SAN DIEGO, Sept. 9 — With the PRIDE Open-Weight Grand Prix finals, International Fight League, and “Malice at the Palace” taking place Saturday night it might have been easy to forget about Total Combat 15 at the ipayOne Center.
The main event featured a Muay Thai clinic given by Erik "Bad" Apple (Pictures) to "Magical" Ray Elbe (Pictures), whose only response to the three-round punishment was to drop repeatedly to his back.
Apple used leg kicks and combinations to overwhelm Elbe, who other than an armbar attempt in the first round was unable to amount any offense throughout the 15-minute fight.
Elbe was unable to stand-up after taking several leg kicks, giving Apple the win and a 9-0 record at the two-minute mark of the first round.
Apple's only choice now is to step up in competition in a larger show, and with the UFC in attendance it may provide an idea where his next fight might be.
The co-main event featured Dominic Cruz versus Juan Miranda (Pictures) for the Total Combat 155-pound championship. This fight was originally scheduled as Cub Swanson (Pictures) against Charlie Kohler (Pictures), however due to late scratches both Cruz and Miranda stepped up.
Miranda attempted several leg-locks and heelhooks to catch Cruz in a submission, which in the end backfired as Cruz was able to use ground-and-pound tactics to secure his opponent’s back and sink a rear-naked choke at four minutes of the first round.
With the win Cruz is the new Total Combat 155-pound champion.
Zach Taylor (Pictures) was able to pull off a heelhook victory against Kyle Brees (Pictures) at the 1:02 mark of the first round to improve his record to 6-0, all coming by way of submission.
For some reason, the heelhook victory drew boos from the crowd, who all in all were good fans but somehow still don't understand every part of the MMA game.
Wade Shipp (Pictures) steamrolled his way through veteran Ron Rumph, who was taken down, mounted, and bloodied in all of 31 seconds. Shipp is now on a two-fight win streak and seems to be back on pace to making a name for himself in the MMA game.
Other Results
Josh Griggs (Pictures) def. Allen Sullivan submission (side-choke) 2:34 R3
Jon Koppenhaver (Pictures) def. RJ Gamez (Pictures) TKO (strikes) 2:09 R1
Mike Granche def. Neil Abrams unanimous decision 3R
Joe Duarte def. Chris Kennedy split decision 3R