Another Angle From NEF 32: Super Saturday Live Review
Travis Lizotte
The next chapter of our MMA journey brings us back to the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston, Maine as New England Fights brings to us its 32nd installment; NEF 32: Super Saturday. Tonight's card is headlined by the return of Maine's "Pretty Boy" Bruce Boyington, as he takes on Team Link's Taylor Trehan. We get tonight's action kicked off in the Women's Strawweight Division as BJ Garceau takes on Sarah Ziehm. Garceau came out like a house on fire as soon as the opening bell rang, Garceau brought the hands tonight and put it on Ziehm on the feet in the first round. Sarah did a great job tying up Garceau to survive a long opening round. Ziehm got her striking going in the early stages of round two as she used strikes to take Garceau to the ground and take her back. Garceau fought off the submission before gaining top position and landing strikes to close out the round. The third round goes back and forth as these women put on a great show to kick off NEF 32! And after a nine minute back and forth war of attrition we go to the scorecards for a decision. The judges are split as this was a tough fight to score and Garceau edges Ziehm by split decision.
The second fight is going to have a tough act to follow after that impressive women's war, up next Isaac Therrien takes on Mohammad Al Kinani. This fight also starts hot and heavy as these guys trade blows, but its Al Kinani who lands the big blow that causes Isaac to tap due to strikes in just under two minutes of round one. Next on tap; David Hart takes on Stacy Lupo, both men are looking for their first wins here at NEF 32 as they square off in the Lightweight division. Lupo clips Hart halfway through the first round causing Hart to cover up as the referee stops the contest and Stacy Lupo has his hand raised for the first time in his career. Following the Lupo v. Hart fight NEF brings former Patriot's Max Lane and Ronnie Lippett to the cage to discuss tomorrow's Super Bowl match up between the Patriots and Eagles.
Carlton Charles and Delmarkis Edwards take center stage next and Charles Comes out quickly and TKO's Edwards in just 12 seconds after connecting on a whirlwind of strikes that sent Edwards to the mat and Charles to the winners circle once again with another quick knockout. Women take the cage in our next bout as Young's MMA's Catie Denning faces off with First Class MMA's Chelsea Elizabeth. In the first round these girls show that they came to fight as these girls are looking to knock each others heads off! Denning ends up getting the better of the exchanges as the fight wears on and finishes round three with a takedown to solidify what ends up being a Unanimous Decision vivtory for Catie Denning, in what turns out to be another highly entertaining fight coming out of the NEF Women's ranks.
Light-Heavyweights Ryan Glover and Joe Berube look to set the crowd on fire as they come out throwing with both men connecting at points throughout the opening minutes of the fight. These guys are showing no willingness to leave this one in the judges hands as round one ends with another flurry of punches by both fighters. Glover tags Berube early in the second backing him into the cage but Berube will not quit. Glover takes the fight to the ground and has Berube mounted but the second round draws to a close and Berube survives to see the third. Glover comes out quickly in the third round and finishes what he started as he finishes off Berube with ground and pound that earns the stoppage from referee Steve Rita. The official decision comes as a verbal submission due to strikes as the former Light-Heavyweight Champion Ryan Glover finds himself back in the win column.
Featherweight Devin Corson enters the cage emphatically with a back flip at the center of the cage as he gets ready to take on Shawn Lunghi. But it's Lunghi that comes out fast once the bell sounds, using strikes to set up a takedown and eventual mount. Lunghi transitions to Corson's back and gets both hooks in as he works the Rear Naked Choke for the eventual tap. Following the win for Lunghi NEF announces that Lunghi will fight Taylor Constantino at NEF 33 in Portland, Maine for the vacant Amateur Featherweight Title on April 14th.
Kam Arnold and Kyle Kenney start their fight off with a bang with an exchange that ends in Aronld suplexing Kenney to the mat where Arnold used some well timed powerful strikes to get the referee's stoppage at two minutes of round number one. Following the Arnold TKO NEF welcomes back their highly touted Prospect Jayda Bailey of Young's MMA in just her second fight inside the NEF cage. Bailey carries with her some of the biggest fan fare in the entire promotion as she squares off with Amanda Gallo. It took Jayda some time in the first round to get used to the length advantage possessed by Gallo but once she found her comfort zone Bailey showed us why she is such a force on the mats as she used grappling mixed with strikes to control Gallo's output for the rest of the round. Round two was eerily similar to the first round, however Gallo was able to find a little better luck striking at distance before Bailey found her range. Gallo settled in nicely in the third round and put her striking on display making this a fight that comes down to how the judges scored the second round, that round could have easily gone either way. In the end I have to agree with the judges scoring on this one as Gallo looked to eek out round two in my opinion thus gaining the decision victory; 29-28 on all three cards.
NEF announces yet another fight for NEF 33 in Portland as New England Veteran John Ortolani will be fighting Caleb Hall who will be making his Professional debut in a Professional Lightweight contest.
In another highly anticipated fight between former High School Wrestling teammates; Nate Boucher and Ryan Burgess were fighting for the number one contender spot for Justin Witham's Amateur Flyweight title, Boucher came out dominant in the first round using that wrestling background to control the early stages of the fight. Boucher's wrestling once again played a big part in the second round but he found himself on top of Burgess in a triangle, Boucher outlasted the leg strength of Burgess and was able to escape the submission attempt before the round ended. Burgess was the one who initiated pressure at the beginning of the third but Boucher was able to get his back off the cage and take Burgess down, however Burgess is very active on his back looking for submissions constantly but one never comes. Round three ends with both fighters fishing for leg locks as the final bell sounds. Again this is another fight that is going to be hard to call, Boucher looked to be the stronger grappler but Burgess was active off his back constantly looking for the submission. As the fight goes the distance we once again go to the judges scorecards where we have another split decision with two judges deeming that Burgess had indeed done enough work off his back to earn the split decision victory. Burgess will now fight Justin Witham for the Amateur Flyweight Title in June at NEF 34.
The Professional portion of tonight's card kicks off in the Featherweight division as Young's MMA's Aaron Lacey makes his long awaited return to the NEF cage against "Ruthless"Josh Parker. Parker comes out swinging in this one but Lacey wastes no time closing the distance and putting Parker up against the cage. Aaron mixes in some knees and elbows from the clinch as Parker has little answer for Lacey's dirty boxing. Aaron lives up to his nickname and is "Relentless" as he bullies Parker to the ground where he softens Parker up with strikes before sinking in the Rear Naked Choke for the tap.
Up next Zenon Herrera and Nate Charles battle it out at Lightweight as both fighters look to get earn their first professional victories. Zenon looks to have the upper hand throughout the first round controlling the fight from top position until Charles reverses and gets in a slam that wakes up the NEF crowd. Zenon looks for a d'arce or a modified guillotine as the first round ends. Charles opens up round number two looking to strike and is landing some heavy shots, Herrera wants none of the stand up as he looks to move the fight to the ground. Nate lands a spinning backfist before Zenon gets the fight to the mat where he goes to work on Charles. Zenon grabs what looks to be a textbook armbar but ends up too high for the finish. Charles escapes briefly before Herrera can go back to work looking for a submission as the second round comes to a close. This is just about as good of a fight as we could expect from these two guys given the varying style match up. The third round is again more of the same as Zenon is willing to take punishment in order to get this fight to the ground and work his submission game. Both fighters are obviously slowing down in the third round as Zenon continues to try and finish the fight from top control. It looks to me that Zenon has finally done enough to earn his first professional win, we will see if the judges agree with me. And the judges follow suit as Zenon earns the tough unanimous decision victory. Congratulations to Zenon for his persistence in first professional victory.
Our next fight is for the NEF Welterweight Title and pits current Middleweight Champion; CJ Ewer against Kamran Lachinov. Ewer is looking to become the first NEF fighter to hold two belts simultaneously but will have his hands full with the former Bellator fighter Lachinov. Both fighters come out looking to dictate the pace of the fight as round one opens up emphatically with fists and bodies fying all over the cage. Lachinov, the submissions specialist, rolls to his back and attacks Ewer's leg, looking for the submission and after some position readjusting the kneebar sinks in deep and generates the tap from Ewer. Kamran Lachinov is the new NEF Welterweight Champion after the first round submission victory.
New England Fights officially announces that Carl Langston will make his Professional debut at NEF 33 at Aura Nightclub in Portland in April.
In the nights Co-Main event we have a grudge match between Mike Hansen and Jesse Erickson in a fight that has seen much build up over the last couple months and its time to settle the score. This match starts out as any grudge match should with both fighters looking to sever the others head. Jesse eventually closes distance and takes Hansen down to the mat where the Jiu Jitsu player goes to work looking for a submission. Hansen goes to scramble to his feet but Jesse uses strikes to put Hansen back down to the mat. Erickson hops on top of the grounded Hansen and sinks in a Guillotine for the quick tapout. Jesse had already guaranteed himself Mike's entire fight purse for Hansen missing weight but Jesse got what he set out for with the submission win over the Veteran Middleweight;Mike Hansen.
New England Fights officially announces that Matt Denning will fight Bill Jones at the upcoming NEF 33 in Portland, Maine, a fight that has actually been some time in the making.
Here we go fight fans, our main event of the evening is about to get underway as Lewiston, Maine welcomes back NEF Lightweight superstar Bruce Boyington when he takes on Taylor Trehan. Boyington opens the contest in true Boyington style with a spinning kick. Trahan tries a kick of his own but slips on the canvas and Bruce pounces on top. Bruce needs to be careful as Trahan lures Bruce to the canvas, Trahan can be dangerous from the ground. Trahan is doing a good job of not allowing Bruce to create space on the ground as Bruce works from the top. Bruce lands a big downward strike as round one comes to an end. Trahan appears to be cut as both fighters break covered in blood. Bruce wants nothing to do with the ground game to open up the second round getting in some stylish striking before eventually following Taylor to the ground. Once there Bruce works some heavy elbows as well as some strikes to the body. The remainder of the second round takes place on the ground with Boyington landing shots but never really threatening to finish the fight. Bruce opens up round three with two very technical spinning kicks that hurt Trahan and Bruce follows Trahan to the ground where he secures Trahan's back and sinks in the finishing Rear Naked Choke. Bruce Boyington is once again victorious in the NEF cage as the Pretty Boy returns to Maine with a dominant Submission victory.