Denny Stops Fanshier, Wins KOTC 170-lb. Title
Robert Gallardo Dec 3, 2005
SAN JACINTO, Calif., Dec. 2 — The long awaited rematch between
James Fanshier
(Pictures) and Thomas Denny (Pictures) finally took place Friday night
at Soboba Casino. This time around, the “Wildman” Denny was able to
avenge his only loss in the last two years by shocking everyone
with KO over Fanshier.
The fight started with Denny taking Fanshier down with a single-leg, only to have Fanshier stand right up. The entire first round played out this way, until Fanshier was able to throw Denny to the ground, where he proceeded to mount and pound him.
At the start of the second, Denny seemed a little gassed, and
Fanshier went in for the kill. However, Denny was able to land an
overhand right, dropping Fanshier to the canvas. Denny then
finished the job by mounting Fanshier, forcing referee Herb Dean (Pictures) to stop the bout at only 18
seconds of the second round, making Thomas Denny (Pictures) the new KOTC welterweight
champion.
There was controversy as to whether the fight was stopped too early, but all in all, it makes for more controversy in a rubber match that is destined to happen between these two.
In other action, Rob McCollough continued his winning streak by scoring a TKO victory over the very game Gabe Rivas (Pictures). This made for an interesting bout, as McCollough was the more technical kickboxer while Rivas was the wild brawler.
The fight remained pretty even through the first round, with most of the action being on the feet. The bout came to a halt when rain started pouring down in the open-air venue, causing Rivas to slip several times. It was unfortunate that the conditions may have contributed to the end for Rivas, as he slipped on the ground and McCollough landed on top with a barrage of punches, stopping the fight at 3:11 of the second round.
In the upset of the night, newcomer Buckley Acosta knocked out veteran Aaron Brink (Pictures) with a devastating overhand right that Brink never saw coming. The entire bout lasted just nine seconds, yet Acosta made a name for himself and it leaves questions about Brink, who is scheduled to fight again next week. This is the second time he’s been knocked out clean in less than a month.
The fight of the night belonged to Thomas Kenny (Pictures) and Sean Bias. Both fighters traded every position possible in a match that saw unbelievable grappling coupled with several submission attempts and escapes. Both fighters seemed to prefer the guillotine, which never landed for either fighter.
In the second round, Bias dropped Kenny with a right straight, but made the mistake of jumping in too quickly, as Kenny was able to sink a side-choke from the bottom, giving him the win at 23 seconds of the second round.
In other action, Nam Phan (Pictures) scored a quick win and a future title shot against Mac Danzig (Pictures) by submitting Albert Hill (Pictures) with an armbar at only nine seconds of the first round. Phan was impressive once again, and asked for the title shot when given the microphone after his match.
The rest of the card saw Mike Guymon (Pictures) submit Ken Cadoy with a guillotine choke at 42 seconds of the first; Dave Rivas (Pictures) eek out a split decision over Kaleo Kwon after two rounds; Fernando Gonzales win a decision over Ray Lazama (Pictures); Cub Sawnson win in dominating fashion over Fernando Arriola at 2:15 of the first; and Lawrence Grant defeat Pat White at 1:21of the first with a rear-naked choke.
The fight started with Denny taking Fanshier down with a single-leg, only to have Fanshier stand right up. The entire first round played out this way, until Fanshier was able to throw Denny to the ground, where he proceeded to mount and pound him.
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There was controversy as to whether the fight was stopped too early, but all in all, it makes for more controversy in a rubber match that is destined to happen between these two.
The co-main event saw Manny
Tapia (Pictures) defend his 135-pound title
against the challenger from Hawaii, Ed Newalu (Pictures). The fight saw Tapia sprawling
and utilizing his jiu-jitsu skills to avoid taking any damage while
being taken down. Tapia chose to keep the fight standing where he
was the aggressor, and coupled with a low blow by Newalu, Tapia was
able to walk away with the unanimous decision victory after three
rounds.
In other action, Rob McCollough continued his winning streak by scoring a TKO victory over the very game Gabe Rivas (Pictures). This made for an interesting bout, as McCollough was the more technical kickboxer while Rivas was the wild brawler.
The fight remained pretty even through the first round, with most of the action being on the feet. The bout came to a halt when rain started pouring down in the open-air venue, causing Rivas to slip several times. It was unfortunate that the conditions may have contributed to the end for Rivas, as he slipped on the ground and McCollough landed on top with a barrage of punches, stopping the fight at 3:11 of the second round.
In the upset of the night, newcomer Buckley Acosta knocked out veteran Aaron Brink (Pictures) with a devastating overhand right that Brink never saw coming. The entire bout lasted just nine seconds, yet Acosta made a name for himself and it leaves questions about Brink, who is scheduled to fight again next week. This is the second time he’s been knocked out clean in less than a month.
The fight of the night belonged to Thomas Kenny (Pictures) and Sean Bias. Both fighters traded every position possible in a match that saw unbelievable grappling coupled with several submission attempts and escapes. Both fighters seemed to prefer the guillotine, which never landed for either fighter.
In the second round, Bias dropped Kenny with a right straight, but made the mistake of jumping in too quickly, as Kenny was able to sink a side-choke from the bottom, giving him the win at 23 seconds of the second round.
In other action, Nam Phan (Pictures) scored a quick win and a future title shot against Mac Danzig (Pictures) by submitting Albert Hill (Pictures) with an armbar at only nine seconds of the first round. Phan was impressive once again, and asked for the title shot when given the microphone after his match.
The rest of the card saw Mike Guymon (Pictures) submit Ken Cadoy with a guillotine choke at 42 seconds of the first; Dave Rivas (Pictures) eek out a split decision over Kaleo Kwon after two rounds; Fernando Gonzales win a decision over Ray Lazama (Pictures); Cub Sawnson win in dominating fashion over Fernando Arriola at 2:15 of the first; and Lawrence Grant defeat Pat White at 1:21of the first with a rear-naked choke.
