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By: Brad Walker, MMATorch Columnist
XFO 45 OUTDOOR WAR 8
AUGUST 18, 2012
REPORT FROM ISLAND LAKE, ILLINOIS
XFO hit the Sideouts Bar and Grill in Island Lake, Illinois, and MMATorch's Brad Walker was live cageside for the event. Check out Brad's round by round coverage of the night's main card below, along with quick results on the night's preliminary card.
Fight One: Brandon Wood vs. Phil Williams (Bantamweight)
Wood is 11-7 while Williams is 1-1. Both fighters came in right on weight. Phil Williams is representing Team Curran so you know who I'm rooting for (in a totally non-biased way)
Round One: The bell rings and we're off. They're feeling each other out, Williams feigns a couple of rights, and Wood attempts a leg kick that fails to connect. Williams connects with a HUGE head kick and has Wood on his heels. Williams shoots and has Wood against the cage – Wood recovers and gets off of the cage as they circle the center again. Williams attempts another head kick that doesn't connect. Williams controls the pace as the fighters feel each other out, Wood lands a good combo and sends Williams into the cage and he quickly rebounds. Williams retakes the center with a great body kick. Wood lands another great 3 punch combo and backs up Williams who recovers quickly. A great body kick by Wood who has taken control of the fight now. Williams lands a good leg kick and attempts to regain his position of control. Williams lands an incredible right hook and drops Wood, he swarms on him and the ref is calling a stop, what a fantastic finish!
Winner: Phil Williams via TKO at 3:35 of the first round
Phil credited Pat Curran and Bart Palaszewski in his victory speech. I spoke to Phil shortly after his bout and he feels his game is rising every day that he is in the gym, and he feels great about the win – an absolute blitz to finish the fight.
Fight Two: Jared Bailey vs. Cortis Stibs (Middleweight)
Round One: Bailey is 0-2 despites being a HUGE 185 pounder – Stibs is 4-4. The ref starts it off and we're on. Stibs with a good body kick and Bailey locks up to bring it against the cage. Bailey lands a MASSIVE absolutely fantastic slam on Stibs - but Stibs gets back to his feet and starts landing knee after knee – oh my God I don't know how Bailey is standing! Bailey takes him down but Stibs locks in an armbar – which Bailey breaks out of and starts pounding on Stibs. Bailey rolls over to top guard. Stibs locks in another armbar and its over! What a fight!!
Winner: Cortis Stibs via Submission (armbar) at 2:56
Fight Three: Damien Jethro vs. Cory Galloway (Featherweight)
Galloway debuted in Bellator in his first fight to a loss; both men are powerful strikers so we are expecting a knockout here at cage side. Jethro is from Herron Illinois with a 2-2 record while Galloway (0-1) is a member of Team Curran under the teachings of Jeff and Pat Curran.
Round One: Scott Fisher is our ref and we're under way! Galloway takes the center and Jethro lands a good 2 punch combo. Jethro pins him against the cage for the takedown but Galloway holds strong. Jethro fights for it and gets a solid takedown. He passes into half guard and is attempting to move into mount or side control. Jethro is dropping elbows from the top at his coaches' command but thus far seems ineffective. Galloway eats a huge right getting back to his feet but still takes the center of the cage. Galloway throws a head kick that misses and takes Jethro against the cage but quickly releases his hold. Jethro pushes Galloway against the cage and takes control with an attempted single leg; Galloway is fighting it well, and lands a good knee on the exit. Jethro pushes for another takedown and lands a huge slam – Galloway locks in a triangle this is deep the fight could be over – Jethro taps! Galloway picks up his first professional win!
Winner: Cory Galloway via submission (Triangle Choke) in the first round
Post-fight Galloway threw out a challenge to another fighter named Mr.300 for the next XFO card in December – the man is determined! After talking with Cory post fight he is feeling good and excited to get back into the cage as quickly as he can; with his training and ability to adjust to wherever the fight goes he has a lot of potential for a bright future in MMA.
Jeff Curran gave a speech about his hand injury and his absence from the card. He plans to return ASAP from his surgery and fight Dustin Ortiz he is hopeful that his hand will fully heal and not end his career. He hopes that his career will be revitalized at 125 lbs. with a full recovery. He shared a memory of his past fights at XFO and wished there was a large crowd to enjoy it – he also hyped Mackens Semezier's fight coming up. A man next to me pointed out that his wife had never watched MMA before – a newbie to the sport – welcome!
Main Event Fight Four: Guillermo Serment vs. Mackens Semerzier (Featherweight)
Mackens has the UFC background but Serment from team No Comment is not a fighter to sleep on the man is a beast inside of the cage – they both train locally with Semerzier training between Virginia (Team Linxx) and Team Curran.
Round One: Both fighters know the rules and were under way. Serment takes the center early as Semerzier backs up, but an errant kicks lands Mackens on top with a tight guillotine. Semerzier lands some good knees against the cage but the Guillotine is let loose. Serment takes a crotch shot and action is paused. He moves forward with some strikes but Semerzier responds with a good shot that rocks Serment – but he recovers quickly. They're against the cage with Semerzier in control – they break and Serment lands a good elbow on the exit. Mackens lands a good kick to the body and shoots and once again locks in a tight guillotine, Serment looks unconscious but he's fighting back still, this is incredible – Serment breaks out and takes a knee on the exit. Semerzier is dominating the round thus far – a good right is landed by each fighter as they go to war in the middle of the cage. Semerzier tees off with a 4 punch combo putting Serment against the cage – Semerzier gets a takedown at the end of the round – Serment will survive to the second round.
Round One Scorecard: 10-9 Semerzier
Round Two: We begin with both fighters attempting to take the center – Serment seems to get it prior to a takedown in which Serment locks in a guillotine only to let go. Semerzier has mount – now back control! Serment uses a hip escape to get back to half guard - great grappling and the fight has been called to a stop – there seems to be some bewilderment in the crowd – from this angle we couldn't see what caused the stoppage.
Winner: Mackens Semerzier via submission (D'Arce choke)
Note: We were unable to see the choke from our viewpoint – but none the less a fantastic showing by Mackens in his first post-UFC fight.
Post-fight: Mackens told a very hilarious story about dogs not liking black people it drew some serious laughs from the crowd and asked us all to follow him @MackDaMenaceMMA
Ok so the night all in all packed a fantastic number of bouts into a nine-hour timespan, with almost each fight going to a decisive finish. There were some disappointing moments, though; Joey Diehl - who was supposed to be fighting - had his opponent pull off of the fight card with a blown out knee, and the originally scheduled main event featuring Mike Pitz was also taken off of the card due to unforeseen circumstances.
Now that the downs have been covered, let's talk about what went right on this card: basically everything else. Every seat was taken as far as the eye could see and the crowd was alive and into each fight as we rolled along. I can't even tell you how many people told me they were fans of MMATorch in the course of the evening – it was pretty cool to see our staff of writers getting some love. Dan Lardy the promoter for XFO put together an absolutely phenomenal card in every way and delivered a fantastic night of fights.
That's all for this round folks, I am hoping to attend more XFO events in the future and get them as much coverage as I can – after all a number of my teammates and teachers fight inside of their cage – not to mention that they know how to put together some fantastic fights. Be sure to search them on youtube, google, wherever you can get a chance to see some of the action from XFO do it!
Amateur Card Quick Results:
Kamil Broda def. Jason Huber via submission (rear naked choke) 1:38 in the first round
Ricky Stanton def. Alex Hulbert via submission (armbar) 1:24 in the third round
Sam Horowitz def. Robert Finely via submission (americana) 2:36 in the first round
Wes Anderson def. Daniel James via unanimous decision
Charlie Richardson def. Shawn Bridgeman via submission (armbar) at :56 in the first round
John Parish def. Kyle Pallone via submission (rear naked choke) 2:56 in the first round
Vince Nicoline def. Dillon Ginter via submission (strikes) 1:24 in the first round
Mark Millare def. Curtis Campell via submission (guillotine choke) 1:32 in the first round
Tyler Mcguire def. Kevin Hunt via submission (rear naked choke) 2:27 in the second round
XFO Amateur Featherweight Title: Nate Beach def. Diego Cruz via submission (inverted guillotine choke) 2:32 in the second round
XFO Amateur Middleweight Title: Dinisio Gilbert def. Vinny Decicco via split decision
Follow me on twitter - @BradMMATorch Follow XFO on twitter - @XFOMMA And be sure to visit XFO's Facebook page and click the "Like" button!
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