Last minute dropout and Warchild and I stepped up to head out to Manchester New Hampshire. It was a nice short drive compared to our last trip to Maine. Calvin Kattar and company have put together a 10 fight card and 2 out of the 10 are kickboxing. I gotta give a shoutout to Calvin who works double in mma as a fighter training for UFC and running a promotion. Huge props to you bro! It was nice seeing all our New Hampshire MMA fans. The judges tonight are Mike Cordeiro, Nick Mahmood, and Shawn Flanagan. The host is the one and only John Vena and the refs are John English, Alan Lau, Kevin MacDonald, and Will Kerr. Poor Alan Lau had to work on his birthday!!! Kelly MacDonald is the head photographer from Crossface Productions. Please follow along as I recap the night.
135 AM KICK Corey Palmer (1-0) Team Link NH Fouad Shahin 0-0 (F5 Fight Team)
Corey connects with a combo and Fouad fires right back. Both fighters are working their kicks. Corey catches a kick and has to let go. Fouad fires back with another kick to the body.
Shahin 10-9
Rd 2: Both fighters echange kicks. Fouad gets in a kick and Corey counters with 2 punches. Fouad misses with a superman punch. Corey with a nice kick to the body. Fouad with two outside leg kicks. Ten second bell sounds and they both go at it!
Real close round Shahin 10-9
Fouad starts the round off with a kick. Corey catches the next kick and gets in a few punches. Fouad clinches and knees Corey in the body a few times. Fouad tries to knee in the head and he is warned by Alan Lau. Fouad with another right that connects cleanly.
Shahin 10-9
Fouad Shahin defeats Corey Palmer via unanimous decision.
155 AM KICK Andrew Kamakas (0-2) Fusion Training Academy vs. Joe Siejkowski (0-1) Team Link Hooksett
They clinch and both punch to the body. Andrew catches a kick and trips Joe to the mat. Joe clinches and gets in a knee to the upper chest.
Kamakas 10-9
Rd 2: Joe with two leg kicks. They clinch and both exchange blows. Andrew back Joe up to the corner as the round ends.
Real close round Siejkowski 10-9
Rd 3: Andrew catches a kick and gets in a few punches. Joe with a nice kick to the body. Both fighters are tired. Joe slips and gets back up to his feet. Both fighters are going at it the last 10 seconds.
Kamakas 10-9
Joe SiejkowSki defeats Andrew Kamakas via split decision.
135 AM MMA Dan Ward (0-7) Spero's vs. George Ferrera (0-0) Ind
Dan rushes in with a bunch of uppercuts and tries to overpower George. Dan with a knee and is looking to take George down. Not much action and George gets in a knee to the body.
Ward 10-9
Rd 2: They clinch and Ward gets in a knee. He gets in a few more punches before they break. George keeps turning his back to Ward. Ward tries for a guillotine and they both fall to the mat. Ward is on top and gets in some punches as the round ends.
Ward 10-9
Rd 3: George tries for a takedown and is stuffed. He falls to the mat and then they both get back to their feet. Dan has him tied up against the cage and is getting in several punches and the ref has seen enough.
Dan Ward defeats George Ferrera via ref stoppage to strikes at 1:57 in Rd 3.
155 AM MMA Brian Cosco (2-6) Redline vs. Aaron Croft 0-0 (F5 Fight Team)
Cosco gets the double leg takedown. Brian gets in a few punches and Aaron is working his way up. Brian takes his back and his looking for the rear naked choke. Aaron spins and ends up on top and is dropping bombs. Ref sees some punches to the back of the head and calls a timeout.
Fight is ruled a no contest due to illegal punches to the back of the head at 1:57 in Round 1.
145 AM MMA Matt Brady 1-0 (FTA) vs. Tom Pagliarulo 1-0 (Spero's)
They clinch and Matt gets in a knee to the body. Matt keeps coming forward even when hit. They have a nice exchange and Tom goes for a takedown. Matt locks up the guillotine and as soon as they hit the mat Tom is tapping.
Matt Brady defeats Tom Pagliarulo via tapout to guillotine at 55 seconds Round 1.
195 AM MMA Jon McNeil (2-2) Triumph vs. Caynen Wills (1-0) High Speed Defense
They are both swinging and Jon catches Caynen with a solid right. Caynen dives for a takedown and Jon is trying hard for the finish with punches to the head. Jon connects with a few more punches and Caynen is defending and the ref stops the fight. Early stoppage in my eyes and the crowd boos as they want to see more as well. Birthday boy must have his ice cream cake melting upstairs!! Just kidding Alan we love you.
Jon McNeil defeats Caynen Wills via ref stoppage to strikes at 47 seconds in Round 1.
168 AM MMA Mo Al Kanani 3-0 (Evolution Athletix) vs. Justin Boraczek (3-0) Spero's
They clinch and Mo gets in 3 knees to the body. Justin with two low kicks. Mo connects with a right. Justin goes for a takedown and somehow Mo stands and rocks Justin with some more shots and he goes down. He finishes him off with some ground and pound.
Mo Al Kinani defeats Justin Boraczek via tko victory at 2:32 in Rd 1.
155 AM MMA Ramano Medina (3-0) Burgess vs. Chris Mehu (3-2) Gate City
Both fighters are being cautious. They are starting to exchange now and Chris gets the takedown. He is trying to free up his arms to lay down some ground and pound. Ramano throws up a triangle from the bottom and it looks tight. He pulls the head down and gets the tap.
Ramano Medina defeats Chris Mehu via tapout to triangle at 2:59 in Round 1.
135 AM MMA Jake Pilla (5-2) Spero's/ SLS vs. Rob Fuller (2-4) Klinch Tribe
Rob connects with an outside leg kick. Pilla gets the takedown and works a submission for the tap.
Jake Pilla defeats Rob Fuller via tapout to von flue at 1:15 in Rd 1.
165 PRO MMA Nick Alley (3-2) Team Link Hooksett vs. Pete San Antonio (1-2) Mohawk Valley MMA
Pete lets out a barrage of punches and gets the takedown. Nick uses the cage and gets back to his feet. Nick gets in a knee to the body. Pete picks up Nick and slams him to the mat. Nick slips out and they are standing. Pete goes for a takedown and Nick gets in a knee to the body. Nick is warming up now and gets in a head kick. Nick gets in another solid combo and Pete dives for the takedown. The crowd is going nuts. Nick gets in some more combos and man Pete keeps firing back. This fight is awesome!! Pete comes back and connects with a right that stuns Nick. Pete gets in a few more punches and Nick goes down. The ref has seen enough and stops the fight.
Pete San Antonio defeats Nick Alley via tko stoppage to strikes at 5:00 in Rd 1.
FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: Nick Alley vs. Pete San Antonio
SUB OF THE NIGHT: Pilla Von Flue choke
KO/TKO OF THE NIGHT: Mo Al Kinani tko victory
It was a blast as always at Combat Zone 65. The sound system in the place was very loud and clear so I did not miss any of the round times which was fantastic. The fights were awesome and everyone made the best out of the night. The crowd was really loud at times and were definitely into the fights. Another highlight of my night was being able to see all my great mma friends at the event. Warchild and I made sure to get there with some time to spare so we had plenty of time to chat. Last thing I would like to mention is Matt Brady looked once again very impressive in his fight and I think is going to be one to look out for in the future. I hope you all enjoyed this write up and if you did or didn't please help us grow by sharing this all over the internet :)