The Dr Pepper Arena in the North Dallas suburb of Frisco played host to a night of MMA action as Fight Game brought together some of North Texas’ most talented fighters under one roof to give fight fans their MMA fix.
In the evening’s main event Sean Spencer, fighting out of Guy Mezger Combat Sports, gave his hometown fans in Frisco reason to cheer as he gutted out a three round unanimous decision over Derrick Krantz of Marshall, TX. Spencer had his hands full throughout the fight as Krantz never gave up an inch in the battle and made Spencer work for everything. Fortunately for the fans of Spencer their fighter was more than up to the challenge and behind some terrific boxing and excellent takedown defense was able to bloody and batter the face of Krantz who may very well be the poster child for toughness. In the end Spencer was awarded the fight by scores of 30-27 on all three cards to improve his record to 7-1; Krantz falls to 10-5 in defeat.
In the evening’s co-main event Mohler Jiu-Jitsu’s Jason Sampson saw unblemished record disappear as New Mexico’s Josh Montoya effectively spoiled Sampson’s homecoming. The fight was as close as war as one will ever see as Sampson came out the gates roaring behind some vastly improved boxing and his awe-inspiring takedowns. Sampson’s relentless pressure in the opening rounds seemed to indicate that the fight would not last the scheduled rounds but Montoya would rally back in a fiercely contested second round. With this fight being a rematch of their bout in August, a fight in which Sampson emerged victorious via an armbar, Montoya apparently did his homework and worked hard to seal up his takedown defense. This paid dividends Friday night as Montoya was able to evade some of the takedown attempts Sampson threw at him. With Montoya able to stuff some of Sampson’s takedown attempts the fight became more of a stand up affair than many would have anticipated. Whereas Sampson appeared to be loading up everything on his shots, Montoya looked to simply score using quick flurries to neutralize Sampson’s advances. The third round was pivotal as both fighters attempted to leave it all on the line. While Sampson kept pressing forward Montoya would counter with quick hands and some hard body shots that looked as if they hurt Sampson. However, Sampson would end the fight strong trying in vain to end the fight with a rear naked choke.
Make no mistake, the fight was close and a strong case could be made for either fighters but in the end the scorecards read 29-28, 29-28, and 28-29 in favor on Montoya. With the win Montoya improves his record to 10-7; Sampson tastes defeat for the first time falling to 8-1 with the loss.
Bubba McDaniel was able to nullify the charges of Eric Schambari to gut out a unanimous. While the fight may not have been the most action packed bout one will ever see you have to appreciate the relentless submission attempts that were in abundance during the fight. Surprisingly, it was McDaniel who nearly ended the fight on multiple occasions with triangles and some tight guillotines. All of this despite McDaniel claiming to not hold a belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and Schambari reported to be a BJJ black belt. In the end the fight boiled down to a war of attrition and ultimately it was McDaniel who emerged victorious. With the victory McDaniel improves to 19-6 while Schambari falls to 13-4 in defeat.
Arlington’s Douglas Frey, Mohler Jiu-Jitsu, made it a short night against Houston’s Tim Snyder, fighting out of 4oz Fight Team. After some cautious moments in the opening seconds, Frey deftly shot in a secured a takedown. With the takedown secured, Frey moved in for the kill and after securing an airtight guillotine Snyder was left with no other option other than to tap at the 2:59 mark in the opening round. With the win Frey improve his record to 10-7; Snyder drops to 12-9-1 in defeat.
Saekson Janjira-trained Charles Byrd looked impressive in his vicious domination of Robert Agee, Gladiator Academy, earning a pretty one-sided unanimous decision. Bryd wasted little time in establishing his Muay Thai pedigree opening up the fight with crisp inside le kicks that were then punctuated by an overhand right. This combo seemed to befuddle Agee who soon found his left eye bloodied and his legs unsteady after eating a big right hand from Byrd in the opening round. Credit has to be given to Agee for surviving the early onslaught of Byrd but the second and third rounds didn’t fair any better for him. Byrd was simply too tenacious to be stopped and even in the round that Agee nearly submitted Byrd with a rear naked choke, the third, he found himself penalized a point for holding the cage. None the less, the night belonged to Byrd and his big right hand. With the win Byrd improves his record to 4-2; Agee falls to 2-2 in defeat.
In what turned out to be a spirited battle, George Pacurariu, Octagon MMA, improved his record to 4-1 with a unanimous decision victory over Austin’s Michael Lytle, fighting out of Austin Extreme Sparring. The action was furious early on as both fighters winged punches at one another. After trading a number of bombs in the opening round, the fight went to the ground where each fighter had their moments with some short punches on the inside but is looked as if Pacurariu was the more comfortable combatant in this realm. The fight came down to the third round and it was there that Pacurariu took control of a fading Lytle to grind out the round and win the decision. All three judges scored the bout 29-28 in favor of Pacurariu and with the loss Lytle falls to 1-2.
Sean Holden, fighting out of Guy Mezger Combat Sports, made his professional debut a successful one coasting to a unanimous decision victory over Wes Linsley, fighting out of Wylie Boxing Club. Holden controlled the tempo and utilized a smothering ground game to keep Linsley, who is a noted amateur boxer, from using his perceived advantages on the feet. While Linsley did enough to prevent Holden from ending the fight early it was clear that this fight belonged to the Guy Mezger trained prospect. In the end all three judges scored the bout 30-27 in favor of Holden who sees his record go to 1-0; Linsley falls to 0-2 in defeat.
The night started off with bang as Neal Ewing, fighting out of Octagon MMA, improved his record to 2-0 with a second round rear naked choke of Jabari Shakur, fighting out of Phalanx MMA. Ewing used his superior wrestling acumen to control the pace of the fight and was able to secure a number of takedowns in the opening round. However, credit has to be given to Shakur who, despite making his pro debut Friday night, was game throughout the contest and was able to weather much of Ewing’s storm. Still, Ewing proved to be the better man this night as he deftly slipped in a rear naked choke at the 1:52 mark of the second round.
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