B.J. Flores is also in action on the boxing side, and former WWE star Bobby Lashley competes in just his second MMA bout. As an aside, it's great to have Nate Campbell on board as the color commentator for the boxing matches. Seth Petruzelli, a.k.a. the man who knocked out Kimbo Slice, is helping to call the MMA matches.
The first fight of the evening is an MMA bout between Dennis Hallman and Danny Ruiz. This is a three-round welterweight battle. Jimmy Lennon Jr. is doing his thing for the fighter intros.
Hallman shoots in early and after a little work in the corner, he takes Ruiz down. Hallman steadily works and takes Ruiz's back, and he's able to get a choke locked in that forces Ruiz to tap. The winner by submission via choke in Round 1... Dennis Hallman.
We stay with MMA for the second fight of the broadcast, this one featuring featherweights Din Thomas (22-8) and Gabe Lemley (13-8). The announce team is really going out of its way to help boxing fans understand the rules of MMA. As expected, this one is scheduled for three rounds.
An early tie up has both men trying to throw knees. Lemley bounces around and tries to throw punches and kicks while Thomas bides his time. Thomas sprawls to avoid some takedown attempts, and he lands some nice shots that put Lemley on his back. A left hand has Lemley dazed, and a knee catches Lemley right on the chin. The ref calls a stop to it, and Thomas wins by TKO at 4:13 of Round 1.
Thomas gives an entertaining post-fight interview where he downplays the difficulty of fighting in a ring instead of a cage. He gives a shout out to Nate Campbell and also volunteers to kick Chris Brown's ass if Rihanna decides she wants some help.
Next up is Bobby Lashley (1-0) taking on Jason Guida (17-19) in a heavyweight MMA bout. Lashley was supposed to face legend Ken Shamrock until he was suspended for steroid use, forcing Guida to take the fight on short notice.
The tale of the tape shows Lashley with a significant weight advantage, and he's got an edge in reach as well. Guida thinks his experience will help him pull off the upset, while Lashley feels his top-notch wrestling skills will serve him well. Petruzelli has a hilarious line where he says if Lashley can beat Vince McMahon, he can beat anybody.
Lashley shoots in right away and Guida grabs the ropes to keep himself from going down. Guida sprawls to avoid another takedown and they spend time locked up in the corner. Lashley lands a big right hand and they clinch again. Guida turns Lashley around and the ref finally breaks them up. Lashley flurries with several big punches, and they stay locked up for the final seconds of the first round.
A right hand catches Guida early in the second, and Lashley rushes in and puts his foe down with a big slam. Lashley spends some time in Guida's half guard and manages to land a few shots. Guida does a decent job defending from the bottom, but he can't do much with the physically bigger Lashley.
The final round starts with a clinch and both men trying to throw knees. Lashley opens up with big right hands in the corner. The ref puts them back in the corner, where Lashley scores a single leg takedown but falls into a guillotine by Guida. It looks fairly tight, but Lashley manages to escape. Lashley tries to work out of Guida's full guard. Giida tries for an armbar, but it looks like the fight will end in this position. The final bell rings, and we'll go to the scorecards.
The judges score it 30-27 three times, all to the winner by unanimous decision, Bobby Lashley.
Lashley says he had to dig deep to escape the guillotine, which was pretty tight. He credits Guida for getting to him a little bit by talking trash before the fight, and he says he'll go back to work to fix the holes in his game.
We're finally set for some boxing with B.J. Flores taking on Jose Luis Herrera. Nate Campbell calls Herrera an all-action fighter, and his record bears that out: all 16 of his wins and all five of his losses have come by KO.
This fight is scheduled for ten rounds with a minor title on the line. The tale of the tape shows both men almost dead even in weight and Flores holding just a tiny reach advantage.
Flores spends most of the first round stalking and looking to work off the jab. Herrera takes about two minutes to look comfortable and he starts landing some shots of his own. Flores lands a nice right hand right before the end of a close opening round.
Flores' boxing skills control most of the second round, but this time it's Herrera who scores with a right hand before the bell. There is some nice action in the third round with Flores mixing up head and body shots and Herrera getting a little busier.
Campbell thinks Herrera was hurt a bit at the end of the third. I think Flores has won every round, but Herrera is getting a few big shots in there, as he does again at the end of the fourth round.
Herrera has his best round so far in the fifth, keeping Flores a bit off guard with more body shots and more jabs. Flores seizes control once again in the sixth round using nice combination punching.
Both announcers are calling for the uppercut from Flores. I'm guessing he is well ahead on the cards, so with three rounds to go, he just needs to watch out for the home run shot coming back.
Herrera shows a burst of energy at the start of the ninth round. Flores digs to the body and goes upstairs with a left hook. B.J. is still showing excellent movement even this late in the fight.
We'll see if there are any fireworks in store in the final round. Herrera looks like he will fight until the final bell. Flores isn't exactly on his bike, but he is staying extra cautious and avoiding prolonged exchanges. Herrera gets B.J.'s attention with a big right hand with 30 seconds to go. We'll go to the scorecards.
The judges score it 98-92 and 99-91 twice, and Flores wins by unanimous decision.
Flores says he hurt his left hand early in the fight. He thinks he may have been able to get Herrera out of there if it wasn't for that, but he gives his opponent credit for being a tough guy.
The crowd was very much into the Roy Nelson-Jeff Monson MMA fight, which we joined in progress after some technical difficulties. Monson landed some very solid punches in the stand-up in a highlight package.
All three judges score it 29-28, and Jeff "The Snowman" Monson wins by unanimous decision.
Posted by The Franchise
Edited by uatu
Posts
5 comments:
that's actually a potentially great pair of color commentators to have on board
clay guida sucks! he is a fat piece of shit!
bj flores fights nobodies!!
guida didn't have to worry about making weight for this fight for sure.
and flores should step it up
Flores really does need to amp up his level of competition. I don't think tonight counts in that regard, but we'll see.
Post a Comment