HULL, Quebec, Canada, Jan. 14 — The Palais De Congrais was the location for the second installment of Freedom Fight. Again, it was Canada and the United States set to go to war in a special made-for-television event to be aired later this month on Canadian sports broadcast channel TSN.
Santore came out swinging while Potvin found himself on the defensive, absorbing the occasional blow from “Pachuco.” It appeared Potvin's three-fight winning streak may come to an end on this night.
Momentum swung Potvin's way when the BTT Canada representative changed his strategy going into the second round, as he mainly looked for the takedown. The light heavyweights would eventually find themselves entangled in the ropes and restarted on their feet. This became a very prominent strategy for Santore as the fight went into the third and final round.
Potvin, thinking he may have taken some wind out of the sails of Santore, decided to try and trade blows again without any real luck. When this failed, it was back to the ground for some of the best submission attempts of the night, including a kneebar from half-guard.
With time running out, Santore found himself in Potvin's guard. Both fighters played to the crowd in attempt to win over the judges and it was eventually Potvin's repeated elbows from bottom that gave him the majority decision.
Nick Rondinelli squared off against American Kevin Engel in a kickboxing rules bout. Engel, sporting a stellar 44-4 kickboxing record, came out blazing, sending the young Canuck to the canvas with a straight right early in the first. He continued to push the pace throughout the opening round.
Rondinelli seemed to be unable to find the mark, often leaving himself open for counter attacks. Experience was definitely the deciding factor in this fight and the fact that Engel was a seasoned veteran allowed him to control the bout.
Round two saw the American pick up exactly where he left off, peppering Rondinelli with pinpoint accuracy, flurries and combinations. Engel ended Rondinelli's night 1:40 of round two by knockout.
In a barnburner, crowd favorite, local hero, and Freedom Fight 2005 veteran Craig Brown (Pictures) took on John Clarke. Clarke vowed in his pre-fight comments that he was here to "punch the farmer in the face." Although the light heavyweight got his wish, he didn't leave with the win.
During the opening seconds of the fight, Clarke connected with a combination of punches that rocked Brown and put him on the defensive. Everything seemed to be going Clarke’s way in round one as the American found himself on top delivering some vicious ground-and-pound. Clarke continued to hammer down, but the fighters tangled in the ropes and were stood up by the referee, much to the relief of “Farmer” Brown.
With little time remaining in the first stanza, Brown managed to weather the final seconds of the round. Despite being the more technical fighter, Brown’s heart and dogged determination started to dominate, as he plowed through Clarke's offense by landing blows of his own and taking the fight to the ground.
Offering no intelligible defense to the barrage of hammer fists delivered by Brown over the next 30 seconds, Clarke was mercifully saved by the referee from further harm. Brown gets the win by TKO in round number two. If there’s something to be learned from this fight: it's no fun to be a bail of hay on “Farmer” Brown's farm.
Brazilian jiu-jitsu stylist Wagnney Fabiano faced Matt Fiordirosa. This fight was one-sided as Fabiano dictated the pace both standing and on the ground. Although Fiordirosa offered decent counter punching, it was Fabiano's ability to control the pace and take this fight to the ground that truly made the difference.
On multiple occasions, Fiordirosa was mounted or forced to give up his back, however he managed to avoid numerous submissions. After three rounds the judges all concurred and had it a lopsided unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, and 30-26) for Wagnney Fabiano, a fighter we expect to see more from in the future.
Team Elite's Nuri Shakir (Pictures) faced off against Joe Doerksen (Pictures) prodigy Kevin Manderson. Shakir looked ready from the get go as he came out looking to take the fight to Manderson.
The two fighters found themselves in the clinch in the corner for an extended period of time, where Shakir looked to gain the upper hand with a series of knees to the midsection.
Appearing to have softened up his opponent, Shakir continued to throw the heavy leather and caught Manderson with a clean shot that sent the Manitoban reeling to the canvas. Shakir followed it up with strikes to the downed Manderson before the referee called a halt to the contest at 3:21 of round one.
In other action Nabil Khatib (Pictures) stopped Chester Post (Pictures) in the opening round. Mark Holst ended Shane Savage’s night 4:57 of round one. Jamie Helmer defeated Jerry Spiegel by unanimous decision. Shaun Krysa (Pictures) armbarred Randy Newell (Pictures) in round one. Dan Grandmaison finished Nick Castiglia 2:55 of round three.