(The Daily Haymaker is a daily series that takes a look back and covers the news, fights being made, and all the other insanity revolving around combat sports. The Haymaker’s purpose is to keep you up to date with the ever changing combat sports world and also provide thought-provoking [hopefully] analysis from yours truly.)
ULTIMATE RECAPPOOLOOZA!!!
If there’s any kind of combat sports on television or some type of stream (no matter how terrible that stream may be), I try my damn near hardest to watch it, and whenever I do, I’ll recap every fight I saw for you all. Yesterday, I watched Lion Fight 12 and some of WOCS 31. Here’s a fight by fight recap of every fight witness by yours truly.
Lion Fight 12
Lion Fight Welterweight Championship
Fabio Pinca (91-21-4) vs Malaipet (149-28-6)
Down by a round heading into the fourth frame, Fabio Pinca found a second wind that saw him go to work on Malaipet in the fourth and fifth rounds. Pinca was able to control the ring and connect with several clean combinations en route to a really impressive win.
Result: Fabio Pinca wins via Decision.
Tiffany Van Soest (9-0-1) vs Magoli Foroni (12-2)
Van Soest is an absolute star. The American outclassed Foroni, backing her into the corner and just teeing off with several vicious barrages of pain-inducing strikes. Midway through the third round, Foroni’s corner threw in the towel. Believe it or not, referee Steve Mazzagatti let the fight go on for six more seconds after the towel was thrown.
Result: Van Soest wins via 3rd Corner Stoppage
Chris Culley (1-2) vs Nick Chasteen (1-0)
The tall Nick Chasteen looked surprisingly composed for a fighter making his professional debut. Although he was caught by several punches throughout the five round bout, Chasteen scored with brutal leg kicks that battered Chris Culley’s left leg. At the end of the fight, Culley’s leg looked a Smurf that was squashed by Yokozuna.
Result: Chasteen wins via Decision.
Mohammed Lemjerdine (4-3) vs Jason Andrade (4-0)
This was the most entertaining fight of the night. It was a back-and-forth war that culminated in the fifth round when Andrade scored a highlight reel knockout on Lemjerdine. Against the ropes, Andrade connect with a short right elbow that knocked out his opponent.
Result: Andrade wins via 5th KO
Stephen Richards (7-2-1) vs Glen Spencer (3-2)
In a matchup that ended up going the distance, Richards kept Spencer on his bicycle in all five rounds. Richards scored from all over the place and controlled where the fight played out, consistently acting as the aggressor.
Result: Richards wins via Decision.
Miguel Rosales (2-5) vs Anthony Casteron (5-1)
Casteron recorded his fourth professional knockout with a lethal head kick finish. Casteron caught Rosales in the first round with a counter to an elbow strike attempt.
Result: Casteron wins via 1st KO.
Watch Out Combat Show 31
Flyweight Fight
Alexandre Pantoja (12-3) vs Daniel Araujo (3-2)
Pantoja, one of the top Brazilian flyweight prospects, showed Araujo absolutely no respect early on, and it almost cost him. Araujo clipped Pantoja, rocking him, but Pantoja recovered by initiating a clinch. After recuperating, Pantoja knocked Araujo down with a right and then sunk in a rear-naked choke for the first round victory. Before the finish, Pantoja defended all three of Arauajo’s takedown attempts effortlessly.
Result: Pantoja wins via 1st Round Sub.
Welterweight Fight
Henderson Martins (6-1) vs Paulo Silva (10-10)
Wanting nothing to do with Silva on the feet, Martins brought the fight to the ground where he controlled it from there. Martins passed to full mount with ease, eventually locking on a fight-ending rear-naked choke. It was a dominate performance for Martins.
Result: Martins wins via 1st Round Sub
Flyweight Bout
Andre Lourenco (3-3) vs Vitor Oristanio (0-2)
I have an irrational man crush on Andre Lourenco. His nickname is “minibroca”, he has a blue-ish colored hair, he walks to the cage with an anonymous mask, and his cornerman slaps him in the face before he goes to war. After a wild first round that saw both flyweights throwing everything and anything [although landing little], Minibroca controlled the second and third periods with a takedown and dominant grappling.
Result: Lourenco wins via Decision.
Flyweight Bout
Bruno Korea (1-0) vs Agustin Zas (0-1)
In the second round, Korea just jumped on Zas’s back and brought him down. He then clamped on a body triangle and finished it of with the completion of the rear-naked choke. This was independent show Brazilian MMA at it’s finest.
Result: Korea wins via 2nd Round Submission
Lightweight Bout
Paulo Roberto Aquiles (1-3) vs Ricardo Ambrozini (0-1)
Aquiles recorded his first career victory quite emphatically. He knocked out Ambrozini with a looping right hook that was set up by a kick feint. The knockout was rather brutal.
Result: Aquiles wins via 1st Round KO
The News
1. Globo reported that Lyoto Machida (20-4) will face Gegard Mousasi (34-3-2) on a February 8th card in Brazil. The fight will headline a card on FOX Sports 2.
2. Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting reported that Jon Jones (19-1) plans to return in February or March to defend his title against Glover Teixeira (22-2).
Fights Made
UFC Card on Fox Sports 2 – February 8th, Brazil
Light Heavyweight Bout
Lyoto Machida (20-4) vs Gegard Mousasi (34-3-2)
One FC 12
Middleweight Bout
Leandro Ataides (5-0) vs Bryan Rafiq (8-2)
Lightweight Bout
Peter Davis (6-3) vs Alaa Mazloum (1-0)
Must Reads
1. Ben Fowlkes of MMAJunkie wrote an article discussing some of his thoughts on Vitor Belfort saying that he would stop doing TRT if that was holding him back from receiving a championship fight. Read it here: http://bit.ly/16TaRwQ
2. Here’s my daily recommendation of Chuck Mindenhall’s year-by-year look back at the first twenty years of the UFC. Check out his piece on 2009 here: http://bit.ly/1cup778
3. Scott Christ of BadLeftHook wrote a piece examining Gennady Golovkin’s rise to his deal with HBO. Read it here: http://bit.ly/1cu2u2F
That’ll do it for today’s Haymaker. Thanks for reading, and I’ll leave you with a quote from Voltaire.
“Man is free at the instant he wants to be.”
-Daniel can be reached at [email protected] or @danielgal.
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