‘Rhino’ Taps Lacy at Playboy Fight Night

VISALIA, Calif. -- Former World Extreme Cagefighting light heavyweight champion Doug Marshall submitted BJ Lacy in the third round of the Playboy Fight Night “Marshall vs. Lacy” main event on Friday at the Visalia Convention Center. The middleweight matchup remained competitive throughout, right up until Marshall finished it 95 seconds into round three.

Marshall had his hands full, however. Every time he started to land strikes, Lacy clinched and forced the fight against the cage, and the strategy seemed to work.

Marshall looked concerned entering the third round, when his frantic pace paid off. “Rhino” stunned Lacy with a right hand, and when the Pure Combat veteran stumbled forward in search of a takedown, Marshall jumped on him and sank the fight-ending rear-naked choke. Marshall, fighting for the first time in his hometown, has won five consecutive bouts.

In the co-main event, Bakersfield, Calif., native Doug Hunt outpointed WEC veteran Steve Ramirez en route to a unanimous decision. Ramirez looked strong early in each round, but every time he attempted to solidify an advantage, Hunt took him to the ground and kept him there for the remainder of the round.

Hunt, who has won four in a row, inflicted little damage on Ramirez, but his dominant positioning earned him the nod from all three judges.

Meanwhile, local favorite Art Arciniega, fighting out of Fresno, Calif., was dominant in his unanimous decision victory over an outmatched Tom Peterson. Arciniega used wrestling and top control to maintain an advantage throughout the fight.

Arciniega, who spent almost the entire fight in Peterson’s guard, did no real damage but received even less. Peterson tried to work the rubber guard, and he elevated several times looking for triangles. However, he failed to put together effective offense.

Finally, Gabriel Solorio easily handled Mike Craddock in a unanimous decision victory. All three judges scored it 30-27. Craddock was game and refused to go down, but he had little offensive firepower at his disposal.