KOTC Champs Pele and Faber Retain Belts
Main Events
Josh Gross May 8, 2005
PRIMM, Nevada, May 7 — Returning to action for the first time in
almost a year and a half, King of the Cage super heavyweight
champion Eric Pele shook off a
layer of rust to stop challenger Bobby Hoffman 2:55 of the second
period Saturday night in front of 2,200 people inside the Star of
the Desert Arena.
Pele, who outweighed Hoffman by close to a 100 pounds, made it a close-quarters fight during the first four minutes. When Pele didn’t want to fight Hoffman in a phone booth, there were glimpses of the agility that always seems miraculous for a man of his size.
Yet Hoffman, a man who faced so much adversity outside the ring
during the last three years, wasn’t about to go out quietly.
As the seconds ticked down to close out round one Hoffman blasted Pele with a right straight that shook the 350-pound champion. Hoffman charged and put Pele on his back, ending the round with questionable elbows that left the large man dazed on the mat.
But a debilitating Pele straight right soon made the speed disparity moot. Hoffman was hurt and his hands were down. It was the chance Pele had hoped for and he swooped in for the kill. More strikes followed and connected; yet it was the chance to put Hoffman on his back he so eagerly took advantage of.
Trapped between Pele’s heft and the fence, Hoffman could barely move, eating a series of short, chopping shots before the KOTC champ readjusted to deliver the fight’s final blows.
Referee Herb Dean allowed Hoffman as much latitude as was possible, but the fighter simply didn’t respond and an end had to be called.
In what could be the final year of his career, Pele showed why he’s the most nimble-footed of all super heavyweights. Unfortunately, competition on the weight division is lacking and following tonight he’ll be forced out of a WEF fight versus Jeff Monson that was scheduled for May 20.
In the stiffest test of his young career, KOTC bantamweight champion Urijah Faber passed with flying colors, stopping SHOOTO fighter Hiroyuki Abe — one of the few men to beat 145-pound king Alexander “Pequeno” Nogueira — 2:37 of round three.
The bout was a contrast in styles: Abe the methodical, crafty veteran versus Faber the powerful, athletic kid.
During the first five minutes, Abe fought smartly, keeping Faber at bay in a tight clinch, thus reducing the wrestler’s ability to use his speed and power.
It took Faber almost half the first round to put Abe on his back. Being in familiar territory paid off when he drilled an elbow into the Japanese fighter’s forehead, causing a nasty intersection of a cut on the right side of Abe’s face.
Round two of the five-round championship contest was all Faber. With his physicality taking over, Faber consistently scored on the inside, especially when he sandwiched Abe between himself and the cage fencing. Each time the fighters met here, heavy Faber’ uppercut-left hook combinations met their mark.
Despite the best efforts of his corner, Abe’s night ended when Faber drilled another elbow to virtually the same spot. Immediately Abe’s forehead turned crimson and his bangs, which had acted like a windshield wiper earlier in the fight, were now saturated by blood.
Afterwards, Faber expressed interest meeting his division’s best, most notably “Pequeno.” Still in his early 20’s, Faber needs several more opportunities to hone his skills in the cage or ring before stepping in against the likes of Nogueira. But in just eight fights Faber has already established himself as one of America’s premiere 145-pounders.
If nothing else, Jason Lambert is persistent. After suffering a cut above his right eye in the early moments versus Marvin Eastman, the light heavyweight never gave an inch during three rounds of competent, technical mixed martial arts.
Marcos Rosales and Lester Griffin had it 29-28 for Lambert, while Jon Schorle favored Eastman by the same score. Sherdog.com had it 29-28 for Eastman.
As he’d try throughout the bout, Lambert went for a takedown off the opening bell. But Eastman slammed the door shut, muscling the former heavyweight to his back.
When the two regained their feet, the right side of Lambert’s face was covered in blood thanks to the gash above his right eye. At that moment Lambert, unable to counter or match Eastman’s speed or power, seemed in deep trouble. But as the round moved into its second half, Lambert recovered well enough to come forward.
That momentum carried into the second frame and Lambert scored well on the inside with stiff uppercuts and body shots. One such sequence seemed to wake Eastman and the local Las Vegas product snarled when he walked towards Lambert, now in the center of the ring.
The former kickboxer fired a right hand that met its mark. Lambert, who foolishly waited for Eastman with his hands down, was down on the yellow mat. Yet, once again Eastman couldn’t make any headway towards finishing his challenger.
After several failed attempts the first two thirds of the fight, Lambert finally landed a takedown to open the final period. He almost fell into a rear-naked choke submission, but Eastman fought through it to stand up and deliver a heavy knee followed by a big takedown.
However, his strong finish wasn’t enough to sway one of the two judges who saw it for Lambert.
A beautiful trip takedown from the clinch set up Miguel Gutierrez’ armbar victory over Fernando Gonzalez, 1:42 of round one. Gutierrez efficiently moved from the mount to back-mount to armbar, fending off Gonzalez to hold onto the submission.
Joe Frainee opened the main card by stopping KOTC regular Frankie Bollinger 3:44 of round one. The 170-pound fighters slugged away until Frainee began to find the range. Unable to counter Frainee and not wanting to walk into his shots, Bollinger began to duck and cover, dropping his head into a series of arm punches.
With Bollinger’s back to the cage fencing, Frainee unloaded a barrage of shots on him. This time Bollinger jumped into guard. The move proved fatal however, when Frainee easily passed to full mount. Unanswered shots followed and referee Nelson “Doc” Hamilton had no recourse but to halt the contest.
Pele, who outweighed Hoffman by close to a 100 pounds, made it a close-quarters fight during the first four minutes. When Pele didn’t want to fight Hoffman in a phone booth, there were glimpses of the agility that always seems miraculous for a man of his size.
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As the seconds ticked down to close out round one Hoffman blasted Pele with a right straight that shook the 350-pound champion. Hoffman charged and put Pele on his back, ending the round with questionable elbows that left the large man dazed on the mat.
It took him nearly the entire time between periods but Pele looked
fine as action moved forward. While he found success early in the
fight by jamming Hoffman into the fence and stomping his feet or
stuffing knees in his rash guard-covered midsection, Pele could do
very little against his challenger’s speed advantage.
But a debilitating Pele straight right soon made the speed disparity moot. Hoffman was hurt and his hands were down. It was the chance Pele had hoped for and he swooped in for the kill. More strikes followed and connected; yet it was the chance to put Hoffman on his back he so eagerly took advantage of.
Trapped between Pele’s heft and the fence, Hoffman could barely move, eating a series of short, chopping shots before the KOTC champ readjusted to deliver the fight’s final blows.
Referee Herb Dean allowed Hoffman as much latitude as was possible, but the fighter simply didn’t respond and an end had to be called.
In what could be the final year of his career, Pele showed why he’s the most nimble-footed of all super heavyweights. Unfortunately, competition on the weight division is lacking and following tonight he’ll be forced out of a WEF fight versus Jeff Monson that was scheduled for May 20.
In the stiffest test of his young career, KOTC bantamweight champion Urijah Faber passed with flying colors, stopping SHOOTO fighter Hiroyuki Abe — one of the few men to beat 145-pound king Alexander “Pequeno” Nogueira — 2:37 of round three.
The bout was a contrast in styles: Abe the methodical, crafty veteran versus Faber the powerful, athletic kid.
During the first five minutes, Abe fought smartly, keeping Faber at bay in a tight clinch, thus reducing the wrestler’s ability to use his speed and power.
It took Faber almost half the first round to put Abe on his back. Being in familiar territory paid off when he drilled an elbow into the Japanese fighter’s forehead, causing a nasty intersection of a cut on the right side of Abe’s face.
Round two of the five-round championship contest was all Faber. With his physicality taking over, Faber consistently scored on the inside, especially when he sandwiched Abe between himself and the cage fencing. Each time the fighters met here, heavy Faber’ uppercut-left hook combinations met their mark.
Despite the best efforts of his corner, Abe’s night ended when Faber drilled another elbow to virtually the same spot. Immediately Abe’s forehead turned crimson and his bangs, which had acted like a windshield wiper earlier in the fight, were now saturated by blood.
Afterwards, Faber expressed interest meeting his division’s best, most notably “Pequeno.” Still in his early 20’s, Faber needs several more opportunities to hone his skills in the cage or ring before stepping in against the likes of Nogueira. But in just eight fights Faber has already established himself as one of America’s premiere 145-pounders.
If nothing else, Jason Lambert is persistent. After suffering a cut above his right eye in the early moments versus Marvin Eastman, the light heavyweight never gave an inch during three rounds of competent, technical mixed martial arts.
Marcos Rosales and Lester Griffin had it 29-28 for Lambert, while Jon Schorle favored Eastman by the same score. Sherdog.com had it 29-28 for Eastman.
As he’d try throughout the bout, Lambert went for a takedown off the opening bell. But Eastman slammed the door shut, muscling the former heavyweight to his back.
When the two regained their feet, the right side of Lambert’s face was covered in blood thanks to the gash above his right eye. At that moment Lambert, unable to counter or match Eastman’s speed or power, seemed in deep trouble. But as the round moved into its second half, Lambert recovered well enough to come forward.
That momentum carried into the second frame and Lambert scored well on the inside with stiff uppercuts and body shots. One such sequence seemed to wake Eastman and the local Las Vegas product snarled when he walked towards Lambert, now in the center of the ring.
The former kickboxer fired a right hand that met its mark. Lambert, who foolishly waited for Eastman with his hands down, was down on the yellow mat. Yet, once again Eastman couldn’t make any headway towards finishing his challenger.
After several failed attempts the first two thirds of the fight, Lambert finally landed a takedown to open the final period. He almost fell into a rear-naked choke submission, but Eastman fought through it to stand up and deliver a heavy knee followed by a big takedown.
However, his strong finish wasn’t enough to sway one of the two judges who saw it for Lambert.
A beautiful trip takedown from the clinch set up Miguel Gutierrez’ armbar victory over Fernando Gonzalez, 1:42 of round one. Gutierrez efficiently moved from the mount to back-mount to armbar, fending off Gonzalez to hold onto the submission.
Joe Frainee opened the main card by stopping KOTC regular Frankie Bollinger 3:44 of round one. The 170-pound fighters slugged away until Frainee began to find the range. Unable to counter Frainee and not wanting to walk into his shots, Bollinger began to duck and cover, dropping his head into a series of arm punches.
With Bollinger’s back to the cage fencing, Frainee unloaded a barrage of shots on him. This time Bollinger jumped into guard. The move proved fatal however, when Frainee easily passed to full mount. Unanswered shots followed and referee Nelson “Doc” Hamilton had no recourse but to halt the contest.
