THE TORCH: THE #1 WORLDWIDE BRAND IN COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT COVERAGE - OVER 250 MILLION VIEWS & LISTENS PER YEAR REREACHING MORE FANS EVERY WEEK THAN ANY OTHER INDEPENDENT SOURCE • VIA THE WEB, MOBILE, PRINT NEWSLETTER, AND ITUNES
Minnesota MMA was in full swing on Saturday night with a couple of big local events taking place in the state. Seconds Out Promotions, in conjunction with Vivid MMA, brought one of those to Minneapolis with "Havoc at the Hyatt II."
Featuring a number of fighters ranked highly in the state, as well as some good action with up and coming fighters and local veterans, the night was marred by controversial calls and a poor overall night for the referees, as well as the doctor at cage side.
The tone of the night was set early on, as the first four preliminary card bouts featured stoppages in the first round; but from the very first fight the officiating was questionable.
The opening bout between Donald Williams and Adam Schlepp saw Williams lift Schleopp up, carry him across the cage and drop him down hard on his head. It appeared to be an illegal spike by Williams, but the referee did not halt his assault and he continued to land punches against the cage, prompting the stoppage. The referee after the fight would say Schlepp was dropped at an angle, not straight up and down, and that was deemed not illegal in his mind. Schlepp protested the stoppage, but he was left covering up on the cage after getting slammed on his head.
Robert Gotreau, a successful wrestler out of Augsberg College in Minnesota, took out the debuting Bobby Abrego with little trouble, bringing the fight to the ground and scrambling to get Abrego's back. He dropped down a number of punches in that position before Abrego tapped at :39 seconds of the first round.
Likewise, Floyd Hodges needed just a minute and 21 seconds to take out Shaine Emmons, who appeared over-matched from the outset. Emmons managed to briefly get Hodges to the ground a couple of times in the first minute, but it wasn't for long, and as he shot in for a third he got cracked by a big right hand that rocked him. He grabbed for Hodges' ankle, but Hodges just unleashed a flurry of punches as Emmons turtled up that knocked him out cold. It was a good performance by Hodges and a scary scene for a few moments as Emmons lay motionless before finally getting up.
The final fight before intermission brought the professional debut Mark Teubert, better known to members of The Underground forum as the "Elastic Assassin," in a bout against Paul Hesch. Hesch took him down early and used an attempted arm triangle in side control to open up a pass to mount, where Teubert rolled and gave up his back. Hesch initially came close to locking in the choke, but slid to the side of Teubert instead of keeping on his back, allowing Teubert to get out of the position, scramble and grab his leg.
The ref at this point should have stood the two fighters up, as they were stalled for several seconds before Teubert finally pulled Hesch under him and got into his guard. He then completed the comeback victory with a series of elbows that caused Hesch to tap. Unfortunately for him the ref didn't see the tap, so Teubert, somewhat reluctantly, rained down more damage to cause the stoppage.
Nick Kirk and Erik Vo squared off next in the only fight to reach the judges scorecards. This was a competitive fight that saw both fighters have success in different areas, but the difference in the fight, and the judges' scorecards, were the takedowns from Nick Kirk. He brought Vo to the ground multiple times throughout the three round bout, and though Vo was able to get in some damage of his own, especially in the third round, he couldn't stay on his feet. While Kirk wasn't able to do much from top position, as Vo showed off a good defensive ground game, he still kept control and had Vo on his back for much too long to bring any other decision.
The fight between Bruce Johnson and Michael Jiang was an enjoyable back and forth bout. Jiang was looking for the takedown from the outset, and for much of the first round and half was cracking him with counter shots as he tried to get in for the takedown. In the second, he even managed to take Jiang's back briefly before Jiang was able to turn out of it. Jiang then was able to pass and get to Johnson's back, where he attempted to grab a rear naked choke multiple times before finally locking it on tight and forcing the tap at 4:44 of the second round.
The featherweight bout between Brandon Bergeron and Mike Plazola was short on time but not on action, as Plazola took the fight to Bergeron from the opening bell. He rocked Bergeron and took him to the ground, but Bergeron stayed extremely active from his back. He nearly locked in a couple of armbar attempts, but Plazola was able to get loose. Plazola then stood up and tried to drop down with a big right, but he found himself in a triangle choke and Bergeron forced him to tap. He'll now meet WEC veteran Courtney Buck on July 30.
Next up was a heavyweight bout between the returning Karl Knothe and the very much out-classed Preston Shane. Knothe is ranked as one of the top light heavyweights in the state, but after suffering injuries in a motorcycle accident last year, Knothe returned to action here in a heavyweight bout as he makes his way back down. He looked great in this one, knocking Shane down early with a combination and unleashing some vicious shots on the ground. Shane began furiously tapping to stop the assault, and Knothe had the victory just 45 seconds into the fight.
The co-main event brought a great battle between UFC and WEC veteran Logan Clark and fellow 14-4 fighter Anthony Smith, but the fight ended in controversy. Clark was winning the fight with effective combinations and aggression, but midway through the second round Smith managed to pick him up for a huge slam. Clark began bleeding badly after the slam, as it appeared to be a headbutt that caused it when they hit the mat, but even as he was bleeding Clark began throwing elbows and punches from his back, doing much more on the ground than Smith was able to do.
When Smith finally stood up, the ref called for the doctor to check on the cut. The cut was on Clark's eyebrow, but it was over to the side and wasn't in any way impeding his vision. The doctor claimed the cut was too deep and the fight was stopped, a terrible call considering blood was not getting into his eyes and he was winning the fight up until that point. The crowd voiced their displeasure at the doctor's decision, but Smith walked away the victor by TKO.
The main event as well brought controversy in a loss by the hometown fighter, as the 17-2 Marcus LeVesseur, ranked #2 in the state at lightweight, was the victim of some terrible officiating. LeVesseur got the fight to the ground early in the first round, getting to the mount pretty quickly, but Buck was resilient and continued to try to get out of the position. Buck managed to get back to his feet, but LeVesseur outstruck him the rest of the round while continuing to press the action.
The second round saw LeVesseur rock Buck early, but when Buck tried to shoot in for a takedown, he fell and LeVesseur ended up in his guard. Buck tried to stay active from the bottom, going for an armbar and then working towards an omoplata. Buck began throwing punches from his back as he was going for the omoplata, but they were connecting to the back of the head of LeVesseur, prompting multiple warnings from the referee. The ref didn't stop them, however, and finally LeVesseur turned aside and turtled up from the blows to the back of the head, and Buck got right back on him, landing punches against the cage to force the stoppage. Considering he gained that position with illegal blows to the back of the head, it was another fight that drew the ire of the crowd.
Despite the unfortunate decisions (or lack thereof) made by the doctor and referee in the two main events, the night brought a number of enjoyable fights and impressive performances, and the next event should bring more excitement with the bout between Brandon Bergeron and Courtney Buck on July 30.
ALERT: Every Tuesday night, listen to the MMATorch Livecast from 9-10:30 p.m. ET or listen now to the most recent shows by clicking here. Listen live this coming Tuesday as Jamie Penick, Rich Hansen, and Matt Pelkey discuss the latest MMA happenings. Online listen at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mmatorch or call into the show at 646-716-8090 to either just listen or participate.
"There's still a large contingent of people, that they just want to see these guys almost die, or the other guy almost die and come back, and sometimes fights are like that. Certainly they are. But sometimes you get technical masterpieces too, and to hate a beautiful, technical fight - you're not really a fight fan...
Diaz has a granite chin, possesses perhaps the best recovery in the sport, his pace and conditioning are second to none and he sets records with the volume of his punches almost every time he steps into the cage. Nick Diaz is simply designed to fight the way he fights, and not many other fighters are...
"There was a lot of poison going on around there and I'm really disappointed because we had a good thing going. It was a good thing and I think people's egos got in the way. Well, not people just Javier, his ego got in the way, and too many cameras in the gym and him trying to build himself up and his brand, his AKA brand...
PART OF THE USA TODAY UFC GROUP