King of the Cage: Honor 5/14 Re-Cap

King of the Cage: Honor
Inn of the Mountain Gods
Mescalero, New Mexico
Friday May 14, 2010
HDNet

Tony Lopez recently lost his KOTC Heavyweight Title. He still holds the KOTC Light Heavyweight Championship and will defend tonight against the tough Mike Kyle. Three titles will be on the line tonight. The announcers are Michael Schiavello and Frank Trigg. Maria is the backstage interviewer.

Welterweight Fight- Koa Ramos (7-1) vs. Sam Oropeza (3-0)

Ramos took this fight on only three days notice. Ramos is 4-1 in his last five fights. Oropeza trains with Eddie Alvarez and this is his 4th professional fight. Oropeza is 3-0 so far in his young career.

R1- Ramos clinched against the cage and picked up Oropeza and Oropeza quickly finished him with a guillotine.

Winner: Sam Oropeza by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 0:50

Bantamweight Title Fight- Donald Sanchez (19-10) vs. Angelo Sanchez (8-2)

Angelo currently holds the Bantamweight Title and Donald is the interim champion. Angelo beat Donald in 2009 by split decision but then suffered an injury that put him on the shelf. Donald won the interim title in February at the Vengeance show in HDNet when he defeated Victor Valenzuela by TKO in the 4th round. Donald has won 4 straight fights since losing the split decision to Angelo in May of 2009. Angelo is 5-0 in his last 5 and came back from injury in March when he beat Richard Montano by TKO.

R1- Donald got a take down at the one minute mark of the round but Angelo got back to his feet without sustaining any damage. Donald got top position again and landed a couple of strikes before standing back up. Donald 10-9.

R2- Angelo comes out the aggressor in this round. Donald pulls guard and goes for a submission but didn't get it. Angelo really controlled the first half of the round. Donald briefly got on top but Angelo swept him over and then landed some good strikes. Angelo took this round so we're tied up 19-19.

R3- Angelo comes out looking a little tired and Donald gets the first take down. Donald really controls this round. He briefly took Angelo's back but couldn't do anything in that position. Angelo tried to get an arm bar right at the end of the round but he couldn't lock it in. Donald 29-28 after three rounds.

R4- Lots of clinching in the first half of this round. Donald landed a couple of knees against the cage. Donald got a take down with a minute left in the round. Angelo went for a submission but couldn't get it and Donald landed a couple of strikes. Close round. I've got Donald 39-37 going into the final frame. Trigg says he also has it 3 rounds for Donald at this point.

R5- Donald landed a good right hand at the one minute mark of the round. Angelo has been cut open under one of his eyes. Donald got a take down with two minutes left in the fight but quickly let Angelo up. Angelo threw an overhand right and followed it up with a take down. The fight is standing again with one minute left. Donald landed a jumping knee but Angelo clinched him to minimize damage. Donald landed another flying knee and then they both threw leather for the last ten seconds. Decent fight. I've got Donald 49-46. The big factor in this fight was Angelo's cardio as it just wasn't at the level of Donald's.

For the fight Donald landed 114 strikes to Angelo's 93. Donald had 5 take downs and Angelo had 3 submission attempts.

Judges score cards: 49-46 Donald, 48-47 Angelo, 48-47 Donald

Winner and new Bantamweight Champion: Donald Sanchez by Decision (Split)

Welterweight Fight- Quinn Mulhern (11-1) vs. Joey Gorczynski (17-8)

Joey is 4-1 in his last 5 with the loss being to Hector Lombard by decision. Mulhern is 4-1 in his last 5 with the loss coming to Michael Guymon. Mulhern bounced back from that loss with a win over former UFC fighter Rich Clementi. Mulhern has a big 5" height and 7" reach advantage.

R1- Joey picked up Mulhern and slammed him a minute and a half into the fight but then let him up. Mulhern got Joey down but Joey did a good job of controlling his body and took Mulhern's guard. Despite being on his back Mulhern did a good job of controlling Joey until they stood up. Mulhern landed a counter punch and Joey went down and Mulhern took his back and started landing some strikes. Mulhern finished strong to take this round 10-9.

R2- Mulhern fought off a take down and took the dominant position on the ground. Mulhern just really controlling this round. Mulhern mounted and landed some good Ground and Pound. Joey rolled over but he's just barely surviving at this point. Mulhern 20-18. Borderline 10-8 round. Mulhern with 48 strikes to Joey's 9 so far.

R3- Mulhern pounces on Joey to start this round and quickly gets him down on the mat. Mulhern got a Rear Naked and got the submission win. Mulhern really dominated the second and third rounds. Impressive showing by Mulhern.

Winner: Quinn Mulhern by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R3 0:53

Flyweight Title Fight- Abel Cullum (c) (19-3) vs. Joshua Montoya (7-2)

Cullum has fought for DREAM and Elite XC in the past and most recently tapped out Joe Coca in the first round of their KOTC fight in February. Collum is on a 2 fight win streak since losing to Hideo Tokoro in Japan one year ago. Collum has won 10 fights by submission. Montoya trains with Greg Jackson. He's won 3 straight fights since losing 2 in a row. Montoya has a 3" reach advantage.

R1- Cullum came right out and got a quick take down. Montoya got back to his feet and Cullum got another take down. Cullum took Montoya's back as he was trying to get back to his feet and clamped on a Rear Naked Choke and finished Montoya.

Winner: Abel Cullum by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R1 1:38

Heavyweight Fight- Darrill Schoonover (10-1) vs. Nick Gaston (3-0)

This is an elimination fight for the chance to fight Tony Johnson for the KOTC Heavyweight Title. Schoonover was a member of The Ultimate Fighter 10 and was a member of Team Rashad. Schoonover beat Zak Jensen in his first fight on TUF by triangle choke submission and then got KO'd by Marcus Jones. Schoonover also fought on The Ultimate Finale in December of 2009 but lost to James McSweeney by 3rd round TKO. Gaston is a boxer and skilled stand up fighter. His nickname is “Afrozilla”. He beat Mike Guidry by kimura submission at KOTC: Legacy back in March on HDNet.

R1- Afrozilla lands some early strikes and Darill clinches him to try to minimize damage. Afrozilla partially landed a head kick and then came in with a jumping kick and Darrill again clinched him as he fell to the mat. Afrozilla mounted Darrill but Darrill got out. Afrozilla bailed Darrill out by hitting him with a low kick. It looked like Afrozilla was moving in for the kill before the low blow. Darrill landed a couple of minor strikes and then Afrozilla pushed him down to the mat. Afrozilla 10-9.

R2- Darrill landed a left kick early in the round and busted open Afrozilla's nose. Afrozilla landed a couple of good kicks two minutes into the round. Darrill went for a take down but Afrozilla ended up on top. Afrozilla landed some good elbows and Darill started to bleed like crazy. The ref stepped in and stopped the fight as Darrill was just bleeding all over the place.

Winner: Nick Gaston by TKO (Strikes) R2 3:13

Light Heavyweight Title Fight- Tony Lopez (c) (18-3) vs. Mike Kyle (15-7-1)

In his last fight in March Tony Lopez lost his KOTC Heavyweight Title to Tony Johnson by unanimous decision. Mike Kyle has looked really impressive in his last two KOTC fights as he defeated Jon Murphy and Travis Wiuff by TKO. Kyle has won 4 of his last 5 with the loss coming to Fabricio Werdum. Lopez has also won 4 of his last 5 with the only loss coming to Tony Johnson in his last outing. Lopez has a 2" height and 3" reach advantage.

R1- Kyle landed a good counter punch early and Lopez started talking to him. Lopez is landing some leg kicks. Kyle is landing some decent punches. Lopez hit a good punch/kick combo. Close round but not much action. Could have gone either way. I'll give it to the champion 10-9. Lopez landed 26 strikes to 20.

R2- Lopez landed a kick to the face at the two minute mark of the round. Kyle answered with a good combo. Kyle caught a Lopez kick and dumped him onto the mat. Lopez looks like he has a small cut on his face. Kyle took this round in the last minute. I've got it 19-19 so far after two rounds. Kyle looked like he started to get into a groove at the end of this round.

R3- Kyle opens up more aggressive at the beginning of this round. Kyle is landing the better strikes in this round. Not a very exciting fight so far. I've got Kyle 29-28. Trigg says he has the same score.

R4- Kyle caught a leg kick and knocked Lopez off balanced and landed a good right hand. Kyle has done some damage to Lopez's face and he's bleeding. Kyle went for a take down but Lopez ended up on top. Lopez took this round and it's 38-38 going into the final round.

R5- Kyle is landing the better strikes in the first half of this round. Kyle landed a good combination with a minute and a half left in the fight. The strikes landed are about even for this round but Kyle's have looked like they had more behind them. Kyle grabbed a kick and clinched against the cage. Lopez tried to pull guard on a guillotine but lost it on the way to the ground. Kyle took this round and I've got him 48-47. Not a great fight. Neither guy really did enough to win the fight. Underwhelming Main Event.

Judges score card: 48-47 Kyle, 49-46 Kyle, third score not announced

Winner and new Light Heavyweight Champion: Mike Kyle by Decision (Split)