Many referees would be intimidated by the thought of having to officiate a bout involving Gilbert Yvel (Pictures) but "Granite" Grant Waterman is not one of these shrinking violets. In fact, Waterman promised that it would be "his time" if the Dutchman were to try it on, "I've been practicing my boxing," the bald referee commented, "watch out for my left hook.”
And that's what Yvel did, really.
He dominated the brief stand-up exchange that opened the fight and showed a decent sprawl to stuff Scherer's first takedown attempt. But the Brazilian's second brought the Dutchman to the canvas and straight into an attempted Achilles hold. Unfortunately for Scherner, Yvel seemed pretty unimpressed by the whole deal.
Realizing this, Scherner transitioned to a kneebar but Yvel just took the opportunity presented by his opponent's loss of position to start hitting the Brazilian very hard indeed in the head. The sound was reminiscent of a coconut being hit with a hammer and Waterman was quick to intercede when it was clear that Scherer had no real answer for Yvel's aggression. One minute 30 seconds was all it took.
Croatian Zelg Galesic (Pictures) is rapidly becoming one of my favorite fighters. Not only is the former Tae Kwon Do champion a joy to watch, but he also has an amusingly eccentric persona outside the cage.
As for his fight with Curtis Stout (Pictures), well, Galesic was unable to deliver the stand-up battle that he had promised in his pre-fight interview. This is mostly because Stout shot in on him very soon after the round opened.
Respectful of Galesic's stand-up, Stout clearly wanted to take things at a slower, more controlled pace on the mat. Unfortunately, this plan was ruined by Galesic's sudden armbar from guard. So fast was Galesic's application and Stout's acknowledgement, many spectators had to rely on the replay to show them what had actually happened after just 1:10 of the first round.
Either way, the victory marks a step up for the young and charismatic Galesic, as well as posing some serious questions for Mr. Stout.
I feel a bit sorry for Henry Miller (Pictures). One moment you're "Sentoryu," the most successful non-Hawaiian sumo wrestler to have come from the United Stats in recent memory. And the next moment you're Henry Miller (Pictures), the guy who gets into a cage and takes a pummeling before being further tarred and feathered by the scions of defeat.
Unfortunately, this outing was to prove no different for the beleaguered American. This was nothing less than a beatdown, with Robert Berry (Pictures) so confident that he didn't bother tucking in his chin or keeping his hands up. From the moment the bell marked the start of the fight, the Englishman was all over his opponent, walloping Miller standing.
Although the sumo wrestler did mange to bowl his opponent over onto the floor at one stage, Berry was quick to recover and reverse position, mounting Miller and unloading until the referee stepped in 1:06 of the first round.
Dave Legeno (Pictures) had the best entrance of the night. Facing London-based fighter Mark Epstein (Pictures), Legeno informed Stephen Quadros during his pre-fight interview that he had the "number of the Beast" and hammed up his biblical exhortations to the max.
This display culminated in his entrance, dressed in the tattered remnants of a vicar's garb, bearing a bible and a cross, and accompanied by two of the ring girls, both wearing the sort of revealing get-up that no self-respecting nun would ever wear in a house of God.
You have to respect Legeno's courage in taking this fight, but he was outclassed form the start. Epstein dominated this one, ending a wild, swinging exchange with a crisp combination.
It took two punches to put Legeno down — a left hand stunned him and a right hand dropped him after just 45 seconds of the first round. Legeno was down for a good two or three minutes, and although he did eventually exit the cage under his own steam, he was complaining about what may have been a broken jaw.
You may know Legeno from such gangster movies as “Snatch” and “Hell To Pay” but I doubt we'll see him in the cage again. Three fights have spelt three losses and none has been pretty to witness. As for Epstein? He gave "a shout out to my boys in jail, in Morocco."
With representatives from the Metropolitan police and assorted lobbyists looking to shut the sport down in the audience, this is exactly the sort of comment that is totally unnecessary, and should certainly help distance UK MMA from accusations of thuggery.
A newly slimmed-down Pierre Guillet (Pictures) was forced to work hard in order to defeat the energetic and wily Daijiro Matsui (Pictures). The ever-entertaining Japanese was on good form, surprising onlookers with his willingness to box with Guillet.
The Englishman was confident and solid but he was far from spectacular. The first round probably went to Matsui, who came close to finishing the fight with an ankle lock. Guillet was screaming in pain and the bones in his calf visibly bent as Matsui applied the pressure but the Englishman eventually escaped, and survived the rest of the round.
Some inter-round battle-cries from Matsui were answered by Guillet, who started to take control during the second period, getting the better of the stand-up, and then taking Matsui to the mat for some extra ground and pound sauce.
It was during Guillet's ground-and-pound that it happened: a deep cut was opened in Matsui's left eyelid and the blood started to flow. The fight was stopped so that the doctor could inspect the cut but, given its depth and location, the fight was duly halted. Matsui was clearly unhappy and the crowd booed, but ultimately what can you do about a cut?
The evidence is there and cannot be denied. The win was in no way convincing but at least Guillet got the W, after 4:08 of the second round.