Mainstream MMA- "New Era" 4/5/08 Re-Cap

Mainstream MMA - New Era
Mainstream MMA
April 5, 2008
Cedar Rapids, Iowa

This was from the Fight Zone show on Sport South. The announcers for the show were Jay Adams and Justin Brown. Razak Al-Hassan (debuted for UFC at Fight For The Troops against WEC Veteran Steve Cantwell) was also on this show but his fight was not shown as only the final 4 fights from this show made the cut for TV.

Light Heavyweight Fight- Rashad Brooks (3-3) vs. Derek Mehman (0-0)

Mehman is 6'4" and has a 6" height advantage. The winner of this is going to get a title shot at the next show. The announcers said Mehman was 1-0 going into this fight but Sherdog does not have record of that fight.

R1- Brooks tried a weird flipping kick and instead got his back taken and got tagged with some punches. Mehman got another take down and landed some Ground and Pound. Mehman put him in a half nelson and it did nothing. Mehman then flattened him out and hit lots of punches to the side of the head until the ref stepped in and stopped the fight.

Winner: Derek Mehman by TKO (strikes) R1

Welterweight Fight- Luke Gwaltney (12-10-1) vs. Eric Wisely (1-1)(20-2)

Luke has a 5" height advantage and also looks to have a good reach advantage in this fight. Wisely has a 1-1 record according to Sherdog but the announcers made reference to him being something like 20-2 in boxing. Sherdog has Luke at 12-10-1 going into the fight, the announcers said he is 23-10. He is only 22 years old so either way that's a bunch of fights.

R1- Wisely hit some good leg kicks and they briefly threw in the corner. Not a lot of strikes landed and a long feeling out process. Give the round to Wisely 10-9.

R2- Wisely got a take down and some Ground and Pound. Gwaltney kicked out but came up with a blood nose. Wisely got another take down, hit some Ground and Pound and got a full mount. Gwaltney kicked off the cage to get up but got taken down again. Wisely up 20-18 so far.

R3- Gwaltney got the take down and Wisely hit some punches from the bottom and the ref stepped in as Gwaltney was very bloody. Apparently when he made the take down he landed on his head (possibly on the bottom of the cage) and sustained a big gash that opened up really quickly. Fight was stopped due to blood, Wisely was up on points at this point anyway and had looked good in the fight.

Winner: Eric Wisely by TKO (Doctor Stoppage) R3

Middleweight Title Fight- Brian Monaghan (2-2) vs. Tom Grubb (4-0)

This is for the vacant Middleweight Title. The announcers have Grubb at 8-0 going into the fight and they have Monaghan at 5-2. Monaghan has fought Drew McFedries but came up on the short end of that one. This fight is 4 5-minute rounds with a 1 round Sudden Victory if the score cards are even after 4 rounds.

R1-Grubb pulled guard but landed in full mount. He was able to quickly turn it over and controlled the round from there. Grubb 10-9.

R2- Monaghan got a take down but Grubb reversed it and controlled the round again. Grubb 20-18 but not much damage inflicted.

R3- Grubb got a take down, they were stood up and so he got another take down. Really superior wrestling by Grubb.

R4- Grubb got a take down, went for a crucifix, then got a full mount and trapped Monaghan in a side choke and got the submission victory.

Good showing by Grubb. Not a very excited fight but he had superior wrestling and ended it with a good submission.

Winner and new Middleweight Champ: Tom Grubb by Submission (Choke) R4

Lightweight Title Fight- Joe Pearson (c) (26-10-1) vs. Erik Koch (2-0)

This is the Main Event. Pearson is a Militech fighter. Peason has a fought and lost to Miguel Torres in 2006, beat Yoshiro Maeda in 2006 in Pride Buchido, and lost to Urijah Faber in WEC in 2007 (I'm pretty sure I've seen that fight). Koch has a victory over Eric Wisely by decision from the last MMA Mainstream show. Koch has a 7 pound weight advantage in this fight.

R1- Koch hits a quick kick that is caught by Pearson and Pearson takes him down but Koch immediately maneuvers into a triangle choke. Pearson tries to fight it off and toughs it out for about 30 seconds but he has to tap. Very explosive start to the fight and a great finish.

Winner and new champion: Erik Koch by Submission (Triangle Choke) R1 0:47

This show definitely seemed to have some more refined fighters than the RFC show had on it. I would be interested in seeing Koch, Grubb and Wisely fight again to see how they progress.