Other Events
WSOF 15 LIVE RESULTS: Hansen's round by round report for "Branch vs. Okami" event
Nov 15, 2014 - 9:30:00 PM WSOF 15 LIVE RESULTS: Hansen's round by round report for "Branch vs. Okami" event

DISCUSS ALL THIS IN OUR NEW MMATORCH FORUM

...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!

By: Rich Hansen, MMATorch Columnist

WSOF 15
NOVEMBER 15, 2014
LIVE FROM TAMPA, FLORIDA


- The World Series of Fighting is back tonight with three of their champions fighting on one card. Not three title fights, as Melvin Guillard wasn't professional enough to cut down 155 pounds for what would have been a title fight with former training partner Justin Gaethje.

- Todd Harris welcomes the television audience to the broadcast. Bas was not introduced to the audience, apparently in efforts to keep people from changing channels for as long as possible.


FIGHT ONE: JORGE PATINO VS. ERIC REYNOLDS (LIGHTWEIGHT)

- Eric Reynolds has those horrible man breast tattoos that surround each man-nipple. Gross.

ROUND ONE: Patino grabs a single leg and immediately gets Reynolds down. He's holding on to that leg until he can transition to the back. Reynolds gets back up, and after a nice scramble he lands a stiff uppercut. Reynolds with a wild leaping kick that glances off of Patino, who responds by pressing Reynolds into the cage. He grapevines Reynolds' leg and gets him down. Nice scramble, and Reynolds gets back to standing. Reynolds puts Patino on the fence and gets Patino down. He's not careful and gets his legs tangled. Inverted heel hook attempt from Patino gets Reynolds' attention. Reynolds kicks Patino in the face as flush as possible, and the referee calls for time. Reynolds should be DQ'd for that desperate attempt to avoid a submission, but instead the referee sweetly asks him to be a little more accurate in the future. Bas commends the referee for restartign the fighters in the same position, but didn't say anything about him not even taking a point. Fight on! Still in dueling heel hook position, but Reynolds quickly squirms out and gets on top. Reynold's leg gets grapevined by Patino, and Patino quickly gets to top. Two seconds after getting to side control the referee tells him has has to work. Oh Florida, I hope yous secede to become part of Cuba. Patino quickly gets a crucifix and is elbowing away on Reynolds. He got sloppy and Reynolds got free. Did not expect that. Patino takes him back down and ends the round unloading from full mount. 10-9 Patino

ROUND TWO: Reynolds and Patino start trading bombs, until Patino uses his brain and takes Reynolds down. And straight to mount. Reynolds is busted open high on the forehead. I think that happened late in teh first round, but it's much worse now. Patino is throwing a ton of short elbows to the cut as Reynolds desperately holds on to a body lock from the bottom. Patino is swinging left hands from belly to belly position. Reynolds cannot survive three more minutes of this, but if he gets to his feet he invites the doctors to intervene. Reynolds starts to roll around on his own blood and escapes from the slickness. Reynolds gets on top and is trying to unload from half-guard up against the cage. Seriously, he slid out because of all the blood. It's smeared all over the mat. Patino reverses position and gets on top. Referee stands them up with a minute left. Patino lands a straight right and takes Reynolds down. He's on the back of Reynolds, who himself is on all fours. Reynolds moves and gets mounted. Reynolds is so bloody that his legs are fire engine red. 20-17 Patino This is a horror show.

ROUND THREE: Reynolds shoots in with a flying knee, which Patino catches. No takedown, surprisingly. Both guys are gassed out, and are content to stand flat-footed and wing hooks. Reynolds' back is smeared with his own blood. He's just a mess. Reynolds is stalking Patino, but neither fighter is landing much of anything. Patino with his best Leonard Garcia tribute, missing three punches by a foot apiece. Patino catches Reynolds throwing a slow high kick, bear hugs him, and takes him down. Full mount immediately. Target practice here for Patino. He's alternating between punches and elbows, depending on what Reynolds is leaving open for him. Patino is so slow, though, that Reynolds is able to dodge most of it. Patino sits on Reynolds' chest to look for an armbar, but see, blood is slippery. Patino gets on Reynold's back. 30 seconds remain. Patino grabs an arm and transitions to half guard as the fight mercifully comes to an end. 30-26 Patino

WINNER: Jorge Patino by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

STAR RATING: (*+) Bad fight. 29-28? Whatever. Right guy won, and it's not like Patino has a future. Moving on.

- Todd and Bas vamp for 5 minutes, as if there is only one fight left. Shut up and get to the fights already!

- Commercials.

- Video package.

- Sigh.


FIGHT TWO: JESSICA AGUILAR VS. KALINDRA FARIA (WOMEN'S STRAWWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP)

ROUND ONE: Fighters touch glove, Bas sings, and we're off. Aguilar initiates a clinch, both fighters trade knees, and they immediately disengage. That was the first minute. Lots of feeling out. Aguilar lands a heavy right hand. Aguilar gets in tight, lands three punches, and gets back out. Faria comes in and lands a quick combo and gets back out. Aguilar gets another clinch and presses Faria into the cage. Aguilar is reaching for a single leg, but gives it up as Faria gets off the cage. Aguilar gets in and initiates another clinch, but Faria turns the tables on Aguilar and presses Aguilar onto the fence. Aguilar reverses and hits a swinging elbow as she disengages. Aguilar with a nice leg kick. Lots of circling, occasional flurries, but not a lot of action so far. Faria lands a spinning back fist, but it was only glancing. Aguilar presses her into the cage and that's where the round ends. 10-9 Aguilar

ROUND TWO: Aguilar with a really solid takedown about thirty seconds in. Faria uses the cage to get back up, but gets planted two seconds later. Aguilar has Faria's legs grapevined, but Faria is able to stand regardless. Faria breaks the clinch, but eats a right elbow for her trouble. More wrestling for position along the cage. Aguilar lands another right elbow as they push off. Aguilar lands a solid right hand in the middle of the cage. Faria fires off a jab in an attempt to keep Aguilar from getting inside at will. Aguilar is winning every exchange on the feet, but there has been nothing that could be described as impactful in any of them. 20-18 Aguilar

ROUND THREE: Faria gets Aguilar on the cage and takes her back briefly, but Aguilar spins out of trouble and presses Faria along the cage pretty easily. Aguilar grinds Faria down to the mat. Slowly Aguilar works into a dominant position. Aguilar methodically gets to mount. Faria works out of mount but almost gives up her neck. Aguilar doesn't go for it. Faria gets to her feet but succumbs to a hard knee to the gut. Faria powers back up and eventually is able to work free with a minute left in the round. Still a lot of tentative feeling out as the round ends. 30-27 Aguilar

ROUND FOUR: Faria lands a spinning back kick to the gut, so Aguilar responds in kind. Faria is throwing a ton of strikes of all kinds in this round, and I'd be surprised if more than 5% have landed. Everyone is showing their respect to the retirement of Leonard Garcia last night. Aguilar ducks under a lazy right hand and gets an easy takedown on Faria. Straight to mount, up against the cage. Faria is taking a ton of punishment here. Eventually she gets to her feet, but still has Aguilar pressing her into the fence. I know Faria is good, but if Aguilar were as good as she says she is, she would have done a lot more damage there. 40-36 Aguilar This is a massive disappointment.

ROUND FIVE: Faria comes out very aggressively, missing even more strikes per minute than in the last round. To be fair, she's landing at a better rate, but nothing she's thrown tonight has hurt Aguilar in the least. Faria is headhunting, and rightfully so. Aguilar is still being very patient, and is getting tagged, bleeding from her nose. Faria gets a little sloppy and gets planted on her backside. Faria has her back against the fence, but can't get up as long as Aguilar keeps her weight positioned on Faria's legs as it is. Aguilar's content to just sit there and let the clock tick. This is a really dull performance. Faria wriggles free, and she gets to her feet throwing bombs. Again, Leonard Garcia, but still. Faria is to be commended, as she knows what she needs to do. Other than the whole landing thing. Aguilar's on her bike, desperate to avoid physical contact. Faria's landing nice kicks as Aguilar continues to retreat. Faria looks outstanding right now, but it's too little too late. 10-9 Faria, but 49-46 Aguilar

WINNER: Jessica Aguilar by unanimous decision (49-45 x3)

STAR RATING: (*+) That was lousy, made far worse by Aguilar's best Kalib Starnes impression to end the fight.

- Commercials BEFORE they interview Aguilar. This show will never end.

- 103 minutes in, 2 fights.


FIGHT THREE: JUSTIN GAETHJE VS. MELVIN GUILLARD (159 LB. CATCHWEIGHT)

ROUND ONE: Early leg kick from Gaethje, and another. And one from Guillard, along with a jab. Gaethje is emphasizing punches to the body early on. Guillard is keeping his hands down by his waist. Gaethje is stalking Guillard, missing with a wild uppercut along the fence. Guillard got poked in the eye, but the ref didn't see it. Gaethje's keeping his hands low now as well. Guillard's landing every straight left he throws. Gaethje falls while throwing a high kick, but Gatthje scrambled away before Guillard could capitalize. Gaethje's off his game tonight, as Guillard is landing that hard left at will. Gaethje drops Guillard with a hard leg kick. 10-9 Guillard

ROUND TWO: Gaethje is continuing to try to punch to the body. Gaethje has Guillard up against the cage and landed a couple of bombs. Guillard's a little loopy now and wisely grabbed a clinch until he could get his head cleat. Gaethje missing with a ton of bombs in his personal tribute to the now-retired Leonard Garcia. Gaethje got poked int he eye, and the ref missed it That's 1-1 in that count. Both of these guys have thrown technique out the window and are throwing bombs. One-punch bombs, no combinations. The crowd respects the power of both fighters and is cheering wildly. Guillard lands a right uppercut from the inside. Both fighters are flat footed now. Leg kick from Gaethje, but it had far less sting than in the first round. Nice kick from Guillard. Gaethje is continuing to press the action, whereas Guillard wants to circle and find his proper angle. Gaethje gets inside and puts Guillard on the cage. Both fighters are grabbing for a Thai clinch looking for an uppercut. They aren't there and the round ends. 10-9 Gaethje Could go either way, but this is a 19-19 fight, ya dig?

ROUND THREE: Guillard's jab, and Gaethje's willing ness to walk through it, have made for an interesting fight so far. Hard leg kick from Gaethje. That hurt Guillard, and so he follow up with another. Guillard's lead leg is wobbly now. Another kick. And another. Guillard's in trouble. Another leg kick. And another, and that might have hit the cup. Guillard is limping badly. Guillard can't put any weight on that left leg. Another leg kick. And another, this one on the outside. And another. Guillard's leg almost gave out. Another leg kick. And another, from the outside. Another. Uppercut from Gaethje. Knee to the leg from a clinch by Gaethje. Gaethje with a nice body shot. Gaethje's still chopping at that leg. Guillard eats a spinning back fist. Guillard is trying to throw power punches, but he has no legs left. 10-9 Gaethje. 29-28 Gaethje

WINNER: Justin Gaethje by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)

STAR RATING: (**+) I love leg kick murderers. That 30-27 card makes no sense. Again, here's hoping Florida secedes to join Cuba.


MAIN EVENT FIGHT FOUR: DAVE BRANCH VS. YUSHIN OKAMI (MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP)

- Every fighter's walk out tonight was shown, except for those fighting in the main event. Jaz Securo is speed-talking, barely did his stupid catchphrase. It's like the network is forcing them to make up for their pacing issues. This is so weird.

ROUND ONE: Branch lands a quick head kick early. Branch lands a looping right hook to the ear of Okami, and Okami lost his balance briefly. Body lock in the middle of the cage, and Branch is very defensive here, looking for the knees of Okami. They get to the cage, and they're dancing for dominant position. Okami trips Branch and gets on top in the middle of the cage. Full guard. One minute left. Not much action. Shocking, I know. Okami postures up in the guard, and eventually lands a sharp straight hand to the face of Branch. Branch escapes and we're back to standing. 10-9 Branch I guess.

ROUND TWO: Branch outstruck Okami 10-5 in the first round. Correct. 15 total strikes landed between both fighters. Two minutes in, nothing to talk about here. Thanks Jamie. I could be doing so many other things right now. Playing with the kids. Watching Brooks/Chandler. Prepping for Hunt vs. Werdum. Making the bed. Wshing my hair. But no. I'm watching this shitty fight. Florida State is getting pushed by Miami. Anyhooo, two minutes left, Okami has found his range and gotten inside, but when he tried to get the clinch, Branch managed to roll away and get back to the middle of the cage. Okami finally grabbed a clinch, but it's off the cage and Branch got free, landing a couple shoots to the body while doing so. 10-9 Branch I guess.

ROUND THREE: Okami won't win this fight if it stays on teh feet. What type of bizarro-world is this? third round is a carbon copy of the second. Okami tries to slowly get inside only to be jabbed away from Branch. Branch gets too close to the cage, Okami clinches tentatively, Branch escapes. Rinse and repeat. Neither fighter doing anything for long stretches at a time. Okami grabs a clinch, Branch ducks and walks out of it. Okami looks weak and slow tonight. 30-27 Branch

ROUND FOUR: Branch comes out impressively in the fourth, landing a variety of combinations. very confident against Okami right now. Branch grabs a single, just for the heck of it. He lets it go and pushes Okami away. Okami shoots from a mile away, and barely gets a finger on Branch. Okami lands a straight right that forces Okami back several feet. Branch lands a series of left hands in succession. Branch drops Okami with a right hook. Five seconds of ground and pound later and it's done. Yushin Okami is shot.

WINNER: Dave Branch by TKO

STAR RATING: (*) Horrible fight. Branch looked better than ever, but at least some of that is an illusion, as Okami looked like a shadow of his former self.