This is the fourth installment of the Premier FC run by Karyn Wesch and matchmaker Jason Franklin. It took place in a great location, the Hippodrome in Springfield. For those of you who don’t know me, I am CityBoy Sinclair. The first Premier FC was at the Hippodrome so I knew what to expect. I received a perfect seat right in front of the cage. At one point I felt some sweat fly off and hit me. It was fantastic! Thank you very much Karyn for hooking us up. There were some mishaps that was out of Karyn’s hands. There was a Springfield winter parking ban on all the streets so there was limited parking for the event. With that being said there was still over 500 tickets sold. I know Team Ravenous sold 100 themselves so that is great considering it was on a UFC night and the weather was how-do-we-say-it “new england-like!” The first Premier FC show was in July with the AC not working. Everyone even the crowd was sweating and the ring was sticky. This show was complete opposite. It felt like 40 degrees in there. In the bathrooms you could see your breath. Karyn informed me that the heat was broken a few days ago and they fixed it and the Hippodrome is so huge, it was taking forever to heat up. It did not stop the fighters from putting on a great show and the fans cheering them on. Hippodrome if you want to continue having MMA shows there do something about the climate control!! Pic below is the nice shot we got of the crowd up in the balcony.
Onto the fights…they started at around 8:15 PM. Desiree Ramirez came out and sang the national anthem. Very beautifully done and the crowd showed their appreciation by giving her a huge round of applause.
Fight 1: Tim Corcoran (0-1) Vs Jeff Henriques(AFT/Gladiator BJJ 1-1) 205 lbs.
Tim came out to Drowning Pool’s Let the Bodies Hit the Floor and Jeff came out to Mobb Deep Quiet Storm. They both run to the center of the ring and touch gloves. They come out swinging, very few punches connected to either face. Corcoran gets caught with groin kick. Jeff apologizes and the ref gives Tim a few minutes to recover. Action begins and Jeff catches Tim with a blistering right hand which rocks him. Corcoran falls to the ground and covers up. Jeff then goes to his side and pounds him with a smorgasbord of punches to the face and a bunch of them get through. Corcoran then fights to get to a better position and it fails and Jeff ends up taking Tim’s back and laying down a melee of punches from ear to ear. The ref is forced to stop the fight. What a great way to start off the night!!
Jeff Henriques defeats Tim Corcoran via ref stoppage due to strikes in 29 seconds of Round 1.
Here is a pic of both fighters at the end. This picture shows Jeff and his coaches.
Fight 2: Todd Matulis(Lion’s Den 0-1) vs Nick Berube(Terry Dow Academy 0-1) 170 lbs.
Todd came out to The Who’s Eminence Front and Nick came out to DMX Get It On The Floor. Both fighters come out and touch gloves. Todd gets in a good kick but Nick goes for the takedown and gets it. Nick is now in Todd’s guard. Nick gets a few punches in to the face and even a few hammerfists which the crowd loves. Todd then sees his opening and continues to move around on the ground and goes for a triangle and it looks deep. Nick then tries to defend as best as he can and rolls over but the triangle then goes deeper just as the round was about to end. At this point I thought the round ended but the fighters backs were to me so I could not see the tap. Apparently Nick was forced to tap with one second left in the round. Man!!
Todd Matulis defeats Nick Berube via triangle with 2:59 in Round 1. Here are a few pics of the fight below.
Fight 3: Rick Langley( Gracie BJJ 0-0) Vs Rick Rivera( AFT/Gladiator BJJ 0-2) 175 lbs.
Langley comes out to Korn-Blind and Rivera comes out to Kanye West Monster. Both fighters come out and respectfully touch gloves. Rivera gets a few kicks in. They both have a good sprawl but in the end they both fall at the same time. They both end up getting back up. Langley gets a good kick in but Rivera gets a takedown. Rivera gets some good right hands to the face of Langley. Langley sweeps and they scramble and both stand up. They clinch and Langley pushes Rivera up against the fence briefly then they split again. Rivera peppers Langley with a few quick jabs and then gets out. He then does one two punch then kick and back out. Very nice movement by Rivera. Rivera throws a right kick to the body and the round ends.
I call it 10-9 Rivera
Rd 2
They come out and have a good sprawling session. Eventually they both go to the ground but Rivera who seems to be getting a better exchange of the standup backs up and lets Langley stand. Rivera goes for a few punches then an uppercut. None of them connected cleanly. They then clinch and both trip to the ground. River then gets caught in a guilliotine. It doesn’t look too deep. Rivera hangs on and gets some punches to the body and a few to the head as the round ends.
Rivera 10-9 Rivera had the better exchanges and he controlled more so I gave him the round.
Rd 3
They run to the center of the ring and have a few sprawling session. Langley tries a superman punch which doesn’t connect too clean and they both fall to the ground again. Langley has Rivera in his guard and Rivera uses his strength to cross to full mount. Langley quickly sweeps and Langley ends up on top. Langley gets a few punches to the head of Rivera. Rivera then sweeps and Langley ends up taking his back and attempts a rear naked but they are both too exhausted to do much at this point. The round then ends.
Langley 10-9
Rick Rivera defeats Rick Langley via unanimous decision. This fight is a contender for fight of the night!!!
Rivera to the left. Langley to the right. Rivera wins decision!
Fight 4: Nicholas Pallini( 1-0) Vs Jeremy “The Boss” Reipold(Team Ravenous 1-0) 135 lbs.
Pallini comes out to Guns ‘N Roses Welcome To The Jungle and Reipold comes out to Beastie Boys Time to Get Ill. They both come out and touch gloves. A few punches are exchanged and Reipold goes for the takedown but gets caught in a guilliotine. It looked to be pretty deep but I spoke with Reipold after the fight and he said he was on well but Reipold was breathing fine through it all. Reipold then wiggles and pops his head out. Reipold shows some good side control and gets a few punches to the head of Pallini and one to the body. Reipold then rolls for an arm bar attempt but Pallini shifts his body weight and ends up on top of Reipold. Pallini gets in some good punches to the head and body here. Reipold attempts for a triangle attempt but is not able to lock it on and ends up sweeping out. Reipold is now standing and Pallini is on the ground. Reipold gets a few punches to the face of Pallini again and the round ends.
This round is tough to decide. Both submissions I think cancel each others out. They both got some good shots to each other but Reipold got the takedown. I give this round Reipold 10-9.
Rd 2
They come out and touch gloves. Pallini gets a few jabs to the head of Reipold. Pallini goes for a kick and Reipold goes in close and grabs the legs and fights for the takedown. He picks up Pallini and slams him to the ground. The crowd roars at the sound of the slam. Reipold ends up in full mount position and tries to get some ground and pound but Pallini fights it hard and pushes his head down to prevent some punches. Reipold gets a few punches in and Pallini bucks then sweeps to get out. They both stand up and Pallini pushes Reipold up against the cage. They both exchange a few knees to the body and Reipold then reverses and is pushing Pallini up against the cage. Pallini then reverses that and gets some good knees to the body of Reipold. Reipold then ends up taking Pallini’s back and hangs on and they both fall to the ground. Reipold is now at the side of Pallini and goes for a kimura attempt but is unable to get the arm free due to Pallini’s strength. Reipold then jumps on top to full mount. Reipold gets a few punches to the face as the round ends.
10-9 Reipold due to takedown and full mount position, not to mention kimura attempt
Rd 3
They come out and respectfully touch gloves again. They both exchange a few kicks that miss and they go to the clinch. Reipold then takes Pallini’s back standing and outmuscles him and trips for the takedown. Reipold is now at Pallini’s side. They both fight for a better position. Reipold stands up and is in standing guard of Pallini and Pallini does an upkick to the head which is illegal is amateur MMA. Remember folks no elbows or kicks to the head. The ref then deducts a point from Pallini for this round. The fight continues and they both exchange a few kicks and punches and go to the clinch again. Reipold pushes Pallini up against the cage and trips the leg to get the takedown. Reipold now has side mount and he gets a few punches into the face of Pallini as the round ends.
Reipold 10-8 due to point deduction.
Jeremy Reipold defeats Nicolas Pallini via unanimous decision 29-27.
Now I hear some people saying that this was a controversial decision. Even if Pallini didn’t get the point deduction he still would have lost two rounds 10-9 and would end up losing 29-28 so not sure where that is coming from!
Reipold caught in guilliotine. Reipold posing with ring girls.
Fight 5: Shayne Stephenson(0-1) Vs. Dan Wilcox(Blue Devil 0-0) 135lbs.
Stephenson comes out to Soulja Boy Turn My Swag On and Wilcox comes out to Kanye Wester Power. They come out and touch gloves. Stephenson throws a kick but Wilcox checks it with his arm. Stephenson then throws a nice right kick to the outer thigh of Wilcox. He then does another nice kick to the outer thigh of Wilcox. Wilcox goes for a takedown but Stephenson gets a nice guilliotine on and they fall to the ground. It appears to be deep but Wilcox fights it and gets out of it. Wilcox sweeps and is now on top but Stephenson goes for a triangle attempt. He locks the legs and starts to pull the head down as the round ends.
Stephenson 10-9
Rd 2.
They run out and touch gloves and they are off. Stephenson does a good right leg kick which drops Wilcox to the ground. Stephenson then jump on him and gets full mount. Wilcox then sweeps and ends up on top again but Stephenson is quick and puts on the triangle submission. Wilcox tries to fight it but it just ends up going deeper and he is forced to tap.
Shayne Stephenson defeats Dan Wilcox via triangle submission with 1:49 in Rd 2.
Stephenson and Wilcox standup. Stephenson’s Triangle Submission
Fight 6: Matt Leddick(NY Boxing 2-3) vs Rafael Cruz(AFT/Gladiator BJJ 2-2) 170 lbs.
Leddick comes out to Ja Rule New York and Cruz comes out to Lil Wayne Drop the World. They come out and touch gloves. Cruz pushes Leddict against the cage and gets some good punches to the body. They both fall and Cruz is in Leddick’s guard. Cruz fights and fights and passes to full mount. Cruz gets some good punches to the head and body from this position. Leddick then sweeps to get out of the bad position and Cruz counters sweeps right back to full mount. He gets a few more punches in and the round ends.
Cruz 10-9
Rd 2
They come out and touch gloves and they quickly clinch. They both are pushing each other and this goes on for a bit until Cruz then gets a takedown body slam. The crowd erupts and cheers Cruz on. At this point Cruz is in side mount and gets some good right hand shots to Leddick’s face. Leddick continues to fight for better position and the round ends.
Cruz 10-9
Rd 3
They come out and clinch again. They both are pushing as hard as they can like two Rams pushing each other. Cruz ends up pushing Leddick up against the cage. Cruz gets some good kicks to the body of Leddick and ends up getting the take down but is on the bottom. Cruz then sweeps and gets to full mount position. Leddick overpowers Cruz and reverses and gets full mount briefly to only get swept again. Cruz now has side mount and get s a few punches in until the bell sounds.
Cruz 10-9
Rafael Cruz defeats Matt Leddick via unanimous decision 30-27. Definitely a contender for fight of the night as well!!
Cruz showing off his dance moves. Cruz on top. Leddick defending well.
Now it is time for intermission. They raffle off the 50/50 raffle. I hear Kym Sturdivant won but I am not sure if that was true or not.
Fight 7: Mike Smith(Guardian 0-0) vs Franco Guiffre(AFT/Gladiator BJJ 2-1) 205lbs.
Smith comes out to Saliva Kick Kick Boom and Franco comes out to All That Remains The Air That I Breath.
The fight starts and Franco gets a good leg kick. They clinch and Smith trips and gets the takedown. Smith is in side mount position and gets the crucifix position briefly and gets a plethora of punches to Franco’s face. Franco wants nothing to do with this and sweeps and they both are up standing. They clinch and Franco pushes Smith up to the fence but gets caught in a standing guilliotine. I can see Franco is bleeding out of his nose and is having trouble breathing and is forced to tap.
Mike Smith defeats Franco Guiffre via standing guilliotine with 1:21 left in Rd 1.
Franco caught in guilliotine. Winner Mike Smith.
Fight 8: Ed Thornton(Champions 0-0) vs Lucas “Barely Legal” Cruz (Waikru 1-0)
Thornton comes out to Fat Joe No Drama and Cruz comes out to Drake Up All Night. They fight starts and they both are feeling each other out. Cruz gets a nice inside leg kick. Thornton continues to press the action. Thornton goes for a nice head kick but misses. They clinch and Cruz gets some good shots to the head and a few knees to the body. Thornton throws some nice leg kicks to the body. I could hear the smack from where I was sitting. Thornton misses with an uppercut. Cruz then gets a leg kick to the thigh. Thornton goes for another leg kick but Cruz quickly lunges and gets the takedown before the round ends.
Cruz-10-9.
Rd 2
Round starts and they both are exchanging leg kicks but most of them are missing. Cruz then hits Thornton with a nice right hand to the forehead. Cruz comes flying with a leg kick which connects briefly. They then clinch and Cruz picks Thornton up and gets the takedown. Cruz is now in side mount and reigns down a few hammerfists to the body. They scramble and stand up and they clinch and Cruz gets a slam takedown and the round ends. At this point I noticed Cruz’s nose is bleeding and Thornton right eye is giving him a little trouble. Nothing serious though.
Cruz 10-9
Rd 3
They come out and clinch yet again and get pushed to the fence. Cruz is going for the takedown but is stuffed due to some great sprawling. They both exchange a few knees to the body from the clinch. Cruz then goes for another takedown and gets it. Cruz shows off his side control skills and passes to full mount. He gets 3 straight punches to Thornton’s face. Thornton then sweeps and Cruz takes his back and Cruz goes for a triangle attempt as the round ends.
Cruz 10-9
Lucas Cruz defeats Ed Thornton via unanimous decision 30-27. Let me tell you Cruz has some amazing Muay Thai and he showed it from the clinch. Watch out for this fighter!
Cruz getting a few punches in. Winner Cruz!
Fight 9 Steven Carr(CTMMA 2-1) Vs Nate Nadeau(AFT/Gladiator BJJ 2-1) 155lbs.
Carr comes out to Santogold Vs Switch and Freq Nasty-Creator and Nate comes out to Red Hot Chilli Peppers Higher Ground. They both come out and clinch and Carr gets a good knee to the body of Nadeau. Nadeau then sweeps the leg and gets the takedown but gets caught in a triangle. Nadeau muscles his way out. Carr then sweeps and gets full mount. Nadeau bucks and Carr takes his back and goes for rear naked choke. Its not deep yet but Nadeau tries to sweep but Carr slips in the rear naked deeper and Nadeau is forced to tap.
Steven Carr defeats Nate Nadeau via rear naked choke in 2:14 of first round.
Now for those of you who don’t know Carr defeated Sam Nadeau at The Fury in Fight Town 2 so I am thinking Carr is the Nadeau killer! Tough loss Nate. I know you will come back strong!
Winner Carr. Nadeau trying to pass guard.
Fight 10: Jen “SpitFire” Rivera(Mixed Breed 1-0) Vs Sarah “The Soulja” Payant (Team Ravenous 0-0)
Rivera comes out to Pink So What and Payant comes out to Eminem Til I Collapse. They start out and feel each other out for a bit. Payant gets a good leg kick in. Sarah goes for the takedown but gets caught in a standing guilliotine. Rivera pushes up against the opposite side of the cage and tries to get the guilliotine tighter. She then pushes Payant to another side and it slides in deep and Payant is forced to tap.
Jen Rivera defeats Sarah Payant via standing guilliotine with 55 seconds in the first round. Spitfire looks impressive. She wont her first fight with 40 seconds due to ref stoppage to strikes.
Both fighters ready to strike. Rivera cranking on that neck.
Fight 11: Camber Boor Vs Mike Filippone(AFT/Gladiator BJJ) 170lbs.
Camber comes out to Birdman Fire Flame Remix and Filippone comes out to an unknown song. Sorry guys I wasn’t able to get this song. Boor is tatted up and looking jacked. I see a little area left on Boor’s legs that are bare because he could use a few more tattoos. In all seriousness Filippone is in great shape as well.
They come out swinging and clinch. Boor gets a nice slamming takedown. The crowd wakes up and cheers. They scramble and Filippone gets a few standing punches in and they get back up. Boor gets another slamming takedown and the crowd erupts but Boor is caught in a guilliotine. Boor is forced to tap.
Mike Filippone defeats Camber Boor via guilliotine. Now give Camber some credit to where it is due. He took this fight on one weeks notice and was in great shape.
Boor caught in guilliotine. Winner Filippone!
Great night of fights. Every fighter came prepared and put on a spectacular show. Every show gets better and better. Premier FC will be coming back in April so stay tuned for info on that!! Thanks to Karyn for the awesome seat. Thanks to the Premier FC staff for letting us film and take photos to share with everyone! Special thanks to Gary for taking these awesome photos! We definitely want you back Gary!
Fight of the Night: Matt Leddick Vs. Raphael Cruz.
Submission of the Night: Shayne Stephenson Triangle submission
Knockout of the Night: No one due to no knockouts!