XFC X: Night of Champions 3/19/2010 Re-Cap

XFC X: Night of Champions
Tampa, Florida
St. Pete Times Forum
March 19, 2010
HDNet

Time to take care of some of my MMA backlog on my DVR. This show will feature 2 title fights. Former UFC fighter Junior Assuncao (Raphael’s brother) will be in action on this show, as will former TUF fighter Shane Primm. Michael Schiavello and Guy Mezger are the announcers for the show. Christopher James is the ring announcer.

Heavyweight Fight- Kenneth Garner (2-1) vs. Chris Barnett (2-0)

Garner has a 2″ reach and 4″ height advantage. Barnett is 12 years younger than Garner and weighs in 7 pounds heavier than Garner for this fight.

R1- Garner got a quick take down and took Barnett’s back and clamped on a choke. Barnett got back to his feet and struggled to get out of the choke and finally broke free but Garner still took top position. Garner landed some really weak strikes on the ground and Barnett got back to his feet and then got a take down. Barnett trapped Garner in a crucifix position against the cage and landed some good strikes. Garner gave up his back and Barnett rained down some good blows to the side of the head. Garner tried for a toe hold but didn’t have good position. Really close round. Garner almost finished the fight with a choke early and Barnett came close to finishing it with some Ground and Pound late.

R2- Barnett picked Garner up for a good slam one minute into the round. Barnett took Garner’s back and landed some strikes to the side of Garner’s head and then rolled him over to north south position and landed some body shots. Garner looks completely gassed out. Barnett landed some body strikes. Barnett mounted Garner with a minute and a half left in the round but couldn’t take advantage of the position. Garner’s eye is swollen shut and the ref stops the fight to look at the eye and then they continue. Barnett definitely took this round and it was a borderline 10-8 round.

R3- Barnett got a quick take down. Barnett landed a couple of strikes and Garner wasn’t defending himself so the ref stopped the fight.

Winner: Chris Barnett by TKO (Strikes) R3 1:36

Featherweight Fight- Derek Schiffer (2-1) vs. Bruce Connors (7-1)

Connors trains with Team Gracie in Orlando. Connors is 4-1 in his last 5 fights. Schiffer is a wrestler/jiu jitsu fighter. Bruce Connors lists the disciplines of BJJ, boxing and Muay Thai as his fight style but more importantly he is a CondomDepot.com fighter. The CondomDepot logo is really the only way I can tell these guys apart because they are wearing the same trunks. Schiffer cut a lot of weight for this fight.

R1- Schiffer got a take down with two minutes left to go in the round but couldn’t do anything with it.Schiffer picked up Connors with a minute left in the fight and slammed him down. Connors grabbed a head lock on the way down and then tried to turn it into a guillotine but couldn’t. Schiffer 10-9 even though he didn’t do any damage. Schiffer got 2 take downs and Connors landed 8 strikes to Schiffer’s 2. Really close round. Schiavello and Metzger score 10-9 in favor of Connors.

R2- Connors landed a couple of nice strikes in the opening minute. Connors landed another good combo and then grabbed a guillotine and pulled guard but Schiffer quickly got out of the submission and took top position. Connors got back to his feet mid-way through the round. Connors landed a good punch/kick combo. Connors is really starting to pick Schiffer apart. I missed it but Schiffer cut Connors under the eye and he has a trickle of blood flowing down his face. Connors took this round so I’ve got the fight 19-19. Both guys really slowed down at the end of that round.

R3- Schiffer got a big take down in the first minute of the round. Connors tried a choke from the bottom but couldn’t get it. Schiffer didn’t do anything from the top before they stood back up. Schiffer got another take down with about a minute left. Not much happened in this round. It is going to be interesting to see how this fight is scored as I can see an argument being made for Schiffer taking 1 and 3 but I thought Connors won the fight overall. Connors landed 33 strikes to 12 for Schiffer. Schiffer got 5 take downs to 0, Connors had 2 submission attempts to 0.

Judges score cards: 29-28, 29-28, 30-27

Winner: Bruce Connors by Decision (Unanimous)

Bantamweight Fight- Frank Sharipov (10-3) vs. Gilbert Burgos (5-0)

Burgos fights out of Team Gracie in Orlando and is a jiu jitsu and wrestling specialist. Sharipov is out of Team Gracie in Tampa and is a BJJ specialist. The winner of this fight fights for the title in July. Sharipov has won 4 of his last 5 fights.

R1- They clinched and Sharipov basically used a Fireman’s Carry to get Burgos to the ground. Sharipov stayed on top of Burgos for the rest of the round and took it 10-9.

R2- Sharipov got a take down a minute and a half into the round. Burgos tried to grab a guillotine but couldn’t clamp it in. Burgos tried to grab a triangle but couldn’t complete the submission. I’ve got Sharipov up 20-18.

R3- Burgos got a quick take down to start the round. Sharipov got an arm bar from the bottom and finished the fight.

Winner: Frank Sharipov by Submission (Arm Bar) 1:07

XFC Lightweight Title Fight- John Mahlow (c) (12-11) vs. Junior Assuncao (9-4)

Mahlow trains with American Top Team. Assuncao is on a 3 fight win streak and has won 4 of his last 5. Assuncao is a BJJ Black Belt. Mahlow has won 3 of his last 5 and is coming off of a decision loss to Rafaello Oliveira which I’m guessing was a non-title fight or not an XFC fight. Assuncao has a 2″ height and 3″ reach advantage.

R1- Assuncao hit a good leg kick to the knee and Mahlow buckled a bit and then Assuncao came in and landed some strikes. Mahlow went down and Assuncao landed some strikes but Mahlow clamped onto a leg to stay in the fight. Assuncao tried to take Mahlow’s back and there is blood dripping onto the mat. Mahlow has been cut open. They stood up on the cage and Assuncao grabbed a guillotine and pulled guard and Mahlow quickly tapped out. Solid showing by Assuncao.

Winner and new champion: Junior Assuncao by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 4:02

Middleweight Fight- Julio Gallegos (3-0) vs. Shane Primm (4-2)

Primm fights out of Team Gracie in Tampa and was a member of Team Nogueira on TUF Season 8. On TUF Primm was defeated by Eliot Marshall via Rear Naked Choke in the first round on Episode 5. Primm has won 3 of his last 5 fights including wins over TUF alums Tom Lawlor (by DQ) and Mike Dolce and losses to Krzysztof Soszynski and Luigi Fioravanti. Gallegos brings a 14 year old to the ring with him as a part of the “Make A Wish” foundation. Schiavello also tells us that Gallegos suffered a huge tragedy as a child watching his parents die from a murder/suicide. Primm has a 5″ height and 8″ reach advantage in this fight.

R1- Gallegos destroyed Primm early with some shots to the head. I thought Primm was going to do a Flair flop but he grabbed onto Gallegos for balance and then Gallegos threw some good uppercuts and Primm fell to the ground and the ref stopped the fight.Gallegos looked awesome. Primm contests the stoppage but Guy Metzger says it was a good stoppage.

Winner: Julio Gallegos by TKO (Strikes) R1 0:34

XFC Featherweight Title Fight- Jarrod Card (c) (11-3-1) vs. Jason Wood (4-0)

This is the Main Event. Card is a jiu-jitsu and wrestling specialist. Wood is a jiu-jitsu and ground game specialist. Both fighters are on 4 fight win streaks. Card’s last loss was due to DQ in 2007.

R1- Wood tried to get an early take down but was reversed by Card. Wood spun Card over and Card went for an arm bar but Wood blocked it and took side control. Card caught Wood in an inverted triangle from the bottom but couldn’t hold it. Wood landed a couple of strikes and tried to take Card’s back but Card reversed him. Card stood up and then dove back into Wood’s guard but Wood caught Card in a triangle attempt but Card pushed through and got to guard. Card landed some strikes and Wood went for an arm bar. Card was able to get out of the submission and went back to guard. Wood went for another submission attempt but couldn’t grab it. Good first round. Both fighters landed 12 strikes with Wood landing a higher percentage, Wood had 2 submission attempts to Card’s 1.

R2- Wood came out swinging early and they clinched and Wood ended up on top as Card tried for a guillotine but quickly lost it. Card was able to reverse positions but Wood grabbed a guillotine in the guard. Card quickly escape the submission attempt. Wood did a good job of reversing back to top position. Card went for a choke from the bottom but Wood got back to standing to negate the choke. Card took Wood’s back and got the choke from a weird position and tapped out Wood. Good fight. Wood was probably narrowly winning the fight when Card finished.

Winner: Jarrod Card by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2 4:07