UNTAMED 21 EVENT MAKES A STAND FOR MASS. MMA

Posted on | June 10, 2008 | No Comments

By: Rich Bergeron

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Massachusetts lawmakers are poised to enact legislation to regulate mixed martial arts in the state in the near future, and the storm of media attention resulted recently in some local pundits criticizing a sport they just don’t understand. For Instance, 20/20 put out this report:

ULTIMATE FIGHTING: KIDS IN THE RING

The story centered on a Fall River Mayor with his offices right down the street from an MMA Training Center: Gillett’s Gym. There was also a unique focus on kids involved in the sport and how dangerous that might be. Just as CBS unveiled their first broadcast of mixed martial arts on national free television, Untamed 21 took place locally at Plymouth Memorial Hall just a few blocks away from where the Pilgrims once landed. Team Gillett had multiple participants in action on the card, and the local CBS news affiliate sent a crew to cover the event considering all the recent controversy.

State Sen. James E. Timilty, D-Walpole, recently sought a temporary ban on the sport in order to reconfigure the boxing commission and get regulation in place. While regulation is not so much a problem, Timilty’s lack of understanding of the sport is. His proposal calls for expansion of the state Boxing Commission from three to five members, with the extra members being experts in martial arts and boxing. Licensing of fighting contests, he said, would allow the state to take 2 percent of the gate from fights held in the state, as well as up to $75,000 from television rights for televised events.

All in all, that arrangement doesn’t sound too bad if the lull in action is not so great that it interferes with the scheduling of events around the state. Yet, Timilty offered the Worcester Telegram and Gazette some asinine quotes when speaking about the bill: “’Currently, these are nothing more than unregulated street fights’ that have generated a large following, Timilty said.”

Untamed 21 Promoter Mike Varner set the record straight by letting the crowd at Untamed 21 know the state wants to regulate the sport and he supports that. Yet, he also announced that shows like his have been going on unregulated in the State for about 6 years without any major snags. I doubt anyone who knows the sport would agree that these matches are anything like street fights.

The event also highlighted the great things these events do for charity. A fixture at Untamed events, Baby Giovanni (www.savegiovanni.org) made an appearance and was as cheerful as ever. Born with a rare ailment, Baby Giovanni’s story inspired one of the largest bone marrow drives in history. There was also a touching tribute to Shane Hammond who was tragically killed in a professional racing accident. The 50/50 raffle proceeds were also donated to the former Untamed employee’s family.

As always, several local stars made appearances with a heavy UFC presence. Jorge Rivera, Kurt Pellegrino, Mark De LaGrotte, Pat Schultz, Joe Lauzon, Dan Lauzon, Kenny Florian, and Gabriel Gonzaga were all in the house to see the fights go down.

As far as the fighting that went on at Untamed 21, it was intense and entertaining. The amateur fights all went the distance with the final fight being the most exciting of the evening. 170-pounders Adam Quitt and Dana Spencer (South Shore Sportfighting) battled all three rounds to a decision. Both fighters came out swinging with each landing some great left and right hooks. Both also tried guillotine chokes but couldn’t close the deal in the first. It was almost all hooks in the second with Quitt throwing so many bombs it was simply miraculous that Spencer didn’t go down. Both fighters came into the third round exhausted, but it was Quitt who was more active with punching. Spencer tried to land a few weak uppercuts but didn’t do any damage. Quitt ended the round with a series of right hooks that hit home. Quitt took home a Unanimous Decision to kick off the evening’s festivities.

Next up, a couple of fighters making their amateur debut went at it through another three round battle. Tony Reis (AMMA) fell short against Andy Meyer (IMB CT) in the 180-pound contest. Meyer wasted no time getting Reis’ back in the first, throwing bombs from behind. Reis did finally manage to twist out and get up, but from there he took the worst of the striking exchanges. Reis found himself on the bottom again with Meyer maintaining back control in the second until Reis managed a reversal. He fought for a single leg takedown until he did finally secure it. Meyer later worked a guillotine attempt to no avail. Reis was all about trying to get a single or double leg takedown in the final round with Meyer sprawling well and once again getting back control. Showing just enough poise and ability to get into a situation he favored (back control) in each and every round, Meyer earned a 29-28 unanimous decision.

155-pounders Justin Brangieros (Savage) and Matt Pestana (Aggression) also faced each other in their first ever MMA bout as amateurs. Pestana’s cornermen included both Lauzon brothers, so he had a leg up on the situation going into the fight. Brangieros did get the early takedown, but Pestana reversed quickly and nearly ended it with a rear naked choke attempt he had locked in tight. The slippery Brangieros managed to wriggle out. Pestana tried punching him from behind when the choke didn’t pan out and Brangieros finally did squeeze out of it by keeping his chin in and popping his head out after a long struggle.

Pestana’s second round performance was even better with an early takedown against the fence and a consistent ground and pound attack. Brangieros went for several sloppy arm bar attempts that went nowhere. Pestana pummeled him with hooks to the ribs from the top and completely controlled the round. In a repeat of the first round Pestana found himself on the ground again after a Brangieros takedown. Once again he reversed and rained down hooks from the top. Aside from a few kicks, a jab, and a nice uppercut from Brangieros, there was nothing he could do in the third to win. Pestana took home the decision with a 29-27 and two 29-28 scores.

Steve Jaeger (0-2) of Jakes Gym took on Jason Butimer (SSS) next at heavyweight. Both fighters traded wild roundhouses and sloppy punches through the entire first round. Finally Butimer scored a knee to end the round. The second round was better for Jaeger as he secured back control and nailed Butimer with some right hooks to the head from behind. Butimer was weak in the round with only a few bright moments. He managed to get off the ground only to get the worst of the slugging exchanges. He did land an uppercut and a nice straight right, but Jaeger came right back with a 1-2 and a phenomenal straight right followed up by a huge slam. Butimer tried to lock in a guillotine near the end of the round, but it was just as sloppy as his striking and didn’t work. Butimer only managed a knee to the chest in the third and an awkward side choke attempt. Jaeger simply took over. He landed a 1-2 and then secured a double leg takedown. With side control he rode out the round to take the completely one-sided 30-27 UD win.

Casey Milliken and Joe Proctor was the only fight of the night that I didn’t take notes for. I’m glad I decided to tape the whole 160-pound fight instead. Although the graphic work of trying to figure out how to download all three rounds of the fight has been quite a pain in the ass, YouTube did the trick and here we have it. This was one of the best amateur MMA fights I’ve ever seen. Both guys deserve their moment in the spotlight, and even after all the pro fights were over nobody else on the card generated as much buzz and excitement out of the crowd in Memorial Hall. Proctor pulled out the win, but neither fighter left anything in the cage. See for yourself:

PART ONE:

PART TWO:

PART THREE:

The Pro Fight Card featured 6 solid fights, though many ended earlier than expected. The first fight was uneventful with 170-pounders Travis Coyle (0-1, Snake Pit) facing Joe McGann (0-0, USMMA). Coyle did the best he could landing an early kick to McGann’s head that was more glancing than it was a direct blow. He also managed a few leg kicks and some hooks. He even secured a takedown in the first two minutes before McGann went ballistic. McGann got his own takedown and side control before Coyle got back up. McGann mixed hooks and uppercuts well in the punch exchanges and finally ended things with a wild barrage of hooks that dropped Coyle cold at 2:03 of Round 1 for a knockout victory.

The aforementioned Team Gillett put controversy aside and sent Adrian Coleman to make his professional debut against a 40-something Scott Rehm (2-0, Sityodong). The 205 pounders battled back and forth in the match with Rehm not showing any of the explosiveness that won him his first two matches. Rehm, who honed many of his skills as a special forces soldier, lost the war of attrition when he finally became too gassed out to get up off the ground.

Rehm was quick to get started, creating a welt under Coleman’s eye in the first few moments of the match. Coleman could only land jabs early though he later connected with an overhand right and a left hook. He also mixed in a kick. Rehm’s offense was mostly grappling, though he landed some fierce punches and kicks in the early going. Trying one huge head kick on his taller opponent, Rehm fell right on his rear end and Coleman let him back up. Rehm’s awkward, looping slugging fooled his previous two opponents, but Coleman weathered the storm and stuck to what he knew best. Seeing that Rehm seemed to have no desire to take the fight to the ground, Coleman took it there for his own benefit. He secured a takedown from behind and ended the fight with heavy-handed ground and pound. Rehm had been well on his way to getting the victory if he could have kept fighting on his feet. However, he expended all his energy trying to knock Coleman out early. Though Coleman was the bigger man, his sloppy and unrefined approach seemed to be carrying him to an embarrassing defeat before he turned on the jets and got the job done.

152 pounders Marcos Signorelli and Mark Purtell fought nearly 5 full minutes in the third straight fight to end in the first round on the professional card. Purtell did manage to land some 1-2s, get some takedowns, and pull off a reversal throughout the fight, but Sognorelli persevered. He landed a right hand, a few knees, and a kick to the face before he finished Purtell off with his left eye bleeding badly. He ended the fight with an expertly administered neck crank with seconds to go in the first round.

Chad Hart (0-0, Brazilian Martial Arts Center) took on Todd Solek (1-1, IMB CT) next at 185 pounds. Solek started fast with a Superman punch. He managed to get Hart down and took side control. Hart scrambled to avoid punches from the top and worked for a triangle choke and an arm bar. He landed an upkick and somehow got back to his feet. Trading knees back and forth both fighters hit the canvas again with Solek winning another takedown. Hart kicked his way out again where he finally was able to get a formidable advantage with back control. He slipped in the rear naked choke and the fight was over with Solek tapping out at 3:09 of the first round.

The 170 pound fight between Joe Kavey (0-4, Waste Land) and Fred Mello (1-0, Santos) ended in controversy, but Mello seemed well on his way to victory at the time of the early stoppage. Aside from what happened inside the ring, there could have been a riot if it was Mello on the short end of the stick. He had a cheering section that likely saved sagging ticket sales for the event which had to compete with EliteXC on CBS. At least 100 folks in the crowd wore shirts bearing Mello’s name.

Kavey did start strong, pushing Mello against the cage and landing a flurry of punches before Mello backed him up with knees. Mello then tried to end it with a standing guillotine. When that didn’t work he went right back to the knees. He landed knees to Kavey’s gut and a particularly brutal knee to the top of Kavey’s head, though Kavey did not seem to feel the blow. The refereee stopped the action anyway due to the successive blows taken by Kavey without much of a response. The official time of the stoppage was 1:39 in the first.

155 pound fighters Greg Mendes (1-0, Snake Pit) and Vincent Silvestre (0-1, Sityodong) came next with Silvestre getting Mendes on the defensive early. Silvestre took sidemount off an earyl takedown and never let up. He obtained full control with Mendes furiously punching from the bottom to try to get out. From full mount Silvestre dropped an elbow and a succession of potent bombs that bloodied the nose of Mendes and gave the referee no choice but to stop the action at 2:49 of Round 1.

Finally, the only professional fight to go more than one round arrived. The main event paired 190-pounders Gabriel Santos (5-5, Link) against Jerry “The Punching Bag” Spiegal (8-24-1, Renzo). Trained by Marco Alvan and Gabriel Gonzaga, Santos competed in a grappling match at Foxwoods just a few weeks earlier, and that practice paid off. Spiegal’s specialty is the heel hook, but from seeing him fight in the past he doesn’t have much else for skill on the ground. He’s more likely to try to keep a fight on the feet, which is what he did through most of the first round. Both fighters spent a lot of time feeling each other out with Spiegal landing a few early leg kicks and gauging the right distance for his punches. Santos waited a long time to shoot for the double leg and got Spiegal up against the fence. Spiegal turned and found himself in a rear naked choke attempt. He popped out and got the top position where he hit Santos with some excellent ground and pound before getting back up on his feet. Santos took that opportunity to get another takedown near the end of the round, again by way of a double leg.

Spiegal couldn’t do much more in the second to get around the takedown skills of Santos. He landed a couple 1-2 exchanges and secured a guillotine before Santos completely dominated the rest of the round. Santos got another double leg takedown and put Spiegal in a compromising position for the rest of the fight. Santos hit him with hooks to the ribs, hooks to the head, and furious knees to the ribs. Spiegal just couldn’t stand up or reverse the action. The unanimous decision went to Santos in the end.

The night’s event was not as heavily attended as prior Untamed events, but the fact that so many locals showed up and missed the EliteXC fights for the hometown heroes fighting at Memorial Hall was incredible and impressive. Though a few sections were empty, the crowd was still loud enough and enthusiastic about all the fights they watched. CBS news also got to get a picture of what Massachusetts MMA is all about. It’s not that violent, disgusting, outlandish, and borderline illegal pit fighting stuff uneducated people try to call it. It is not human cockfighting. It’s an art, and it’s sweeping the country. Get used to it legislators, and please find out what it really is before you try to ban it.

Check out the post-fight highlight reel:

CHECK OUT ANOTHER PHOTO GALLERY OF UNTAMED 21 HERE!

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