CALGARY, Alberta, Canada, Dec. 3 — It’s hard to visit Calgary for just one time and not want to move there. From the modern and clean downtown area, to the friendly and helpful people, to the world famous Banff mountain resort, only an hour away, nestled in the middle of the spectacular Canadian Rockies, Calgary just makes you want to become, well, a Calgaryite!
In a Canadian first, Ryan Diaz (Pictures) met Thierry Quenneville (Pictures) in a history-making bout with the winner to be crowned KOTC Canadian bantamweight champion. In the early going, it was Quenneville looking to grapple while Diaz frustrated his takedown attempts with hard Muay Thai leg kicks.
As the fight wore on through the first and then the second rounds, however, Diaz began to land regularly on the game Quenneville with his hands as well, rocking him several times.
In the third round, Quenneville finally got Diaz into a dangerous position and nearly locked in a fight-ending heelhook. Diaz, however, showing polished grappling skills to go with his impressive striking abilities, reversed Quenneville with a nifty ankle lock of his own and then transitioned into a fight-ending triangle for the 2:23 round three victory and the championship belt.
“The Butcher” Bill Mahood (Pictures) lived up to his nickname against Shane Lightle as he softened him up with early knees to the body, causing Lightle to shoot in and pull guard. This proved to be no refuge, however, as Mahood passed to the half guard and dropped a monster elbow on Lightle, knocking him out on the ground at just 2:47 of round one.
Ben Rothwell (Pictures) was equally impressive against Don Richard (Pictures) in a battle of the 220-plus pound big boys. Rothwell was able to defeat Richard’s early attempt to clinch him against the cage and land knees to the stomach. He reversed positions, rocked Richards, took him down to the full mount, and then hammered him for the 3:32 round one TKO.
A rather uninspiring bout that featured numerous stand-ups for lack of action, Jacob Short drew with Blake Fredrickson (Pictures).
In a hard bout that saw sustained action between a ground specialist and a striker, Mike Ciesnolevicz decisioned Chris Peak by taking him down and controlling ground positions while avoiding Peak’s lethal hands. The bout would have much more entertaining had Ciesnolevicz been willing to stand and strike with Peak, instead of repeatedly clinching and going to the mat.
Joe Martin (Pictures) from the Ken Shamrock (Pictures) Lion’s Den Submission Academy, with Ken Shamrock (Pictures) himself in his corner, was aggressive and quick as he wasted little time in corralling opponent Victor Hernandez, locking in a solid triangle, and then submitting him at just 1:25 of the first round.
A quick but very energetic fight saw Dave Scholten come out hard and fast with a series of hard and high kicks, really going after opponent Kevin Manderson and drawing cheers from the crowd. Manderson patiently weathered the storm however, stalked Scholten, took him to the mat, and finished him at 1:37 of the first round via a rear naked choke.
Ben Greer and Bobby Shabaga went at it on the ground and the feet, with Greer showing a punishing ground game and Shabaga looking to land a fight-ending haymaker. Greer eventually wore Shabaga down by virtue of his constant aggression, and locked in a fight-ending neck crank at 1:22 of the second round.
In one of the night’s most impressive performances, Chris Wilson (Chris Wilson' class='LinkSilver'>Pictures) displayed aggressive stand-up skills to match his very technical ground game and had his way with a tough but overmatched Cruz Chacon, who had no answer to Wilson’s balanced attack. Although fighting hard and not giving up for a second, Chacon was hurt on the feet and on the ground until finally succumbing to a fight-ending 2:45 round one triangle choke.
Jason Day took down Greg Rogalsky early but then was reversed and let Rogalsky get to his back for what looked to be a rear-naked choke endgame. When Rogalsky neglected to get the hooks in, though, Day rolled him over the top to side-control. Rogalsky did get to his feet, but not before Day locked in a guillotine choke which Rogalsky defended poorly by not putting his arm over Day’s neck to counter. This proved his undoing as Day locked the choke in tight and got the 2:22 first round tap-out win.
Preliminary action had Jason Tatlow defeating Tim Thurston via a two-round split decision. Tyler Jackson (Pictures) cut a disappointed and very game David Mah to get a TKO win that easily could have gone the other way had the cut not occurred. Garry Wright earned a unanimous decision over Adam Thomas. And Daryl Bona sent Kyle Cheyne home quickly with a 35-second round one win via guillotine choke.
Final Thoughts
The Calgary Athletic Commission showed that the hard work that they have been doing with their mixed martial arts referees is paying off, as all matches were decided in the cage without any controversies. The best officials are the ones you don’t notice and the Canada crew was invisible.
Ken Shamrock (Pictures), showing what a worldwide icon he truly is, was present at the event to both coach fighters and sign autographs to the very appreciative crowd. One of the main events, unfortunately, featuring Ronald “Machine Gun” Jhun, had to be scrapped at the last minute due to unforeseen visa problems. Showing the strength of the card, however, and the growing skill of the local MMA fighters, the event went off without a hitch with more than enough action to satisfy even the most hardcore of fans.
KOTC Canada shows are now being televised on TSN, the Canadian ESPN.