MONTREAL, Sept. 3 — In the main event of Apex: Undisputed Saturday night, Boston’s Joe Lauzon, of Reality self-defense, faced Ivan Menjivar (Pictures), of Tristar Gym out of Montreal, in a fight that could only be described as a fierce and skillful confrontation both in stand-up and on the ground.
Freddie Espiricueta of Mexican Top Team out of Houston, Texas took on newcomer Stephen “The Wonder Boy” Thompson from Upstate Karate out of Simpsonville, South Carolina in a kickboxing bout. This all-out war took “Fight of the Night” honors, mostly because of the blisteringly effective right leg of Thompson.
Time and again that right came up out of nowhere with speed and accuracy reminiscent of Brazilian Glaube Feitosa. If you only see one of the fights from this Apex presentation, then this is the one to see. The action was constant and both fighters were clearly up to the challenge, however at the end of the day, Espiricueta succumbed to the surprising speed and skill of Thompson, who took victory by TKO at 47 seconds of the third round.
Thompson is a young new talent that should — no must — be watched.
Representing Dragon's Lair out of Boston, Mass., Mandela Kponou (Pictures) fought out of the blue corner against Claude Patrick of Toronto. This fight was short but fraught with action, skill and entertainment value. While both men worked for position and advantage only one could come out on top. In this instance, it was Patrick by submission, using a rear-naked choke at 3:26 in the first round.
Fighting out of Nashua, New Hampshire’s Team Elite, Nuri Shakir met Steve Berger (Pictures) of Vaughn Jiu-Jitsu/Jones boxing from St. Louis, Missouri. This scheduled three-round contest did not disappoint and it was apparent to all in the Medley on this particular evening that Shakir was dominant in all three rounds.
Berger was an excellent and hard-fighting opponent, but the judges and onlookers all agreed, and in the end judges scored 30-26, 29-28, 29-28 in favor of Shakir.
Eric Lacelle (Pictures) challenged Martin Grandmont (Pictures) in a confrontation featuring high-energy competition and skill. Grandmont was the aggressor, which served him well and while both fighters pushed the conflict forward, it was Martin who came out on top. The battle ended when Grandmont, of Team Bergeron out of Quebec, stopped Lacelle after five minutes.
Rowan Cunningham of Port Williams, Nova Scotia faced Eric Beaulieu of BTT Canada out of Montreal, Quebec. Both of these two combatants entered the ring looking prepared and eager to begin. The fight left its legs soon after starting and was ended on the ground by Cunningham, who won via submission by way of rear-naked choke at 2:00 in the first round.
Sean Ragnitz (Pictures) of Ronin MMA Toronto went head to head with Francois Flibotte of Team Union out of Quebec. This scheduled two-round event delivered on all counts, it seemed, except perhaps — and I say this primarily based on the audience reaction — in the final decision.
Both combatants worked tirelessly and with great skill through both rounds and while the fight seemed close in certain areas the overall appearance was that Ragnitz had it in the end. The judges however scored the bout 19-19, 20-18, 19-19, ending in a majority draw much to the audible dissatisfaction of the fans looking on.
Kevin Knabjian of Gilberts Grappling from Chicago went against Randy Newell of Alliance BJJ out of Kitchener. Both fighters were aggressive and confident and the match was entertaining for all 55 seconds, but as they say, all good things must come to an end and this bout is no exception. Knabjian took the armbar submission 55 seconds in the first round. Unfortunate, but as can be expected in all contact sports, injuries can occur, in this case, a dislocated elbow for Newell.
Wojtek Kaszowski, representing Warriors Toronto, fought Serge Lafond (Pictures) of team Bergeron in a five-round kickboxing match, which not only went the distance but also pushed both fighters to the point of exhaustion. All five rounds were action packed and both fighters gave 110 percent, if that is possible.
As the fifth round bell rang the close of the battle, there seemed a tangible feeling of favor towards Kaszowski as winner and the judges would concur, returning Wojtek the win by decision scoring the fight 49-45, 47-47, and 47-46.
Nabil Khatib of Team Bushido out of Ottawa, Ontario met Sebastien Poirier, fighting out of the Wrecking Gym in Longueil, Quebec. While this fight ended fairly quickly, both contenders showed skill with stand-up as well as comfort on the ground. In the end, a brutal ground-and-pound perpetrated by Khatib finished this match at 4:38 of the first round by TKO.
The first bout of the night brought us Nino Berezza of BTT Canada fighting Michael Hong. This contest went the distance, and while both men fought equally I have to give the first round to Berezza simply due to the fact that he was on the receiving end of a knee to the groin as well as a head butt while in guard. I gave the second round to Hong, and apparently the judges agreed as the bout was scored 19-19, 19-19, 18-18 and ended in a draw.