EVEREST // THE BIG SMOKE
ROUND ONE: We open season 2 with a pair of returning Welterweights, in D’Ante Jackson and Garfield Garret. The two men last met in last season’s Emerald City event, with D’Ante taking a knockout victory in the second round–and Garfield seemed keen to avenge that defeat early on, opening the fight with a flurry of great strikes that force Jackson to get his guard up. He’s able to deflect most of the damage, and after Garret’s flurry, connects with a big counter right before slamming a hook into Garfield’s body! Jackson presses the action, wrapping up a body lock and SLAMMING Garfield to the mat, passing swiftly to side-mount, then full mount! Garfield immediately shrimps to escape, but he can’t get much further than half-guard, which D’Ante passes with ease back to side mount. D’Ante slams a couple hammerfists into Garfield’s ribs, then passes back to full mount, this time unloading a big punch straight down to Garret’s face! Garret tries to shrimp to escape again, but this time, D’Ante rolls with him and takes his back! Garfield’s able to keep him from getting both hooks secured at first, but after eating a couple massive shots to the head, an opening appears and D’Ante swims his leg in, fully securing the back mount! D’Ante keeps throwing shots from the back, forcing Garfield to focus on protecting himself, and leaving an opening for a rear naked choke! D’Ante doesn’t quite get it all the way in, Garfield’s fighting enough to survive, but he’s in a bad spot, and forced to turtle up and focus on preventing D’Ante from getting the choke. After a long bout of hand fighting, D’Ante lets the choke go and just starts to rain down punches from the back! He’s eventually able to flatten Garfield out, and the official warns Garret that he has to fight back–but there’s no defense coming, and the fight is waved off!
Winner: D’Ante Jackson by KO (GnP) at 3:34 Round 1
Statistics: D’Ante Jackson
Punches 3/3 (100%)
Kicks 0/0 (0%)
Clinch strikes 1/1 (100%)
Takedowns 1/1 (100%)
GnP strikes 9/11 (82%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 170 s
Statistics: Garfield Garret
Punches 0/3 (0%)
Kicks 0/0 (0%)
Clinch strikes 0/0 (0%)
Takedowns 0/0 (0%)
GnP strikes 0/2 (0%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 170 s
Kayla Chapman’s Opinion: D’Ante opened the season with a big 6 point win, and looked good doing it. Not much more to be said about it. I thought he had that choke, credit to Garfield for fighting it off, but like last season, he opens season 2 with a first round defeat. Hopefully we’ll see him bounce back in Seattle.
ROUND ONE: The Heavyweights are next to take the stage, with two Everest debutants: 36 year old Mike Oxemull, a boxer with solid wrestling credentials, against Dominic Donaldson, a Muay Thai fighter out of Lightweight Champ Delaney Donovan’s Kratos Combat Sports. And there is absolutely no feeling out process between the two big men–from the moment they touch gloves, Donaldson is pressing the action, feigning a big punch that forces Mike to raise his guard, only to find himself caught in a Thai plum straight off the horn! Mike tries to shrug his way out of the clinch, but Dominic keeps his grip tight, and slams Mike with a couple powerful punches, then an absolutely massive uppercut that wobbles the older fighter! One more huge uppercut later, and Oxemull crumbles to the mat!
Winner: Dominic Donaldson by KO (Punches) at 0:39 Round 1
Statistics: Dominic Donaldson
Punches 0/0 (0%)
Kicks 0/0 (0%)
Clinch strikes 7/8 (88%)
Takedowns 0/0 (0%)
GnP strikes 0/0 (0%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 0 s
Statistics: Mike Oxemull
Punches 0/0 (0%)
Kicks 0/0 (0%)
Clinch strikes 0/0 (0%)
Takedowns 0/0 (0%)
GnP strikes 0/0 (0%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 0 s
Kayla Chapman’s Opinion: Oh. My. God. I think I talked about this in the past, but the sheer power the Heavyweights have scares me to death. Dominic got hold of the clinch and just…wailed on Mike until he fell down, it was actually terrifying to watch. I hope Mike’s okay, but all credit to Dominic and KCS for producing a flawless performance in Vancouver.
ROUND ONE: We go from the big boys, to the smallest weight class in Union Grand Prix–two Strawweights make their Everest debuts tonight–Megan Reed has had an up and down career as a Bantamweight, and cuts down to 115 for a chance to reinvent herself, while Jovanna Moreno makes her Everest debut after winning a unanimous decision over Kimber Taylor on DRIP Episode 3. And from the horn, these ladies are determined to make their statement on Everest–Reed opens with a huge straight right hand to the oncoming Moreno, that stumbles her back, but in the process it seems like Moreno was poked in the eye…and official Lars Levy takes a point from Reed right away! Moreno takes her time to recover, and Levy gives Reed another word before resuming the fight; Reed lands a stiff jab on the restart, and it seems like either Moreno got poked again, ro she’s still affected by the last one–either way, Lars doesn’t stop the fight this time, and Megan empties the clip; a big overhand right clunks Moreno in the nose, then an uppercut lands that wobbles her! Megan grabs a one-hand clinch and slams a couple more uppercuts to Moreno’s chin, and she drops to the mat!
Winner: Megan Reed by KO (Uppercut) at 0:54 Round 1
Statistics: Megan Reed
Punches 3/3 (100%)
Kicks 0/0 (0%)
Clinch strikes 2/2 (100%)
Takedowns 0/0 (0%)
GnP strikes 0/0 (0%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 0 s
Statistics: Jovanna Moreno
Punches 0/0 (0%)
Kicks 0/0 (0%)
Clinch strikes 0/0 (0%)
Takedowns 0/0 (0%)
GnP strikes 0/0 (0%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 0 s
Kayla Chapman’s Opinion: Where in the world did THAT come from? Megan Reed makes the absolute most out of her Everest debut, with a big 6 point win. The foul notwithstanding, this has to be the most impressive we’ve ever seen Megan look. If this is a glimpse at her at 115 lbs, there might be a new threat at Strawweight. For Jovanna, a rough night at the office, but she showed on DRIP that she has the talent to compete. Tonight just wasn’t her night.
ROUND ONE: The only returning Strawweight this season, Victoria Marshall didn’t have the best go of Season 1, only managing a draw against Katya Belinskaya, and suffering 3 first round defeats…and she doesn’t exactly get an easy opening to Season 2, coming up against 8-0 Eugenie Bombelles, who we saw win by walk-off KO on the second episode of DRIP before announcing herself as one of the Strawweights for this season. And Marshall clearly did watch the fight, as no sooner has the horn sounded, than she shoots for a single leg that sweeps Eugenie off her feet! Eugenie locks her guard, but Marshall takes her time, landing a couple shots to the ribs before passing to half-guard! Marshall keeps her own pace, never rushing, and focusing instead of landing when she throws–she slams a couple elbows down that force Bombelles to cover up, before Marshall frees her leg and passes to full mount! Eugenie’s able to scramble and get her half-guard back, but she eats some big shots to the ribs in the process. Victoria tries to pass to side mount, but Eugenie’s able to block her movement and recover full guard instead–but Marshall’s a step ahead this time, and passes back to side mount! Marshall lands a couple hammer fists to secure the position, but her deliberate pace works against her this time–despite being in control, the fight is stood up for inactivity when Marshall doesn’t work to pass. Marshall circles the cage, pawing for range, but Eugenie’s more comfortable on her feet, and catches Marshall on the move with a high kick! Marshall wobbles a bit, but when Bombelles pushes the pressure, Victoria drops for a single leg again, once again dragging Eugenie to the mat! Marshall’s pace changes dramatically this time, and she SLAMS down a few hammer fists that blood Eugenie’s nose before passing to half-guard; perhaps rushed, perhaps impatient, Marshall keep her momentum going, trying to switch straight to mount–and Eugenie takes advantage, managing to sweep Marshall all the way over to full mount! There’s not a whole lot of action from this position, though–it’s mostly Marshall trying to escape from underneath, before the horn sounds to end the round.
Kayla Chapman’s Scorecard (Unofficial): 10-9 Marshall — Control goes a long way, and she controlled the majority of the first round, but it’s pretty clear what the plan is here. It’ll be interesting to see how Eugenie adapts going into the second.
ROUND TWO: The second round begins in stark contrast to the first–rather than Marshall opening the offense, Bombelles begins with an absolutely WRENCHING kick to the body that almost looks like it might end the fight before anything else, but Marshal recovers and presses forward–into a 1-2-4 combination from Bombelles! She manages to deflect the straight punches, but eats the full force of the hook and falls to the mat! She’s not out, though, just knocked down, and Bombelles seems to know better than to play on the ground with her after last round; she backs up, forcing Marshall to her feet…only to land a crippling liver kick on the restart that puts an end to the fight!
Winner: Eugenie Bombelles by TKO (Middle Kick) at 1:01 Round 2
Statistics: Eugenie Bombelles
Punches 5/8 (62%)
Kicks 3/3 (100%)
Clinch strikes 0/0 (0%)
Takedowns 0/0 (0%)
GnP strikes 0/3 (0%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 247 s
Statistics: Victoria Marshall
Punches 0/0 (0%)
Kicks 0/0 (0%)
Clinch strikes 0/0 (0%)
Takedowns 2/2 (100%)
GnP strikes 14/18 (78%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 259 s
Kayla Chapman’s Opinion: Well…that was a heck of a recovery. Eugenie Bombelles probably had a tougher night than she expected, against now 0-4-1 Victoria Marshall, but nonetheless, the Frenchwoman comes out with the victory and 5 points on the board. It took most of the first round for her to get out of first gear, but once she got going, she looked great–especially with those kicks. That power, at 115 lbs? That could be a scary prospect going forward. For Marshall, it must hurt to lose like that after the first round, but you have to give credit to the folks at Twin Cities for the improvement in her game. Despite the loss, this is easily the best performance we’ve seen from her.
ROUND ONE: The third of three returning Welterweights, Season 1’s runner up Derrius Webb returns with sights set on the Welterweight Championship this year, and he opens his campaign with the only debutant at 170 lbs, Kratos Combat Sports’ grappling ace, Ricky Jackson. And Webb seems acutely aware of Jackson’s skills, as he opens the fight with a series of stinging leg kicks that look to take away Ricky’s mobility. Ricky, to his credit, weathers the first few, but when Derrius winds up for another, he has to try to check it–only for Webb to adjust and send the kick to the head instead! Jackson’s wobbled and drops for a double leg takedown, but Webb’s able to stay on his feet…albeit, not get away, as Jackson drives forward and ends up pushing Webb against the fence and securing both underhooks! Jackson tries to twist Webb to the mat, but when Webb keeps his balance, he switches tactics and pulls guard instead, but Webb immediately starts to move–he passes first to half-guard, then after throwing a couple shots that get deflected, he frees a leg and passes to full mount! Jackson recovers his half-guard quickly, but Webb manages to wriggle free and move to side mount; the two jockey for position for several seconds, alternating between near-passes for Webb, and near-escapes for Jackson, before Jackson manages to bait Webb into moving, and turns the position over, securing side mount for himself! Webb scrambles to recover his guard, and ultimately the fight stalls out, with official Jack Gibbs standing both men up. Webb goes back to the leg kicks, forcing Jackson to try to take the fight to the mat again before he eats any more kicks–but Webb nearly takes his head off with a high kick in the process! Jackson’s just able to avoid the impact, but his hesitation gives Webb an opening. A looping right hand misses, but the follow up straight punches don’t, with Webb tagging Jackson and knocking his head around, punctuated by a STRONG uppercut that stumbles Jackson! Webb connects with a massive body kick that causes Jackson visible discomfort, then just unleashes a flurry of punches, straights and hooks that have Jack Gibbs watching carefully, then a front kick to the sternum that stumbles Jackson back. A huge left hand stuns the Briton, and a couple follow up straight shots punctuate the combination, but Jackson survives to the horn.
Kayla Chapman’s Scorecard (Unofficial): 10-9 Webb — I’m almost tempted to say 10-8, Jackson barely got going that round, but I don’t know. Definitely a dominant round for Webb, Jackson needs to get going right away in round 2.
ROUND TWO: Jackson still looks a little stunned coming off the stool for round two, and Webb is happy to make that worse from the word go–a one-two combo lands and opens a cut over Jackson’s left eye, then a big, looping right hand clips Jackson’s chin and puts him on wobbly knees! Webb lands a huge, winging uppercut that puts Jackson on the mat, but the fight’s not waved off; instead, Webb takes the time to abuse Jackson’s legs more, landing a series of stinging kicks to the thighs that are going to cause Jackson more problems when he’s eventually stood up; after…frankly, too long, Webb finally takes a step back, beckoning Jackson back to his feet, and by this point, his face is covered in blood and his movement is clearly hampered by the kicks to the leg. And Webb knows it–immediately on the restart, Webb launches an inside leg kick that nearly buckles Jackson’s leg. He doubles up on it, then follows up with a body kick that nearly crumbles Jackson to the mat. Finally, Webb punctuates the series of kicks with one to the head, and Jackson goes stiff and hits the mat.
Winner: Derrius Webb by KO (High Kick) at 3:00 Round 2
Statistics: Derrius Webb
Punches 18/25 (72%)
Kicks 26/28 (93%)
Clinch strikes 1/2 (50%)
Takedowns 0/0 (0%)
GnP strikes 2/5 (40%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 120 s
Statistics: Ricky Jackson
Punches 4/6 (67%)
Kicks 0/2 (0%)
Clinch strikes 0/0 (0%)
Takedowns 0/0 (0%)
GnP strikes 0/0 (0%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 217 s
Kayla Chapman’s Opinion: What a display from Derrius Webb! Almost perfect accuracy with those kicks, and some blistering power displayed in the hands. Very, very impressive from the Spyda, and if this is what we should expect this season, the eventual 4th fight with D’Ante Jackson will be an absolute firefight. For Jackson, his grappling looked good when he had the chance to work it, but Webb took control of the fight early and didn’t let up. It’ll be interesting to see how he adjusts going forward, I don’t think this display is necessarily indicative of his skills.
ROUND ONE: Next up is our two Featherweight debuts: 10th Planet product and DRIP alum Sadie Williams, fresh off a first round Arm Triangle submission win on DRIP 3, faces Kratos Combat Sports’ French Crippler, Ciaran Callahan. And despite her reputation as a grappler, Sadie opens the fight with a huge high kick–but Ciaran’s able to deflect the impact, countering with some nice shots that Sadie’s only narrowly able to avoid. After the hectic opening, the fight slows down considerably, both fighters pawing at each other, not quite risking an engagement for a while–until Ciaran feigns a big punch and drops for a single leg! He sweeps Sadie’s leg out from under her, and passes straight to side-mount, quickly unloading a few hammerfists that Sadie’s able to cover up and defend, before recovering her half-guard, then full guard when Ciaran tries to improve his position. Ciaran postures up to deliver some ground and pound, but Williams swims through and catches his leg, locking up a kneebar! Ciaran grimaces as Sadie tries to position herself to get the tap, but before she can finish the hold, Ciaran escapes and scrambles on top, ending up in Sadie’s half-guard. Sadie quickly shrimps back to full guard and throws up a high guard, looking for an armbar–but before she can get anywhere close, Ciaran pulls his arm free and works to pass. He briefly gets past Sadie’s guard, but she quickly recovers and locks him down. The fight stalls out from here, and referee Bruno Alves stands both fighters up. On the restart, Sadie quickly drops and secures a double leg takedown, but only gets as far as Ciaran’s guard. The two jockey for position, Sadie passing to half-guard only for Ciaran to recover, but in the scramble, Sadie manages to swim around and pass to side mount! Once her position is secure, she snatches Callahan’s arm, locking up a kimura! Again, there’s a grimace from the KCS product, but he refuses to submit, and eventually manages to free his arm and sweep Sadie over, scrambling to his feet. Sadie stays on the mat for a few more seconds, before she’s stood up as well. Both fighters exchange punches that narrowly miss the mark, before Sadie takes the fight back to the mat with a single leg–this time passing to side mount! Both fighters continue the fight on their feet. You can hear how the people agree with that decision. Ciaran scrambles to recover his guard, and before anything more can happen, the horn sounds.
Kayla Chapman’s Scorecard (Unofficial): 10-9 Williams — That one’s tough to call, both had good moments, but Sadie came close to a submission win a couple times in that round. I’ll give it to her, but both looked impressive.
ROUND TWO: Callahan comes out swinging to start round two, popping Sadie with a one-two combination. Sadie pushes forward herself and again drops for a single leg takedown, dragging Ciaran back to the mat and passing to side mount. She drops a couple shots to the body while securing the position, but Callahan covers up before any damage can be done–so instead, Sadie looks to pass to mount! Ciaran catches her at the last second and manages to sneak a leg in, recovering half-guard, then managing to roll Sadie over, taking side-mount for himself! Both fighters try to establish a better position for themselves, with most of Sadie’s attempts to recover her guard blocked, but Ciaran’s attempts to improve his position countered by Sadie’s aggression. After a while stuck in a stalemate, the fight is stood back up. On the restart, Sadie paws at Ciaran with a jab, and Ciaran finally uncorks a big one-two combo that pops Sadie right in the nose! He presses the action forward, and Sadie manages to grab hold of him and drag the fight back to the mat, but Ciaran recovers his guard before she can get any further. The two work to improve position, and in the scramble it looks like Sadie might’ve caught a finger to the eye, but Bruno Alves doesn’t stop the fight, and Ciaran takes advantage of that by turning Sadie over and taking full mount! In a scramble to escape, Sadie tries to recover her guard and ends up giving up her back instead, but before Ciarane can do much more than throw a couple punches, Sadie spins in and turns Ciaran over, ending up on top, in the Frenchman’s guard. Sadie looks to move past Ciaran’s guard again, seemingly getting frustrated that he manages to block her so often, and in her hurry, gets swept to mount again! Despite the dominant position, Ciaran doesn’t pursue a finish, and with 20 seconds left in the round, the fight gets stood up again–and when he gets up, Callahan seems to be breathing heavily, possibly the grappling taking more out of him than he expected. Either way, on the restart, Sadie drags him right back to the mat with a single leg, and ends the round on top, in side-mount.
Kayla Chapman’s Scorecard (Unofficial): 10-9 Williams (20-18 Williams) — This one’s harder to call. Sadie’s aggression cost her position a few times, but Ciaran didn’t do anything with his opportunities. Sadie got the takedowns, and ended the round on top. I might edge the round to her, but this one was even closer than round 1.
ROUND THREE: Round three is a much more methodical start than the previous two; both fighters circle each other, Ciaran keeping Sadie at range by pawing at her with a jab. Sadie pushes the action and throws a few wild punches, but Ciaran’s able to counter and get the better of her, punctuating a combination with a big right hand that staggers Sadie back. Ciaran lands a brilliant one-two combo that draws Sadie’s guard up, then drops for a double leg takedown that drives Sadie to the mat! She manages to recover her guard, but Ciaran’s already on the move, passing to half-guard before she can defend the transition. He manages to wriggle his leg free, then almost jumps out of Sadie’s half-guard, almost getting all the way to full mount! Sadie blocks the mount, but Ciaran establishes side-mount instead. Sadie throws a few punches from the bottom, but they don’t do much, and ultimately give Ciaran an opportunity to pass to mount this time! Like round two, though, Ciaran doesn’t do a whole lot with his position, and ultimately, Bruno Alves stands the fighters up after a long stalemate. Sadie’s the aggressor on the restart, throwing a few punches but not landing any, while Ciaran answers with a series of solid shots! A much slower, more methodical round ticks down toward the end, the clapper sounding to signal ten seconds left as Callahan drills Sadie with a couple big body shots. The horn sounds to end a much less action-packed round, and both fighters hold their hands up confidently.
Kayla Chapman’s Scorecard (Unofficial): 10-9 Callahan (29-28 Williams) — This round was the easiest to score, by a lot. Ciaran handily won this round, definitely won the striking exchanges, he got the better positions on the ground, this was definitely his round. But, I don’t think it’s going to be enough to make up for the first two.
JUDGES’ SCORECARDS
Sadie Williams 10 9 9: 28
Ciaran Callahan 9 10 10: 29
Sadie Williams 10 9 9: 28
Ciaran Callahan 9 10 10: 29
Sadie Williams 10 9 9: 28
Ciaran Callahan 9 10 10: 29
Winner: Ciaran Callahan by Unanimous Decision
Statistics: Sadie Williams
Punches 0/5 (0%)
Kicks 0/0 (0%)
Clinch strikes 0/2 (0%)
Takedowns 5/5 (100%)
GnP strikes 0/3 (0%)
Submissions 3/3 (100%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 508 s
Statistics: Ciaran Callahan
Punches 22/43 (51%)
Kicks 0/0 (0%)
Clinch strikes 1/1 (100%)
Takedowns 2/2 (100%)
GnP strikes 2/13 (15%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 508 s
Kayla Chapman’s Opinion: Or, I could be wrong. I definitely thought Sadie won the first two rounds, but maybe that’s why I just report on the fights and don’t actually judge them. Either way, both had very impressive moments, Ciaran’s ability to nullify a lot of Sadie’s offense was particularly impressive. Those who watched the AWC shows will know, Sadie’s not somebody to play with on the ground, and Ciaran handled her aggression pretty solidly. I’m curious how both go, going forward, as the returning Featherweights both provide interesting contrasts to Sadie and Ciaran’s styles.
ROUND ONE: Round 7 of a rivalry–back in Seattle last season, Catherine Harris won a highly contentious unanimous decision over CC Flynn, largely by controlling where the fight took place. The two met again in the title fight of season one, and Flynn got revenge on Harris, winning an arguable unanimous decision of her own. Both returned to Everest for season two, and pick up right where they left off in San Francisco–almost literally, as Harris trips Flynn to the mat barely a second after the horn! Flynn locks her guard, but eats a couple nasty elbows to the ribs. Harris moves to pass to side mount, but Flynn blocks the transition and manages to take advantage of Harris’s aggression, turning her over but only getting as far as Cat’s guard. Cat’s not a passive fighter by any means, and immediately starts to improve her position–and, in the process, baits CC into defending one way, only to get swept over the other! Harris lands in full mount, and immediately starts dropping BIG elbows from the top! One, two, three shots, all with bad intentions, that cause some blood to be seen in CC’s mouth. CC scrambles to escape the mount, and manages to more or less shove Harris off, escaping to her feet and forcing Cat to follow. On the restart, Cat lands a quick one-two combo, then blasts her way into a powerful double leg takedown! Flynn doesn’t even have time to react before she’s put back on the mat. Rather than eat Harris’s elbows again, CC ties up Cat’s arms and tries to stall out the fight. Cat frees one arm, slamming a shot into CC’s ribs before posturing up and dropping a few more elbows from within CC’s guard. CC defends as best she can, absorbing as much of the impact as possible, which Cat takes advantage of and passes to side-mount while CC’s not defending the transition. In a quick movement, Cat moves from side-mount to full mount, and again the Canadian starts dropping massive punches from the top, landing five unanswered blows before CC’s able to tie her up again and recover at least half-guard. The fight stalls out again in this position, and both women are stood up. Both women trade punches on the restart, but neither land anything significant, Cat getting the best of the brief exchange, leading to another takedown! CC manages to recover her guard and gets on the move herself this time, turning Cat over and even passing into Harris’s half-guard–but she knows this isn’t where the fight favors her, and she backs out and forces Cat to her feet. The last minute of the round slows down considerably, with both women more just pawing at each other than anything. Cat’s corner shouts that there’s 30 seconds left, and she powers into another double leg takedown, sweeping CC’s legs from under her and passing all the way to side mount straight from the takedown. She moves to mount with ease, but can’t do anything with it before the round ends.
Kayla Chapman’s Scorecard (Unofficial): 10-8 Harris — Cat took CC down at will, landed some massive shots, and while CC was able to escape each time, she did…basically nothing through the first round. There was a point where I definitely thought the fight would be stopped, which makes me lean toward 10-8.
ROUND TWO: We start as we mean to go on–Harris starts round two with a sweeping single leg takedown, that she uses to pass to side mount right away! She easily slides into mount, though CC scrambles to recover any position, and the first several seconds on the ground are Harris alternating between trying to pass to mount, and securing side-mount as a way of staying on top. Eventually, she manages to get to full mount and establish it–only for CC to wildly buck up and turn her over! Cat tries to gets back on top, but CC’s able to keep her position in Cat’s guard, if not necessarily improve it–so, instead, Cat just starts throwing punches from the bottom, both to the face and to the ribs, that force CC to try to improve her position to stop the attack…and that’s when Cat goes back to focusing on position, turning CC over and taking full mount again! CC tries to push Cat off to free up space, but Cat swings around and catches CC’s extended arm for an armbar! CC turns in and stacks Cat up, but Cat almost manages to turn and establish a belly down armbar…just before CC’s able to rip her arm free and back out, forcing Cat to her feet. It takes Harris a few seconds of trying to goad CC in again, but eventually she’s stood up and the fight restarts on the feet. CC swings a MASSIVE punch that lands to Harris’s temple and wobbles her, but when Flynn moves in to attack, Harris drags her back to the mat with a single leg trip. Cat throws less-than-effective punches to both CC’s ribs and her head, but Flynn defends well and forces Cat to fight for her posture first; it takes a while, but Cat’s able to rip her head free of CC’s grasp, which she punctuates with an absolutely ENORMOUS elbow that causes referee Darrell Stevens to warn Flynn to defend. Rather than focus on pounding CC out, Harris passes to full mount again, establishing the dominant position before raining down three more massive shots from the top! Flynn tries to recover her guard, but Harris rolls with her and takes her back instead! With only ten seconds left, Harris empties the clip, trying to finish the fight from the back, but the horn sounds before anything meaningful lands.
Kayla Chapman’s Scorecard (Unofficial): 10-9 Harris (20-17 Harris) — Honestly, other than the one big punch, Cat dominated this round, but it doesn’t feel like she did the same kind of damage as round 1. The armbar wasn’t especially close, and while she landed some big shots toward the end, I don’t think it was enough to go 10-8 again.
ROUND THREE: For the third round in a row, Cat drops for a single leg fresh off the horn; this time, though, Flynn fights back, and forces Harris to pull guard–after which, basically nothing happens for about 30 seconds. CC can’t advance her position, but Cat can’t get back on top, and Darrell Stevens stands them back up. Harris launches a couple stiff jabs that just barely miss, before grabbing the bodylock and slamming CC to the mat! CC manages to recover her guard, locking down Cat’s arms in the process. Cat struggles to free herself from CC’s grip, with both ladies jockeying for position in Flynn’s guard for the best part of 40 seconds before Cat’s able to rip her arms free, and pass to side mount! She gets too aggressive, though, and when she tries to get to full mount, CC recovers half-guard. CC throws a couple shots from underneath, but they don’t do anything, and otherwise she’s got a lock down on Cat to keep herself from being mounted again. Darrell Stevens eventually stands them up again, but Cat takes the fight right back to the mat. This time, she’s determined to get the finish, and slams down a series of elbows that force CC to cover up! One gets through and rocks Flynn’s head, but for the most part, she’s able to defend it and lock her guard up again. Every time CC starts to try to get out from under Cat, she’s cracked with another elbow, but that’s not enough for Darrell Stevens, who stands them up again. Cat actually looks at him with a little frustration, as she was working with what she had, but the fight gets restarted on the feet anyway…and once again, Harris drags Flynn to the mat, this time with a powerful double leg! When she hits the mat, CC seems to wince, and Cat takes note of that, slamming a few hammer fists to the ribs that CC barely manages to cover up. The fight slows down here, as Harris looks to pass, but CC manages to keep her from advancing her position any; when Harris gets overly aggressive, CC even turns her over, but only gets as far as Harris’s locked guard. Neither woman advances the position from here, and the official stands them up once again. With less than thirty seconds left in the fight, Cat shoots for one last takedown, backing CC all the way to the cage wall, but CC manages to defend it–but it’s in that struggle that the fight ends.
Kayla Chapman’s Scorecard (Unofficial): 10-9 Harris (30-26 Harris) — A much slower round than the others, but still, easily a round Cat Harris dominated. This should be a pretty straightforward decision, I’ll have questions if anyone gave any round to CC.
JUDGES’ SCORECARDS
C.C. Flynn 9 9 9: 27
Catherine Harris 10 10 10: 30
C.C. Flynn 9 9 9: 27
Catherine Harris 10 10 10: 30
C.C. Flynn 9 9 9: 27
Catherine Harris 10 10 10: 30
Winner: Catherine Harris by Unanimous Decision
Statistics: C.C. Flynn
Punches 1/5 (20%)
Kicks 0/0 (0%)
Clinch strikes 0/0 (0%)
Takedowns 0/0 (0%)
GnP strikes 0/9 (0%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 620 s
Statistics: Catherine Harris
Punches 6/8 (75%)
Kicks 0/0 (0%)
Clinch strikes 0/2 (0%)
Takedowns 9/11 (82%)
GnP strikes 26/84 (31%)
Submissions 1/1 (100%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 630 s
Kayla Chapman’s Opinion: Through six rounds of fighting between these two, we had a couple pretty contentious decisions–this one wasn’t that. This was dominance, from the first second to the last, by Catherine Harris, who puts a stamp on the Featherweight Division, if not getting all the points she might’ve wanted out of the fight. As for CC, this fight didn’t feel like the same fighter we saw in season one; it might be too early for me to say that, especially as she and Harris always have drag-out fights like this, but bar the one big punch in round two, this just didn’t feel like a CC Flynn performance. Hopefully we see her form turn around in the future.
ROUND ONE: Our main event of the evening–the Heavyweight King, against a Heavyweight named King! Dax Levandrier returns to defend his Heavyweight Championship, against a supreme grappler in Botswana’s Big Kaiju, Benjamin King. The horn sounds, and right away Dax presses the action with a series of blows that put King on his bicycle. Dax flicks a jab out to gauge range, which gives King a chance to shoot for a single leg–but the Champ was ready for it, and gets out of the way before he can get taken down. King throws a stiff right hand, but Dax avoids it and counters with an absolutely MASSIVE right hook that topples the Big Kaiju!
Winner: Dax Levandrier by KO (Hook) at 1:04 Round 1
Statistics: Dax Levandrier
Punches 6/8 (75%)
Kicks 0/0 (0%)
Clinch strikes 0/0 (0%)
Takedowns 0/0 (0%)
GnP strikes 0/0 (0%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 0 s
Statistics: Benjamin King
Punches 0/3 (0%)
Kicks 0/0 (0%)
Clinch strikes 0/1 (0%)
Takedowns 0/1 (0%)
GnP strikes 0/0 (0%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 0 s
Kayla Chapman’s Opinion: See: my comments about the Heavyweights’ power from earlier. Goodness gracious, Dax Levandrier picks up right where he left off in San Francisco last season. A couple big punches, and one more contender goes down. It’s going to be hard to bet against the champ, no matter who he comes up against. The stats aren’t kind to King, but he survived the first flurry from the Heavyweight Champ, and if the timing on that takedown was a fraction quicker, this might be a whole different conversation. Don’t write him off yet, just based on tonight.
Venue: Pacific Coliseum
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Attendance: 11,246
Date: June 25, 2022
Fighter Payouts: $765,000
Gate: $843,450
FIGHT OF THE NIGHT
Ciaran Callahan vs Sadie Williams
PERFORMANCE OF THE NIGHT
Dominic Donaldson, Megan Reed
TOP EARNERS
1. Megan Reed ($145,000)
2. Dax Levandrier ($100,000)
3. CC Flynn ($70,000)
4. Derrius Webb ($70,000)
RECAP
[6 PTS.] D’Ante Jackson def. Garfield Garret by KO (GnP) at 3:34 Round 1
[6 PTS.] Dominic Donaldson def. Mike Oxemull by KO (Punches) at 0:39 Round 1
[6 PTS.] Megan Reed def. Jovanna Moreno by KO (Uppercut) at 0:54 Round 1
[5 PTS.] Eugenie Bombelles def. Victoria Marshall by TKO (Middle Kick) at 1:01 Round 2
[5 PTS.] Derrius Webb def. Ricky Jackson by KO (High Kick) at 3:00 Round 2
[3 PTS.] Ciaran Callahan def. Sadie Williams by Unanimous Decision
[3 PTS.] Catherine Harris def. CC Flynn by Unanimous Decision
[6 PTS.] Dax Levandrier def. Benjamin King by KO (Hook) at 1:04 Round 1
UPDATED POINT RANKINGS
HEAVYWEIGHT
#1 [06 PTS.] Dax Levandrier (8-1-0)
#1 [06 PTS.] Dominic Donaldson (6-1-0)
#3 [00 PTS.] Mike Oxemull (3-1-0)
#3 [00 PTS.] Benjamin King (0-1-0)
WELTERWEIGHT
#1 [06 PTS.] D’Ante Jackson (7-4-0)
#2 [05 PTS.] Derrius Webb (8-4-0)
#3 [00 PTS.] Ricky Jackson (4-7-0)
#3 [00 PTS.] Garfield Garret (0-5-0)
FEATHERWEIGHT
#1 [03 PTS.] Catherine Harris (4-2-0)
#1 [03 PTS.] Ciaran Callahan (1-0-0)
#3 [00 PTS.] C.C. Flynn (6-3-0)
#3 [00 PTS.] Sadie Williams (6-4-0)
STRAWWEIGHT
#1 [06 PTS.] Megan Reed (6-6-0)
#2 [05 PTS.] Eugenie Bombelles (9-0-0)
#3 [00 PTS.] Jovanna Moreno (3-2-0)
#3 [00 PTS.] Victoria Marshall (0-4-1)
▲ = Ascend in Rankings
▼ = Descend in Rankings
