In what has quickly become old hat, a night of explosive action highlighted Saturday night’s XKO 25 card at the XKO Arena in Arlington, TX. A standing room only crowd was on hand to give the fight card an unmistakable air of excitement and energy.
The night’s main event saw the much anticipated return of Alex Russ to the MMA cage. Standing in the opposite corner was Skyler Cawdrey, a fight who has also been noticeably absent from the fighting scene. Though Russ came out the aggressor early on it was Cawdrey who was able to control the action later in the fight and after getting top position and landing a flurry of shots, referee Don Turnage waived a halt to the contest in the third round; much to the protest of Russ.
In the night’s co-featured fight Randall Kennedy scored an upset of sorts when he was able to secure a vicious knee bar on the hard-hitting Moises Diaz. The time of the submission was 1:26 in the first round.
New-comer to the fighting scene, Kevin Holland no doubt won many new fans with an impressive performance against Marcos Ayub. Ayub, a jiu-jitsu fighter, was valiant in the contest but Holland was too fast and too explosive and ultimately secured a first round TKO on Ayub. The official time of the stoppage was 1:54 in the opening round.
Dennis Thomas and Fernando Salas engaged in a damn good back and forth battle. Neither fighter looked to give an inch in the battle but ultimately it was Thomas who secured the win on the judges scorecards. Scores were 30-27, 29-28, and 29-28.
Ulyses Aquila looked impressive in his first professional MMA fight by submitting hard-charging Mike Sierra with a second round rear naked choke.
Fight of the night honors went to the absolute war that was the Humberto Martinez and Andrew Sosa fight. Both fighters wasted little time in taking the fight to each other. Hard shot after hard shot was landed with Martinez busting up the face of Sosa. Sosa never gave an inch but Martinez was awarded the fight.
Fan-favorite Justin Miller made a triumphant return the fighting by submitting veteran Armando Servin with a first round triangle choke.
The Lior Shorpen – Ramon Jackson fight was declared a no-contest when an errant kick to a downed Jackson rendered Jackson unable to continue. There is some dispute to the validity of the call, but the fight was ruled a no-contest regardless.
Alonzo Jordan scored a highlight reel knockout on Jose Soto with a first round KO.
Andre Kavanaugh submitted Jabari Shakur with a second round rear naked choke.
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