Review: A.F.O. Last Man Standing 3-4-2011 Holiday Inn Mansfield MA

I decided on Friday night to pull myself away from following the Charlie Sheen news to go see a night of MMA fights brought to us by the awesome guys from the A.F.O.  Pete and Mark as always did a great job.  It is located at the Holiday Inn which is so easy to get in and out of for traffic.  It really is a great venue to showcase some of the greatest fighters in New England.  They brought us a total of 12 fights, 8 of them being amateur.  I was accompanied by Jeremy “The Boss” Reipold who walked around all night taking some great photos for us to share with all of you.

They kicked off the night with Vinny Sharma singing a great cover of Phil Collins’s In the Air Tonight and his song Machine which is available on Itunes, just look up Sharmera and you will find it and can preview it to see if you like it.  He has a great rocker voice and I heard some fighters backstage stating he does Collin’s song better than Collins!  There were many nice venues there.  I saw SuckerPunch Athletics, but the one venue that caught my eye was the Brawlin Beauties for Boobies.  Very catchy name and for a great cause.  Below is a pic of their table and Vinny Sharma performing. 

Fight 1: Shayne Stephenson (Wareham) 1-1 Vs Rob Font 0-1 (Sityodong) 150lbs

Shayne came out to Rogue Warrior by Underground Sound Records and Rob Font came out to Kanye West-Power.

They come out and touch gloves.  They come out ready for a war and start exchanging kicks.  Font gladly gives Shayne a nice outside leg kick to his thigh.  Font then throws a spinning roundhouse kick but misses for the most part.  Font then goes for another kick but misses and slips down to the mat and Shayne quickly rushes to the top position.  Shayne is trying to get to pass guard but ends up getting caught in a triangle but he uses his strength to muscle out but Font being very good on the ground transitions nicely to an armbar.  The armbar was twisting and cranking on the shoulder too hard for Shayne and was forced to tap. 

Rob Font defeats Shayne Stephenson via armbar submission.

Now Font improves to 1-1 and Shayne did not want to get hurt knowing he has a fight coming up April 1st at Cage Titans against Johnny “Cupcakes” Campbell.  What a way to start out the night!

Fight 2: Mike De Los Reyes(Dexter MMA) 0-1 Vs. Shane DeCristofaro(Team United Muay Lao) 0-0 125lbs.

Reyes came out to Fergie- Imma Be and Shane came out to Lil Wayne-Right Above It.  This was my first 125lbs fight I’ve ever seen in person and let me tell you these guys are tiny compared to CityBoy but they put on a great fight.  The ref was Kevin McDonald who is soon to make his UFC debut. Congrats Kev!!

They start out  feeling each other out for a bit trying to get both their timing down and not wanting to be the first one to make a mistake in the fight.  They get in some good jabs here and there but then Mike fakes for a takedown but is quickly stuffed by Shane whom takes the opportunity to make for an awesome transition to take Reyes back and then goes for a Rear Naked Choke.  They go to the ground and the choke is applied for a good minute or so.  It was tough to see from my location if it was deep or not but Mike pulls out and they stand up briefly until the bell sounds.

Shane 10-9

Rd 2: They come out and right away Shane gets accidentally kicked in the groin.  It was an unfortunate event but it happens as fighters go hard.  They start up again and Shane gets in a nice front kick to the body.  They exchange some shots.  Reyes gets a good right hand in during the exchange.  They clinch and Shane ends up getting the takedown.  Shane is now in Reyes’s guard and they both battle for position.  Not a whole lot goes on as both fighters equally matched but Shane does get in a few good hammerfists before the bell rings.

Shane 10-9

Rd 3: Shane gets a nice leg kick to the thigh.  Reyes looks more tired than Shane at this point but Reyes gets in some good jabs in the exchange.  Shane goes for a takedown and gets it via trip.  Shane is now in Reyes’s guard.  Shane controls the match on the ground getting and jams his forearm into Reyes’s neck battling for position.  Reyes tries to buck Shane off and Shane stands up while Reyes is still on the ground.  Shane then puts a beautiful flying hammerfist which connects to his target, Reyes’s head.  The crowd cheers the fighters on as the round ends.

Shane 10-9

Shane DeCristofaro defeats Mike De Los Reyes via unanimous decision

Fight 3: Danny Alexis (Redline) 1-0 Vs. Jamie Courtney (Sityodong) 1-2 155lbs

Alexis came out to Kanye West-Power and Courtney came out to Bless the Fall-Could Tell A Love

They come out and Alexis throws a nice front kick to the body of Courtney.  As the fight continues Alexis just keeps peppering the outer left thigh of Courtney with brutal leg kicks.  Alexis continues to press the action with leg kick after leg kick and pops right back out unscathed every exchange for the most part.  Alexis continues to keep the distance using the leg kick to the outer thigh of Courtney.  I would say he hit Courtney with about 15-20 solid kicks this round. 

Alexis 10-9

Rd 2: Alexis continues right where he left off with the leg kicks.  Courtney’s poor left leg is starting to get red from all the kicks.  Alexis tries to mix it up and gets a good kick to the head but it is checked for the most part.  Alexis throws a leg kick punch to the gut combo which looked good.  Courtney then goes for a takedown and gets it via trip but Alexis spots the open neck and goes for a guilliotine.  Alexis on the ground continues to throw some hammerfists to the left thigh of Courtney.  Coutney pops out of the guilliotine and backs away and stands up.  Alexis throws a kick to the head but it is again checked by Courtney.

Alexis 10-9

Rd 3:  Poor Courtney’s left thigh looks like a lobster right now.  He is definitely gonna feel that one later! They come out and touch gloves.  Alexis continues to throw kicks and goes for 3 head kicks but they were nicely checked by Courtney.  Alexis gets a good kick to the inner thigh of Courtney but Courtney goes for the takedown and gets it.  Courtney is in Alexis’s guard and quickly passes to full mount position. Alexis sweeps to get out but Courtney reverses and takes Alexis back and flattens him back out to the ground.  He gets in some good punches to the head and Alexis bucks him off and tries to sweep but Courtney gets back to full mount.  Alexis is getting hit with some big shots so sweeps again but Courtney is too strong and takes his back and gets in some more punches as the bell rings.

Courtney 10-9

Danny Alexis defeats Jaime Courtney via unanimous decision 29-28.

Fight 4: Kevin Remillard (Team Big Paw) 0-0 Vs Mario Gonzales(Team United Muay Lao) 1-0 Heavyweight

Remillard came out to Pantera-Walk and Mario came out to Lil Wayne-Burn This City.

They come out swinging for the fences, equally both getting some good shots in.  They go to the clinch and Mario gets the takedown.  Remillard has a half butterfly guard and they both work for better position.  Mario ends up passing to the side.  He controls the fight for a while from the side getting In a few ground and pound here and there.  Mario then decides he wants to stand back up so he stands up and Remillard follows but Mario takes Remillard’s back and gets some excellent shots to the chin.  Finally Remillard breaks free and they clinch near the cage.  Mario gets a brutal knee to the gut of Remillard from here.  Remillard follows right back with a good right hand that connects and they seperate.  They end up clinching again and they have a good sprawling session and they go to the ground as the round ends.

Mario 10-9

Rd 2:  They come out ready for some good standup.  Both fighters are starting to show some gas.  Remillard  gets a good right hook and uppercut combo in the exchange.  Mario shoots for the takedown and gets it.  Mario again is controlling the fight with excellent side control.  He is using his bigger size advantage to tire out Remillard.  Remillard sweeps and Mario ends up taking Remillard’s back.  Mario softens him up and sinks in the rear naked choke but Remillard nicely slips out.  Now Remillard is in Mario’s guard.  Remillard takes control of the end and gets some good ground and pound but it’s a little too late to take the round.

Mario 10-9

Rd 3: Now it appears Mario has a little bit of damage above his right eye.  Mario is breathing real heavy but Remillard is tired as well.  We will see how this will effect the final round.

They come out and clinch and Remillard pushes Mario up against the cage.  Remillard gets in some good punches but Mario fires right back and connects with a good combo.  Remillard gassing more now and Mario just takes over and does non stop left right punches and the ref is forced to stop.

Mario Gonzales defeats Kevin Remillard due to ref stoppage by strikes in 1:11 in the round.  Mario improves to 2-0.  Both fighters showed tremendous heart and gave us a great show being the only heavyweight on the card.  They both gotta work on their conditioning if they want to hang around in the heavy division.  Great job fighters.

Fight 5: Jesse Gutierez(Connors MMA) 1-0 Vs. Graeme Prue(Boneyard) 3-2 135lbs

Jesse came out to Vicente Fernandez-Los Mandandos and I missed Graeme’s song.  Now Prue is coming off a shoulder injury and has been out 8 months.  We will see if rust will be a factor in this fight or not. 

Jesse comes out swinging for the fences looking to do some damage right away.  He connects with some good shots and backs Prue up against the cage.  Jesse gets in a nice body shot but Prue weathers the storm of about 100 punches I would say.  The striking slows down but Jesse does an unfortunate illegal kick to the head.  Prue gets 5 minutes and takes the full 5 minutes.  It is unsure if he hurt his shoulder or something else or if he was hurt from the kick to the head.  He waves the fight off and says he can no longer continue. 

The judges call this a No Contest so neither fighter gets the win.  Excellent decision from the judges.  They could have disqualified Jesse for the illegal knee and in return Prue would get the win but the No Contest was much better.  Lets hope for a rematch very soon!

Fight 6: Matt Doherty(Pradal-Serey) 0-1 Vs. Tom Evans(Team United Muay Lao) 0-1 145lbs

Doherty came out to Metallica-Wherever I May Roam and Evans came out to Phil Collins-In The Air Tonight.

Tom has the height advantage in this fight.  They clinch and Matt does a nice combo.  Tom follows with a nice kick to the body.  He tries to follow with another kick but it ended giving an accidental groin shot.  Tom took about 15 seconds and was ready to go.  Tom fires back with a good kick.  They clinch and Tom gets another good knee to the body.  They separate briefly and clinch again.  Matt pushes the action and pushes Tom up against the cage.  They separate and Matt continues to push the action.  Tom gets a nice head kick in.  Tom then gets in another nice head kick and it stuns Matt for a second but Matt gets right back.

Tom 10-9

Rd 2:  They clinch right away and Tom gets in some great knees to the body.  Tom gets in a few punches and Matt does as well.  They separate and Tom goes for a spinning kick but misses and Matt goes for the takedown but doesn’t get it and they end up clinching up against the cage.  They both exchange some good kicks to the body.  Matt gets a good right hand to the dome.  Matt gets in another fierce right hand followed by two uppercuts and the round comes to an end.

This one was a very close round.  It could go either way in the judging.  I am going with Matt 10-9 due to the fact that he got in some better shots this round and also was pressing the action more. 

Rd 3: Matt starts it out with a few good leg kicks but is getting countered with a right hand each time.  The standup goes on for a few minutes. Matt continues to push the action and they clinch and Matt pushes Tom up against the cage.  Tom reverses and pushes Matt up against the cage.  Tom looks to be more tired than Matt in this round.  Matt looks to have some great conditioning and it is showing in this third round.  This round was all standing up and the fighters really put on a show for the crowd.

I score this round Matt 10-9….lets go to the judges.

Split decision, 29-28 Tom, 29-28 Matt, and last judge 29-28 Matt.  What a fight!!!!

Matt Doherty defeats Tom Evans via split decision.

There was a 15 minute intermission and then the action started up again.

Fight 7: V. Phinney(North Shore) 1-2 Vs. Anson Hatfield(Knuckle Up) 0-1 152 lbs

Phinney came out to Notorious B.I.G.-Lovin’ You Tonight and I couldn’t get Anson’s song maybe it was a local song.

Anson has the height advantage.  They start out and Anson gets a good kick to the head.  They feel each other out exchanging a few kicks and punches.  Anson gets hit with an accidental groin kick.  He takes about 30 seconds and they start back up.  Phinney gets in a nice right leg kick to the outer thigh of Anson.  They clinch up and Phinney goes for the takedown via a hip throw and gets it.  Phinney is on Anson’s side, showing some great side control from Phinney.  Phinney then gets in the guard of Anson but is unsuccessful at passing guard so he stands up and fires some vicious punches to the head of Anson.  Phinney connects with them and continues to barrel him with punches and the ref is forced to stop.

V. Phinney defeats Anson Hatfield via ref stoppage due to strikes with 6 seconds left in the round!

Fight 8: Joe Cloutier(Doomsday) 2-2 Vs. Tom Venticinque(Team United Muay Lao) 2-0 185 lbs

Cloutier comes out to 50 Cent-Hustler’s Ambition and Tom starts out with a little Rocky Intro and Breaking Benjamin-I Will Not Bow.

Tom comes out swinging for the fences.  They end up clinching and Tom gets the takedown via a trip.  Joe passes to the side and shows some good side control.  Joe gets in some good hammerfists as well here.  Joe connects with about 5 solid hammerfists in this session.  Tom tries to roll out and scramble and Cloutier goes for an armbar  but after about 15 seconds or so Tom pulls his arm loose and the round ends.

Cloutier 10-9

Rd 2: They come out and clinch and they fall to the ground.  Joe ends up on top in Tom’s guard.  Joe tries to pass guard and gets in some good shots to the head but Tom does a good job not letting him pass.  Joe then passes to side briefly and is still trying for full mount all while throwing hammerfists to the face of Tom.  Tom is getting hit with too many shots and the ref is forced to stop the fight.  Tom getting caught up in the heat of the moment throws his mouthpiece into the crowd and goes to walk out of the cage.  It was very unsportsmanlike but I could tell he was frustrated.  His camp realizes this and pulls him back into the cage and Tom came to his senses and calmed down. 

Joe Cloutier defeats Tom Venticinque via ref stoppage due to strikes in 2:21 of second round.  AFO announces Cloutier is fighting for the title shot on April 22nd.

AFO now takes the time to announce some fighters who will be on the April 22nd card Night of Champions.  They call out Kenny" “The Truth” Hazard, Lionel Young, Kin “Kong” Moy, Tyler King and Lewis “The Rockstar” Felix and they all come to the cage.  We now start off the professional fights of the evening.

Fight 9: Joe Powers(Dexter) 0-1 Vs. Shawn Summey(Dragon Lair) 0-0 165 lbs

Powers comes out to a remix of Haddaway-What Is Love with Lil Wayne and Summey comes out to 3 6 Mafia-It’s A Fight.

They come out and touch gloves.  Summey gets in a good leg kick and follows it with two more to the left thigh of Powers.  Summey then throws a good right hand but it misses Powers.  Summey then throws a kick and Powers goes for the takedown and gets it.  Powers is now in Summey’s guard.  Powers controls the fight and and gets in some good punches and ends up jamming his forearm in Summey’s throat.  Summey wants nothing to do with that and bucks and sweeps Powers off and they stand up.  Summey appears to be bleeding a bit on the bridge of his nose but nothing too serious.  Summey then goes for a takedown and gets it via a trip.

Tough round to decide but I went with Summey 10-9

Rd 2: They come out and touch gloves.  Summey starts out with two leg kicks.  He then goes for a swinging leg kick but it misses.  Powers gets in some good jabs in the exchange.  This goes on for a minute or so.  Summey then gets in a good right hand that stuns Powers and Powers drops to the ground.  Summey quickly covers and gets in some punches and the ref is forced to stop the fight.  Tough fight I think Powers might have went out for a second which is why the ref stopped it.  It was tough to see from my angle. 

Shawn Summey defeats Joe Powers via ref stoppage due to strikes in 2:35 in second round

Fight 10: Joe Finneran(Tri State MMA) 0-2 Vs Theo Desjardin(Team United Muay Lao) 1-2 135 lbs.

Finneran came out to Jay-Z-New York and Theo came out to Cypress Hill-How I Could Just Kill A Man.

They come out and feel each other out briefly.  Finneran goes for the takedown but they have a nice sprawling sesssion and Theo stuffs the attempt.  They clinch and Theo does a nice judo throw takedown.  Theo is now on the side of Finneran and gets in a few punches but cannot get to full mount.  Theo then stands up and holds Finneran’s feet while Finneran is still laying on the ground.  Theo gets in some good punches but as he is doing so Theo goes for a heel hook submission.  Finneran is aware and rolls into it to get a better angle and pops it out.  In the transition Finneran gets full mount and starts laying down big punches.  Theo is bucking but Finneran has good control and he takes too much damage without defending and the ref is forced to stop.

Joe Finneran defeats Theo Desjardin via ref stoppage from strikes with 3:15 to rd 1

Fight 11: Luis Torres(Pradal-Serey) 0-0 Vs. Jason Sarbacker(Sityodong) 1-1 170lbs

Torres came out to Killswitch Engage-My Curse and Sarbacker came out to Billy Squier’s-The Stroke.

Sarbacker starts the fight off with a slapping right kick.  Torres charges and goes for a flying knee but was thrown up and did a crazy acrobatic move.  I’m glad he didn’t land on his head and get hurt but it looked awesome!  Sarbacker quickly took advantage and went to Torres side.  Sarbacker works his ground game and ends up passing to full mount.  Torres does a good job at defending from the bottom and pulling Sarbacker’s head down so he can’t take too much damage.  Finally Sarbacker gets some openings and gets in some good ground and pound.  He then transitions and looks like some type of an arm triangle but Torres gets out and is faced with some more ground and pound.  Torres then does a nice sweep reversal and gets in some of his own ground and pound as the bell sounds.

Sarbacker 10-9

Rd 2: hey come out and touch gloves.  Sarbacker fires with a flying superman punch that mostly misses.  Sarbacker goes for a takedown but ends up getting hit with huge knee to the head but somehow still finishes the takedown.  Sarbacker is now in beast mode and they are in half guard position.  Sarbacker passes to full mount and starts laying in some more ground and pound.  He is looking to finish the fight and Torres tries to buck him off but Sarbacker is determined to finish it.  The fists were coming down heavy and looking like boulders to Torres and he ends up tapping to strikes.  Tough loss but great fight.  Congrats to both fighters. 

Jason Sarbacker defeats Luis Torres via tapout to strikes in 4:31 in round 2.

 

Fight 12: Chris “Kumite” Rowley(Dragon Fire) 2-2 Vs. Josh Parker(Littlefield MMA) 1-2 145lbs

Rowley came out to Led Zeppelin-Kashmir and Parker came out to Eminem-Won’t Back Down.

Let me start out by saying most of the fans left by now so they will want to pay attention because they missed this great fight.  Rowley’s parents were still there cheering him on all the way!! 

Parker comes out and quickly gets the takedown but Rowley goes for the guilliotine.  Parker muscles his way out and ends up in full guard.  Parker gives some good body shots here but they are both at a standstill for a bit so the ref stands them up.  They exchange some blows and Parker gets a good kick to the face of Rowley.  Rowley decides he wants to take it to the ground and goes for the takedown but leaves his neck open for the taking and gets caught in a “WICKED DEEP” guilliotine.  He is forced to tap within seconds  of it being sunk.  One of the quickest taps I have ever seen so I know it must have been deep.  What a great way to end the night. 

 

Thanks to all the great fighters for putting on a show for us.  Thanks to Pete DiLorenzo for letting us attend the show and write this review.  Thanks to The Boss for going and taking these lovely pictures for us.  I gotta give a shoutout to RichO for taking great photos which are available here. Contact him to buy your set! Now before I debut our new Awards and Rating Format for the shows, I want to make you all aware of how we do things.  First we will post in a week or so a slideshow of our best pictures of the night and it will most likely be done by no other than Dave Thomas whom always does a great job.  Then I will post all the photos of the night on facebook in our westernmassmma.com fan page.  So click the hyperlink and please “like” our group.  Ok time for the ratings and awards.

 

Awards:
Fight of the Night: Matt Doherty Vs. Tom Evans
Submission of the Night: Chris Rowley Vs Josh Parker WICKED DEEP guilliotine
KO of the Night: Joe Powers Vs. Shawn Summey
Blunder of the Night: Vinny Sharma’s poor feedback problems with the mic

Rating of the Show(1-5, 5 Being the Best)
Quality of Fights: 4
Star Quality: 1 not many celebs unless you count CityBoy, Boss and OldSchool
Sound: 4
Refs: 4.5
Announcer: 4.5
Ring Girls: 4.5
Venues: 4
Overall: 3.79  The 1 really killed the rating but don’t get misleaded it was a great show!

Honorable Mention: Chris Rowley had best HAIR OF THE NIGHT!

I close this review with a few pics of the venues and a few other miscellaneous pictures.  Hope you all enjoy, don’t flame me too bad CityBoy out!