IRVINE, Calif., Aug. 18 -- All Tenkei Fujimiya (Pictures) got on his short business trip to the Southern California was a busted right hand and the shaft.
Yet two of the three judges at ringside, particularly Luis Cobian, felt it was Quach -- largely due to a heavy lead right and damage the judge believed it inflicted -- who owned the main event of a co-promotion responsible for bringing over several of Shooto Japan's top young prospects.
To say that the room supported Quach would be an understatement, and the Vietnamese fighter made the most of that early energy by firing low kicks and right hands in the opening minutes.
Fujimiya wanted to trade and counter, however Quach was overwhelming in the first half of the first five-minute period -- each of the nine fights on the card was contested under the Unified Rules of MMA, sans elbows -- and the Japanese featherweight couldn't find his range until later in the round.
Quach's aggression was enough to give him the stanza, yet Fujimiya, noticeably marked up on the right side of his face after the fight, said he never took too heavy a shot during the 15-minute clash. More important over the course of the next two rounds was the fact that Fujimiya had busted his right hand, making it a rare commodity the remainder of the fight.
Myriad strikes with his left hand, notably the counter hook, were Fujimiya's best weapons tonight, though he found the mark with his banged up right hand several times, including a heavy punch in the final period, which everyone in the building but Cobian (who scored the contest 30-27 Quach) thought the Japanese fighter carried.
"I think he won that round because he hit me with a good body shot that I felt, that I'm still feeling now," said Quach about a devastating Fujimiya left hook to the body midway through the round.
The only official to give the contest to the Japanese fighter was famed "Judo" Gene Lebell, who saw it two rounds to one.
"People say it was a close fight," said Quach. "At the end of the fight I'd rather be me than him, looking at his face."
For Fujimiya, ranked ninth in the world at 145 by Sherdog.com coming into the fight, the result, which he said was the best he could muster, was disappointing.
"In Shooto you have to knock the guy out, you have to submit him," he said. "But the fighters also have the right to get a fair decision."
The win, controversial or not, is a big one for Quach, who is looking to establish himself at 145 pounds.
"It felt good winning in my home gym and it's always good winning in front of friends and family," he said.
American Brian Cobb (Pictures) took it to Kenichiro Togashi (Pictures), leaving the taller lightweight in a heap on the Shooto-logo covered canvas.
It was Cobb's wrestling that won the night for him. Togashi scored early with a series of unanswered punches, but as soon as the American dropped levels and shot in, the fight found its storyline.
Togashi attempted to make use of his long legs by endangering Cobb with triangle chokes and armbars, but a submission finish was never imminent. Cobb lifted up and slammed Togashi several times, and though the tactic never yielded the effect of damage or injury, the accumulation of being picked up and dropped, both on his back and head, did seem to slow Togashi as the fight wore on.
In the third, Cobb scooped a single-leg takedown and swept out Togashi's balancing leg to get on top yet again. Cobb asserted himself, landing a series of meaningful left hands before an unanswered flurry prompted referee Herb Dean (Pictures) to call the contest at 2:20 of the third round.
Joe Camacho (Pictures) out-worked and out-wrestled Akiyo Nishiura (Pictures) to out-point the wild slugger during the three-round tilt, save for a costly illegal strike in the second period.
Camacho was warned several times during the contest for illegal upkicks and knees; and in the second, after several infractions, including a knee to the groin that smacked against Wicky's cup but was missed by referee Nelson Hamilton, a strike on the floor to the downed Japanese slugger resulted in a point deduction.
Faulty math had Camacho believing he was a decision winner, but the California State Athletic Commission revealed afterwards that judge Luis Cobian's scorecard did not account for the penalty, resulting in two tallies of 28-28 and a 29-27 verdict in favor by Alejandro Rochin in favor of the East L.A. fighter.
Throughout the 15-minute contest Camacho played from the top quite a bit, taking side-control and mount as he pleased. Nishiura did a fine job of scrambling when he found himself in bad positional spots, but he failed to return to his feet often enough to use the wild, heavy hands he was noted for prior to his first stateside fight.
Brett Cooper (Pictures) and Vince Guzman (Pictures) engaged in a leg-lock battle as the opening period of their three-minute, three-round contest kicked off. Cooper quickly gained an edge when he secured Guzman's head and arm in a variation of the anaconda choke.
Cooper switched positions three times before locking in the submission from the top at 1:58 of the opening round.
An even opening round between Rick McKorkal (Pictures) and Kelvin Nimsiriruengphol quickly gave way to a high-paced tussle when Nimsiriruengphol dropped his foe with a right straight. The 139-and-a-half pound fighters moved to the floor, where Nimsiriruengphol attempted to overwhelm McKorkal for the finish.
McKorkal defended a guillotine to move into side-control before taking the back. Though he appeared to be too high, McKorkal remained in control while firing down punches as Nimsiriruengphol covered. Referee Nelson Hamilton saw enough and moved in to stop the contest at 2:17 of the second period.
Travis McRoberts had the physical advantage early in his 150-pound fight before Richie Collingham connected with a right hand that felled McRoberts to the canvas. Collingham unloaded a series of shots that mostly got tangled in the ropes or were blocked.
After a brief scramble, Collingham was on top, slamming his way out of and armbar attempt by dropping McRoberts twice on his head.
Collingham moved to McRoberts' back and locked in a rear-naked choke, prompting a tapout at 2:05 of the first.
Raja Shippen opened his contest against Leo Hirai with two head kicks, the first of which connected square to the jaw. However, Shippin's striking advantage wasn't enough to take him to victory over Hirai, who despite failing to secure a leg-lock in the first persevered in the second, scoring a fight-ending heel hook at 1:32 of the second.
Martin Bautista finished his lightweight bout at 2:56 of the opening round when referee Herb Dean (Pictures) moved in to protect Albert Hill (Pictures), who was taking shots to the head while mounted.
Light heavyweight Steve Grode (Pictures) controlled action on the floor to take a plodding three-round unanimous decision (30-27 three times) over Carlos Fuentes.