Live and Streaming from Portland, ME
Outdoors at Thompson’s Point
7pm 1st Prelim Fight
Tonight City Boy, Warchild, and their new wife The Childlike Empress are enjoying the evening down in Mansfield, MA as a newly married throuple so I will be taking you through the fights round by round as the action happens.
Tapology has the most up to date predictions so I’ll be referencing them throughout the evening. If you haven’t gone over there to give your input there is still time. Just click on the image below to be taken to the NEF 48 event page, sign in, and let everyone know who you’re picking. I’ll update the image again at 7pm and then we will get into the nitty gritty. (Update Image below has been updated and link removed)
The evening is underway about 10 minutes early, that is a promising sign that this is going to be a smooth evening. Our favorite NEF MMA Cage Announcer
Key Baltazar 135lb Am MMA Hannon Sanford
rnd 1: Sanford presses the longer Baltazar up into the cage and looks to get the high crotch single leg take down, but has to abandon it. Sanford goes to work with the hands and does a great job of putting together a plethera of combos that land squarely. With a minute left in the round Baltazar takes over and is able to get some control back and ends the round with his opponent stapled to the fence.
rnd 2: a minute in and Baltazar lands a strike that splits open eyebrow of the righ eye of Sanford. The ref stops the fight and the Dr comes in to assess the damage. It’s a thumbs up and the action continues. Sanford comes back to the fight with nice wrestler style pick heavy stuff up and put it down as he places Baltazar on his back in the center of the cage. A scramble ensues and Baltazar is able to reverse the position taking Sanford to the cage wall and fighting to keep Baltazar from wrapping up his legs before the round ends.
rnd 3: sees both fighters reset and settle in. It’s become a standup match as both men know where they stand with the ground game. I think it is going to be a draw just before Baltazar shoots in and gets the final takedown. Sanford may have been able to found Baltazar’s neck. No need to speculate though since it now up to the judges.
This is officially called a win for Key Baltazar via Unanimous Dec. 30-27
Ed Davis 170lb Am MMA Joe Peters
rnd 1: Davis gets backed into the cage, but quickly circles out. Peters is in pursuit. Again he is able to staple Davis into the cage wall. Davis isn’t proving easy to take down as Peters runs the pipe unsuccessfully. he sticks with it and gets Davis to the ground, gets mount momentarily. Davis gets up and connects with a powerful right. The round ends there.
rnd 2: Peters is looking to take Davis’s head off, but Davis merc’s Peters and the the ref calls it. He’s seen enough.
Ed Davis def Joe Peters via 2nd rnd TKO Strikes
Quinn Poirier 130lb Am MMA Alex Morris
rnd 1: Morris took control from the opening bell. He chops the leg and takes Poirier off his feet. He climbs on top and raining down punches. Poirier gets back up somehow only to last about 10 seconds longer. Morris blasts him with sharp strikes and Poirier is on the mat for the final time as Morris towers over him in anticipation just as Ref Steve Rita waves him off.
1min 4sec TKO Rnd 1 Alex Morris def Quinn Poirier
Nate Dorr 140lb Am MMA Clifford Redman
rnd 1: Redman despite having no training partners, supposedly, is hanging in there for the first minute. He’s getting his legs chopped severely. Dorr has slowed it down and looking to take a more calculated attack at the 0-12 Mainer. Redman is pawing with the jab until he is taken diown. Dorr is in full mount with 30sec left in the round. Redman is down. Dorr trapped the left arm, landing lots of strikes and Kevin the Ref waves it off.
2min 48sec rnd 1 Nate Dorr def Clifford Redman sending the Mainer back home with a perfect losing record of 0-13
Bobby Kelley 155lb Am MMA Zachary Faulkner
rnd 1: Fualkner throws up a head kick and Kelley catches it and takes down the striker. Both men are back on their feet quickly. They exchange a few gloved hands, but Kelley gets Faulkner to the mat and sets the gears in motion for the Kamura finish.
rnd 1 Bobby Kelley def Zachary Faulkner with the strong BJJ Kamura finish. Faulkner still has both arms, but only because this was a cage fight.
Jonas Ryerson 145lb Am MMA John Marcley
rnd 1: Jonas blitzes Marcley and rabbit punches with the right hand putting Marcley out on his feet. The ref steps in and it is over in just seconds.
2:50 of rnd 1 Jonas Ryerson KO’s John Marcley and the crowd loves it!
Evrit Roy 145lb Am MMA Will Smith
rnd 1: Smith is a wild man, comes out swinging and fails to connect. Roy stays calm and gets the body wrapped up to clinch the takedown. Roy has side control pretty good and Will Smith take a nap due to Arm Triangle. Perfectly executed. Will was sleeping in seconds.
1min 28sec rnd 1 Evrit Roy sleeps Will Smith with the Arm Triangle
Cody Dular 265lb Am MMA Nick McInnis
rnd 1: Dular looks to be the more experinced fighter. Hands, take downs, ring control, are all working in Dular’s favor. McInnis is struggling to find anything that will get him in an offensive position. Dular capitalized on McInnis’s inability to stay on his feet. McInnis is not making intelligent decisions and Dular is just patiently picking his shots. The ref hasn’t stopped the round early so we will see a 2nd round.
rnd 2: Dular is able to get the offense going. McInnis looks like he’s eating shots and on very tired legs. He’s stumbling like a drunk. Steve Rita has finally seen enough and Dular collapses moments later in relief.
1min 28sec rnd 2 Cody Dular def Nick McInnis via ref stoppage due to strikes
Seth Godfrey 205lb Am MMA Jared Turcotte
rnd 1: Godfrey is tapping to a RNC before you can say Onamonopia from a super focused and prepared Jared Turcotte.
2min 35sec rnd 1 Jared Turcotte chokes out Seth Godrfrey via RNC
David Burke 185lb Am MMA Ryan Fredette
rnd 1: Burke is an assassin landing punches aplenty. He is in control from the opening bell. Fredette is game and bloody, but he is losing this fight in every way. Burke is relentless. An explosive fight for sure. Burke takes little damage, puts away Fredette with hammer fists at the very end. Fredette looked lost in there. Not for nothing, but the next guy Burke faces needs to understand that he has the gas tank and the fight IQ to win fights in exciting ways.
2min 47sec David Burke snufs out Ryan Fredette and it is officially called a TKO finish.
BJ Garceau 115lb Am Women’s MMA Maria Clinton
rnd 1: they say mighty things come in small packages. Garceau races across the cage and presses Clinton into the cage wall. Clinton and Garceau trade places on the cage wall a few times before they come to the center of the cage. they separate off a Clinton Knee to the body. Clinton throws an elbow and luckily it doesn’t connect as that would have been a foul. Clinton gets Garceau with a standing guilotine.
2min 21sec rnd 1 Maria Clinton with the swift Standing Guilotine over BJ Garceau
Curtis Ouellette 170lb Am MMA Title Fight Kyle Hill
rnd 1 Hill delivers a single low kick, tries for a head kick and lands on his ass. Now it’s the Oullette show. Oullette swings and connects with a series of heavy punches. Hill is running. Oullette gets his hands on Hill and takes him to the ground. My browser closed unexpectledly so I missed the last minute of the round.
rnd 2: Oullette is in the center of the cage doing just enough to keep Hill looking to adjust and figure out an offense. Oullette take Hill down, Hill elevates the hips and gets the reversal. Hill is delivering the shotsuntil Oullette uses the leg to get up, but he fails to capitalize as Hill sweeps once again. Oullette gets in one nice heavy strike before the bell.
rnd 3: Hill is throwing the kicks up high with some success. Oullette looks to be losing steam. Hill takes the center of the cage and Oullette wastes no time going for the hail mary takedown. Hill gets on top of a belly down opponent, allows Oullette to turn over while delivering the big shots. Kevin MacDonald calls the fight off and Hill becomes the new NEF AM Welterweight Champ.
1min 33sec rnd 3 Kyle Hill def Curtis Oullette via TKO
Ras Hylton 265lb Pro MMA Cody Lightfoot
rnd 1: Ras Hylton KO’s Cody Lightfoot in the opening seconds of the round after a brief exchange.
4min 47sec 1st rnd Ras Hylton takes out Cody Lightfoot with an unmistakable KO
Matt Denning 165lb Pro MMA Brian Cosco
rnd 1: Cosco goes in for an early single leg and pays the price. Denning locks in the RNC with only seconds spent in the round.
4min 40sec rnd 1 Matt Denning def Brian Cosco via RNC
Mark Gardner 170lb Pro MMA Justin Burrill
rnd 1: Burrill drills Gardner, but turns the tables with a take down into body lock. Allows Burrill to turn over and throws up the triangle forcing Burrill to tap.
3min 09sec rnd 1 Mark Gardner closes the door on Justin Burrill with a solid and smoothly made triangle choke
Jake Hixenbaugh 155lb Pro MMA Nathaniel Grimard
rnd 1: final fight is two guys with lots of energy. Grimard is showing plenty of movement, but Hixenbaugh has lots of tools and the length to deliver them without risking the counter. Hixenbaugh is on top of the smaller Grimard. Arm in guilotine comes from the bottom delivered by Hixenbaugh after a slick reversal.
2min 47sec rnd 1 Jake Hixenbaugh delivers the kill via guilotine sending Nathaniel Grimard back to the gym to fix a lot of things.
Fight of the Night: Oullette Vs Hill Title Fight
K.O. of the Night: Ras Hylton
Submission of the Night: Evrit Roy
Blunder of the Night: Commentator coaching Kelley through the Kamura finish
Most Valuable Fighter of the Night: Evrit Roy being aware of his surroundings and saves the puke for the outside of the cage.
Move of the Night: nominee Evrit Roy sleeps Will Smith and proceeds to exit the cage except it was just to puke outside the cage. Saves the Cage from smelling like shit the rest of the night.
Walkout of the Night: Team Nostos rocking the Yellow Kill Bill Jumpsuits
Commentary of the Night:“Joe Giannetti, another one that doesn’t want to fight Ryan Sanders”
Alright folks that was mildly entertaining. Hats off to the men and women that trained for these matchups. Congrats to the many winners. Best of luck to the losers as they go home and look to find the answers to their mistakes. Loved how Pete Czymbor commanded the cage this evening. Truly one of the standout announcers in all of New England. Nick and Matt the product looked fine, but I hope you will look to include more gyms next time. Such a one sided card is hard to get excited about unless you happen to be a fan of that particular team. And finally I just want to express how disappointing it was to listen to the commentary tonight. Greg Williams does a fine job and is a knowledgeable guy. One of his co-commentators couldn’t seem to help themselves with simple and ethical things like refraining from coaching fighters directly in front of the broadcast table or making unfounded claims of certain fighters unwilling to fight their fighters all while on air it really degraded the final product and turn me off. If I had been running that production I would have thrown you right the fuck out.