Loiseau Wins Decisively
GATINEAU, Quebec, March 29 -- It was a triumphant return home for
David Loiseau (Pictures) on Saturday as he dominated
Todd Gouwenberg
(Pictures) in the main event of
Hardcore Championship Fighting "Crow's Nest" at the Robert Guertin
Arena.
Throughout three full rounds, Loiseau peppered his opponent from the clinch with chopping knees to the midsection and also worked in the guard with the elbow strikes that have made him famous.
"I'm just working my ground and pound," Loiseau said after his win.
"Just give me some time. I'm gonna have the best ground and pound
in the world. Sooner or later I'm going to prove it. I'm going to
start finishing guys in there. I'm training every day. I'm never
going to quit."
Although Loiseau was unable to close out the contest, there was little doubt about the final decision. However, some in attendance questioned the scoring, which saw two judges give Loiseau one 10-8 round while the other judge gave him two 10-8 rounds.
"My conditioning was through the roof," said the former TKO middleweight champion. "I got in great shape."
The ladies let off the fireworks early as Sarah Kaufman and Molly Helsel (Pictures) wasted no time in getting into a phone-booth slugfest. Knee strikes and dirty boxing highlighted the opening stanza, which saw Kaufman press her opponent against the fence to deliver damage in the clinch.
Kaufman kept Helsel on the defensive by throwing nonstop combinations to the body and head. Helsel landed, too, but Kaufman shrugged off the shots and just kept coming forward. At one point Helsel went for an ankle, but Kaufman defended well and punished her for the attempt.
Eventually Kaufman sealed the deal with an unanswered barrage of punches that forced the referee to stop the bout, much to the dismay of Helsel and her corner.
Hector Ramirez (Pictures) played spoiler when he ruined Rob MacDonald (Pictures)'s homecoming of sorts with a gutsy unanimous decision over the former "Ultimate Fighter" cast member.
After starting off the bout slow while trading jabs and counters, the two began trading leather with little regard. Ramirez was dazed first by a clipping MacDonald right hand. He returned the favor immediately, however, with an overhand right that sent MacDonald stumbling and opened a gash on the left side of his forehead.
Ramirez sustained his stalking during the second and third rounds, on occasion loading up the right hand. The frenetic pace of the first slowed significantly, though. MacDonald continued to look to counter, but he lacked the head movement to be successful and couldn't catch up to the gritty Ramirez on the scorecards.
The Bronx cheer Gideon Ray (Pictures) received certainly didn't affect him in the opening round of his bout with hometown favorite Nabil Khatib (Pictures). Ray snapped punches early and narrowly missed a spinning back kick.
The second and third rounds were a different story. The second started off poorly for Khatib, and it appeared as though he may not make it through the round after Ray had opened with a perfect spinning back kick to his midsection. The strike sent Khatib back against the fence, where Ray pounced. Khatib reversed, though, and put Ray on his back. After working to side mount and trapping Ray's right arm between his legs, Khatib unloaded a barrage of punches.
The final round saw both fighters cautiously trade punches and kicks with no one taking control early. With two minutes remaining, Khatib managed a successful single-leg takedown. Ray got back to his feet and scored his own takedown with 20 seconds remaining, but it was too little too late. Khatib sent the crowd into a frenzy with the unanimous decision.
Brent Beauparlant (Pictures) made use of his superior wrestling skills against the crafty Amir Rahnavardi (Pictures) en route to a unanimous decision victory. Rahnavardi, outside of a few crisp punches early in the third, was controlled throughout the bout. Every time he would make it back up to his feet, Beauparlant would dump him right back to the canvas harder, with the highlight being a beautiful suplex midway through the first.
After a staredown that brought the audience to their feet, Andrew Buckland and Dan Hornbuckle took things straight to the mat. Hornbuckle attempted a triangle, which resulted in a hard slam for his efforts. Buckland broke free of the hold, but Hornbuckle switched to an armbar for the tap at 3:34 of the first.
Michael Hamersmid's 40-plus fights may have given him the edge in experience over Bill Boland, but Boland showed there's more to fighting than one's record.
A native of Oshawa, Ontario, with only four professional bouts under his belt, Boland used accurate striking and well-timed takedowns to dictate the pace of the bout. Mere moments into the second round, he was successful in getting the takedown into full mount and subsequently took the back of Hamersmid. Boland then worked away with short punches to the head of the Czech fighter. After almost two minutes in the position, referee Philippe Chartier finally called an end to the contest at 2:59 of the second round.
For much of their three-round bout, Myles Merola and Jameel Massouh (Pictures) traded punches, kicks and takedowns almost equally. In the third round, though, Massouh achieved rear mount and tried feverishly to secure a rear-naked choke.
Credit Merola for surviving the final two minutes of the fight with Massouh on his back with a tight body triangle locked up. Massouh took the unanimous decision, 29-27 on all three scorecards.
Rodrigo Ruas (Pictures) used steady takedowns to control the opening two rounds against British Columbia's Marcus Vinicios. He finished off the capoeira fighter with a textbook arm-triangle choke 52 seconds into the third.
Sans sideburns, Antonio "Nino" Schembri was triumphant in his HCF and Canadian debut with an impressive armbar win over Daniel Grandmaison (Pictures) at 2:37 of the first.
Throughout three full rounds, Loiseau peppered his opponent from the clinch with chopping knees to the midsection and also worked in the guard with the elbow strikes that have made him famous.
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Although Loiseau was unable to close out the contest, there was little doubt about the final decision. However, some in attendance questioned the scoring, which saw two judges give Loiseau one 10-8 round while the other judge gave him two 10-8 rounds.
As for the difference between Saturday's performance and his
showing against Jason Day
(Pictures) at the last HCF, Loiseau
pointed to one key factor: conditioning.
"My conditioning was through the roof," said the former TKO middleweight champion. "I got in great shape."
The ladies let off the fireworks early as Sarah Kaufman and Molly Helsel (Pictures) wasted no time in getting into a phone-booth slugfest. Knee strikes and dirty boxing highlighted the opening stanza, which saw Kaufman press her opponent against the fence to deliver damage in the clinch.
Kaufman kept Helsel on the defensive by throwing nonstop combinations to the body and head. Helsel landed, too, but Kaufman shrugged off the shots and just kept coming forward. At one point Helsel went for an ankle, but Kaufman defended well and punished her for the attempt.
Eventually Kaufman sealed the deal with an unanswered barrage of punches that forced the referee to stop the bout, much to the dismay of Helsel and her corner.
Hector Ramirez (Pictures) played spoiler when he ruined Rob MacDonald (Pictures)'s homecoming of sorts with a gutsy unanimous decision over the former "Ultimate Fighter" cast member.
After starting off the bout slow while trading jabs and counters, the two began trading leather with little regard. Ramirez was dazed first by a clipping MacDonald right hand. He returned the favor immediately, however, with an overhand right that sent MacDonald stumbling and opened a gash on the left side of his forehead.
Ramirez sustained his stalking during the second and third rounds, on occasion loading up the right hand. The frenetic pace of the first slowed significantly, though. MacDonald continued to look to counter, but he lacked the head movement to be successful and couldn't catch up to the gritty Ramirez on the scorecards.
The Bronx cheer Gideon Ray (Pictures) received certainly didn't affect him in the opening round of his bout with hometown favorite Nabil Khatib (Pictures). Ray snapped punches early and narrowly missed a spinning back kick.
The second and third rounds were a different story. The second started off poorly for Khatib, and it appeared as though he may not make it through the round after Ray had opened with a perfect spinning back kick to his midsection. The strike sent Khatib back against the fence, where Ray pounced. Khatib reversed, though, and put Ray on his back. After working to side mount and trapping Ray's right arm between his legs, Khatib unloaded a barrage of punches.
The final round saw both fighters cautiously trade punches and kicks with no one taking control early. With two minutes remaining, Khatib managed a successful single-leg takedown. Ray got back to his feet and scored his own takedown with 20 seconds remaining, but it was too little too late. Khatib sent the crowd into a frenzy with the unanimous decision.
Brent Beauparlant (Pictures) made use of his superior wrestling skills against the crafty Amir Rahnavardi (Pictures) en route to a unanimous decision victory. Rahnavardi, outside of a few crisp punches early in the third, was controlled throughout the bout. Every time he would make it back up to his feet, Beauparlant would dump him right back to the canvas harder, with the highlight being a beautiful suplex midway through the first.
After a staredown that brought the audience to their feet, Andrew Buckland and Dan Hornbuckle took things straight to the mat. Hornbuckle attempted a triangle, which resulted in a hard slam for his efforts. Buckland broke free of the hold, but Hornbuckle switched to an armbar for the tap at 3:34 of the first.
Michael Hamersmid's 40-plus fights may have given him the edge in experience over Bill Boland, but Boland showed there's more to fighting than one's record.
A native of Oshawa, Ontario, with only four professional bouts under his belt, Boland used accurate striking and well-timed takedowns to dictate the pace of the bout. Mere moments into the second round, he was successful in getting the takedown into full mount and subsequently took the back of Hamersmid. Boland then worked away with short punches to the head of the Czech fighter. After almost two minutes in the position, referee Philippe Chartier finally called an end to the contest at 2:59 of the second round.
For much of their three-round bout, Myles Merola and Jameel Massouh (Pictures) traded punches, kicks and takedowns almost equally. In the third round, though, Massouh achieved rear mount and tried feverishly to secure a rear-naked choke.
Credit Merola for surviving the final two minutes of the fight with Massouh on his back with a tight body triangle locked up. Massouh took the unanimous decision, 29-27 on all three scorecards.
Rodrigo Ruas (Pictures) used steady takedowns to control the opening two rounds against British Columbia's Marcus Vinicios. He finished off the capoeira fighter with a textbook arm-triangle choke 52 seconds into the third.
Sans sideburns, Antonio "Nino" Schembri was triumphant in his HCF and Canadian debut with an impressive armbar win over Daniel Grandmaison (Pictures) at 2:37 of the first.
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