Johnny Toetags
11-07-2005, 01:53 PM
Mixed Fighting Championship 5: USA vs. Japan
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y28/BKDOTCOM/mfc_logo_m.jpg
Saturday November 5th at the Trump Taj Majal in Atlantic City, the east coast?s fastest growing promotion held their 5th event, Mixed Fighting Championship: USA versus Japan. As in previous events, the crowd was littered with names familiar to all MMA fans, and the card was packed with action. The night?s event focused on a tournament of Japanese and American fighters, but also had several great under-card matches and an unannounced match to decide who would face the main event victor for the MFC welterweight belt in January.
Anyone could quickly judge who the favorite in the main event was just by looking at the shirts in the crowd. From under card to main event, Eddie Alvarez has declared the MFC ring is his stage. I spoke to one of the Fight Factory of Philadelphia team, who told me that they had sold over 700 tickets for the event, and Alvarez shirts were the garb of choice this evening.
Early in the evening I had the pleasure of chatting with UFC veteran and Olympian, Matt Lindland. I asked Matt about his departure from the UFC ranks, and he replied, ?I guess they didn?t want me beating their champ.? Matt would corner his Team Quest comrade, Jay White, against one of the evening?s substitutions. Alex Roberts was replaced with Duneland Vale Tudo Fighter, Mark Burch. Burch?s surprisingly crisp standup made short work of White who quickly started eating punches and falling early in the first round. Other preliminary matches had some quick knockouts and ref stoppages, with impressive wins by Jason Guida and Steve Bruno.
In a pleasant surprise, one of two unannounced matches for the evening, Bristol Marunde returned to the MFC ring and scored a round three knockout over Rich Attonito. Early in the fight Rich landed repeated over the top right hands, once sending Bristol to the mat. Showing heart and a great chin, Bristol adjusted and stayed in the match until he could wear down his opponent with some leg kicks that sang throughout the arena, and finally finishing with a flurry of unanswered blows leading to a ref stoppage.
In the main card, Japanese fighter Stephen Haigh of Philly?s Fight Factory had a special head shaving match with Cobra Kai fighter Yuji Miyazaki. Haigh obviously wanted to keep his locks as he came out swinging hard, and capitalized on a knockdown with a quick submission. Miyazaki returned to the Arena later in the evening dressed as one of the Village people wearing a leather cap on his freshly shorn head.
The American?s dominated the evening with two exceptions, Shinichi ?BJ? Kojima on ?multiple? victory over Chris Macgrath. Macgrath weathered a powerful arm-bar which caused a ref stoppage, but when his arm was found not to be harmed, the ref decided to restart the fight standing. BJ quickly locked in a more decisive submission, ended the match a second time. The other highlight for team Japan was Hiroyuki Abe?s quick and painful heel-hook of Joey ?knockdown? Brown.
Jose Rodriguez continued his winning ways at his second MFC appearance. In one of the most dominant flurries of the night, Jose knocked new-comer Yuichirou Toshida out in the first minute of the first round. Next up, Kurt Pellegrino of American Top Team, continued to make Hermes Franca proud with a domination of Kazuki Okubo that put Jeremy Horn to shame. Kurt had the slam of the night that brought the crowd to their feet, followed by a flurry that lead to a speedy doctor?s stoppage.
UFC vet Chris Liguori had the closest match of the night with a decision victory over very game opponent Toraji. In a ground war that had two very close rounds, Liguori ecked out a victory with a slightly better third round.
Another unexpected surprise came as Carlos Prater, fought Pat Healy for the right to face the winner of the main event in January. Prater had UFC and Pride veteran Yves Edwards in his corner. Healy looked good early in the fight; scoring a knockdown and dominating Prater, but Prater weathered the storm, and kept his cool. The Atlantic City crowd was briefly distracted as a fight among fans broke out in stands, but the ground war ensued with Carlo finally locking in a sub and winning the shot at the first MFC championship belt!
In last match before the main event, Wilson Gouviea completed the domination of American Top team. His opponent, Pride veteran, Kazuhiro Hamanaka over extended a takedown attempt and quickly found himself on the wrong side of a blowout, suffering undefended strikes on the ground. I asked Hermes Franca how it felt to have his team seep their matches and he said how proud he was of Kurt who faced his first black-belt that evening.
Undefeated Eddie Alvarez faced his biggest challenge yet as the main event of the night. His opponent, Daisuke ?13? Hanazawa, entered the arena in cape and phantom mask, relishing the ?bad guy? role versus Philly favorite Alvarez. 13 showed the power and determination he had against Rich Clementi in his last MFC appearance, but Alvarez could not be stopped. 13 had an early takedown, and pressed Eddie so hard that at one point they went crashing out of the ring. This led to a tense moment as the doctor came into the ring to check a cut caused by a collision with the camera on the back of Eddie?s head. Thankfully the doctored quickly cleared Eddie and the match continued. Maybe the possibility of missing out on his fifth victory increased Eddie?s desire to end the match because he came at Hanazawa throwing uppercuts designed to send 13?s head out of the ring. Alvarez continued the barrage until the fight was stopped. Carlo Prater was brought out, and the two belt-seeking warriors faced off in a preview of their title match in January, and I can hardly wait!
-Jim ?DCBooks (http://www.bloodyknux.com/forum/member.php?u=270)? Kirkland.
Pictures coming soon...
Our thanks to the Kirkland clan.
Discuss this article HERE. (http://www.bloodyknux.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9645)
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y28/BKDOTCOM/mfc_logo_m.jpg
Saturday November 5th at the Trump Taj Majal in Atlantic City, the east coast?s fastest growing promotion held their 5th event, Mixed Fighting Championship: USA versus Japan. As in previous events, the crowd was littered with names familiar to all MMA fans, and the card was packed with action. The night?s event focused on a tournament of Japanese and American fighters, but also had several great under-card matches and an unannounced match to decide who would face the main event victor for the MFC welterweight belt in January.
Anyone could quickly judge who the favorite in the main event was just by looking at the shirts in the crowd. From under card to main event, Eddie Alvarez has declared the MFC ring is his stage. I spoke to one of the Fight Factory of Philadelphia team, who told me that they had sold over 700 tickets for the event, and Alvarez shirts were the garb of choice this evening.
Early in the evening I had the pleasure of chatting with UFC veteran and Olympian, Matt Lindland. I asked Matt about his departure from the UFC ranks, and he replied, ?I guess they didn?t want me beating their champ.? Matt would corner his Team Quest comrade, Jay White, against one of the evening?s substitutions. Alex Roberts was replaced with Duneland Vale Tudo Fighter, Mark Burch. Burch?s surprisingly crisp standup made short work of White who quickly started eating punches and falling early in the first round. Other preliminary matches had some quick knockouts and ref stoppages, with impressive wins by Jason Guida and Steve Bruno.
In a pleasant surprise, one of two unannounced matches for the evening, Bristol Marunde returned to the MFC ring and scored a round three knockout over Rich Attonito. Early in the fight Rich landed repeated over the top right hands, once sending Bristol to the mat. Showing heart and a great chin, Bristol adjusted and stayed in the match until he could wear down his opponent with some leg kicks that sang throughout the arena, and finally finishing with a flurry of unanswered blows leading to a ref stoppage.
In the main card, Japanese fighter Stephen Haigh of Philly?s Fight Factory had a special head shaving match with Cobra Kai fighter Yuji Miyazaki. Haigh obviously wanted to keep his locks as he came out swinging hard, and capitalized on a knockdown with a quick submission. Miyazaki returned to the Arena later in the evening dressed as one of the Village people wearing a leather cap on his freshly shorn head.
The American?s dominated the evening with two exceptions, Shinichi ?BJ? Kojima on ?multiple? victory over Chris Macgrath. Macgrath weathered a powerful arm-bar which caused a ref stoppage, but when his arm was found not to be harmed, the ref decided to restart the fight standing. BJ quickly locked in a more decisive submission, ended the match a second time. The other highlight for team Japan was Hiroyuki Abe?s quick and painful heel-hook of Joey ?knockdown? Brown.
Jose Rodriguez continued his winning ways at his second MFC appearance. In one of the most dominant flurries of the night, Jose knocked new-comer Yuichirou Toshida out in the first minute of the first round. Next up, Kurt Pellegrino of American Top Team, continued to make Hermes Franca proud with a domination of Kazuki Okubo that put Jeremy Horn to shame. Kurt had the slam of the night that brought the crowd to their feet, followed by a flurry that lead to a speedy doctor?s stoppage.
UFC vet Chris Liguori had the closest match of the night with a decision victory over very game opponent Toraji. In a ground war that had two very close rounds, Liguori ecked out a victory with a slightly better third round.
Another unexpected surprise came as Carlos Prater, fought Pat Healy for the right to face the winner of the main event in January. Prater had UFC and Pride veteran Yves Edwards in his corner. Healy looked good early in the fight; scoring a knockdown and dominating Prater, but Prater weathered the storm, and kept his cool. The Atlantic City crowd was briefly distracted as a fight among fans broke out in stands, but the ground war ensued with Carlo finally locking in a sub and winning the shot at the first MFC championship belt!
In last match before the main event, Wilson Gouviea completed the domination of American Top team. His opponent, Pride veteran, Kazuhiro Hamanaka over extended a takedown attempt and quickly found himself on the wrong side of a blowout, suffering undefended strikes on the ground. I asked Hermes Franca how it felt to have his team seep their matches and he said how proud he was of Kurt who faced his first black-belt that evening.
Undefeated Eddie Alvarez faced his biggest challenge yet as the main event of the night. His opponent, Daisuke ?13? Hanazawa, entered the arena in cape and phantom mask, relishing the ?bad guy? role versus Philly favorite Alvarez. 13 showed the power and determination he had against Rich Clementi in his last MFC appearance, but Alvarez could not be stopped. 13 had an early takedown, and pressed Eddie so hard that at one point they went crashing out of the ring. This led to a tense moment as the doctor came into the ring to check a cut caused by a collision with the camera on the back of Eddie?s head. Thankfully the doctored quickly cleared Eddie and the match continued. Maybe the possibility of missing out on his fifth victory increased Eddie?s desire to end the match because he came at Hanazawa throwing uppercuts designed to send 13?s head out of the ring. Alvarez continued the barrage until the fight was stopped. Carlo Prater was brought out, and the two belt-seeking warriors faced off in a preview of their title match in January, and I can hardly wait!
-Jim ?DCBooks (http://www.bloodyknux.com/forum/member.php?u=270)? Kirkland.
Pictures coming soon...
Our thanks to the Kirkland clan.
Discuss this article HERE. (http://www.bloodyknux.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9645)