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Mari's Minute Cage of Fire VI Recap
April 14, 2007 "El Auditorio Municipal de Tijuana" (Tijuana Municipal Auditorium) Tijuana, Mexico
With the sixth installment of Cage of Fire held this past Saturday night, promoters Tony Perez and Juan Noriega once again demonstrated that the mixed martial arts scene in Mexico is alive and flourishing with about 3,000 fans in attendance that were treated to 11 stellar bouts at the Tijuana Municipal Auditorium in Tijuana, Mexico. Here is how it all went down.
Fight 1 - Lightweight Bout Enrique "Henry" Briones defeated Manuel Torres at 1:59 of the second round by tap out due to strikes. Both fighters were able to connect well but Briones landed a clean punch that dropped Torres early in the first - Torres did a good job in preventing Briones from getting the full mount. The second round started with Torres connecting early with a right, left combo - The fighters tied up and took it to the ground leaving Briones on top with side mount. Torres, unable to get out, received a series of strikes and decided it was too much - Torres taps out giving Briones the win. Briones, happy with his winning debut, doesn’t hold back and does a back flip for the fans.
Fight 2 - Lightweight Bout Thomas Guimond defeated Eddie Vargas at 1:43 of the second round from a tap out due to a rear naked choke. It was an impressive debut win from this youngster (16 or 17 years old). Vargas was doing well in the first - able to strike & connect but was unsuccessful with a guillotine choke attempt. The first round ended with a rear naked choke attempted by Guimond - who had already received strikes from Vargas when he had him in side mount. A slow start at the beginning of second round - Guimond connected first with a left punch but they tied up - Guimond was able to drop Vargas to the mat and get the full mount. Guimond started pounding - Vargas, trying to get away, gave his back and Guimond sunk in the rear naked choke for the win.
Fight 3 - Welterweight Bout Scott Catlin defeated Lenny Porterfield at 4:13 of the first round from a tap out due to a guillotine choke. Both fighters showed an even exchange of punches at the beginning of the round - Catlin’s frustration showed as he started mumbling through his mouthpiece. Porterfield went for a guillotine choke but Catlin was able to escape and connect with short elbows from top mount position after rolling out of a choke attempt. Then it was Catlin’s turn when he was able to get Porterfield in a guillotine choke - Porterfield taps out giving Catlin the win.
Fight 4 - Lightweight Bout Sean Dizay defeated Ernie Davila at 3:44 of the second round by TKO due to strikes. Dizay dominated most of the fight with his kicks - Dizay was able to connect with a high kick and a few punches in the first round - Towards the end of the first, Davila did connect with a surprising punch combination but Dizay immediately countered with a kick that pushed Davila back. In the second round, Dizay connected with a roundhouse kick but then they tied up and went to the ground. Dizay was able to connect with a series of strikes and a short elbow that cut Davila. The referee stopped the fight to have the doctor look at the cut and it was determined that Davila was unable to continue.
Fight 5 - Lightweight Bout Joe Torres defeated Remin Pineda by second round TKO (4:14) due to strikes. This was my pick for the Fight of the Night. These two warriors were blood wrestling. Starting in the first round, Torres connected with a left elbow while in side mount and opened Pineda up - The blood started pouring out immediately. Referee Larry Landless stopped the fight so that the doctor could check the cut. It took about two minutes for the doctor to limit the bleeding and allow the fight to continue. With some hesitation from the referee, the fight restarted and Torres started to work on the cut - Pineda started bleeding profusely but is still able to defend himself. Towards the end of the round, Pineda was able to get in half mount and connect with a few strike of his own. Round two was all Torres as he dominated with strikes and knees that hurt Pineda. Both fighters looked like they showered in blood. Towards the end of the second round, Torres was able to consecutively connect well - and this led the referee to stop the fight due to uncontested strikes.
Fight 6 - Bantamweight Bout Antonio Duarte defeated Brian Yunkers at 1:50 of the first round due to a tap out from a rear naked choke. This young kid (16 years old) Yunkers was making his debut and got educated very quickly in the sport of MMA - going against an experienced fighter in Duarte with a record of 5-1. Duarte dominated the fight. Although Yunkers appeared to be a little aggressive at first, he became cautious as soon as Duarte connected with the first punch. Duarte was able to dominate and get the rear naked choke. Yunkers showed a lot of courage getting into the cage and should take what he learned from this fight and go back and train for a few years and come back stronger and wiser.
Fight 7 - Welterweight Bout Iuri Silva defeated John Romero by way of first round TKO as the referee stopped the fight due to uncontested strikes. Great win for this Brazilian fighter who currently fights out of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. The round started well for Romero who immediately connected with strikes that showed his confidence - Silva was able to counter with strong low kicks. Romero then got caught with a powerful right hand that stunned and hurt him - Silva takes advantage and the ground and pound game begins. The referee immediately stepped in and stopped the fight due to uncontested strikes.
Fight 8 - Light Heavyweight Bout Emanuel Newton defeated Marcos Rodriguez by submission (arm bar) at 4:32 of the second round. In the first round, Newton was able to show some strength by picking up and slamming Rodriguez - With Rodriguez now on the ground and against the cage, Newton was able to fully mount Rodriguez and connect with strikes - but Rodriguez was able to come out of it and even attempted a guillotine choke of his own. In the second round, Newton was able to get in side mount and connected with strikes that eventually loosened up Rodriguez - allowing Newton to get the arm for the submission win.
Fight 9 - Bantamweight Title Eliminator Bout The local favorite Brandon Gushiken defeated Rafael Salomao with a unanimous decision after three rounds (five minutes each round) of fighting. Salomao was doing well at the beginning of the first round as he connected with some strikes and jumped on Gushiken for a guillotine choke attempt and take down. Salomao held on but eventually Gushiken was able to break loose and stand back up. They had an exchange of punches that favored Gushiken as he landed a strong right hand that took them to the ground. In the second round, it was apparent that Gushiken wanted to keep the fight standing up - Just about every time Salomao went for the take down, Gushiken was able to prevent it. And when they did go to the ground, Gushiken would get back up and allow Salomao to do the same. Gushiken was able to counter and connect well with his strikes in the third round and dominated on his feet which got him the unanimous decision win.
Fight 10 - Lightweight Bout Mauro Salomao defeated Fred Leavy at 1:17 of the first round due to a tap out from a guillotine choke. As the fight started, they had a brief exchange of punches and immediately tied up against the cage - and before you knew it, Leavy had tapped out to a guillotine choke.
Fight 11 - COF Flyweight Championship Bout (vacant) Jesse Miramontes defeated Lonnie Wright - who had a noticeable height advantage. It was obvious at the beginning of the round that Miramontes was there to win and the height disadvantage was no big deal - Miramontes immediately went for the take down and dropped Wright. Miramontes was able to get a guillotine choke and held it until Wright tapped out. Miramontes wins by submission at 3:25 of the first round. Miramontes becomes the new Cage of Fire Flyweight Champion.
Until Next Time, Mari
(4/18/07) |
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