Villasenor Dominates Foster, Wins KOTC Middleweight Championship
Josh Gross Sep 27, 2004
See official results here.
SAN JACINTO, Calif., Sept. 24 -- Well-traveled middleweight Joey Villasenor dominated Brian Foster for just over four minutes in front of a diehard fight crowd Friday night to earn a submission victory and the vacant King of the Cage middleweight championship.
Villasenor, an Albuquerque, New Mexico native, connected with a
stiff left hook to open the contest. The punch put Foster, who
never seems comfortable unless he's in the middle of brawl, on the
defensive. The new middleweight champion prevented any sort of
momentum from Foster by controlling the clinch. Whether it was
knees from the Thai clinch or trip takedowns, Villasenor pressed
that action throughout.
By the three-minute mark Foster showed visible signs of Villasenor's attacks. He was unable to fend off the takedowns or the strikes that followed, and there was soon blood coming from his mouth. The end came when Villasenor, who joined KOTC welterweight champion Diego Sanchez as the second fighter from Jackson's gym in Albuquerque, took Foster's back and sunk in a rear-naked choke. The beaten man tapped 4:25 of round one.
Goodwin seemed up to the task until Bollinger countered the arm attack by dropping a knee directly on to his opponent's unprotected face. The armbar was immediately released and Bollinger moved towards open space. From side control, the larger Bollinger peppered Goodwin with incising elbows until the new champion torqued Goodwin's shoulder and elbow in the championship-winning keylock.
Uriajh Faber physically willed himself to victory over two five-minute periods to win a majority decision against a game Rami Boukai. The fighter's styles could not have been any different. Faber, in the mold of Sean Sherk, an imposing wrestler who can win with speed and power, against Boukai, a jiu-jitsu stylist whose willingness to fight from his back might usually provide an antidote against a challenger like Faber.
Wild punches from Faber greeted the opening of the bout. Though few connected, his unorthodox and powerful style put Boukai on the defensive. Much of round one was fought on the mat, with Faber picking his shots while making sure to avoid Boukai's bottom game.
Faber showed his inexperience later in the fight. Powering Boukai in the air, he was beautifully countered when the jiu-jitsu man positioned his legs for a triangle choke. To his credit, Faber did not get reckless. He propped his opponent back-first midway up the cage before escaping as the two men hit the mat.
For the majority of round two, Boukai controlled the fight, working for a rear-naked choke from the back mount. But Faber defended well by controlling Boukai's wrists. After several minutes, referee Herb Dean had seen enough and, despite the protests from Boukai's corner, separated the fighters.
Action restarted and Boukai shot across the ring, head-hunting in a moment of pure aggression. Out of instinct, Faber ducked under Boukai and threw him to the mat. He followed Boukai to the ground and increased his striking output, landing power shots at a rapid pace. Though one judge scored it in Boukai's favor, Faber was the aggressor and, particularly after Dean's break, deserved victory.
Brian Sesma survived an early onslaught from Ron Short to score a technical knockout 2:12 of round one. Short scored early, grounding-and-pounding Sesma who did not seem long for the fight. However, upon regaining his feet, Sesma scored with a punch that put Short to the mat. He followed and aggressively closed on Short for the finish.
Robert Emerson out-struck and out-worked Joe Camacho to earn a unanimous decision, his first victory since leaving Marco Ruas for Colin Oyama. Notorious for slow-paced, counter-only fighting, Emerson, with Oyama and Quinton Jackson in his corner, fought well, scoring with punches and knees against a wide-open challenger.
Camacho tried his best to answer Emerson's crisp strikes, but he could never find the range or timing to do so. As the first round closed, Emerson landed a thudding low kick that forced Camacho to limp around the ring. Oyama implored him to attack the leg, but Emerson wouldn't push for a finish.
Again in the second round, Emerson had Camacho hurt and tired, yet there was little in the way of fight-finishing attacks from the kickboxer-turned-mixed-martial-artist. In the end, however, Emerson did well, moving forward more than he'd done in recent bouts, while picking and choosing his shots. It should be interesting to see where he is six months from now.
In other action, Harris Sarmiento outclassed John Olivas en route to a technical knockout win 1:45 of round one. James Wilks cut Ray Lazama with a clean knee, forcing the doctor at ringside to halt action 1:14 into the fight. Dave Hesquerdo landed a rear-naked choke on Matt Baraza, ending their contest at the 3:41 mark. Joe Frainee used a rear-naked choke to submit Jake Gomez 2:28 of round one. Matt Stansell tapped John Delao with strikes 2:40 into the fight. Manny Tapia scored a unanimous decision over Ed Newalu. Reggie Cardiel manhandled Paul Karsky, scoring a vicious TKO victory just 45 seconds after the opening bell.
See official results here.
SAN JACINTO, Calif., Sept. 24 -- Well-traveled middleweight Joey Villasenor dominated Brian Foster for just over four minutes in front of a diehard fight crowd Friday night to earn a submission victory and the vacant King of the Cage middleweight championship.
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By the three-minute mark Foster showed visible signs of Villasenor's attacks. He was unable to fend off the takedowns or the strikes that followed, and there was soon blood coming from his mouth. The end came when Villasenor, who joined KOTC welterweight champion Diego Sanchez as the second fighter from Jackson's gym in Albuquerque, took Foster's back and sunk in a rear-naked choke. The beaten man tapped 4:25 of round one.
Joining Villasenor on the list of new KOTC champions was
bantamweight Frankie
Bollinger, who charged through an overmatched Richard Goodwin
to score a submission victory 1:45 of the opening period. Both
fighters fought with energy in the first 30 seconds. A flurry of
activity saw Goodwin go from controlling Bollinger's back, to the
guard, to snagging an arm for a nearly-completed armbar.
Goodwin seemed up to the task until Bollinger countered the arm attack by dropping a knee directly on to his opponent's unprotected face. The armbar was immediately released and Bollinger moved towards open space. From side control, the larger Bollinger peppered Goodwin with incising elbows until the new champion torqued Goodwin's shoulder and elbow in the championship-winning keylock.
Uriajh Faber physically willed himself to victory over two five-minute periods to win a majority decision against a game Rami Boukai. The fighter's styles could not have been any different. Faber, in the mold of Sean Sherk, an imposing wrestler who can win with speed and power, against Boukai, a jiu-jitsu stylist whose willingness to fight from his back might usually provide an antidote against a challenger like Faber.
Wild punches from Faber greeted the opening of the bout. Though few connected, his unorthodox and powerful style put Boukai on the defensive. Much of round one was fought on the mat, with Faber picking his shots while making sure to avoid Boukai's bottom game.
Faber showed his inexperience later in the fight. Powering Boukai in the air, he was beautifully countered when the jiu-jitsu man positioned his legs for a triangle choke. To his credit, Faber did not get reckless. He propped his opponent back-first midway up the cage before escaping as the two men hit the mat.
For the majority of round two, Boukai controlled the fight, working for a rear-naked choke from the back mount. But Faber defended well by controlling Boukai's wrists. After several minutes, referee Herb Dean had seen enough and, despite the protests from Boukai's corner, separated the fighters.
Action restarted and Boukai shot across the ring, head-hunting in a moment of pure aggression. Out of instinct, Faber ducked under Boukai and threw him to the mat. He followed Boukai to the ground and increased his striking output, landing power shots at a rapid pace. Though one judge scored it in Boukai's favor, Faber was the aggressor and, particularly after Dean's break, deserved victory.
Brian Sesma survived an early onslaught from Ron Short to score a technical knockout 2:12 of round one. Short scored early, grounding-and-pounding Sesma who did not seem long for the fight. However, upon regaining his feet, Sesma scored with a punch that put Short to the mat. He followed and aggressively closed on Short for the finish.
Robert Emerson out-struck and out-worked Joe Camacho to earn a unanimous decision, his first victory since leaving Marco Ruas for Colin Oyama. Notorious for slow-paced, counter-only fighting, Emerson, with Oyama and Quinton Jackson in his corner, fought well, scoring with punches and knees against a wide-open challenger.
Camacho tried his best to answer Emerson's crisp strikes, but he could never find the range or timing to do so. As the first round closed, Emerson landed a thudding low kick that forced Camacho to limp around the ring. Oyama implored him to attack the leg, but Emerson wouldn't push for a finish.
Again in the second round, Emerson had Camacho hurt and tired, yet there was little in the way of fight-finishing attacks from the kickboxer-turned-mixed-martial-artist. In the end, however, Emerson did well, moving forward more than he'd done in recent bouts, while picking and choosing his shots. It should be interesting to see where he is six months from now.
In other action, Harris Sarmiento outclassed John Olivas en route to a technical knockout win 1:45 of round one. James Wilks cut Ray Lazama with a clean knee, forcing the doctor at ringside to halt action 1:14 into the fight. Dave Hesquerdo landed a rear-naked choke on Matt Baraza, ending their contest at the 3:41 mark. Joe Frainee used a rear-naked choke to submit Jake Gomez 2:28 of round one. Matt Stansell tapped John Delao with strikes 2:40 into the fight. Manny Tapia scored a unanimous decision over Ed Newalu. Reggie Cardiel manhandled Paul Karsky, scoring a vicious TKO victory just 45 seconds after the opening bell.
See official results here.
