BOISE, Idaho, July 15 — Showing a powerful and dominating ground game that allowed him to stuff Rocky Batastini (Pictures)’s persistent takedown attempts, Justin Eilers (Pictures) showed he’s on the comeback road to becoming a major player as he posted his third straight win in getting the round one, 2:32 tapout victory via strikes.
As quick as that victory was, it was nothing compared to Kyacey Uscola (Pictures)’s lightning five-second knockout of Danny Payne with a devastating head kick.
Payne, who had taken the match on short notice, fearlessly came right at Uscola at the opening bell with his usual exciting aggressiveness. Looking to close to grappling range he instead met Uscola’s powerful right foot and was dropped to the mat. Uscola is an exciting punch-out artist who can kick with power to the head and whose best days are still ahead of him.
Keeping in step with the parade of early endings that delighted the vocal crowed, Lee Anderson (Pictures) stopped Jason Shifflett at just 1:21 in round one with strikes from the mount.
Brandon Shuey (Pictures), one of Idaho’s most technical grapplers, needed just 1:17 of the first stanza to lock in a winning rear-naked choke on Patrick Reeves.
In a much-anticipated crossover match, two-time IBA champion “Irish” Ed Dalton brought his 27-10-3 (6 KO) pugilistic record into the MMA cage for the first time to meet ground specialist Dan Wilson, of Team Hillbilly.
Rather than demonstrate his feared punching power, however, Dalton instead took the fight to the ground where his dished out a good ol’ backcountry beating to “Hillbilly” in getting a win due to ground strikes. Keep an eye on the power-punching Dalton, who took the bout at 3:29 of the first. If he chooses to continue in MMA you’ll likely see heads roll.
The performance of the night belonged to Ray Perales (Pictures), who was dominated and cut by Robert Densley in the first round and looked to be on his way to defeat. Yet Perales, a notoriously slow starter, was just warming up. He staggered Densley repeatedly with sharp combinations in the second round before finally ending it at the four minute mark via guillotine choke.
In early action Justin Fusco beat Chris Styff with a heel hook 1:52 of the first.
Tim Turner armbarred Brian Roberts at 1:41 of round one.
Gabe Miranda punished Jacob Thompson (Pictures) in the second round after being outfought in the first and got the win when the gassed Thompson couldn’t answer the bell for the third.
Jay Grimsley got the night off to a fast start when he slapped a round one guillotine on Manny Hernandez at the 2:56 mark.
The high-energy First Strike event, held in the beautiful downtown Qwest Arena, was an impressive sellout for long-time boxing promoter Kasey Thompson, who wisely enlisted Primal Tribe headman Tom Supnet, a longtime fixture in the Mountain West MMA scene, as matchmaker.
The duo was rewarded with the largest crowd to ever see an indoor sporting event in Boise at nearly 6,500 enthusiastic fans, one of the biggest non-casino MMA crowds ever in North America.
“This was a great event,” said Thompson, “and it was all due to the great fans and fighters we have in Idaho. In the coming months you’re going to see the biggest stars in the sport in First Strike.”
The daily Boise newspaper ran front page sports section stories on the event, a testament to the many years Thompson has spend building a positive community relations with his boxing shows.
Prior to the start of the event, Thompson gave a mini-seminar to the mostly boxing crossover crowd, using two fighters to demonstrate common MMA moves such as the rear-naked choke, the guillotine, and the heel hook. This undoubtedly helped the fans to understand and appreciate the fights.
The next First Strike show at the Qwest Arena in Boise, Idaho is scheduled for Dec. 2.