Few Surprises in Euphoria MFC Tourney Opening Rounds
Josh Gross Oct 16, 2004
ATLANTIC CITY, Oct. 15 -- With Atlantic City casino workers
picketing, weather taking a turn for the worse and a UFC in the
same city just one week later, there were questions about how
successful Friday night's Euphoria MFC from the Tropicana Casino
and Resort would turn out.
With four stellar lightweight fights interspersed between opening round bouts of an eight-man heavyweight tournament, the action seemed promising, and for the most part -- particularly the 155-pound contests -- things panned out.
Moving on to December's semi-final contests in the lightweight
division are a stellar cast: Yves Edwards, Joachim Hansen, Hermes Franca and Rich Clementi. Heavyweight
winners include Antoine
Jaoude, Jeff Monson,
Kerry Schall and,
tournament favorite, Travis
Wiuff.
The lightweight tournament concluded when Yves Edwards out-slugged Naoyuki Kotani to score a decisive TKO 3:10 of round one. Shedding his reputation as a slow starter, Edwards came out firing crisp combinations. Kotani felt his power early, as a right straight landed flush on the Japanese competitor's face.
The smallish lightweight fell on the spot and Edwards backed away, thinking a 10-count was in order. But when the referee refused to stop the contest or move in for a count, Edwards went in for the kill, connecting with two punches that, this time, forced the finish.
Former SHOOTO 154-pound champion from Norway, Joachim Hansen, advanced to December's semi-finals with a lopsided victory over Russian striker Sergei Golyaev. Hansen closed the distance over the lanky Russian early in the fight.
Hansen moved into the mount with ease, but Golyaev slipped through the ropes which prompted referee Yves Lavigne to restart action on the feet. There was some controversy whether MFC rules dictated a standing restart or, like the UFC, a restart that placed fighters in the position in which the action was halted.
The Norwegian looked to Lavigne for guidance, and the ref had a simple answer for him: "This isn't PRIDE."
Moments later, Hansen had the fight back on the canvas. As Golyaev scrambled to get away from the hard-punching Hansen, he lost position. Hansen snaked his arm around Golyaev's neck and finished the bout with a sloppy, yet effective choke at the 3:24 mark.
Top-five ranked lightweight Hermes Franca walked through veteran Phil Johns, submitting the American with a rear-naked choke just 47 seconds after the opening bell. Before finishing a single-leg takedown, Franca shot a high kick at the smaller Johns. Though the strike missed, it set up the takedown and the beginning of the end.
Franca neatly passed John's legs, hopping directly into the mount position. Attempting escape, Johns rolled to his side. Franca assisted the rest of the way, until he had back control. It took just two attempts to sink in the fight-ending submission.
Rich Clementi earned a unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27) victory over an out-gunned Henry Matamoros to move on to December's second round. From the outset, Clementi used his tremendous power to muscle Matamoros around the ring. He also used crisp striking against an inconsistent Matamoros' defense to score with multiple punches and kicks.
After a dominating first round, in which the first punch Clementi connected with, an uppercut, planted Matamoros on the mat, the fight moved into the middle period.
Slipping after a nearly-flushed high kick, Clementi was on his back for the first time in the fight. Matamoros, though, could not capitalize. Instead, he fell directly into a Clementi triangle choke. The physical lightweight adjusted for the finish, but Matamoros did a fine job of surviving, finally slipping between the ropes and out of the ring.
Upon the restart, Clementi continued his barrage of strikes, including thudding kicks to Matamoros' midsection. For the remaining round and a half, Clementi out-positioned and out-struck his game opponent. It was an impressive performance, for Clementi, who, out of the remaining four, has to be considered the underdog.
Despite the predictions of many, heavyweight Antoine Jaoude, who wrestled for Brazil in the 2004 summer Olympic games, stopped Russian slugger Roman Zentsov 3:33 of round one. Jaoude put Zentsov to the mat early, and the Russian endured the indignity of being kicked will he lay on his back. The Brazilian jumped back into the guard and proceeded to pass to side control.
Though he seemed fine, Zentsov stood up following a referee stand up and looked to his corner, PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko, for help. Referee Yves Lavigne asked Zentsov to turnaround and fight, but the Russian was unresponsive.
He pointed to his left side and acted like he wanted out of the fight. This time, Lavigne asked Zentsov if he wanted to quit. Again, Zentsov and his Russian-speaking corner were silent. Refusing to wait any longer, Lavigne waved off the remainder of the fight.
In the evening's slowest bout, Jeff Monson stopped local New Jersey fighter Pat Stano with a body shot, 3:11 of round two. After a mostly-clinched first five minutes, action was stopped in period two when a Monson low blow. Unfortunately for Stano, the five minutes he was given to recover also allowed Monson, who should have been standing in a neutral corner, to take advice from his trainers.
Pleas of jabs and combinations filled Monson's ears during the rest period, and he responded by chasing Stano around the ring. Monson boxed Stano until the fight's conclusion.
Kerry Schall left the ring a winner Friday night, but it was painful for the hefty American. Recovering from a round one groin shot, which elicited a point deduction from referee Yves Lavigne -- who enjoyed more than his fair share of exposure tonight -- Schall came out inspired and brawled with Canadian Ulisses Castro until a second, thudding groin shot dropped him on the spot 20 seconds into period two.
Between groin strikes, however, the fight was competitive. Working in a neutral corner, each man scored points with arm punches that, despite delighting the crowd, had little chance of ending the fight.
Castro came at Schall to open round two, firing off a low kick that ricocheted off Schall's cup. A moment later, a thud echoed ringside as Castro delivered yet another illegal shot. Schall collapsed to the mat and the referee immediately waved off the contest.
American heavyweight Travis Wiuff continued his impressive streak of victories, making it 17 in a row, with a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) over Russian Ibragim Magomedov. Though the lack of elbow strikes -- a rule specific to Euphoria MFC -- prevented Wiuff from possibly finishing the Russian striker, Wuiff controlled and thoroughly frustrated Magomedov during the 15-minute clash.
Wiuff, greatly improved since suffering a lopsided defeat to Vladimir Matyushenko two years ago, closed distance on the Russian early, putting the fight to the mat several times in round one. The fight turned largely into a position battle until Magomedov managed to regain his feet. With his corner imploring him to take advantage, the Russian hesitated, allowing Wiuff a chance to connect with a barreling right straight.
Though Magomedov was unaffected, it gave Wiuff the time and space to work the match as he wanted. The second period was the Russian's strongest, despite spending the majority of time wrapped in Wiuff's muscle-bound arms. With his backs to the ropes, Magomedov chipped away with punches to the ribs and face.
As momentum shifted in his direction, Magomedov made a tactical error by trying to turn and throw Wiuff to the canvas. A round and a half into the fight, the maneuver against a stronger, now sweaty Wiuff proved costly.
The wrestler slipped out, landing on top of a striker now in serious trouble. Eventually, Wiuff moved into the mount and pounded with punches.
Round three saw much of the same, en route to Wiuff's decision win.
In alternate action, Jonathan Wiezorek succumbed to Ben Rothwell's heavy punches 1:09 into the fight. Wiezorek, undefeated in his only UFC appearance, chased Rothwell around the ring, reaching for the clinch instead of closing the necessary distance.
It hurt him.
Though Rothwell moved backwards nearly the entire fight, he connected with multiple power punches. With Wiezorek as close to the clinch as he'd seen in the fight, Rothwell landed a stinging uppercut that nearly dropped his heavy-set opponent. Punches followed, including another well-placed uppercut that, this time, put Wiezorek down.
Wiezorek rolled to all fours and Rothwell came crashing down with an obvious shot to the back of the neck, but referee Ray Martin ignored the blow as he jumped in to stop the contest.
Ryan Schultz capitalized after a right hand connected to the face of Spaniard David Gaona to score a technical knockout 2:17 of round one. Team Quest's Schultz and Gaona danced around the ring between fits of Schultz' knees from the clinch.
The punch that put Goana to the mat came during one of the fight's few exchanges. On the mat, cut and hurt, Gaona had no answer for Schultz's strikes. Referee Ray Martin gave Gaona ever opportunity to escape, but the overmatched European could only cover up and roll from side to side. The win puts Schultz, an alternate, to the next round of the lightweight tournament.
With four stellar lightweight fights interspersed between opening round bouts of an eight-man heavyweight tournament, the action seemed promising, and for the most part -- particularly the 155-pound contests -- things panned out.
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The lightweight tournament concluded when Yves Edwards out-slugged Naoyuki Kotani to score a decisive TKO 3:10 of round one. Shedding his reputation as a slow starter, Edwards came out firing crisp combinations. Kotani felt his power early, as a right straight landed flush on the Japanese competitor's face.
Bleeding from the lip, Kotani managed to score his lone takedown.
But a quick referee standup gave Edwards the chance to land more
shots, putting the fight in jeopardy for Kotani. Two quick
combinations preceded the final strike: a picture-perfect
roundhouse that landed flush to Kotani's jaw.
The smallish lightweight fell on the spot and Edwards backed away, thinking a 10-count was in order. But when the referee refused to stop the contest or move in for a count, Edwards went in for the kill, connecting with two punches that, this time, forced the finish.
Former SHOOTO 154-pound champion from Norway, Joachim Hansen, advanced to December's semi-finals with a lopsided victory over Russian striker Sergei Golyaev. Hansen closed the distance over the lanky Russian early in the fight.
Hansen moved into the mount with ease, but Golyaev slipped through the ropes which prompted referee Yves Lavigne to restart action on the feet. There was some controversy whether MFC rules dictated a standing restart or, like the UFC, a restart that placed fighters in the position in which the action was halted.
The Norwegian looked to Lavigne for guidance, and the ref had a simple answer for him: "This isn't PRIDE."
Moments later, Hansen had the fight back on the canvas. As Golyaev scrambled to get away from the hard-punching Hansen, he lost position. Hansen snaked his arm around Golyaev's neck and finished the bout with a sloppy, yet effective choke at the 3:24 mark.
Top-five ranked lightweight Hermes Franca walked through veteran Phil Johns, submitting the American with a rear-naked choke just 47 seconds after the opening bell. Before finishing a single-leg takedown, Franca shot a high kick at the smaller Johns. Though the strike missed, it set up the takedown and the beginning of the end.
Franca neatly passed John's legs, hopping directly into the mount position. Attempting escape, Johns rolled to his side. Franca assisted the rest of the way, until he had back control. It took just two attempts to sink in the fight-ending submission.
Rich Clementi earned a unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27) victory over an out-gunned Henry Matamoros to move on to December's second round. From the outset, Clementi used his tremendous power to muscle Matamoros around the ring. He also used crisp striking against an inconsistent Matamoros' defense to score with multiple punches and kicks.
After a dominating first round, in which the first punch Clementi connected with, an uppercut, planted Matamoros on the mat, the fight moved into the middle period.
Slipping after a nearly-flushed high kick, Clementi was on his back for the first time in the fight. Matamoros, though, could not capitalize. Instead, he fell directly into a Clementi triangle choke. The physical lightweight adjusted for the finish, but Matamoros did a fine job of surviving, finally slipping between the ropes and out of the ring.
Upon the restart, Clementi continued his barrage of strikes, including thudding kicks to Matamoros' midsection. For the remaining round and a half, Clementi out-positioned and out-struck his game opponent. It was an impressive performance, for Clementi, who, out of the remaining four, has to be considered the underdog.
Despite the predictions of many, heavyweight Antoine Jaoude, who wrestled for Brazil in the 2004 summer Olympic games, stopped Russian slugger Roman Zentsov 3:33 of round one. Jaoude put Zentsov to the mat early, and the Russian endured the indignity of being kicked will he lay on his back. The Brazilian jumped back into the guard and proceeded to pass to side control.
Though he seemed fine, Zentsov stood up following a referee stand up and looked to his corner, PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko, for help. Referee Yves Lavigne asked Zentsov to turnaround and fight, but the Russian was unresponsive.
He pointed to his left side and acted like he wanted out of the fight. This time, Lavigne asked Zentsov if he wanted to quit. Again, Zentsov and his Russian-speaking corner were silent. Refusing to wait any longer, Lavigne waved off the remainder of the fight.
In the evening's slowest bout, Jeff Monson stopped local New Jersey fighter Pat Stano with a body shot, 3:11 of round two. After a mostly-clinched first five minutes, action was stopped in period two when a Monson low blow. Unfortunately for Stano, the five minutes he was given to recover also allowed Monson, who should have been standing in a neutral corner, to take advice from his trainers.
Pleas of jabs and combinations filled Monson's ears during the rest period, and he responded by chasing Stano around the ring. Monson boxed Stano until the fight's conclusion.
Kerry Schall left the ring a winner Friday night, but it was painful for the hefty American. Recovering from a round one groin shot, which elicited a point deduction from referee Yves Lavigne -- who enjoyed more than his fair share of exposure tonight -- Schall came out inspired and brawled with Canadian Ulisses Castro until a second, thudding groin shot dropped him on the spot 20 seconds into period two.
Between groin strikes, however, the fight was competitive. Working in a neutral corner, each man scored points with arm punches that, despite delighting the crowd, had little chance of ending the fight.
Castro came at Schall to open round two, firing off a low kick that ricocheted off Schall's cup. A moment later, a thud echoed ringside as Castro delivered yet another illegal shot. Schall collapsed to the mat and the referee immediately waved off the contest.
American heavyweight Travis Wiuff continued his impressive streak of victories, making it 17 in a row, with a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) over Russian Ibragim Magomedov. Though the lack of elbow strikes -- a rule specific to Euphoria MFC -- prevented Wiuff from possibly finishing the Russian striker, Wuiff controlled and thoroughly frustrated Magomedov during the 15-minute clash.
Wiuff, greatly improved since suffering a lopsided defeat to Vladimir Matyushenko two years ago, closed distance on the Russian early, putting the fight to the mat several times in round one. The fight turned largely into a position battle until Magomedov managed to regain his feet. With his corner imploring him to take advantage, the Russian hesitated, allowing Wiuff a chance to connect with a barreling right straight.
Though Magomedov was unaffected, it gave Wiuff the time and space to work the match as he wanted. The second period was the Russian's strongest, despite spending the majority of time wrapped in Wiuff's muscle-bound arms. With his backs to the ropes, Magomedov chipped away with punches to the ribs and face.
As momentum shifted in his direction, Magomedov made a tactical error by trying to turn and throw Wiuff to the canvas. A round and a half into the fight, the maneuver against a stronger, now sweaty Wiuff proved costly.
The wrestler slipped out, landing on top of a striker now in serious trouble. Eventually, Wiuff moved into the mount and pounded with punches.
Round three saw much of the same, en route to Wiuff's decision win.
In alternate action, Jonathan Wiezorek succumbed to Ben Rothwell's heavy punches 1:09 into the fight. Wiezorek, undefeated in his only UFC appearance, chased Rothwell around the ring, reaching for the clinch instead of closing the necessary distance.
It hurt him.
Though Rothwell moved backwards nearly the entire fight, he connected with multiple power punches. With Wiezorek as close to the clinch as he'd seen in the fight, Rothwell landed a stinging uppercut that nearly dropped his heavy-set opponent. Punches followed, including another well-placed uppercut that, this time, put Wiezorek down.
Wiezorek rolled to all fours and Rothwell came crashing down with an obvious shot to the back of the neck, but referee Ray Martin ignored the blow as he jumped in to stop the contest.
Ryan Schultz capitalized after a right hand connected to the face of Spaniard David Gaona to score a technical knockout 2:17 of round one. Team Quest's Schultz and Gaona danced around the ring between fits of Schultz' knees from the clinch.
The punch that put Goana to the mat came during one of the fight's few exchanges. On the mat, cut and hurt, Gaona had no answer for Schultz's strikes. Referee Ray Martin gave Gaona ever opportunity to escape, but the overmatched European could only cover up and roll from side to side. The win puts Schultz, an alternate, to the next round of the lightweight tournament.
