Adrenaline MMA 1 Results
by Robert Sargent
Adrenaline MMA's debut show in Chicago was largely a success, with a number of fast-paced bouts and exciting finishes. In the heavyweight main event, highly-touted Mike Russow submitted Jason Guida with a front neck crank in round one.
The lone blemishes on the card were the horrible opening bout between Joe Jordan and Ryan Williams and an unfortunate disqualification in the co-main event.
Mike Russow vs Jason Guida
Guida, the brother of UFC fighter Clay Guida, stepped into this fight at the last minute after Russow's original opponent, Jeff Monson, was forced to withdraw with injury. Unfortunately for Guida, he fell victim to a front neck crank midway through round one and was forced to submit.After some weak strikes, the fighters clinched against the cage and Russow scored a brief takedown. Guida escaped two consecutive standing guillotine choke attempts, but Russow took him down again. Guida managed to battle back to his feet and escaped another guillotine attempt. Once again, Russow scored a takedown. As Guida tried to get back to his feet, Russow locked on a modified guillotine, which was more of a neck crank, and Guida was forced to submit. Another impressive performance for Russow.
Winner: Mike Russow by Submission (Front Neck Crank) at 2:11 of round one. He improves to 10-1-0, 1 NC.
Terry Martin vs Daiju Takase
Takase, somewhat of a gatekeeper for years in Japan who is most famous for submitting Anderson Silva in a giant upset in 2003, seemed to finally begin to find a striking rhythm in round two, but was eventually disqualified after a series of low blows.Round one was largely dominated by Martin, first dropping Takase early on as Takase attempted a takedown. Martin continued to land hard rights for the next minute, pushing Takase back to the cage and defending all of Takase's takedown attempts. In the middle of the round, Martin dropped Takase again, with another hard right hook, then punished him with more punches after Takase got back to his feet. Martin landed another right that sent Takase back to the cage, with Takase coming back with a failed rolling wheel kick. Following another failed takedown attempt, Takase unintentionally drilled Martin with a low blow that required a lengthy recovery period. Martin easily takes round one.
Takase landed another low blow early in round two, but managed to open a cut below Martin's right eye that had formed at the end of the previous round. Another takedown attempt from Takase failed, but he began to find his range with strikes. Takase attempted a kick to the thigh of Martin, but missed and hit another groin strike, this time resulting in a point deduction. Finally, Takase's aim with the low kicks improved, and he landed a series of them to the body and inner thigh of Martin. Unfortunately, another kick landed low and the referee deemed that he'd seen enough, disqualifying Takase.
Winner: Terry Matin by DQ (Low Blows) at 3:35 of round two. He improves to 17-4-0.
"The Meat Cleaver" Forrest Petz vs Brian "Mandingo" Gassaway
Petz managed to barely survive a near-knockout in round one and did enough to take rounds two and three on the scorecards for a close, comeback victory.Following a striking exchange and a lengthy clinch, Gassaway landed a quick combination and then dropped Petz with a right-left combo in the middle of the round, then followed it up with a barrage of punches and hammerfists on the ground. Petz, seemingly seconds away from being finished, somehow managed to survive the onslaught and attempted to defend the flurry of strikes from Gassaway. Gassaway moved to mount and landed more strikes, then took Petz's back and tried for a rear naked choke. Petz defended the submissions and miraculously made it out of round one, just barely.
Petz made a comeback in round two, landing the better strikes as Gassaway began to tire. Gassaway managed to score a takedown, but did nothing on the ground and Petz locked on a weak guillotine. With two minutes left, the fight was brought back to the feet and Petz continued to outpunch Gassaway. Petz used hooks and jabs to keep Gassaway at a distance, as Gassaway's punches decreased considerably in speed and power. Petz scored a takedown with 45 seconds left and landed a few effective punches before the bell, taking the close second round in the process.
Gassaway landed effective jabs early in round three, but Petz replied with a series of quick punches and hard left hooks. A punch from Gassaway opened a cut on the bridge of Petz's nose, but Petz's speed and punching combinations began to overwhelm Gassaway. Petz scored a takedown with two minutes left and landed in side-control, landing strikes that caused a large mouse to swell on Gassaway's forehead. Gassaway managed to regain guard, but Petz punished him with strikes from the top and moved back to side-control. The fight returned to the feet with 20 seconds left and both fighters landed punches before the bell. Petz takes the round and secures the very close victory.
Winner: Forrest Petz by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) after three rounds. He improves to 14-5-0.
Bart "Bartimus" Palaszewski vs "The Grinder" Jeff Cox
After being dropped and completely dominated in round one, Palaszewski managed to break his losing streak with a vicious head kick in the second round that knocked Cox out and ended the fight.Cox scored a takedown in the opening minute and landed strikes from Palaszewski's guard. This continued for nearly three minutes until the fight was brought back to the feet with just over one minute left in the round. Palaszewski came forward with punches and Cox countered with a left high kick. Seconds later, Cox countered a Palaszewski combo with a right hook that dropped Palaszewski. Cox dove in for the finish, but Palaszewski quickly recovered and held Cox in his guard until the bell. Cox takes the dominant round 10-8.
Both fighters landed effective punches in the opening minute of round one, with Cox defending a takedown attempt from Palaszewski. Cox came forward with punches and tried unsuccessfully for a takedown. Both fighters landed combinations, with Palaszewski beginning to get the better of the exchanges. Cox landed a right hook and tried for another takedown, but Palaszewski sprawled to defend. Palaszewski began to mix up his strikes, with low kicks and a series of punches to the liver. After more shots to the body, Palaszewski landed a left hook and followed it up with a running head kick that knocked Cox out cold.
Winner: Bart Palaszewski by KO (Head Kick) at 3:07 of round two. He improves to 29-11-0.
Rory Markham vs "The Silent Assassin" Jay Ellis
Ellis was anything but silent, coming out flying - literally - in this bout, but was quickly submitted with one of the loosest triangle chokes in history.Ellis sprinted forward immediately after the bell rang, flying through the air with an attempted flying knee, but missed the mark and wound up on his back on the ground. Markham ended up in Ellis's half-guard, but Ellis managed to reverse and take top position. However, he was quickly trapped in a very weak triangle, which seemed to be easily escapable, and tapped out. A bizarre finish to a quick fight.
Winner: Rory Markham by Submission (Triangle Choke) at 0:56 of round one. He improves to 14-4-0.
Clay French vs Jameel "The Real Deal" Massouh
French, the reigning King of the Cage Lightweight Champion, dominated Massouh in this bout, eventually locking on a fight-ending rear naked choke in round two.Massouh landed an effective variety of kicks early in round one, but French replied with quick punches and a takedown. Massouh used the rubber guard to keep French from doing much damage on the ground and little happened until French stood up and landed a pair of diving punches. French moved to half-guard, then landed a hard left punch and began teeing off with strikes. Massouh tried to regain guard, but French punished him for his efforts. French moved to side-control and landed a few shots before Massouh got back to his feet with 45 seconds left. French landed a hard left that rocked the head of Massouh, then landed a high kick and scored a takedown just before the bell. French easily takes the round.
Massouh came out kicking again in round two, but was met with a hard counterpunch from French. After more kicks from Massouh, French scored a takedown and landed punches from Massouh's guard. French moved to side-control, then took Massouh's back and tried for a choke. After two failed rear naked choke attempts, French managed to secure a jaw crusher that, while not choking Massouh, applied enough pressure and pain to enduce a tapout.
Winner: Clay French by Submission (Jaw Crusher) at 3:18 of round two. He improves to 16-2-0.
Joe "Pork Chop" Jordan vs Ryan "Bad News" Williams
The only "bad news" in this atrocious main card opener was that fans were forced to watch it, as both fighters fought extremely passively, with Williams throwing very few strikes and Jordan doing nothing but taunting and throwing wild haymakers.All three rounds were nearly identical, with Williams throwing occasional weak strikes and offering very little offence. Jordan, taunting and bobbing his head throughout the fight, did nothing but land jabs and throw wild haymakers, most of which missed completely. Williams managed to score a takedown late in round one and stole the round in the process, while Jordan's striking, as poor as it was, was enough to win rounds two and three. The crowd booed heavily throughout the fight.
A very poor performance from both fighters, but especially from the 56-fight veteran, Jordan.
Winner: Joe Jordan by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) after three rounds. He improves to 42-12-2.
Undercard Fights:
Mike Stumpf defeated Dom O'Grady by TKO (Strikes) at 3:52 of round two. He improves to 10-1-0.Tom Belt defeated Marcus Levesseur by TKO (Strikes) at 4:10 of round one. He improves to 4-1-0.
Herc Hayes defeated Kerry "Meat Truck" Schall by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) after three rounds. He improves to 8-5-0.
Aaron Rosa defeated Ron "Killing" Fields by TKO (Strikes) at 0:34 of round two. He improves to 11-2-0.
Hector Urbina defeated Dave Kleczkowski by TKO (Strikes) at 1:19 of round two. He improves to 12-4-0.
Louis Taylor defeated Adam Maciejewski by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) after three rounds. He improves to 3-0-0.
Joe Pearson defeated John Hosman by Submission (Triangle Choke) at 1:42 of round one. He improves to 26-10-1. An amazing 24 of Pearson's 26 wins have come by submission, with 14 of them via triangle choke.
Announced during the event was that the upcoming bout between Fedor Emelianenko and Tim Sylvia at Affliction "Banned" on July 19th will be the first-ever World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts (WAMMA) unified title fight. The title is intended to recognise the holder as the single greatest champion in their division, in any promotion. Emelianenko vs Sylvia will be for the WAMMA Unified Heavyweight Championship.
Overall, the debut Adrenaline MMA event was a success, but it remains to be seen whether the promotion will be able to survive the test of time, where other promotions have recently failed.
