GLOBE, Ariz. May 13 — Cementing his reputation as one of mixed martial arts toughest all-time fighters, Don Frye (Pictures) returned to fight in the U.S. for the first time in nearly 10 years in Terry Trebilcock’s King of the Cage.
Despite giving up over 150 pounds and eight inches, the 230-pound, six-foot Frye submitted Akebono with a guillotine choke in less than two minutes. Barely pausing to catch his breath, much less recover from jet lag, Frye hopped a plane back to his home state of Arizona to face another giant of the sport, 6’ 4” 280-pound Reuben Villareal.
At the opening bell Frye charged across the ring, clinched with Villareal and tried to take him out early. Although Frye scored with several hard blows, the larger Villareal absorbed the punishment and fought back, pushing Frye back across the cage with his superior size and clinching him against the cage.
For most of the first five minute round the two fought evenly in the clinch, exchanging short punches and occasional knees. Neither clearly dominated, although Villareal did look a little worse for wear.
In the second round Frye came out hard and used his NCAA wrestling skills to take Villareal to the ground against the cage and promptly get full-mount.
Holding this position for most of the round, Frye landed a steady stream of blows from the top. Although Villareal did a good job of tying Frye up and avoiding getting bombed, this round was all Frye and when the bell sounded he got up wearily from the exertion of throwing so many punches.
The third round was a repeat of the first, as both fighters were clearly tiring from the effects of the previous two five-minute rounds in the outdoor desert heat under Pay-Per-View lights.
Despite gasping for air and having to clinch and grapple with such a heavy opponent, Frye showed his championship heart by refusing to break or even bend. Villareal didn’t back down an inch either, and the two circled, clinched, and exchanged short inside punches until the final bell.
With the first and third rounds virtually even and Frye having dominated the second round, it seemed like a clear victory for “The Predator.” Yet when the final results were tallied, the judges strangely scored the fight a majority draw. A lot of credit goes to the ever-improving Villareal, as he had trained extremely hard for this match and stood in front of Frye for all three rounds, taking his best shots.
Despite Warpath’s courageous performance, however, and the odd scoring, the night clearly belonged to Frye.
In one of the most anticipated 145-pound fights of the year, the incredible Urijah Faber (Pictures), trained by world Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion Cassio Werneck (Pictures), met the undefeated Charlie Valencia (Pictures).
While Faber is known for his electrifying wrestling skills and non-stop attacks, Valencia is a cat-quick submission fighter who will also bang. The general consensus at ringside among MMA “experts” was that Valencia’s submission skills would simply be too polished for Faber’s wrestling background … so much for “expert” opinions.
Coming out hard and attacking from the get-go, Faber took the fight to Valencia, who seemed surprised by Faber aggressiveness, and let himself get taken down. Fighting off the initial attack, Valencia got back to his feet and then landed a hard blow that sent Faber staggering back. Valencia, however, didn’t follow up and Faber charged back across the cage, took him down, and then got to his back for a rear-naked choke at just 3:09 of the first round, leaving everyone shaking their heads in near-disbelief.
Looking badder and seedier than ever, “The Bad Seed” Bobby Hoffman (Pictures) proved that he is still bad news for whoever gets into the cage with him. Hoffman quickly dispatched opponent Paul O’Keefe with a nifty takedown to a neck-and-shoulder choke from side mount in just 1:29 of the first round.
Heavier than he has been in several years, Hoffman strangely seemed to have much better cardio than when he looked “lean and mean” at a much lighter weight. If Hoffman keeps getting better endurance the heavier he gets, look for him to become the first 300-pound grappler to win the Olympic marathon.
Seriously, though, the rap on Hoffman has always been his cardio. With his grappling skills still very much intact, coupled with his improved endurance, Hoffman might be getting ready to make some serious noise in the heavyweight division.
Kyacey Uscola (Pictures) from Primal Tribe used a very methodical and patient fight strategy to stalk opponent Jacob Chagolia around the ring, cut him during a scramble, and then get the TKO win when the fight was stopped after the first round.
Matt Verhalen and Matt Dell met in the preliminary fight of the night in a two round slugfest that featured constant action on the ground and the feet. Although it seemed that Verhalen had a slight advantage going into the final two minutes, Dell ended the match with a flurry that caught the judges’ eyes and stole a two-round split decision in a match that was a credit to both fighters.
Chad Dietmeyer and Daniel Madrid both showed good ground skills in getting round one armbar tapout wins, while Bob Cainin employed classic ground-and-pound strategy from the mount to get a second round TKO victory.
News and Notes
One of the big hits of the night was the appearance of pro wrestling legend “Superstar” Billy Graham, who escorted Don Frye (Pictures) into the cage. Fans surrounded Graham during every break, requesting photos and autographs, which “Superstar” graciously provided. KOTC co-promoter Tedd Williams (Pictures), a black belt under Gene LeBell, who is one of Graham’s good friends, personally sought out Graham during a break to thank him for attending. During Frye’s fight, KOTC owner Terry Trebilcock gave up his personal cage-side seat to Graham so he could better see the action.
While other men might have handpicked a lesser opponent to insure a comeback win, Frye was disdainful of fighting an easy opponent. “When I heard how big ‘Warpath’ was, my only reaction was to bring it on,” said Frye. “What’s the use of taking an easy fight? I don’t care who they put in front of me. I’ve never dodged anyone and if this is the fight KOTC wanted to give me then I’ll take it. It’s Warpath’s problem not mine.”
Frye is one of the best known fighters in the world and it’s a shame that he has been fighting outside of the U.S. for so long and out of the sight of MMA fans here. While his quick victory over Akebono in K-1 will undoubtedly ensure a return to major shows in Japan, hopefully he will continue to fight in the U.S. as well.