Joe" The Artist" Leonard and CityBoy arrived at Mohegan Sun with an hour in advance so we had a lot of time to check out the venue. What a great Arena for some fights! We got several big screens showing the entire fight. They even had replays go up on the screen after each fight. It was definitely the most professional MMA show I have been to as of yet. Artist and I went back to the fighters rooms and first met with Fighting Arts Academy’s Emil “Jeff” Haddad who was getting taped up. We asked him what he has been working on in his training. He said he was focusing on all aspects of MMA. As we were heading back out to the arena we stopped Brett Oteri and his friend for a quick photo.
The cage looked great and looking around there was not a seat in the house that you couldn’t get a great view of the action. The refs were Dan Miragliotta and Yves Lavigne who we all know ref UFC and Strikeforce. They were nice enough to take a photo with me. I talked to Dan and told him how they always do a great job reffing and he was happy to hear that. He said some people weren’t too happy about the Fedor stoppage. We then talked about the way the judging has been going in the UFC. The ring girls looked amazing. I then ran off to find a seat. Thanks to Kipp Kollar for having us and letting us cover this fantastic show.
They open up with the national anthem with the words on the screen. Too bad they didn’t have this at the Superbowl for Christina Aguilera!
Fight 1: Johnny Lopez Nitsuj MMA CT Vs Emil “Jeff” Haddad FAA Springfield,MA 145 lbs.
Lopez walks out to Fabulous-My Time and Haddad comes out to Misery Signals-The FailSafe
Rd 1: They come out rushing and exchange a few blows. I notice Haddad gets in a great right hand that connects. Haddad rocks him with another right hand and Lopez goes for the clinch to avoid getting hit some more. They fall to the ground and after a brief scramble they are right back up into the clinch. Haddad gets in some more right hands and a knee to the body. They separate and Lopez gets in a good 1-2 combo that meets Haddad’s face but he was fine. Haddad then continues to throw blistering right hands that connect almost at will and Lopez then counters with a right hand of his own. Lopez goes for a spinning backfist that missed mostly but looked good. Haddad then stuns him with another fierce right hand and Haddad goes to the ground to attack some more but the time runs out.
Haddad 10-9
Rd 2: They come out and feel each other out for a brief moment then Lopez throws a nice combo but Haddad counters with a nice knee to the body. Lopez then hits Haddad with a left hook and they clinch. Haddad gets some brutal elbows from the clinch which starts to open up Lopez’s forehead and over his right eye. Haddad stalks his prey and gets in some more right hands that drop Lopez again but he quickly gets up. They go at it again and Haddad shocks him again with another right hand and a high kick to the head combo and Lopez falls to the ground as the round ends.
Haddad 10-9
At this point the ref then asks the doctor to look at Lopez’s face and there are too many cuts near the eye and they have to stop it. It was an unfortunate stoppage but they gotta protect the fighters. I know Lopez will bounce back and who knows maybe a rematch! I heard Kip telling someone that the first towel they brought out was already soaked in blood. What a way to start out the night!!!
Emil “Jeff” Haddad defeats Johnny Lopez via doctor stoppage.
Below are some pics of the fight.
Kip interviews Haddad and then called out a few special guests. Gabriel Gonzaga and Matt Serra are in the house! Gonzaga talks about his training and Serra talks about his two new schools he opened up in Long Island. Find out more at SerraBJJ.com
Fight 2: Leroy Derricott Nitsuj MMA CT Vs Jimmy Collins Team Agression Boston 155lbs.
Derricott comes out to Rohffm-La Puissana and Jimmy Collins comes out to silence.
They run out and quickly clinch. Derricott gets in some great knees to the body from the clinch. They separate and Derricott gets in a blistering left kick to the right inner thigh of Collins. They exchange some punches and kicks for a bit and Collins gets in an awesome left hook that rocks Derricott. Collins sees an opening and goes for the takedown via a trip. At this point Derricott has a guilliotine choke on Collins but it doesn’t look too deep and Collins quickly pops out. They have a good scramble until Collins catches Derricott with a fierce right hook to the chin that drops him. Collins go to the side of Derricott and drops some massive hammerfists to the side of Derricotts head and then takes his back and sinks in the rear naked choke. Derricott is forced to tap, it was too deep.
Jimmy Collins defeats Leroy Derricott via Rear Naked Choke with 32 seconds left in Round 1.
Lauzon MMA is victorious once again and Kip interviews Lauzon for a minute or two.
Fight 3: Eric “Lucky Strike” Bedard Vs Brian Kononchik Team Voodoo Heavy Weight
Bedard comes out to Five Finger Death Punch-War is the Answer and Kononchik comes out to Everlast-Letters Home From The Garden of Stone. Now let me point out that Bedard has a smaller “Roy Nelson”-like physique and Kononchik is jacked but not sure if this will matter in the bout or not. This is Bedard’s first professional fight.
They both come out swinging for the fences looking for the knockout. Bedard seemed to get the better of the exchanges. They clinch and Bedard gets a nice suplex takedown. Bedard is at Kononchik’s side and gives him some nice knees to the body against the cage. Bedard then fires some ravenous right hammerfists to the forehead of Kononchik, almost at will. Kononchik fights and they scramble and get up. Bedard is looking to get in a “lucky strike” and finish this fight. They clinch and Bedard gets a takedown via a trip and goes right to full mount. He explodes some vicious ground and pound and Kononchik is too overwhelmed by them and the ref is forced to stop the fight.
Eric Bedard defeats Brian Kononchik via ref stoppage due to strikes with 2:50 left in first round.
I guess it didn’t matter about the physique and it was very impressive fight by Bedard. I am now a fan! Here are some pics of the fight below.
Fight 4: Eric Fama BlackHole Jiu Jitsu/Team Rockstar 1-1 NY Vs Joe Proctor Team Aggression Boston 4-1 155lbs
Fama comes out to Lupe Fiasco-The Show Goes On and Proctor comes out to Linkin Park-Bleed it Out
Rd 1: The crowd chants “Fama” and appears to be the crowd favorite. They run out and quickly clinch and Proctor gets a takedown via trip. They scramble and get up. They clinch again up against the cage and exchange some punches. Proctor then jumps and pulls to guard and gets another takedown. Fama is in Proctor’s guard but again they quickly get up. They clinch again and Fama throws some nice liver shots. Fama gladly gives Proctor a nice knee to the body. They fall to the ground and are in the halfguard position. Proctor gets a nice guilliotine choke that appears to be deep but Fama maneuvers and wiggles out. They stand up and Proctor picks up Fama and gets a sick slamming takedown as the round ends.
Proctor 10-9
Rd 2: They both come out swinging. Proctor accidentally hits Fama with a groin shot. The crowd boos of course because the action stopped. Fama takes a few minutes then they go right back at it. Fama gets a blistering right kick to outer thigh of Proctor. Fama throws a high kick but it misses. Proctor counters with a nice combination of punches. Fama wanted nothing to do with it and goes for the takedown but leaves his neck open and gets caught in a standing guilliotine. Proctor cranks the neck harder and Fama is forced to tap.
Joe Proctor defeats Eric Fama via standing guilliotine with 1:39 left in Rd 2. Proctor improves to 5-1.
Fight 5: Alexandre “Vaca” Moreno Team Link Ludlow Vs Jeff “Scary Nickname” Nader 185 lbs.
Moreno came out to AC/DC Back In Black and Nader came out to Sublime-Santeria.
They come out and feel each other out for a bit and get their timing down. They exchange some punches and then clinch and fall to the ground. Moreno passes guard and gets on top. Nader does a quick sweep reversal but gets caught in a straight armbar and is forced to tap.
Alexandre Moreno defeats Jeff Nader via straight armbar with 3:30 left in rd 1.
We now have a new middle weight champion. Moreno improves to 11-2.
Fight 6: Brett Oteri Connors MMA Boston,MA Vs. Tim Pinney 170 lbs.
Oteri comes out to Puff Daddy Victory and Pinney comes out to Saliva-Ladies and Gentlemen. Oteri comes out with some nice Prime Athletics Shorts and this was going to be a title fight but both fighters failed to make weight so this turns out to be a non title fight.
Rd 1: They come out and take their time feeling each other out for a bit then they end up clinching and Oteri picks up Pinney and gets a powerful takedown slam. Oteri is on the side of Pinney now and gives him some good elbows to the body. Pinney looks for a kimura attempt but Oteri is too strong. Pinney then transitions nicely and goes for a heel hook submission but Oteri quickly slips out of that. Oteri is controlling very nicely on top for a bit getting in a few punches here and there. He is now in Pinney’s guard and Pinney went for a triangle attempt but Oteri is again too strong and slips out. Oteri then passes guard to full mount and finishes off the round with some great ground and pound.
Oteri 10-9
Rd 2: They run out and clinch right away. Oteri then uses his bruteforce strength and picks up Pinney and gets a second takedown slam of the fight. Pinney is trying to get a triangle attempt but can’t get the leg locked. Oteri is now in Pinney’s high guard. Pinney goes for an armbar attempt but Oteri picks him up and slams him down and pulls out. Oteri gets some good ground and pound from the full guard position. Pinney realizes he is in a bad position getting hit by Oteri’s punches and pulls out and they scramble and stand up. At this point I notice Pinney is bleeding a little from his nose. They go right to the clinch again and Oteri gets another takedown via a trip and the round ends.
Oteri 10-9
Rd 3: They come out and exchange a few punches. Pinney tries a spinning backfist which connects slightly. They clinch up and Oteri eventually gets a Takedown via a trip. Oteri gets some nice kicks in to the body from the ground. They scramble and get up once again. Pinney goes right to the clinch and Oteri picks him up again for an astounding 3rd body slam of the fight. Pinney goes for another heel hook attempt, which is his specialty it seems and it looks cranked for a bit. Oteri fenagles around and gets to a better position. He then stands up on one leg and waves his finger to the crowd meaning “No F’n Way am I tapping to this!” The crowd cheers loudly at the display. The round ends a few seconds later.
Oteri 10-9
Brett Oteri defeats Tim Pinney via unanimous decision.
Fight 7: Mike Dexter Vs Parker Porter HeavyWeight Title Fight
Dexter comes out to Social Distortion-Bad Luck and Porter comes out to Maino Ft. T-Pain-All of the Above.
This is a title fight for the belt that Christian MoreCraft used to have but he left to pursue UFC.
Rd 1: They both come out swinging looking for the knockout. They go at it for a bit and then they fall to the ground. Porter is getting some nice hammerfists to the head of Dexter. Now Porter gets up and the ref looks at Dexter. I overheard someone saying Dexter didn’t know that his leg was twitching. I also overheard someone say that he might have hit his head on the side of the cage. His neck was getting cranked pretty good on the replay towards the end and he was getting hit with a lot of brutal punches so maybe he verbally tapped I don’t know.
Parker Porter defeats Mike Dexter via ref stoppage with 3:24 left in Rd 1.
They interview Porter at the end and they talk about a possible matchup of Gabriel Gonazaga Vs Parker Porter at the May 21,2011 event of Reality Fighting!
Fight of the Night: Brett Oteri Vs Tim Pinney
Submission of the Night: Moreno’s armbar over Nader
Knockout of the Night: No knockouts!
Above is Jesse Camp of Warrior Nation and then a pic of the packed crowd!