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SHARK FIGHTS 17: Live Commentary of Shark Fights 17 Event
Jul 15, 2011 - 10:59:10 PM SHARK FIGHTS 17: Live Commentary of Shark Fights 17 Event

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By Rich Hansen

Welcome to the MMA Torch Live Commentary and Results of Shark Fights 17, airing live on HDNet. Tonight's event is headlined by a young Harry Caray Matt Horwich vs. Jake Rosholt 2.

All times Central

9:00 - Michael Schiavello and Frank Trigg introduce the show, wearing the most awesomely ridiculous cowboy hats you'll ever see.

9:04 - Ron Kruck interviews Horwich and Eddie Bravo. Any Matt Horwich interview is the best television EVER!

9:07 - Alan Jouban vs. Andrew Goldthwate will be the first fight of the evening. Three 3-minute rounds, Welterweights.

9:09 - This won't be easy. These guys are wearing identical trunks, and look very similar. Schiavello says that Joubain will be GSP 5 years from now. Moving on...

9:12 - Jouban is an Eddie Bravo acolyte, and is controlling the first round on the ground. Jouban gets mount 2 minutes in, but with 3-minute rounds, he might not be able to get an arm before the round ends. He did get a triangle, but the round ended. 3-minute rounds suck.

9:14 - Second round is all on the feet. Jouban is dominating on the feet as much as he was on the ground in the first. Goldthwate is eating a million inside leg kicks. Jouban knocks him down near the end of the round. 3-minute rounds suck.

9:18 - Jouban gets on top right away, but gets swept quickly and is on his back. Eddie Bravo acolyte = misison control. Jouban is landing more from the bottom than Goldthwate is from the top. Ref threatening to stand them up. Referee stands them up with 45 seconds left. 3-minute rounds suck. Jouban knocks him out with 30 seconds left in round 3. This was a total mismatch.

9:23 - Jouban looked good and all, and the KO was fun to watch. But he's 29, not 24, so temper your long term expectations.

9:25 - Ron Kruck narrated video on Jake Rosholt. Fun fact: Jake Rosholt has the coolest dog ever. find the video with Rosholt and his dog.

9:28 - This is HDNet, so lots of commercials for HDNet concerts and for girls in bikinis.

9:32 - Doug Frey vs. Erik Perez is up next in the featherweight division. Frye trains with the Rosholts and Shane Roller. Perez trains out of Jackson's in New Mexico. Frye has a 6 inch reach advantage. Frye is -205, Perez is +165.

9:39 - Frey is throwing heavy punches early. A pre-fight graphic listed Frey's fight style as 'wrestling, BJJ, Muay Thai'. Um, that's called MMA, and it takes fewer words to type. About 2 minutes in Perez took Frey down and took his back. He got one hook in, then the other, going for a choke. Frey defended and swept to top position. 2 minutes left. 5-minute rounds are so much better than 3-minutes. Perez on the bottom looking for a triangle, doesn't get it. Perez back on top, took his back, lost it, scramble, and now Perez has full mount. He's got Frey's back now with 45 seconds left. Big elbows from Perez. Going for the choke with 30 seconds left. Frey rolls out, Perez is ground and pounding with 20 seconds left. The round ends.

9:45 - Frey is letting Perez in too close, and not using his 6" reach advantage. Frey gets a takedown, does nothing with it. Grabs Perez' neck, but can't lock in the guillotine all the way, and Perez is on top, 90 seconds in. Landed a few nice shots while on top. Back to the feet for 10 seconds, and Perez gets Frey down again, half-guard. Frey's grappling is leagues ahead of Frey's. Perez just got mount from half-guard, and made it look way easy. Perez has Frey's back, has a body lock, but no hooks. Round ends.

9:51 - Trigg is very solid in between rounds. He really knows how to explain what these guys are doing, and what they should be doing. Frey is winging left hooks from distance, defends a double leg. PErez switches to a single and still can't get Frey down. Frey went for a guillotine, didn't get it, and is on his back. Perez winds up on top every time Frey looks for a guillotine so far. Perez does nothing for 90 seconds, and the fight is stood up with 2 minutes left. Frey is determined to not use his reach advantage. Tedious fight. This has to be Perez' fight.

9:53 - Yep. Perez won 30-27 on all 3 cards.

9:57 - The same Matt Horwich piece that the showed on Inside MMA earlier. I can't help it, but he reminds me of a weird Evan Tanner.

9:57:01 - I mean that in a good way.

9:59 - I don't know what it is, but something about the domestic MMA shows that air on HDNet are very sterile and antiseptic to me. And as soon as I say that they show about a dozen topless blondes. But they were sterile blondes, so my point remains.

10:04 - Ron Kruck interviews Doug Williams, who took the fight with Ricco Rodriguez just yesterday. Williams sounds like someone, but I can't place my finger on who. That was the most useful comment EVER!

10:06 - Emanuel Newton vs. Ilir Latifi is up next.

10:15 - Newton is -325, Latifi is +265. Latifi is Albanian, which means he's a scary mother. Trigg says Latifi has a great Roman Greco background. Latifi just missed with a counter right. 1 minute in, nothing noteworthy has landed yet. Newton throws a kick and takes another counter right. This just got real, both guys threw about 30 punches in a 20 seconds exchange. It was all Leonard Garcia windmilling, but it looked good. Latifi has never gone to decision in his career. Fortunately, since the burst a couple minutes back, they've slowed the pace down tremendously. Latifi's spent the last minute backing away from Newton. Round ends.

10:20 - Everytime Latifi gets hit, he retreats like the illegitimate offspring of France and Brock Lesnar. Newton with a feint, Latifi almost tripped on his own feet getting out of the way of it. Latifi is fighting this round like Tito fought the third round of his second Griffin fight. All that said, Newton's not able to land a whole lot as a result. Newton throws a knee, Latifi grabs the leg, but Newton defended and avoided getting taken down. 90 seconds left in the second round. Latifi got a little more aggressive with a minute left, but he's down 20-18. Wasn't Starnes bad, but pretty bad. He's better have 2 broken hands to justify that performance, though. Albanians are not happy with him tonight.

10:26 - Before the round 3 bell rang, the ref had to push Latifi back a couple times. Apparently Latifi is in a mad damn rush to get the round started and start retreating again. Joking aside, Newton is just kind of going through the motions here, he's not exactly doing a whole lot himself. half way in, Latifi landed a counter that rang Newton's bell, and managed to follow up with a few more strikes. He then blew his wad, and he's retreating again. He doesn't seem tired, because he's getting out of the way of darn near everything. Weird performance. Another nice exchange against the cage for Latifi, but most of it missed. 30 seconds left, and I wish I could score this round 8-8 instea dof 10-10, just on principle. Newton starts showboating, and Latifi caught him with a big right. Why in the hell did Latifi back off? Bad fight.

10:30 - Latifi wins by UD, 29-28, 30-27, 29-28.

10:30 - Worst decision of all time. Schiavello and Trigg are irate. Latifi told Newton on mic that he thought Newton won the fight. Yep. The dumbass ring announcer read the name wrong. "The world is in balance again." - Schiavello. Simply put, the ring announcer saw the word 'Newton' and pronounced it LAH TEE FEE. Whoops.

10:34 - Nice pre-produced piece on Ricco Rodriguez. He looks better than he has in years. It's easy to cheer for Ricco.

10:37 - Doug Williams is taking on Ricco Rodriguez with barely 12 hour's notice. He's on a 3 fight losing streak, and carries a 6-12 record. #Texas

10:46 - Ricco is -1100. Williams is +600. Ricco with an easy single leg. Rut-Roh! Ricco pushes the former Grambling QB into the cage, and is looking to grab an arm. From being the first African-American to quarterback a team to a Super bowl, to getting mounted by Ricco Rodriguez. I just sent Jamie Penick an IM about Dennis Siver, and the fight is over. No, really.

10:47 - It was an RNC, 2:16 in.

10:48 - Classy interview from Ricco by Ron Kruck, who mentions that Seth Petruzelli might be next.

10:49 - Video piece with Rosholt about his dog. I'm telling you, find the videos of Daisy the Amazing Lab on youtube.com. Best dog ever.

10:54 - Trigg and Schiavello could look soooooo ridiculous, but they're cool enough to pull it off.

10:58 - HDNet has done a great job illustrating the contrast between Rosholt and Horwich. Rosholt is all business, textbook, traditional. Matt Horwich is, well,Horwichian. Rosholt lost their first fight last year, but is a -240 betting favorite. Horwich is +190.

10:59 - Trigg and Schiavello are talking openly about Rosholt's burning desire to get back to the UFC. I always appreciate when announcers don't insult the stupidity of their audience by trying to pretend that there aren't other organizations out there.

11:07 - Everything about Horwich is unusual, even the way he touches gloves. I love this guy. First minute sees both guys feeling each other out. horwice throws a flurry of pitter patter hooks that backs Rosholt into the cage, but he reverses. Horwich get underhooks, though. They separate, and Rosholt lands a nice kick. Horwich hits Rosholt's chin a couple of times, but winds up with his back against the cage again, and eats another kick as they separate. Rosholt should took his chin better, but he's seemingly unconcerned with Horwich's striking. Rosholt's striking looks much better than it has in the past. Rosholt gets Horwich down to his back, but refuses to get sucked down to the ground with him. Smart. Round ends. 10-9 Rosholt.

I'm a few minutes behind now, had to pause the live broadcast.

11:19 - Horwich's striking is fun to watch, but that doesn't mean it's 'good' or anything. What's worse, horwich's striking or Rosholt's striking defense? rosholt's hands are down and his chin is high. They clinch in the middle, Horwich down, back up, and pressed against the cage. They separate. Rosholt trips Horwich, but won't go down to the ground with him. He's standing between Horwich's ankles, just kind of, um, looking at Horwich. Back to their feet, Horwich lands a couple of hooks, but he has little power. The tape is coming off of Rosholt's glove, but the ref doesn't see it. Rosholt is rewrapping himself while he's fighting, but the ref won't pause the fight. #Texas. round ends with Horwich on his back, and Rosholt holding Horwich's ankles. 20-18 Rosholt.

11:23 - Final round. horwich climbs Rosholt in an attempt to pull guard, but Rosholt shoves him off and refuses to go to the ground with him. Horwich grans a leg, but can't get Rosholt to the canvas. horwich stands up. Clinch, and Rosholt pushes him into the cage. They separate. Ugly flying knee from Rosholt, misses. Just spotted some blood, horwich has a cut near his right eye. Clinchy clinch, cagey cagey, separate again. This fight sucks. I'm fast forwarding... Another 1 fill minute of Rosholt holding Horwich's ankles missed. Against the cage again. Blech. 10 seconds left, Rosholt hits a hard spinning backfist and a big short left. Nice finish by Rosholt.

11:25 - 30-27 x3, Rosholt. Rosholt is clearly better than Horwich, and clearly not a top 50 middleweight.