Marshall, Banuelos, Martinez New WEC Champs
Under Card
Josh Gross Aug 18, 2006
Poppies Martinez
(Pictures) showed off the new skills
he obtained by training at Sacramento’s Capital City Fighting
Alliance and the grit that’s made him a fan favorite here to
capture the vacant WEC welterweight Native American
championship.
After a solid opening period in which Martinez mainly out-grappled Gigo Jara (Pictures), the local fighter proceeded to stand toe-to-toe in an exchange that brought the crowd to its feet.
Martinez got the better of the blows before nearly catching Jara in
an armbar. The tough Sacramento-based welterweight could not deal
with Martinez constant attacks and eventually tapped to a
rear-naked choke at 3:52 of round two.
Instead of facing James Irvin (Pictures), an opponent that, with a win, could have put Kenny Ento (Pictures) on the map, “Tha Dragon” took on last minute replacement Mario Rivera (Pictures).
After dealing with several awkward positions, Ento secured an armbar during a scramble that caused to Rivera to tap at 2:44 of the first.
Casey Olson dominated Chris Solomon (Pictures) to win a unanimous three-round decision. From the beginning Olson put Solomon on the canvas and kept him there, offering a consistent yet unspectacular stream of ground-and-pound from the top.
During the rare times when he let his hands fly, Olson banged Solomon, who clearly preferred standing to grappling, to the body and head.
During the lightweights’ 15 minutes in the cage, the fighters covered quite a bit of the canvas while Solomon desperately tried to gain his guard and Olson struck when he chose.
It was Olson that certainly won those battles as he earned a shutout on the judges’ cards.
Alex Stiebling (Pictures) is known as a bleeder and his opponent tonight, Fernando Gonzalez (Pictures), reminded everyone just how true that is.
Though their physical appearances led one to believe that Stiebling was given an opportunity to pad his record, Gonzalez instead offered explosive flying knees that twice smashed their way into the veteran’s face.
Only Stiebling’s tenacity kept him in the fight the first time, as he was visibly shaken from the initial flying knee. The second heavy shot brought the fight closer to its conclusion.
Gonzalez, now on top of Stiebling, plastered him to the forehead with a sharp elbow that sliced open a gash. Almost immediately the appearance of Stiebling’s face turned from a sweaty pale white to a deep crimson.
As soon as there was a lull, the referee paused the contest so the physician at ringside to assess the severity of the cut. It was then, at 2:35 of the first, that the fight was called.
Anthony Ruiz (Pictures) dominated Sacramento’s Jeremy Freitag (Pictures) en route to a stoppage victory at 2:46 of round two.
Freitag appeared to have an opportunity midway through the first, but rather than extending Ruiz’s arm in a painful manner, he bent it the way it was intended.
From that point forward Ruiz pummeled Freitag, who did little but cover and absorb punishment for the remaining minutes in the opening period.
As action moved into the second period, it was clear Freitag would not be long for the fight. Ruiz easily put his foe on the canvas and pounded away until the referee stepped in.
Clay Guida needed three rounds to get past the scrappy Joe Martin (Pictures). From the outset it was clear Guida, a strong grappler from the Midwest best known for decisioning Josh Thomson (Pictures), should take the bout. But Martin did his best to at least make it difficult.
Guida’s power made it relatively easy for him to put Martin on the floor. Once the Lion’s Den lightweight lost steam, Guida’s relentless style turned what first appeared to be a difficult evening into a rather pedestrian contest.
Judges at ringside scored it 30-26 and 30-27 twice in favor of the Chicagoan, who upped his record to 20-3-0.
With Ken Shamrock (Pictures) in his corner, Dan Molina (Pictures) stunned local favorite Rafael Del Real with a Lion’s Den staple: the heelhook.
Enduring an early illegal knee that was missed by referee Josh Rosenthal, Molina managed to isolate Del Real’s left leg and secure the leg submission that forced the foiled fighter to exit the cage with a limp.
Josh McDonald (Pictures) took a majority decision over dangerous striker Pat Murphy. McDonald used his superior wrestling and strength to take the first two rounds, but Murphy refused to bow down and dominated the third period.
Olaf Alfonso (Pictures), who usually can be found fighting in the WEC cage, sat ringside and scored the contest 28-28, the same tally as Sherdog.com. Judges Ralph Mcknight and John Sanders saw it two rounds to one in favor of McDonald.
Robert Breslin (Pictures) and Andrew Martinez (Pictures) took one round apiece in their 10-minute bout to share a deserved draw.
After a solid opening period in which Martinez mainly out-grappled Gigo Jara (Pictures), the local fighter proceeded to stand toe-to-toe in an exchange that brought the crowd to its feet.
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Instead of facing James Irvin (Pictures), an opponent that, with a win, could have put Kenny Ento (Pictures) on the map, “Tha Dragon” took on last minute replacement Mario Rivera (Pictures).
With Irvin coming in 12 pounds over the contracted weight limit of
195, the WEC quickly moved to bring in a new foe for Ento. Tonight,
Caolinga, Calif.’s Mario
Rivera (Pictures) fit the bill.
After dealing with several awkward positions, Ento secured an armbar during a scramble that caused to Rivera to tap at 2:44 of the first.
Casey Olson dominated Chris Solomon (Pictures) to win a unanimous three-round decision. From the beginning Olson put Solomon on the canvas and kept him there, offering a consistent yet unspectacular stream of ground-and-pound from the top.
During the rare times when he let his hands fly, Olson banged Solomon, who clearly preferred standing to grappling, to the body and head.
During the lightweights’ 15 minutes in the cage, the fighters covered quite a bit of the canvas while Solomon desperately tried to gain his guard and Olson struck when he chose.
It was Olson that certainly won those battles as he earned a shutout on the judges’ cards.
Alex Stiebling (Pictures) is known as a bleeder and his opponent tonight, Fernando Gonzalez (Pictures), reminded everyone just how true that is.
Though their physical appearances led one to believe that Stiebling was given an opportunity to pad his record, Gonzalez instead offered explosive flying knees that twice smashed their way into the veteran’s face.
Only Stiebling’s tenacity kept him in the fight the first time, as he was visibly shaken from the initial flying knee. The second heavy shot brought the fight closer to its conclusion.
Gonzalez, now on top of Stiebling, plastered him to the forehead with a sharp elbow that sliced open a gash. Almost immediately the appearance of Stiebling’s face turned from a sweaty pale white to a deep crimson.
As soon as there was a lull, the referee paused the contest so the physician at ringside to assess the severity of the cut. It was then, at 2:35 of the first, that the fight was called.
Anthony Ruiz (Pictures) dominated Sacramento’s Jeremy Freitag (Pictures) en route to a stoppage victory at 2:46 of round two.
Freitag appeared to have an opportunity midway through the first, but rather than extending Ruiz’s arm in a painful manner, he bent it the way it was intended.
From that point forward Ruiz pummeled Freitag, who did little but cover and absorb punishment for the remaining minutes in the opening period.
As action moved into the second period, it was clear Freitag would not be long for the fight. Ruiz easily put his foe on the canvas and pounded away until the referee stepped in.
Clay Guida needed three rounds to get past the scrappy Joe Martin (Pictures). From the outset it was clear Guida, a strong grappler from the Midwest best known for decisioning Josh Thomson (Pictures), should take the bout. But Martin did his best to at least make it difficult.
Guida’s power made it relatively easy for him to put Martin on the floor. Once the Lion’s Den lightweight lost steam, Guida’s relentless style turned what first appeared to be a difficult evening into a rather pedestrian contest.
Judges at ringside scored it 30-26 and 30-27 twice in favor of the Chicagoan, who upped his record to 20-3-0.
With Ken Shamrock (Pictures) in his corner, Dan Molina (Pictures) stunned local favorite Rafael Del Real with a Lion’s Den staple: the heelhook.
Enduring an early illegal knee that was missed by referee Josh Rosenthal, Molina managed to isolate Del Real’s left leg and secure the leg submission that forced the foiled fighter to exit the cage with a limp.
Josh McDonald (Pictures) took a majority decision over dangerous striker Pat Murphy. McDonald used his superior wrestling and strength to take the first two rounds, but Murphy refused to bow down and dominated the third period.
Olaf Alfonso (Pictures), who usually can be found fighting in the WEC cage, sat ringside and scored the contest 28-28, the same tally as Sherdog.com. Judges Ralph Mcknight and John Sanders saw it two rounds to one in favor of McDonald.
Robert Breslin (Pictures) and Andrew Martinez (Pictures) took one round apiece in their 10-minute bout to share a deserved draw.
