Mari's Minute

Total Fighting Alliance 7 Recap

August 11, 2007

 Santa Monica Civic Auditorium

Santa Monica, California

This past Saturday night, the Total Fighting Alliance (TFA) held their seventh installment of Hardcore Cage

Fighting at the Santa Monica Civic Center, in Santa Monica, California. An estimated 1,500 fans in

attendance were treated to a total of eight fights - four of which were title bouts. The crowd was loud and

couldn’t wait for the fights to begin as they ran about an hour late from their scheduled start time. This gave

the fans more than enough time to get their drink on and they sure did - The fans had the beautiful, barely

dressed waitresses working overtime with equal back and forth action outside the cage.

Once the fights started, so did the real action. The first fight of the night was for the Welterweight

championship. Champion JJ Ambrose wins was going up against Adam Lehman. Lots of back and forth

action early in round one but Ambrose was able to hook a guillotine choke after an exciting slam that got the

spirited filled fans to their feet. JJ Ambrose was able to retain his Welterweight Championship belt defeating

Adam Lehman at 1:23 of round one.

A touching moment for all when a huge banner was brought out by Ambrose’s camp in loving memory of

Jeremy Williams who passed away in May of this year at a young age of 27. He was well respected by

the fighting community and a fan of the TFA and the TFA was a fan of his and remembered him through the

big screen as they repeatedly played back his last interview done by the TFA organization.

Next, a great match up between Maurice Eazel against Todd Guimond for the Bantamweight

Championship belt. This was a five round (three minutes each round) bout that had lots of crazy action and

submission attempts - and at one point, Eazel looked to be asleep from a choke but held on and the fight

continued until the final round. In the end, Guimond took a split decision win with judges scoring 50-45

Guimond, 48-47 Eazel, 50-45 Guimond. Guimond retained his championship belt. The fans were not happy

with the judges decision - booed the winner voicing their disappointment. Here’s how that fight went down:

Round One -  They touched gloves and Guimond delivered a left jab countered by a punch from Eazel. They

tied up against the cage and Eazel tried to get Guimond’s back and in the struggle, worked their way onto

the matt. Guimond was able to get full guard and worked on a kimura from that position but was

unsuccessful. With Eazel on top, Guimond went for a guillotine choke and then Guimond reversed position.

They both worked their way up. Guimond was able to deliver a couple of knees and an elbow to the chest as

they worked from the clinch.

Round Two - They touched gloves, Guimond landed a right, left combo as Eazel went for the take down.

They went to the ground for a moment and Guimond was able to take Eazel down. Eazel was now on all

fours and Guimond went for a rear naked choke but was unsuccessful. They scrambled and Eazel was able

to throw Guimond with a hip toss and Eazel ended up on top. Guimond secured a full guard. Guimond

attempted a kimura from the bottom but came up short. Guimond then tried a triangle arm bar but Eazel was

able to pull away. The round ended with Guimond kicking Eazel away from the floor.

Round Three - Guimond started the round with a couple of weak jabs. Then Guimond threw a high kick that

was partially blocked. Eazel was able to get a double leg take down and top position. They both scrambled

and Eazel ended up on top with side control but not doing much damage. Guimond, from bottom position,

appeared to be looking for a triangle submission but was able to get the neck for a guillotine choke as they

scrambled on the mat. Eazel was able to pull away from the guillotine into a half mount position ending the

round.

Round Four - The round began and Eazel connected with a right low kick as Guimond went for a single leg

take down - but Eazel was able to stay standing. Guimond connected with a strong jab and then got the

neck for the guillotine as they tied up and went to the ground. Eazel got top position while Guimond got full

guard. Eazel threw punches but Guimond did a good job in blocking. Guimond pushed Eazel away with a

kick and they stood back up. They tied up again with Guimond pushing Eazel against the cage and down.

Guimond got a guillotine from the side with his feet pushing against the cage creating pressure - and just

when you think he had it, the bell rings saving Eazel from a submission. Guimond let him go but Eazel

looked out.

Round Five - Guimond delivered punches and they tied up. Eazel then took Guimond down over his right

side. Eazel ended up in side position but not doing any harm. Guimond went for a kimura from the bottom

but Eazel was able to pull away. Another Kimura attempted by Guimond but came up short again. They

scrambled as Guimond attempted to roll Eazel but Eazel was able to stay in Guimond’s guard ending the

fight. 

In other action, Justin “Bully” Schalk won over Cesar De La Torre by TKO at 2:40 of round one due to

uncontested strikes. A dominating performance by the “Bully” as he immediately connected with a right that

stunned De La Torre. Although De La Torre was able to counter with a knee, it wasn’t enough to keep Schalk

away. Schalk’s powerful punches and elbows dominated and that led to the referee stoppage. After Schalk’s

outstanding performance, the current heavyweight champion, Jullian Rush, was called to the cage where it

was announced that Schalk would get a shot at the heavyweight title at the next TFA event to be held in

October.

Another great title fight was between Jason Bukich and Daniel Hernandez for the middleweight title. Both

showed off their great grappling/wrestling skills in a very well match. This is how it went down:

Round One -They touched gloves and circled the cage for a moment. Bukich was first to strike with a low

Thai kick and Hernandez countered with the same. Hernandez took Bukich down with a head lock throw.

Hernandez ended up in top position - then Bukich rolled him over to gain top position. Bukich attempted an

arm bar but Hernandez was able to pull out and stand up. Now standing, Hernandez came in and clinched.

Hernandez got Bukich with a hip throw and ended in top position - and from there goes for a guillotine but

doesn’t quite get it. They moved around with Bukich trying to stand up but Hernandez still had the guillotine

hold. Bukich rolled into top position but was still stuck in the guillotine. Finally, Bukich was able to pull out

and from top position, connected with elbows and punches ending the round.

Round Two- Hernandez was first to connect with a low kick but Bukich countered with a high kick.

Hernandez moved in and clinched. They scrambled to the floor and Bukich was able to get Hernandez’s

back with a body triangle. Bukich delivered body punches from that position. They scrambled again with

Hernandez ending back in top position. Bukich shot for the arm bar and got it. Hernandez had no choice but

to tap as he rolled over. Bukich won by submission at 1:08 of round two.

As to the main event, Featherweight champion Armando Sanchez easily defended his belt against Justin

“Gator” Harris. Sanchez was able to get in side mount position, trapping Harris’ arms with his legs (crucifix

style) allowing him to connect with powerful strikes - giving the referee no choice but to stop the fight.

In other non-title bouts, Traver Boehm won by submission (triangle choke) at 1:46 of the first round over

Aaron Miller in lightweight action. Steve Magdeleno won a three round split decision over Jesse Romero

in another lightweight contest. And Jason Cordero won by submission (rear naked choke) at 1:10 of the

first round over Benjamin Gonzalez in a welterweight bout. 

Before we knew it, the event was over. One fight right after the other with only a 15 minute break - we were

done and out by 10 pm. That hasn’t happened in a long time…

Until next time, 

Mari

TheFightGame.tv

(8/15/07)