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Mari's Minute MMAX Fights Results \ Recap
March 3, 2007 Caliente Race Track Arena Tijuana, Mexico
It was another great turnout Saturday night for MMAX Fights at the Caliente Race Track Arena in Tijuana, Mexico. About 2,000 fans in attendance were geared up for the 14 bouts (Mixed Martial Arts and Muay Thai) scheduled - with a few championship belts on the line too. But before the action got underway, the ring girls and dancers got the crowd pumped up and rowdy.
The first five fights went fairly smoothly - ending in the first round.
In the first fight of the night, Beau King defeated Rick Screeton by submission due to a guillotine choke.
The second fight saw Santiago Manzanares defeat Lucas XFactor in a MMA match up. Santiago won in the first round by TKO.
On to the third fight which saw Josh Valencia defeat Jose Luis Cocafuegos in the first round by TKO - Referee stoppage due to strikes.
Next, we saw announcer extraordinaire and fighter Manolo Hernandez defeat Inferno in the first round due to a tap out from a choke hold. Not much of a match-up for Hernandez with this “Luchador” opponent. For a moment there, I thought I was at a Lucha Libre (Pro Wrestling) event. Sorry, not my taste - so I wasn’t impressed when Inferno came out and was allowed to leave his mask on during the bout. That obviously worked against him, since it looked like he was unable to breath through his mask once it moved position.
The fifth fight of the night saw Michael Pratt win over Stacy Hakes with a rear naked choke submission. Pratt took it to the ground early on and went for the side mount. Hakes struggled to get up and ended up giving his back - allowing Pratt to get a good grip on the neck for the tap out.
And for the fight of the night, Jorge Perez won over Gabriel Medina. This was a great Muay Thai match from beginning to end. The first two rounds were close - Both trading punches and knees. By the end of the second round, Perez appeared to be the more exhausted one. Both fighters came to win and it showed in the third round - Perez landed a clean left hook that hurt Medina. Medina countered with punches of his own that hurt Perez. Then Perez connected with three consecutive knees that rocked Medina but Medina countered with some strikes that also rocked Perez. Perez came back with all that he had left and started to throw punches one after the other - right and left. Medina was now too exhausted to counter. The referee stepped in and stopped the fight giving Perez the win by TKO at 2:47 of the third round due to strikes. Fans were on their feet applauding these two great warriors and it was well deserved.
Then came fight seven - Jesse Taylor defeated Noe Rodriguez in the second round due to a tap out from a rear naked choke submission.
Fight eight saw David Gardner defeat Victor Kahiser in the first round by submission due to an arm bar. David Gardner takes the middleweight championship belt in Vale Tudo.
Fight nine was for the super heavyweight championship belt. Joe Atoe defeated Depredador (another Luchador) in the second round. Referee stoppage - TKO due to uncontested strikes to the head.
The 10th fight was a controversial one. Yahir Reyes defeated Robert Peralta by tap out due to a rear naked choke in the first round. As soon as the referee stopped the fight, Peralta argued with him - asking why? The referee gestured that he tapped out - Peralta arguing he didn’t. I didn’t see the tap out but Reyes did appear to have a good grip on the rear naked choke, so maybe it was just a matter of time anyway.
Fight 11 saw Mike De La Torre defeat Enrique Cuellar in the first round due to a tap out from an arm bar after strikes. Mike De La Torre gets championship.
Then came fight # 12. This fight really made me think I was watching “lucha libre.” Hades (Luchador) came into the ring with his wrestling attire - mask and all...including a folding metal chair. But, he was smart enough to take the mask off to fight. As one would expected, Chris Denisis dominated most of the early round, connecting with strikes as he wished - with Hades turning his back taking the punches. Hades was able to throw a punch that connected but didn’t appear to have any impact. Then I noticed that Denisis was no longer punching or doing anything - Hades took advantage of that and started throwing punches and before I knew it, the referee stopped the fight - TKO win for Hades due to strikes. Didn't see that coming.
The second to the last bout for the night saw local favorite Akbarh Arreola take on Marquis McNight. Once again, Arreola demonstrated he has what it takes to be a champion. Arreola won via a TKO - referee stoppage due to strikes. The first round started with Arreola connecting with a clean left punch that stunned McNight and dropped him to the ground. Arreola mounts McNight and the ground & pound begins. It looked like McNight tapped out as the referee stepped in to stop the fight.
And in the last fight of the night, Aaron Brink defeated Lloyd Marshbank by TKO in the second round - Referee stoppage due to strikes.
With lots of action witnessed through out the night plus the dancers in between rounds, it made for an overall good show. And it's always a good sign when the fans appear pleased - and that they did.
Until next time, Mari
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