Though it was listed as the WEC North American lightweight championship fight, Poppies Martinez (Pictures) (6-1, 1 NC) inability to make the 155-pound limit (he stepped on the scale Thursday at 162 pounds and was still allowed to defend his belt) should have rendered any talk of a title fight moot. But in an environment where no one oversees fights but the promoter, things like this are bound to happen.
Vernon White (Pictures) (23-26-2) dropped a straight left directly on Alex Stiebling (Pictures)’s jaw, rendering the veteran unconscious nine seconds of round two. The first five minutes was competitive, with both fighters scoring from the guard. It was White, however, who landed the heavier shots, punishing Stiebling (16-8) with punches and elbows as he fought from his back.
Action moved to round two and White, who said afterwards he had no desire to play with Stiebling on the floor again, pawed a lead left in an effort to set up a fight-ending right hand. It worked. White connected — a punch that according to WEC officials would break his hand — and Stiebling fell back first to the canvas.
Putting a variation on a submission that’s now ended eight of his fights, Cole Escovedo (Pictures) (11-1) employed the slowest-developing flying triangle you’ll ever see, finally sinking it in 1:05 of round one to end Joseph Martin’s (4-4) evening.
Antonio Banuelos (Pictures) (8-2) dominated, opening a gash to the side of Ed Tomaselli’s (2-1) shaven head with a vicious elbow from the guard. After a nice double-leg takedown, Banuelos pummeled Tomaselli, who had little answer for the Pit Fight Team featherweight. He controlled position and striking until the referee stopped the contest at 2:25 of the opening period.
A mix-up at Thursday’s weigh-in saw veteran welterweight Gil Castillo (Pictures) (8-4) step on the scale at 171 pounds while his opponent, Steve Ramerez (Pictures) (4-2), came in at 184 pounds. Fortunately for Castillo, that didn’t prevent him from dominating grappling and stand-up action. Referee Nathan Goulian called a halt to the contest 3:44 of round two after Castillo had inflicted enough damage.
Castillo scored the fight’s two takedowns, but he also landed several heavy low kicks and left straights, one of which he said afterwards broke his hand.
In the second round Castillo connected with a good left, though it would be the last one of threw during the bout, he said, because it also “shattered” his hand. Despite the injury, Castillo dominated the entirety of round two, grounding-and-pounding Ramerez from the guard and mount positions.
Finally, Ramerez turned his back and Castillo sunk in the hooks, forcing Ramerez’ hips to the floor. Giving the man in danger ample time to counter or defend, Goulian pulled Castillo off when it became clear he could do neither.
Had Carlton Jones (Pictures) signed to fight in a state that regulates mixed martial arts, he would have never faced Greeley, Colo.’s massive Shane Corwin (1-0).
Stepping into the cage tonight at a powerhouse 288 pounds, Corwin used his size and strength in his pro MMA debut to eventually bring Jones, by no means a small man at 235 pounds, to the canvas. (Unified MMA rules delineate the heavyweight/super heavyweight cutoff at 265 pounds.) Soon, Corwin (1-1) muscled his way into the mount and punished the local Central California fighter until he tapped from strikes 2:11 of round one.
Good-looking Visalia, Calif. heavyweight Kenny Ento (Pictures) (2-0) overmatched Charles Price (0-1) early in the first round of their contest, switching from back control to armbar for submission victory 1:19 after the opening bell.
Andrew Martinez (Pictures) (1-0) scored an auspicious win in his professional debut, taking punishment before his opponent Jimmy Dexter (0-1), also in his pro debut, was disqualified for using an illegal knee.
Dexter buffeted Martinez around the WEC cage, dropping the middleweight with a punch before connecting with the first of two illegal knees.
Though it appeared extremely close to a legal blow, Dean deducted one point from Dexter after a knee connected to Martinez’ face. Dean indicated that Martinez’ hand was touching the canvas as the shot landed, making it illegal.
As the rookies met again, Dexter landed damaging uppercuts, one of which dropped Martinez to the blue canvas. Dexter this time fired and landed a knee clearly outside WEC rules and immediately Martinez’ nose opened up. Despite protests from Dexter’s corner that the first knee was not against the rules, Dean stepped in, waving off the contest 1:15 of the first round.