Mari's Minute

King of The Cage "Arrival" Recap

February 25, 2010

San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino

Highland, California

Move over Vancouver, the San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino in Highland, California was the place to be

Thursday night as the casino played host to King of the Cage: Arrival. A good crowd was on hand to enjoy

eight MMA bouts. Here is how it all went down.

Under Card:

The night got off to a great start with a quick submission win by Aaron Arona who was able to get Chris

Wolf to tap to an arm bar.

The second fight of the night went the three round distance - George Sanchez started off strong early in the

first round but David Gomez was able to pick up the pace and control the fight thereafter. Gomez

dominated all three rounds and the judges agreed giving Gomez the unanimous decision win.

Next, Ron Keslar picked up a submission win in 34 seconds of the second round when Jonathan

Brandon tapped to a rear naked choke.

Main Card: 

The main card kicked off with a back-and-forth battle between Dave Rivas and Martin Bautista - These

two fighters battled the entire three rounds and in the end, the judges gave Rivas the unanimous decision

win.

Muay Thai stand-out Malaipet Sasiprapa never got to utilize his stand-up game after he was able to land a

low kick that sent Musa Tolliver down in the opening seconds of the fight - as Malaipet was taken down at

will by Tolliver who used his elbows and some ground-and-pound to dominate the entire three rounds.

Malaipet showed a lot of heart absorbing all the elbows from the top......but in the end, he just took a

beating. Tolliver takes the easy unanimous decision win. 

Then came Waachiim Spiritwolf against Ismael Gonzalez. This battle started with a quick exchange to

the delight of the crowd.....Spiritwolf was then able to work and get the back of Gonzalez, trying for a rear

naked choke....but then the fight was stopped when referee Herb Dean observed a blow to the back of the

head of Gonzalez....Spiritwolf seemed to be motioning to the ref that it was a strike to the side of the

head.......the doctor was called in to look at Gonzalez after he didn’t appear to be recovering...and after a

brief check-up, the doctor stopped the fight at 4:00 of round one and the bout was declared a Technical

Draw.

Reuben Duran and Ryan Diaz almost went the three round distance - Diaz started off the first round on his

back and worked for an arm bar submission but then transitioned to a triangle choke which he almost

secured.....it looked tight but Duran battled out of it. Duran tried to dish out some ground-and-pound but Diaz

would eventually be able to wall walk to get the fight standing again.....Diaz then took Duran down to end

the round on top. Round two saw both fighters try and keep busy but it was round three that had the crowd

on their feet - Diaz came out and tried to connect with a left high kick but looked to have slipped a bit and

Duran took him down...Diaz was able to reverse positions with Duran and got into a position to try for a heel

hook.....Diaz was working hard to secure the left foot of Duran but Duran would have none of that - motioning

to Diaz that he had nothing.  The referee eventually stood them up and with only 10 seconds left in the

round, Duran let it all hang out and came at Diaz with a barrage of punches - landing a powerful right

uppercut which he followed up with a flurry of punches that sent Diaz face first onto the mat...the ref quickly

waved the fight over as Diaz was out - Duran wins by knockout with only three seconds left in the third and

final round.

The main event for the night saw the King of the Cage Jr. Welterweight Title on the line - Rick Legere would

be defending his title against Bobby Green. A stare down and no touching of the gloves got the fight

underway. Legere went for a take down early on but Green stayed on his feet. Green connected with a

couple of clean jabs that got the crowd cheering. They tied-up and Legere picked Green up and dropped him

to the canvas and the crowd loved it -  It was clear that Legere wanted to keep the fight on the ground but

Green always found his way up. Green’s stand-up eventually over powered Legere when Green connected

with a clean set of punches that sent Legere down on his back.....it looked like Green thought it was over but

it wasn't - Legere rolled over to all fours when Green realized the fight had not been stopped and started

throwing punched until the ref had seen enough and stopped the bout. Green wins the title from Legere at

4:27 of the first round.

Until next time,

Mari Nava

(2/26/09)