Cage Rage 12: Weir Back on Track, “Shaolin” Dominates Again
Shoalin Dominates
Pedro Wrobel Jul 3, 2005
In possibly the most anticipated fight of the night Vitor Ribeiro proved to the world
that he can finish fights by submission without using an
arm-triangle choke. This was the first time that I'd seen “Shaolin”
fight and I was extremely impressed with his calm demeanor.
As the bell tolled his opponent Gerald Strebendt shot immediately at but Ribeiro maintained his balance as he was forced against the cage. The two fell to the floor and an exchange of submission attempts ensued, with a calm Ribeiro moving to take Strebendt's back as the American tried to lock on a kimura.
The Brazilian blocked the submission attempt and as he did so the
two separated. Strebendt turned and immediately shot back on the
Brazilian, who sprawled well and locked the American's neck up
tight, using it to swing himself under the American's body and tie
him up in his guard. With the guillotine locked in tight, Strebendt
was forced to tap at 1:15 of the first round.
"Shaolin" Ribeiro used his post-fight interview to issue a challenge to current Cage Rage world lightweight champion, Jean Silva. Now that would be a good fight.
Stout followed, landing three massive blows to the face of the clearly unconscious de Castro before referee Waterman was able to stop him. Stout takes the victory by knockout after 15 seconds of the first round, bringing his total Cage Rage record to three fights and three victories by (T)KO.
Afterwards, Stout called out Lee Murray, with the winner set to fight Anderson Silva for his title.
In another international encounter, American Travis Lutter faced Englishman Matt "The Hardest" Ewin. This was a fairly one-sided affair. Both fighters moved forward as the fight began, with Ewin ducking under the American and forcing him backwards against the cage.
There was a pause here as Lutter literally climbed up the Englishman's body as Ewin tried to solve the riddle of the American. Lutter soon had his hooks in, but let them go as he opted instead to throw Ewin to the floor. Once Lutter had taken Ewin down it was plain sailing, with the American forcing a tap from a textbook kimura.
In a battle of barroom brawlers Mark "The Beast" Epstein collided with French power-puncher Matthias "The Fire" Riccio. This was a real war of attrition as the two opened by charging into the middle of the cage, swinging wildly at each other. The stand-up exchange seemed to be fairly even and was interrupted as Riccio scored a takedown. However, he ended up on the bottom as Epstein rolled over him.
The fight wouldn't stay down this time as Riccio worked his way back to his feet and took Epstein down, ending up on top. Once again momentum shifted as Epstein forced the reversal and began to pound Riccio's face into the canvas. "The Beast" was landing some hard shots — huge clobbering hammers that crashed into the Frenchman's unprotected face.
The sheer damage was horrible to watch and the referee stepped in to end the punishment, declaring Epstein the winner by TKO after 4:58 of the first round. The timing of the stoppage was unfortunate, with only two seconds left in the round but, as Grant Waterman said to me, "I didn't want to stop it but … well, look at his face!"
Brad "One Punch" Pickett certainly has a lot of fans and they were out in force tonight as the trilby hatted east ender took on rookie, Jordan Miller. Miller proved to be a surprisingly competitive opponent, but Pickett was on fire tonight.
"One Punch" showed off his boxing skills as he bossed the stand-up exchanges, but he also had an opportunity to show how far his ground skills have progressed. Miller was game but he was outworked in the first round and succumbed to an armbar from the stubborn Pickett after 2:34 of the second round.
As the bell tolled his opponent Gerald Strebendt shot immediately at but Ribeiro maintained his balance as he was forced against the cage. The two fell to the floor and an exchange of submission attempts ensued, with a calm Ribeiro moving to take Strebendt's back as the American tried to lock on a kimura.
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"Shaolin" Ribeiro used his post-fight interview to issue a challenge to current Cage Rage world lightweight champion, Jean Silva. Now that would be a good fight.
In the shortest fight of the night Curtis "Bang 'Em Out" Stout
banged 'em out with his first punch. It was actually the first
punch thrown in the fight and it landed beautifully, putting the
Brazilian Nilson de
Castro straight down onto the mat.
Stout followed, landing three massive blows to the face of the clearly unconscious de Castro before referee Waterman was able to stop him. Stout takes the victory by knockout after 15 seconds of the first round, bringing his total Cage Rage record to three fights and three victories by (T)KO.
Afterwards, Stout called out Lee Murray, with the winner set to fight Anderson Silva for his title.
In another international encounter, American Travis Lutter faced Englishman Matt "The Hardest" Ewin. This was a fairly one-sided affair. Both fighters moved forward as the fight began, with Ewin ducking under the American and forcing him backwards against the cage.
There was a pause here as Lutter literally climbed up the Englishman's body as Ewin tried to solve the riddle of the American. Lutter soon had his hooks in, but let them go as he opted instead to throw Ewin to the floor. Once Lutter had taken Ewin down it was plain sailing, with the American forcing a tap from a textbook kimura.
In a battle of barroom brawlers Mark "The Beast" Epstein collided with French power-puncher Matthias "The Fire" Riccio. This was a real war of attrition as the two opened by charging into the middle of the cage, swinging wildly at each other. The stand-up exchange seemed to be fairly even and was interrupted as Riccio scored a takedown. However, he ended up on the bottom as Epstein rolled over him.
The fight wouldn't stay down this time as Riccio worked his way back to his feet and took Epstein down, ending up on top. Once again momentum shifted as Epstein forced the reversal and began to pound Riccio's face into the canvas. "The Beast" was landing some hard shots — huge clobbering hammers that crashed into the Frenchman's unprotected face.
The sheer damage was horrible to watch and the referee stepped in to end the punishment, declaring Epstein the winner by TKO after 4:58 of the first round. The timing of the stoppage was unfortunate, with only two seconds left in the round but, as Grant Waterman said to me, "I didn't want to stop it but … well, look at his face!"
Brad "One Punch" Pickett certainly has a lot of fans and they were out in force tonight as the trilby hatted east ender took on rookie, Jordan Miller. Miller proved to be a surprisingly competitive opponent, but Pickett was on fire tonight.
"One Punch" showed off his boxing skills as he bossed the stand-up exchanges, but he also had an opportunity to show how far his ground skills have progressed. Miller was game but he was outworked in the first round and succumbed to an armbar from the stubborn Pickett after 2:34 of the second round.
