Cage Rage 24: "Bring The Pain" Results
by Robert Sargent
Murilo "Ninja" Rua rebounded from his recent EliteXC Middleweight Championship loss to "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler and submitted Xavier "Professor X" Foupa-Pokam in the main event of an action-packed Cage Rage 24 card.
Also on the card, Drew "The Master" Fickett notched another win with an impressive submission victory over Mark "The Wizard" Weir.
Murilo "Ninja" Rua vs Xavier "Professor X" Foupa-Pokam
Foupa-Pokam came out striking early in the first round, landing a series of punishing leg kicks that momentarily stunned Rua, but Rua recovered and fought back with kicks of his own throughout the fast-paced round. Rua landed a solid right hand, but Foupa-Pokam countered moments later with a punishing punching combination of his own, which dazed Rua. Just before the end of the round, Foupa-Pokam landed a strong right kick to the body.After some striking exchanges early in the second round, Rua took the fight to the ground, where he had a decided advantage. Rua worked for an arm triangle from side control, but Foupa-Pokam resisted and Rua moved to mount instead. After Rua landed a series of punches, Foupa-Pokam rolled and gave up his back, allowing Rua to sink in a rear naked choke for the victory. Rua wins by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 3:47 of round two.
Paul Cahoon vs "The King of Rock n Rumble" Elvis Sinosic
Cahoon made short work of the veteran Sinosic, knocking him out in just 21 seconds.Cahoon immediately came forward and landed a series of hard punches before landing a vicious right hand that sent Sinosic to the canvas. The referee stopped the fight after a follow-up punch from Cahoon, and Cahoon is the winner by TKO (strikes) at 0:21 of round one.
Drew "The Master" Fickett vs Mark "The Wizard" Weir
This was a battle of veteran fighters, with both having competed all over the world, including numerous times in the UFC. In this battle, Fickett came out on top with a submission victory.Fickett scored an early takedown, but Weir promptly swept and reversed position, leaving Fickett on his back. Weir unleashed a flurry of power punches from top position, dazing Fickett but not enough to put him away. Fickett maintained his composure and managed to reverse and get Weir's back, where he sunk in a rear naked choke for the victory. Fickett is the winner by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 3:55 of round one.
Ross "The Gladiator" Pointon vs Marius Zaromskis
Pointon showed dramatically improved striking in this fight from when he was a contestant on season three of The Ultimate Fighter, but a vicious gash on his forehead forced the stoppage of this fight, which he was well on his way to winning.Pointon came out striking with kick after kick after kick, never letting Zaromskis settle into a rhythm. Zaromskis eventually struck back with a pair of jumping knees and other assorted strikes, but Pointon landed far more often.
In the second round, Pointon continued to dominate the striking, as he landed a solid body kick and rocked Zaromskis with a hard right hand that sent Zaromskis back. However, as Pointon went in for a takedown, Zaromskis countered with a knee that opened up a huge gash on Pointon's forehead and forced a halt to the fight. Zaromskis wins by TKO (cut) at 3:39 of round two.
Tom "Kong" Watson vs Mark "The Beast" Epstein
This fight was very much back and forth for the entire duration, with both fighters landing solid leg and body kicks throughout the fight, as well as numerous takedowns.All three rounds were close, but Epstein held a slight advantage in the first. He landed a series of leg kicks and secured a takedown, with Watson unable to do much to defend. Watson held the edge in the second round after getting Epstein down and landing multiple hard left hands from top position. Epstein came back in the third, where he took Watson down and maintained top position for the remainder of the round to take a razor-thin Split Decision.
Mark Buchanan vs George Castro
Buchanan, a late replacement who took this fight on just two days' notice, methodically picked apart Castro with a seemingly endless stream of rapid-fire leg kicks, which Castro had no answer for. Castro eventually began firing back with looping right hands, which Buchanan skilfully evaded, but Buchanan countered with a devastating left hook that sent Castro crashing to the mat. The referee stopped the fight after follow-up strikes from Buchanan, who wins by TKO (strikes) at 3:17 of round two. Castro falls to 0-1 after losing his debut fight.Undercard Fights:
Other fights in the evening saw Neil Grove defeat Robert Berry by TKO (Corner Stoppage) at 5:00 of round one, Ivan Serati defeated Lee Hasdell by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 1:34 of round two, Abdul Mohamed won an extremely close Majority Decision over Robbie Olivier, Robert Paczkow submitted James McSweeney with a choke at 2:09 of round one and Ronnie Mann defeated Jordan Miller by Submission (Triangle Choke) just 53 seconds into round one.
With an excellent main card, Cage Rage 24 was another quality event for the promotion.
