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KING OF THE CAGE: LEGACY RESULTS: Ennis' blow-by-blow report of HDNet broadcast event
Mar 27, 2010 - 12:05:04 PM KING OF THE CAGE: LEGACY RESULTS: Ennis' blow-by-blow report of HDNet broadcast event

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By: Shawn Ennis, MMATorch Senior Columnist

I don't have much to say in the way of preamble for this King of the Cage event, but I'd just like to point out that their ring announcer goes by the name of Big Poppa Schnake.

FIRST FIGHT: QUINN MULHERN vs. KOFFI ADZITSO (WelterweightTitle Fight)
Leading off with a title fight, huh? Might as well go big, I suppose. The title is vacant, by the way. From what I remember about Mulhern last time, he's slick on the ground, but doesn't look great standing. Also I'm just sayin, it's a bit redundant for the ring announcer to announce the fighters' sponsors. Redundant and annoying.

ROUND ONE
Adzitso comes out throwing haymakers to start out, and Mulhern shoots. Adzitso stuffs it and they clinch against the fence. Adzitso pulls back and lands a few punches, cutting Mulhern over the right eyebrow. Mulhern shoots again and is stuffed. They clinch again and Adzitso separates, throwing more big right hands. Mulhern has no kind of defense other than to tie him up, but he's got a pretty stout chin. Adzitso's shots aren't pretty, but they're coming in hard. Mulhern shoots and finally takes Adzitso down. He looks for rubber guard and Adzitso tries to pull out but lands in a triangle. Somehow he's able to pull out of it, but he needs to stand up or he's going to get tapped. He tries to land some ground and pound but gets caught in a triangle/armbar. There's daylight showing in the triangle though, and Adzitso is using his other hand to keep the arm from extending fully. Adzitso escapes and continues to try and land ground and pound rather than standing up. Mulhern looks for an armbar and then transitions to an omoplata which he cranks really tight. I don't know how Adzitso didn't tap, but the bell rings while he's still in the hold. I also don't know how his arm isn't broken. He's got to be…I don't know, double-jointed or something? Because that thing was cranked. Round goes to Mulhern.

ROUND TWO
Mulhern looks to take it to the mat early and is able to do so. He mounts Adzitso and then takes his back, landing some punches to the side of the head. He's got the body triangle in, then lets it go and grabs a rear naked choke that elicits the tap.

RESULT: Quinn Mulhern by submission at 1:36 of round two.

STAR RATING: (***) Not a bad fight. These guys are hardly world beaters, but that's just KOTC. Mulhern would get owned by any striker with decent technique due to his nonexistent defense, but hey. It's enough to win here, right?

NOTES: Good performance by Mulhern. It's great that KOTC has a bigger stage here so that we can watch guys like this develop. Their lighter weight classes are miles ahead of 170 and above, but it's still a nice proving ground.

SECOND FIGHT: MIKE GUIDRY vs. NICK "AFROZILLA" GASTON (Heavyweight)
I'm just sayin, Afrozilla is a great nickname. Schiavello hilariously points out that the 3-0 Gaston has the experience edge over 2-0 Guidry. That's analysis, folks. Guidry all smiles, but it's like used car salesman smiles. Kind of weird.

ROUND ONE
Guidry comes out throwing a flurry of straight, piston-like punches, trying to throw Gaston off his game. He then shoots, and Gaston stuffs him as they clinch on the cage. They separate, and Gaston lands a nice jab. Right hand lands for Guidry and Gaston lands a knee that causes Guidry to shoot and clinch again. Gaston looks for the Thai clinch and is able to whip Guidry around a bit, landing a few knees. Leg kick by Gaston as they separate, and Guidry is definitely slowing a bit. He's also definitely sporting an excellent tanktop-tan. Gaston lands a series of straight punches that stagger Guidry, and he takes Guidry down, landing in side control. He looks to tie up Guidry's arms and land punches from the crucifix, but Guidry gets out of the position. Gaston continues to look for ground and pound, landing short elbows. Guidry is bleeding now as Gaston lands some elbows to the body. He pins the right arm of Guidry and then grabs a keylock from the half guard that he cranks with 10 seconds left, causing the tap (and possibly causing damaging Guidry's shoulder in the process.)

RESULT: Nick Gaston by submission at 4:49 of round one.

STAR RATING: (**+) Gaston was pretty impressive here. Guidry came out trying to push the pace, and Gaston didn't panic, kept his composure, got the advantage, and seized his opportunity.

NOTES: Guidry was not impressive here, but Gaston just seemed to be on a different level. He'll be one to watch for a while.


THIRD FIGHT: TIM MEANS vs. JAIME JARA (Middleweight)

Jara is looking to set the record for most tattoos on an MMA fighter, which is a lofty goal indeed. He at least gets a certificate for most colorful. Means looks like he has no idea what to do with a heavy bag in his pre-fight vignette. Also, Jara is a former Gladiator Challenge champion in four divisions. There's some trivia for you.

ROUND ONE
Jara grabs a clinch immediately and looks to be the much stronger fighter as he pushes Means against the fence. Means has some goofy-looking strikes, and he is way smaller than Jara. Jara takes him down and gets into half guard, then transitions to mount. Means spins out and scrambles back to the feet. He lands a punch and a knee to the head, then backs up. More really weird punches from Means, and he lands a nice leg kick. His kicks and knees look good, but his punches are the strangest thing I've ever seen. They separate and Jara lands a big left hand that stuns Means, then grabs a guillotine and cranks it for the tap.

RESULT: Jara by submission at 2:19 of round one.

STAR RATING: (**-) Nothing wrong with it, but a little too easy for the much more experienced Jara.

NOTES: Jara looks fine for a 40-year-old fighter. Means is way too small for middleweight.

FOURTH FIGHT: TONY LOPEZ (CHAMP) vs. TONY JOHNSON (KOTC Heavyweight Title Fight)
Lopez is apparently going for the third-longest active win streak in all of MMA. Also I have no idea how they determine their bout order. This is second to the main event, which is Mike Kyle vs. Jon Murphy – two guys that few people have heard of. Meanwhile there's two title fights on the card. Weird. Anyway, Lopez is 18-2 while Johnson is 3-0. Johnson also has 40 pounds on Lopez and is 12 years younger. Lopez can't exactly carry around a bunch of excess weight, since he's also the KOTC Light Heavyweight Champion.

ROUND ONE
Johnson lands a quick jab to start as they feel out the distance. Leg kicks by Lopez, and Johnson lands a quick body kick, then takes Lopez down. Lopez scrambles and Johnson almost takes his back, landing a flurry of punches from the side. Lopez works his way to the feet, then Johnson picks him up and slams him to the mat, landing more shots to the head afterwards. Johnson moves to the back and lands more punches to the side of the head. Lopez gets back up while Johnson has a bodylock, and Johnson looks to slam again. Lopez avoids it and Johnson grabs a single leg into a takedown and he lands in the guard. Lopez throws up the legs and looks for an armbar, but Johnson defends by lifting Johnson and slamming him, but he's still in the hold. Johnson escapes and Lopez transitions into an omoplata. Johnson escapes again and moves into side control. Lopez tries to escape and ends up with Johnson landing more strikes from the side as the round ends. That one goes to Johnson.

ROUND TWO
Leg kick by Johnson, and he misses with a right hand. Lopez with weak low kicks to keep Johnson away, and Johnson comes wading in with strikes, then takes Lopez down with a trip. He moves into the half guard and looks for short elbows. Lopez brings him back into full guard, then throws his legs up and looks for another triangle. Nothing doing with that strategy at the moment as Johnson gets back into the ull guard. It looks like Lopez is trying to flatten Johnson out from the bottom position of the guard, which I suppose is a good strategy to avoid punishment, but not much else. Johnson lands a few elbows and Lopez looks for another triangle. Johnson lands an elbow from inside the triangle and then leans into it to lessen the pressure. Lopez squeezes, but Johnson is able to pull out of the hold and he moves into side control. Lopez brings him back into guard, and Johnson lands a couple of punches. This round is over, and I'm giving it to Johnson. Lopez is active from the back and he's had a couple of submission attempts, but he hasn't come close to ending the fight and he's taking too much punishment. I'd take Lopez as the winner of this fight, but I don't think that's happening.

ROUND THREE
Both fighters seem to be wearing down here as Lopez throws some pretty soft strikes. Johnson whiffs a big right hand, and then walks through some more pawing by Lopez and takes him down. Johnson stands and grabs a guillotine as Lopez gets to his feet. Lopez is able to escape and Johnson clocks him with a hard right hand before bringing him forcefully back down to the mat. Half guard for Johnson. Lopez looks to stand again with Johnson on his back, but he's unable to. Johnson spins, still on the back of Lopez, and he lands more punches to the head. He continues to pepper Lopez from the side, but the strikes just are not that hard. Johnson looks for more punishment as Lopez defends for the rest of the round. Another round for Johnson.

ROUND FOUR
Right hand misses for Lopez, and they begin to circle Shamrock-Severn style for a minute. Johnson shoots slowly, but Lopez has nothing left to defend it. Not much different here as far as offense goes. Johnson looks for the stand, and he's unable to throw him. Not a lot going on in this round, but Johnson is in the same position toward the end as he was in the beginning. Round for Johnson.

ROUND FIVE
Johnson shoots again and slams Lopez. Pretty much more of the same after that. Lopez looks for an omoplata during the last 90 seconds or so but is unable to crank it when he applies, then Johnson gets back into half guard. Lopez grabs an armbar, the best one of the fight, and Johnson defends it nicely until the time expires, which should wrap this thing up for him.

RESULT: Johnson by unanimous decision.

STAR RATING: (**-) Some nice action early on, but mostly dull after that.

NOTES: Not much to say…title changes hands. And it has fewer repercussions for the loser, as he's also the KOTC light heavyweight champ.

FIFTH FIGHT: JACK MONTGOMERY vs. DUSTIN AKBARI (Lightweight)

No graphics on these guys…maybe they weren't planning on having them be on TV as this was the swing fight.

ROUND ONE
Akbari takes it to the ground quickly and is immediately caught in a guillotine. He escapes and gets into Montgomery's full guard. He looks to get out and almost falls into a tight triangle choke. Scramble by Akbari and he's able to regain top position of guard. He continues to look for ground and pound as Montgomery pushes him off and attempts a leglock. Back to the closed guard for Akbari, and he lands some ground and pound before Montgomery attempts an armbar. Akbari postures up and Montgomery looks for another leglock. Scramble by Akbari and he takes Montgomery's back. Shots to the side of the head, and Montgomery is out. That happened quickly, and I think he was out a few shots before the ref saw it. On the replay, you can see that Akbari probably landed three or four more shots while Montgomery was out, and the ref was actually in position to stop the fight but didn't realize that Montgomery was unconscious.

RESULT: Akbari by KO at 2:30 of round one.

STAR RATING: (**+)

NOTES: Looks like Akbari is a protégé of Urijah Faber, which usually means good things. We'll see how that pans out.

SIXTH FIGHT: MIKE KYLE vs. JON MURPHY (Heavyweight)

How about the weirdness of Mike Kyle headlining two cards in as many months? That's strange even for KOTC. Kyle is only coming in at 211, while Murphy is 250 lbs.

ROUND ONE
Murphy lands a right hand and a head kick, and Kyle decides to take him down quickly from the clinch. Kyle stands and lands some kicks to the legs of the downed Murphy. He then gets into the guard of Murphy and lands some big punches to the head, following that with some body shots and then elbows to the head. Kyle grinds the elbow into the face of Murphy while trying to pass from half guard, then goes back to punches. He almost takes Murphy's back, but Murphy is able to stand. Murphy is tired but still throws some big punches and lands a few. Not much technique behind them, but they've got some power. Kyle moves backwards to avoid them and takes Murphy down. They pop back up and clinch against the cage. Murphy is able to grab a guillotine attempt while standing, then they go to the ground with Murphy using the guillotine to sweep Pyle and get into his guard. Murphy moves into side control and looks to land some punches as time expires. Close round…I'd probably call that one 10-10, actually.

ROUND TWO
Right hand lands for Kyle early, and Murphy wings a left hook. Murphy grabs a standing guillotine again and pulls Kyle down into the half guard, where Kyle escapes the choke again and lands a nice elbow to the head. Murphy looking to get back up, but Kyle holds him down and lands a couple of body shots. The action stalls a bit and the ref stands them up, where Murphy lands a nice jab. Kyle with the trip takedown and Murphy uses the momentum to reverse and land in Kyle's guard. Kyle lands a nice punch and elbow from the bottom as Murphy tries to posture up. Kyle is actually landing more from the bottom than Murphy is on top. Murphy looks to pass and he gets swept. Kyle lands in half guard and throws some big punches to the body. Kyle moves to hold Murphy's arm down in the crucifix and begins landing some big shots to the face. Not often that you see blows that hard coming from that position. Josh Rosenthal is forced to step in and stop this one.

RESULT: Kyle by TKO at 4:53 of round two.

STAR RATING: (**+)

NOTES: his was a fine fight, though I still don't know why it's a main event. Murphy does have some power, but his lack of technique really leaves him open to damage and takedowns. Kyle, meanwhile, seems to have found a home in King of the Cage. I can only guess that he'll fight for a title sooner rather than later.
Final Thoughts: It's hard to expect too much from a King of the Cage show. By design it's a proving ground for up and coming fighters and a place for older fighters to go when they don't have anywhere else. This card was a bit lackluster, but not exactly a disappointing event by KOTC standards.