King of the Cage: Legacy 3/26/2010 Re-Cap

King of the Cage: Legacy
Silver Legacy Casino Resort
Reno, Nevada
March 26, 2010
HDNet

This is the 2nd King of the Cage show on HDNet (the first was called Vengeance and was Feb 2nd). On this show Tony Lopez defends his Heavyweight Title against Tony Johnson. In the Main Event Mike Kyle will fight Jon Murphy of Bully Beatdown fame. The announcers for the show are “The Voice” Michael Schiavello and Jason “Mayhem” Miller. Former WWE diva and former CM Punk girlfriend Maria Kanellis is the backstage interviewer for the show.

Welterweight Title Fight- Quinn Mulhern (10-1) vs. Koffi Adzitso (11-4)

On the last KOTC show on HDNet Mulhern beat UFC vet Rich Clementi by TKO in the 2nd round. Mulhern has a 5″ height and 4″ reach advantage. Mulhern has won 4 of his last 5 with his last win coming on March 6th. Koffi is 3-2 in his last 5 fights and is on a 2 fight losing streak. In his last fight he lost to Kyacey Uscola who is on the version of The Ultimate Fighter. Not sure why someone with back-to-back losses is fighting for a title.

R1- Koffi’s stand-up looks pretty good early and he opened a cut over the eye brow of Mulhern. Koffi is landing some good strikes. Mulhern went for a double leg but Koffi ended up on top. Mulhern has strong jiu jitsu so this is where he wants the fight. Mulhern got him in a triangle but Koffi slipped out. Mulhern got him in another triangle but Koffi slipped out again. Koffi grabbed a omaplata and cranked back on Koffi’s shoulder and was just cranking back on his arm when the bell rung. Mulhern won this round with his submissions after the fight got to the ground.

R2- Mulhern went for an immediate take down and got it within the first minute of the round. Mulhern landed some strikes and then took Koffi’s back. Mulhern tapped Koffi out with a Rear Naked Choke.

“Give Mulhern your back and he’ll put you to sleep quicker than watching golf”- Michael Schiavello

Winner and new Welterweight Champion: Quinn Mulhern by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) R2

Heavyweight Fight- Nick Gaston (3-0) vs. Mike Guidry (2-0)

Gaston is a boxer and skilled stand up fighter. His nickname is “Afrozilla”. Guidry has finished both of his pro fights (one by TKO and one by submission). Gaston has a 2.5″ reach and 4″ height advantage and also out weighs Guidry by 15 pounds.

R1- Guidry moving forward early and is the agressor. Lots of clinching and Gaston controlled Guidry with the Muay Thai clinch for a while. Gaston nailed some good strikes. Guidry has a horrible tank top suntan line. Gaston got a take down with two minutes left in the round. Guidry has been cut open. Gaston landed some good strikes on the ground. Gaston went for a kimura at the end of the round and got the tapout a few seconds before the end of the round.

“He leans forward with 250 pounds of Columus beef on top of that arm pressing down on Mike Guidry”- Michael Schiavello

Winner: Nick Gaston by Submission (Kimura) R1 4:49

Middleweight Fight- Tim Means (8-2) vs. Jaime Jara (25-7)

Jara is a 41 year old fighter who has held 5 titles in 4 different weight classes. Means is on a 6 fight win streak and won his last fight in less than a minute. One of the two losses on Means record is to UFC fighter Spencer Fisher and the other one came in 2004. Jara is on a 4 fight win streak.

R1- Jara got a quick take down in the first thirty seconds of the fight. Jara tried to mount and Means got back to his feet. Jara landed a good left hand that rocked Means and then he grabbed a guillotine and got the submission. Good showing for Jara.

Winner: Jaime Jara by Submission (Guillotine Choke) R1 2:19

Heavyweight Title Fight- Tony Lopez (c) (18-2) vs. Tony Johnson (3-0)

Lopez has defended this belt 4 times and is on a 16 fight win streak. He fought on the last HDNet KOTC card and beat Tyler East by Triangle Choke submission in the first round. Johnson is a former amateur wrestler at Iowa State and pro football player. Lopez has a 4″ height and 6″ reach advantage but Johnson has a huge 39 pound weight advantage. Lopez is the Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight Champion for King of the Cage. Strange that he isn’t Main Eventing since he’s a two-division champion. Johnson trains with American Top Team.

R1- Johnson got an early take down and then starting throwing a punch of strikes as Lopez tried to defend. Johnson landed 19 strikes in the first minute according to CompuStrike. Lopez stood up and tried to grab a submission but Johnson picked Lopez up over his head and slammed him to the ground in a tremendous feat of strength. Lopez stood up and went for a kimura but Johnson got a double leg and took him back down. Lopez went for an arm bar and Johnson tried to slam out of it and finally Lopez let go. Johnson clearly took this round. I’ve got it 10-9, if Lopez didn’t get some submission attempts it would have been 10-8.

R2- Johnson got a quick take down to start the round. Johnson stayed on top throughout the round. Lopez went for a triangle with about a minute and a half left in the round but Johnson slipped out. Johnson 20-18 after two rounds.

R3- Johnson got a take down in the first minute of the fight. Lopez tried to get up but Johnson grabbed a guillotine. Lopez pulled his head out and Johnson landed a strike or two and then took him back down. Johnson 30-27 after three rounds.

R4- Johnson got a take down with about four minutes left in the fight. Not an exciting fight right now as Johnson is just grinding it out. Mazzagatti stood the fight up with a minute and a half left. Johnson is winning 40-36 with one round left.

R5- Johnson got a take down/slam in the first thirty seconds of the round. Johnson is just grinding out this round. Lopez tries to grab a couple of arm bars in this round. Lopez almost got it in the last ten seconds of the fight but Johnson finally broke his arm out of the submission. Johnson is clearly going to take this fight on the score cards. Johnson ended up with 131 strikes to 29 for Lopez and 8 take downs for Johnson.

All the judges scored the fight the same but the scores were not announced.

Winner and new KOTC Heavyweight Champion: Tony Johnson by Decision (Unanimous)

Welterweight Fight- Dustin Akbari (4-1) vs. Jack Montgomery (7-7)

Urijah Faber is in Dustin’s corner and is taking pictures of him and probably tweeting them out as he enters the ring. This is a “swing” fight so it’s being shown due to them having time on the broadcast.

R1- Dustin got a quick take down. Dustin tried to hit some leg locks and then took his back and threw some strikes and knocked Montgomery out.

Winner: Dustin Akbari by KO R1 2:30

Maria grabs Urijah outside the cage. Urijah says he’s been training with him since he’s been 15 (he’s now 22). Urijah said it was supposed to be a 155lb fight but his opponent came in heavy and they took the fight at Welterweight.

Heavyweight Fight- Mike Kyle (16-7-1) vs. Jon Murphy (5-3)

Kyle fought on the last KOTC HDNet show and he knocked Travis Wiuff right at the bell in the 2nd round. Kyle trains at the American Kickboxing Academy and trained on stand up last week with Andre Arlovski. Kyle is 4-1 in his last five fights with his only loss coming to borderline Top 10 Heavyweight Fabricio Werdum and with a win over up and comer Rafael Cavalcante. Kyle has a 3″ reach advantage but is giving up 49 pounds to Murphy as Kyle comes in at only 211 pounds for the fight. Kyle has a 71% KO ratio.

R1- Kyle got a take down in the first twenty seconds of the fight. Kyle landed a bunch of strikes and tried to take the back but couldn’t and they stood back up. With two minutes left in the round Kyle had landed 41 strikes to 2 for Murphy. Murphy threw some big strikes and Kyle used his speed to get away and get a brief take down. Murphy grabbed a guillotine choke and Kyle took him down but Murphy rolled over and took Kyle’s guard with thirty seconds left in the round. Kyle 10-9.

R2- Murphy grabbed a guillotine and pulled guard but Kyle quickly popped his head out and scored an elbow. Kyle landed some more good elbows. The fight is stood back up and Kyle hits a judo throw and Murphy rolled over on top of Kyle. So far this round Kyle has 30 strikes to Murphy’s 2. Murphy landed a couple of good strikes from the top but Kyle worked actively from the bottom. Kyle was able to flip Murphy over and take top position. Kyle lands some good elbows and strikes as he had Murphy pinned in a crucifix position and kept pounding him and the ref stepped in and stopped the fight. Good showing for Kyle. Kyle landed 115 strikes to Murphy’s 17.

Winner: Mike Kyle by TKO (Strikes) R2 4:53

CBS/Elite XC Saturday Night Fights 5/31/08

Elite XC Saturday Night Fights 5/31/08

Gus Johnson is the lead announcer. Good move in my opinion as he will put a “legitimate” face to MMA for the casual fans. They pair him with Mauro Ranallo, the usual voice of Elite XC. Mauro isn’t the most popular guy but I like him. The third member of the announce crew is Frank Shamrock. They name drop Bruce Lee as one of the fore fathers of MMA. They move to street fighter turned MMA fighter Kimbo Slice and briefly touch on his fight tonight versus James Thompson.

Card for tonight is:

Kimbo Slice vs. James Thompson
Robbie Lawler vs. Scott Smith
Gina Carano vs. Kaitlin Young
Phil Baroni vs. Joe Villasenor
Jon Murphy vs. Brett Rogers

Frank Shamrock does a segment where he goes over some basic MMA styles and talks about striking and grappling. And goes over some terms like “Ground and Pound”, “Guard”, “Half Guard”, “Clinch”, “Arm Bar”, “Rear Naked Choke”, and “Take Down”. Frank goes over some of the do’s and don’ts of MMA. He talks about the 3 ways a fight can end: KO/TKO, Submission/Tap Out, and Judges Decision.

Heavyweight Fight- Jon Murphy (4-2) vs. Brett Rogers (6-0)

Of these guys I’ve only seen Brett Rogers fight and from what I remember he was fairly impressive. Brett Rogers is lead to the ring by a rapping Busta Rhymes. Stuff like this and the dancers that opened the show are what I can do without.

R1- Murphy catches Rogers early and Rogers clinches with him and backs him into the cage and gets in a couple of shots. Rogers hits Murphy with a couple of shots and this one was over. Not the prettiest fight but Rogers showed good power and got the KO very early in the fight. He moves to 7-0 and moves up the Elite XC Heavyweight ladder.

Winner: Brett Rogers KO R1 1:01

Middleweight Fight- Phil Baroni (10-9) vs. Joey Villasenor (25-6)

I’ve seen a couple of Villasenor’s Elite XC fights and he’s unspectacular but really solid and seems really hart to beat. I haven’t seen that much of Baroni but he’s got a big rep so this should be an interesting fight as both guys like to stand up and punch. Baroni guarantees a knockout in the pre-match interviews. Mark Coleman is in Baroni’s corner. Villasenor has won his last two fights, Baroni has lost 3 of his last 4.

R1- Baroni pushes the pace early and gets a take down as he catches Villasenor in a kick. Drilled Baroni with a left hook and now has a guillotine on Baroni. Vallasenor with some shots and Baroni is shaken. Villasenor all over Barnoi and Villasenor gets the win. Mild upset in terms of name status but not in terms of records. Great win for Villasenor.

Winner: Joey Villasenor by TKO (punches) R1 1:11

Two fights and both have been finished very quickly.

Gina Carano (5-0) vs. Kaitlin Young (4-1)

R1- Carano takes young down early but Young gets back to her feet. Carano hit a good right hand and then hit a good left jab. Young hit a good right hand. Young takes down Carano. Carano is just smothering Young and Young can’t do anything despite being on top. The first round was very competitive. Both got in one take down but I think Carano got in more clean shots. Carano 10-9 but very close.

R2- Carano got caught doing a kick and Young got in a couple of knees. Then they exchanged some punches. Lots of action early in round two. Carano is starting to go to town and Young got hit right in the nose but is holding on and fighting back. Carano with a big left. Carano is peppering Young with punches but Young is holding on. Carano kicks Young to the ground and is going for a Rear Naked Choke but is having trouble clamping it on. Young gets saved by the bell in round two. Really exciting fight so far. Young’s face is jacked up. Carano 20-18.

And the fight is stopped in between rounds.

R3- Gina Carano by TKO (ref stoppage) R2

Elite XC Middleweight Title Fight: Robbie Lawler © (15-4) vs. Scott Smith (15-4)

This is the fight that I’ve been looking forward to the most on this show. This is Lawler’s first title defense. Interesting note that these guys have the same exact record of 15 wins and 4 losses.

R1- Smith throwing some big kicks early but coming up empty. Lawler really taking his time and not rushing in. Smith charged at Lawler and got popped. Lawler the aggressor now as he’s hitting some shots. Smith tags Lawler with a kick and then bedlam breaks loose as both guys are just swinging back and forth. Lots of misses and Lawler hits a combo. Both guys really opening up. Lawler hitting with some jabs and Smith countering. Lawler with a big body shot that hurts Smith. Lawler with a body kick. Lawler with some right hooks. Lawler with a great body kick and then ends the round with a right knee and a ton of punches. Smith is saved by the bell. Lawler just looked awesome at the end of this round. This round took a while to get going but once it did it was really fun. Lawler takes this round 10-9.

R2- Lawler is the aggressor at the start of round two. Big side kick by Lawler. Smith fighting back but coming up short on kicks. Smith clinches him and lands some nice knees to the head of Lawler. Smith know peppering Lawler with some punches. Lawler comes back with punches. Lots of dirty boxing. Lawler continuing to hit shots on Smith. Smith continues to throw shots. Really back and forth round. These guys are really throwing at each other. Both guys are bloody. Great round. Really even. Lawler is cut on the top of his head. I think Smith probably takes this round, 19-19 after two.

R3- Lawler jabbing early looking for an opening. Lawler starting to hit some elbows but his head cut has opened back up. Lawler went for a take down but got stuffed and now they stand up again. Smith got a finger in the eye and they stop the fight to allow him to recover. The doctor comes in and stops the fight. What a shame as Scott Smith is begging them to let him continue to fight. The crowd is chanting “bulls**t, bulls**t”. Well, I really enjoyed this fight and will look forward to the re-match.

Decision: No Contest, Lawler retains belt

Heavyweight Fight: Kimbo Slice (2-0) vs. James Thompson (16-8)

R1- Kimbo takes down Thompson but then Thompson gets Kimbo to the ground. Kimbo gets up but gets taken back down. James Thompson gets to side control but Kimbo gets to his feet. Kimbo is caught in a guillotine. Kimbo trying to get out with some knees. Kimbo finally frees himself. Kimbo takes Thompson down. Kimbo tried a slam but slipped and Thompson now has Kimbo in side control. Kimbo flips him over. Kimbo hitting a couple of elbows. First round comes to an end. I think Thompson won the first round 10-9.

R2- Kimbo with some punches and Thompson is in trouble. Thompson locks him up. Kimbo briefly got Thompson in a guillotine but Thompson has side control on Kimbo. The ref stands them up as there was not much movement. Kimbo hitting some shots. Thompson looks to be finished and Kimbo hits some shots but Thompson holds on and drops Kimbo with a double leg take down. Thompson hitting some elbows on Kimbo. Thompson just dominated the second half of this round. Kimbo won the first half but then just got dominated. Both rounds could go either way but I’ve got Thompson up 20-18 so far. Kimbo had a chance to put Thompson away in the middle of this round but couldn’t do it.

R3- Kimbo hits two nice shots and Thompson’s ear popped open and is bleeding like crazy and the ref stops the fight. Thompson is not happy. Thompson ear is just disgusting. Kimbo escaped this fight and this fight really exposed him.

Winner: Kimbo Slice by TKO R3 0:38

This was a good show, would have been better if Lawler/Smith would have had a finish as that was the fight of the night. The woman’s fight was very good. And the show started with two real quick knockouts which I think was a good thing to get the show kicked off. The Main Event was nowhere near as good as Lawler/Smith but it was interesting. Kimbo was definitely exposed and it will be interesting to see where they go with him now. Obviously, he’s still undefeated but he’s gonna have a tough time with any heavyweight who can get him off his feet.