Mari's Minute

King of The Cage Recap

"Premiere"

January 24, 2008

San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino

777 San Manuel Blvd.

Highland, California

Last Thursday night at the San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino in Highland, California - King of the Cage

held their premiere event at its new venue presenting six action packed bouts to the delight of the capacity

crowd of over 3,000 fans.

The night started out with back-to-back knockouts. 

William Sriyapai was able to seal the deal – finishing off Alex Rickards with a left kick to the body at 3:29

of round one. The former Muay Thai champion, Sriyapai, demonstrated his kicking skills connecting to the

thigh throughout the round. Eventually, he caught Rickards with a clean right and left hook to the face that

heavily stunned Rickards - and as Rickards was stumbling back, Sriyapai connected with the body kick that

ended the fight - The referee stepped in to protect Rickards (who did appear to have been knocked out by the

left hook prior to the finishing kick).

Next, Rick Legere was able to pound his way to victory over Fortino Sanchez. It took just 56 seconds for

Legere to execute his plan - to knock his opponent out. Legere demonstrated his strength with an impressive

take down as he picked up Sanchez and slammed him hard early in the round. The crowd loved it and they

went wild as Legere connected with right and left hooks from top position until Sanchez was out cold - giving

him the knockout win.

Tony Lopez vs. John Brock was up next. What a great battle between these two warriors. The non-stop

action ended at 3:33 of the third round when Lopez was able to secure a rear naked choke for the win. In

round one, Lopez was able to get a take down and from top position, connected with punches and a couple

of elbows but was unable to pass guard and progress. Meanwhile, Brock was able to reverse position and

connected with a few punches of his own ending the round. Brock started the second round with a bloody

nose from the punches he suffered in round one - Lopez looked a little gassed but connected with a nice

body kick that hurt Brock. Brock came back pressing and connecting with punches. They tied-up and

scrambled to the floor. Brock, from bottom position, went for the triangle choke but Lopez slipped away.

They fought back to their feet and Lopez connected with great shots and just when you thought he was

about to take over, Brock came back with punches of his own. The back and forth battle went to the third

round, where once again they went to the ground. They rolled around switching positions and Lopez saw

an opening for the rear naked choke and secured it for the win.

Then came Rich Dalton against crowd favorite Don Rocco. Dalton took a unanimous decision win after

three, five minute rounds of action. A brief stand-up exchange between the two started off the fight - but

from that point on, most of the fight was spent tied-up or on the ground.  At the beginning of round two,

Rocco connected with a couple of knees as they tied-up but he looked to breathing a little heavy. Dalton

was then able to get a take down. Dalton connected with hammer fists to the face from the top position -

but not much more as the referee restarted them in the center of the cage. Dalton fought his way to full

mount in the final 10 seconds of the round…but a little too late as the bell rang ending the round. Rocco

started round three with a swollen right eye - and the final round resembled the previous two - Dalton getting

the takedown and connecting with short punches to the face while Rocco looked for the submission win,

working the ground game. While Dalton was on top, Rocco kept him close in full guard and at one point,

Rocco was able to get a triangle choke but just when you thought he had it sunk in, Dalton slipped away. It

was a decent battle but in my humble opinion…a more deserving verdict would have been a draw.

Next up, Buddy Clinton vs. Gave Rivas. The much taller Clinton was able to get a take down early in the

first round - And as they scrambled, Rivas gave his back and Clinton jumped right on it. Clinton worked the

rear naked choke but a strong Rivas was able to pull the arm off - preventing the submission. Clinton then

went for the arm bar and stretched out to get the verbal tap from Rivas at 2:04 of round one.

Then came the much anticipated main event - Thomas “Wildman” Denny vs. Joe Camacho. You could

see the tension between the two before the bell sounded and once it did, they went at it hard - with an even

exchange of punches. Denny was able to get a take down and top position early while Camacho, from the

bottom, went for the arm bar but Denny was able to roll out  of it. Denny continued on top but Camacho had

full guard. Camacho was also able to connect with a short right from the bottom. Denny countered with

consecutive short punches to the face. The referee eventually stood them back up and they went at it once

again in the center of the cage. This time, Camacho got the take down and top position. Denny kept him

close but Camacho connected with hammer fists as the round came to an end. As round two started, they

touched gloves, Camacho came in working the left jab that connected immediately - He followed it with a

hard right to the face that really rocked Denny – he then followed up with a left high kick that helped drop

Denny to the mat. Camacho rushed on top and connected with hammer fists that led the referee to step in

and stop the fight at 37 seconds of the second round. We were able to briefly speak with Denny after the

fight and he acknowledged that he was out after receiving the right from Camacho. 

In closing, it was a great night for King of the Cage, the fans and the San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino.

Don’t miss the next KOTC event coming in March. 

Until next time,

Mari

(1/28/08)