MONTREAL, Sept. 28 -- TKO 30 treated MMA fans to a spectacular display of fights and pageantry Friday at the Bell Center on a night that included wins by Sam Stout (Pictures) and Mark Hominick (Pictures).
Stout, usually the heavy crowd favorite in Montreal, was greeted with a mixed reaction.
Grandmont opened the fight with a right hand that caught Stout, then a left-right combination that sent the champion off balance.
Cut above the right eye, Stout continued to trade in the center of the cage, though Grandmont got the better of the exchanges. Then it happened.
One perfectly timed and placed overhand right by Stout went crushing into the jaw of his opponent, putting Grandmont down and out. Referee Yves Lavigne threw himself at Stout to save Grandmont from further damage.
The official time was 3:00 of the first round for Stout's fourth consecutive TKO lightweight title defense.
The return of former hockey enforcer Steve "The Boss" Bosse caused chants to engulf the Bell Center.
Jody Burke, however, gave Bosse the thumbs down from across the ring and informed him he'd soon be taking a nap.
To begin the bout, Burke threw a low kick that Bosse caught and turned into a takedown. Bosse allowed his foe back up, though, and then he let go a flurry of punches that prompted Burke to reconsider his pre-fight gestures and avoid all standup.
Burke tried to pull guard, but Bosse unloaded a barrage of rights that forced him to turtle. After a few more shots, Burke tapped.
However, referee Denis Bourdon missed his surrender, and Bosse continued pounding away. Burke tapped again, catching the eye of Bosse, who stopped long enough to look at the ref and pop Burke once more for good measure before the fight was officially stopped 1:20 into the first round.
In the second title bout of the evening, a battle between CMC's Jesse Bongfeldt and Team Tompkins' Chris Clements (Pictures) was everything the fans expected.
Bongfeldt began with a low kick, followed by a high kick that just grazed his opponent's chin. He then shot and kept Clements pressed against the cage, where he worked on him with knees to his legs.
A trip takedown by Clements put the two in Bongfeldt's half guard. From there Clements worked heavy right hands to the body, occasionally slipping in a neat left elbow.
Bongfeldt eventually escaped to his feet only to eat a knee, but the crafty veteran immediately tripped Clements to the ground. After a brief scramble, Bongfeldt tried to take his adversary's back.
Clements, however, reversed and unloaded from the top with a series of rights to the head and body as the horn sounded to end the first frame.
To open the second stanza, Clements landed a flying knee that Bongfeldt absorbed well for a takedown. He pinned Clements against the fence in the full guard. Clements, though, looked to have an armbar.
A relentless Bongfeldt escaped the submission, then took Clements' back and sunk in a rear-naked choke. Clements refused to tap and was choked unconscious.
Referee Phillippe Chartier stopped the fight at 1:57 of the second round, declaring Bongfeldt the winner and new TKO welterweight champion.
Looking to make an immediate impact at welterweight, Stephane Dube (Pictures) was faced with a daunting task in Halifax, Nova Scotia's TJ Grant (Pictures), who replaced Tyler Jackson (Pictures) at the last minute.
Grant caught a low kick early for a takedown. Dube worked back to his feet, and Grant latched on to a guillotine, dropping to his back as he tried to finish.
Dube escaped, but almost got caught in a triangle in the process. Then, as Dube looked to pass his opponent's open guard, Grant swiftly tried to lock in a kneebar.
The kneebar didn't get Dube, but he did scramble right into a fight-ending heel hook. The finish stunned Dube and the crowd at 2:16 of round one.
Returning to the TKO ring after dropping a tough five-round decision to current TKO featherweight king Hatsu Hioki (Pictures), Mark Hominick (Pictures) looked impressive in a first-round stoppage over a highly regarded Ben Greer.
"The Machine" opened with a one-two, to which Greer countered with a knee. Nothing landed, until a left hook, straight right combination from Hominick dropped Greer, who popped back up.
Another Hominick one-two snapped Greer's head back. With his opponent backpedaling, Hominick found his range again and landed yet another vicious straight right that put Greer down for good 3:00 into the first round.
Hominick got back on the winning track with the stoppage, which snapped Greer's nine-fight win streak.
In other action Ilya Woronowski defeated Sean Thompson via rear-naked choked at 1:48 of the second round. Thompson landed a kick in the first round and scored with strikes after sprawling.
After a takedown, though, Woronowski trapped Thompson's right arm and delivered short elbows. He also worked for a keylock, then teed off from the mount.
Early in the second round, Woronowski scored another takedown. From the mount he unloaded slow but plodding elbows until Thompson gave up his back for the choke.
Adrian Wooley made quick work of Adam Kastner. He scored a double-leg takedown, then moved from side control to mount. After Kastner gave his back, Wooley pounded away until the referee stopped the contest 1:30 into round one..
Ray Noel De Tilly got caught with his hands down and ate five good shots against Bob Landry. Landry also dumped De Tilly on his back and tried for a rear-naked choke, but De Tilly escaped.
Back on the feet, both men threw heavy leather. De Tilly took the worst of it, but he kept pressing forward. Landry scored another takedown, which allowed him to throw what seemed to be an endless stream of right hands before the bell sounded to end the first round.
De Tilly came out for the second with his hands low again and ate a one-two. After recovering from a knee to the groin, Landry executed another takedown.
From mount Landry chopped away with short but annoying left and right hands to an almost exhausted De Tilly. The pace had slowed drastically from the start of the fight. With nothing left in the tank, De Tilly absorbed the shots until referee Yves Lavigne halted the bout at the 2:15 mark of the second round.
Samuel Guillet (Pictures) worked behind a jab to catch Yves Lemelin with a straight left that snapped his head back. He then took down Lemelin and worked short elbows while looking to trap an arm.
After a scramble, Guillet locked in a tight armbar. Lemelin appeared to tap, but he immediately protested the stoppage 2:25 into round one.
Dan Chambers (Pictures) stopped Marcus Celestin (Pictures) at 4:21 of the second round. Celestin had caught Chambers with a solid left, but Chambers kept coming forward and firing away.
Two right uppercuts landed for Chambers, who followed up with a knee to the chin that dropped Celestin and prompted the stoppage.
Clinched against the fence, Justin Tavernini dropped to guard and secured an armbar on Syd Barnier. Tavernini looked to have the submission fully extended when Phillippe Chartier jumped in to stop the fight 4:16 into the first round
Barnier immediately argued with the stoppage, and a replay showed that he clearly had not tapped.