3 PFC titles change hands
Posted on | January 21, 2008 | No Comments
Teixeira, Lighty wow crowd
LEMOORE, Ca. — Glover Teixeira joked to Scott Lighty that he beat him.
Not in the ring or cage, but in the time of their bouts.
The Arroyo Grande mixed martial artist knocked out Brazil’s Jorge Oliveira in just five seconds of their Palace Fighting Championship light heavyweight bout on Thursday at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino, drawing rave revues from all those in attendance at the sold-out event.
“I beat you again,” Teixeira told Pit Fight teammate Lighty, who defeated Humboldt’s Derek Thornton (3-10) by verbal submission at 2:33 in the first round.
“I saw a guy in front of me and I punched hard and fast just like John (Hanckleman) told me to,” said Teixeira, who recorded the fastest knockout in PFC history.
“I said at the weighins I was going to hit him in the face and I did it.”
It was easily one of the most exciting fights in PFC history. The build for the fight started at the weighins when the pair engaged in a stare down that led to each fighter inching closer and closer.
The same happened at the start of the fight, as Teixeira entered and made his way to Oliveira’s corner and then the two exchanged more unpleasant stares when meeting in the center of the ring.
From the bell, Teixeira, who is a training partner of former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell (21-5), came straight across the ring and Oliveira landed a leg kick, but ate an overhand right that dropped him to the canvas.
It was also a night of changing of the guard for the PFC, as three belts changed hands.
In the most controversial fight of the night, Porterville’s Shawn Klarcyk (6-2) lost by technical knockout to Oakdale’s Rolando Velasco (5-0) for the PFC World Bantamweight championship at 1:46 of the fourth round.
“I wasn’t out. I’ve been hit a lot harder than that in practice,” Klarcyk said after the fight ended when referee Josh Rosenthal stopped the fight after Velasco landed a superman punch that dazed Klarcyk, knocking him to the mat.
“He was stunned that’s for sure,” Velasco said. “He wasn’t out, but who knows I could have still finished the fight right there if the ref didn’t step in.”
The ending drew several boos from the crowd.
“I’m not going to hang my head,” Klarcyk said. “I was catching him with the jab and left hook. I thought I was winning the standup and setting him up for the takedowns. I thought it would go five rounds and I would finish it there.”
The first three rounds were as exciting as the fourth. The pair put on a brilliant display of boxing and grappling.
“I thought I might have finished the fight early with a couple toe holds,” Klarcyk said.
Meanwhile, Velasco was figuring the fight would go the distance, as he weathered an intense pace set by Klarcyk.
“I thought it would go the distance,” Velasco said. “I thought maybe the first round was even, but I had won rounds two and three. I wasn’t really looking for the finish, but the superman punch was open, so in the fourth round I thought I would try it.”
Atlanta lightweight Diego Saraiva (10-6-1) upset champion Poppies Martinez (14-4) of Lemoore by submission at 2:08 of the first round.
Saraiva connected with a leg kick that knocked Martinez down and the speedy jiu-jitsu black belt hurried in and took Martinez’ back.
“I don’t know if I hurt him or knocked him off balance, but I was kicking as hard as I could,” Saraiva said. “It works for me. And I put it in my head that I’m not going to lose this fight. I’ve lost three fights in a row in the UFC and I trained harder for this fight than any of those. I trained harder for this fight than I did for Jorge Gurgel.”
The leg kick proved to be the deciding factor in the fight.
“I think I might have torn something,” Martinez said later.
Once Saraiva had Martinez’ back it was a matter of time before he was able to sink the rear-naked choke all the way in.
“I’m excited about the win, having the belt and being able to come back and defend it,” Saraiva said. “I’d like to fight for the 145-pound belt, too. I want them both.”
Martinez was hit by a low blow early in the round, but shook it off and attacked Saraiva with punches after the fight was restarted.
Velasco’s teammate Oakdale featherweight Art Arciniega (6-1) won the PFC World title with a submission of Oroville’s Shawn Bias (12-6) at 2:07 in the fourth round.
The fight went virtually as expected with exception of the finish.
Bias controlled the tempo early with the takedowns, but Arciniega caught fire late.
Soon Arciniega was catching Bias with the guillotine after every shot and Bias was forced to pull guard on a few occasions. Arciniega, who looked the fresher fighter late, worked out of an ankle lock in the third and finished with a submission of his own in the fourth.
“I knew this was how the fight was going to go,” Arciniega said. “I felt like I was stronger than he was, but he was scrappy. We knew he was going to go for the takedowns, but I didn’t think he would get them the way he was.”
Bias shot for a takedown in the fourth and was caught in a tight guillotine, but postured his way out of it. After some brief exchanges on the ground, Arciniega finally locked in the triangle.
“I was about 20 seconds away from letting that triangle go,” Arciniega said. “He just wouldn’t tap, but then he adjusted and it sunk deeper and I just squeezed.”
Lighty, who is better known as a K1 standout, was impressive in his MMA debut.
“I landed a head kick and that dazed him and it unraveled from there,” Lighty said.
But Thornton was a game opponent early. He pressed the actionlanding several good techniques, but Lighty connected with a knee and then a head kick that rocked Thornton.
Lighty then went to work on the ground and pounded Thornton into a verbal submission, due to a cut over his left eye.
“I have the best trainers and workout partners in the world,” Lighty said. “And that’s how I fight, I never stop.”
More impressive than Lighty’s striking, was his takedown defense. He stopped several Thornton takedown attempts.
In the main event, Coarsegold heavyweight Anthony Ruiz (20-10) beat Sacramento’s Brad Imes (10-4) by split decision.
Ruiz was able to score points in the first two rounds, pressing the action and winning the battle in the clinch in the first round.
“After the first round, I really gained some confidence,” said Ruiz, who was outweighed by 55 pounds. “He couldn’t take me down from the clinch and I was active and that gave me some confidence going into the next two rounds.”
The only serious damage to either fighter came in the form of an Imes knee in the third round.
“That really changed the momentum of the fight,” Ruiz said. “I’m glad it came in the third round and not the first. But it was my heart that won me the fight. I refused to let my mind tell me that I couldn’t win. That’s what makes you weak, when your mind takes over and tells you that you can’t do something.”
In other bouts:
— Fresno lightweight Casey Olson (6-1) bounced back from an injury ridden 2007 with a technical knockout of Anaheim’s Scott Brommage (1-3) at 1:48 of the first round.
“It felt good to be back in there,” Olson said. “I was a little nervous, but got over that after his first kick. He was taller than I was, but once I got it down on the ground it felt great.”
Olson took Brommage down early in the first round and worked Brommage into his corner where he eventually passed and finished the fight with a barrage of punches.
“He was strong and trying to control my posture,” Olson said. “My corner kept telling me to posture up and once I did I was able to start punching.”
— Moscow, Russia welterweight Alex Serdyukov (6-4) won by technical knockout over Hamilton, MT’s Mike Gates (4-2-1) at 2:05 of the second round.
After an action packed first round, Serdyukov landed a vicious knee to the body, which dropped Gates and then Serdyukov followed up with a barrage of punches and knees to the body.
The fight eventually came back to the feet, but Gates was obviously hurt and was taken down and then mounted where the fight ended.
— Brentwood light heavyweight Ricardo Barros (2-1) defeated Grand Forks, ND’s Eric Pribble (4-2) by submission at 1:20 in the first round.
Barros took Pribble down and then worked his superior jiu-jitsu skills to sink a rear-naked choke.
— Taft welterweight Doug Hunt (4-2) defeated Lemoore’s Andrew Martinez (4-1-1) by technical knockout at 2:04 of the second round.
The first round was a standup slugfest with each fighter hurting the other, but unable to finish the fight. Hunt closed Martinez’ left eye in the first round and cut him over the right in the second.
The doctor stopped the fight, due to Martinez’ cut, with both fighters bloodied and battered.
— Lemoore welterweight Tony Alanis (5-3) avenged a loss to Visalia’s Tom Owens (2-2) with a technical knockout at 2:58 in first round.
Alanis scored a takedown then unleashed leg kicks and pounded Owens out for the victory.
— Madera heavyweight Joaquin Sanchez (2-1) stopped Taft’s Austin Achorn (0-4) by submission at 20 seconds of the first round. The pair locked up in the middle of the ring and Achorn was forced to the mat and had to tap because of an injured knee.
— Lemoore featherweight Sergio Quinones (2-1) defeated Bakersfield’s Fernando Arreola (2-4-1) by split decision.
Quinones was able to eke out the decision controlling the bout with several takedowns and avoiding several slick submissions by Arreola.
— Santa Rosa middleweight Nate Loughran (7-0) submitted Fresno’s Richard Montoya (6-4) at 42 seconds in the second round.
Loughran caught Montoya in an armbar after controlling the first round with his ground game. Montoya looked strong on his feet, landing several good shots, but Loughran was able to take down Montoya when needed.
— Sacramento’s Joseph Benevides (2-0) submitted Eugene OR’s Jason Georgianna (5-2) at 38 seconds of the second round.
— Visalia bantamweight Brandon Miller (3-1) stopped Albuquerque NM’s Ed Tomaselli (3-5) by technical knockout 2:27 of the first round.