers of its live broadcast. Already, demand for more has the promotion planning its third event for a yet undisclosed Fall 2008 date.
About Reis Sports Entertainment
Reis Sports Entertainment, LLC (RSE) is a Professional Martial Arts Promoter licensed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. RSE created the sports brand, the Xtreme Fighting Association TM (XFA) which will be holding a series of events in Las Vegas, Nevada. The XFA’s debut event “XFA- I: Stand & Deliver” will be held March 22, 2008, at the Las Vegas Hilton.
For more information: www.XFAlive.com
