'OctoberFist 2007' results from Hyatt Regency Irvine (with video)
October 31st, 2007, 8:32 pm · Post a Comment · posted by CARLOS ARIAS
To check out video highlights of the fights, click here.
IRVINE - When a Rickson Gracie Academy fighter gets a fighter on the ground, the fight usually ends pretty quick.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Shane Rice of Los Angeles didn't waste any time taking down LA Boxing's Rick Screeton and getting the first-round submission in less than a minute in the main event of "OctoberFist 2007: Fight Night on Fright Night" on Wednesday in front of 1,082 at the Hyatt Regency Irvine.
"That's what we're taught to do at Rickson Gracie Academy," Rice said
Screeton went for a side kick in the opening seconds. Rice caught the kick and took down Screeton.Rice (3-3) put on a clinic from there, getting side control, knee to belly and then the full mount. Screeton (6-12) rolled over and gave up his back after eating a few punches. Rice locked in a rear-naked choke and it was over 46 seconds into the fight.The International Fight League's Conor Heun (6-2) made quick work of outclassed Noah Schnable (3-8) of Acampo, submitting him at 1:17 of the first round of their lightweight fight.
Heun landed glancing knee that dropped Schnable. Heun nearly landed in the full mount, but they got tangled in the ropes. After a brief moment to get the two fighters out of the ropes, Heun got the full mount, locked in an armbar and stretched it out to force Schnable to tap out at 1:17 of the first round.
Heun said he will remain a member of the IFL's L.A. Anacondas in 2008. The IFL allows him to fight for other promotions, and he said he hopes to be back on one of Roy Englebrecht's cards in Orange County in the future.
In a matchup of bantamweights making their pro debuts, Krav Maga's Junior Merkle of Los Angeles proved to have the more polished striking skills that Team Quest's Jovanny Velarde of Fresno. Velarde was taking a pounding in the third round before his corner threw in the towel to end the fight at 2:33 of the third round.
Merkle hurt Velarde, who had Team Quest's Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou in his corner, from the Thai clinch in the first round, blasting him with a knee to the face and a right hand to score a knockdown.
Velarde's wrestling skills saved him when he was taking too much punishment in the standup, but it was only a matter of time until Merkle was able to put enough punches together to induce the stoppage.
Team Quest middleweight Keith Perrigon of Camp Pendleton made his pro debut in style, submitting Unbreakable Gym's Josh Cross (0-2) of San Bernardino with a rear-naked choke at 1:14 of the opening round.
Perrigon was able to get the full mount after his second takedown of the round. He landed a series of punches until Cross gave up his back. It was only a matter of time before Perrigon sank in the rear-naked choke to notch the victory.
LA Boxing's Armando Contreras (2-0) of Oceanside gave City Boxing's Reed Shelger (0-1) of San Diego a rude welcome to the world of MMA, stopping him 27 seconds into the opening round of their light-heavyweight fight.
Contreras dropped Shelger, who was being cornered by WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber, with a right hook for a flash knockdown in the opening seconds of the bout. Shelger bounced up, but got clocked with another right hook seconds later. Contreras landed a couple of follow-up hammer fists before referee Jason Herzog stopped it.
Fight Science MMA's Chad George (5-3) of Los Angeles showed some nice ground skills with his first-round submission of Unbreakable Gym's Pete Sabala (2-4) of San Bernardino in a featherweight fight. George, who was being cornered by The Ultimate Fighter 5's Andy Wang, got Sabala to tap out to an armbar 45 seconds into the fight.
CARLOS ARIAS/The Register carias@ocregister.com
