UFC and Strikeforce veteran Joe Riggs, fighting for the second time in a week, struck Nick Almen into submission in the Ironman MMA 1 main event on Friday at the Treasure Island Resort and Casino in Welch, Minn. Riggs brought the match to a definitive close 1:51 into round one, as he buried Almen under a hailstorm of punches and elbows.
Other winners at Ironman MMA 1 included the unbeaten Shana Olsen and Palace Fighting Championship veteran Isaiah Larson. Olsen finished Kaitlin Young, the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy standout who fought Gina Carano under the EliteXC banner in May 2008.
Pierson Stops Holanda in Wreck MMA
Sean Pierson scored his fourth consecutive victory, as he knocked out Fabio Holanda in the featured attraction at Wreck MMA “Fight for the Troops” on Saturday at the Robert Guertin Arena in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. The end came 1:41 into the first round.
Pierson, a 6-foot-1 welterweight, has finished four straight fights inside one round. He survived an early knockdown, returned to his feet and put away Holanda with punches. The defeat snapped a two-fight winning streak for the 30-year-old Holanda.
Other victors at the Wreck MMA show included Mark Holst, Dream featherweight grand prix quarter-finalist Nick Denis and Igor Gracie, son of the legendary Rolls Gracie.
Tabera Submits Thompson
Bellator Fighting Championships veteran Daniel Tabera took out Kevin Thompson with an opening-round guillotine choke in the Bushido Challenge 1 “War of the Warriors” main event on Sunday at the Mercy Night Club in Norfolk, England.
Originally booked to face Moise Rimbon, Tabera did not let the late change in opponent affect his focus. The 31-year-old Spaniard cinched the fight-ending choke on Thompson 4:09 into the first round. One of the top light heavyweights in Europe, Tabera has delivered back-to-back victories since his submission defeat to Jared Hess under the Bellator umbrella in April.
Cage Rage veteran Paul McVeigh, UFC castaway David Lee and undefeated welterweight prospect Danny Mitchell were also triumphant at Bushido Challenge 1.