ROUND ONE: Derrius Webb comes out swinging as the round begins: a looping overhand right that juuuuuuust misses D’Ante’s chin, but leaves him open to a couple quick jabs in retaliation–which Webb eats and responds in kind, landing 3 rapid fire jabs then a straight right hand that staggers Jackson! D’Ante drops for a takedown, but gets absolutely ROCKED with a kick to the head before he can ever get close! He doesn’t go down, though, and Webb presses the action with a stinging leg kick, then a follow up shot to the body. Jackson tries to retaliate with a big right hook, but Webb ducks back and lands a quick uppercut that opens a small cut on D’Ante’s chin! Both men take a step back, measuring distance and circling one another, with Webb firing leg kicks at every opportunity–and just when D’Ante starts to check them, Derrius changes things up and lands another big kick to the body! Rather than play at range, Derrius jabs his way in close, but Webb avoids the majority of the shots and lands one big shot before circling out. D’Ante keeps his pursuit up–and for his efforts, he eats a low leg kick, just above the ankle, that clearly does some damage as he’s hobbling a bit in pursuit of Webb. Jackson manages to fight his way in close and try to secure a takedown, but Webb keeps his balance, forcing Jackson to jump guard! Webb takes advantage of Jackson being off balance on the way down, though, and passes with ease to half-guard. Jackson’s on the offense, though, working to recover his guard–but Webb manages to pin a leg down and pass to side mount! A couple pitter-patter punches give Derrius enough room to move to full mount, then all the way to D’Ante’s back when he tries to recover half-guard! Webb immediately goes for a rear naked choke, trying to crossface D’Ante until his neck’s exposed…and in the process, it looks like he might’ve poked D’Ante in the eye! Bruno Alves didn’t see it, though, and the fight continues, with Webb managing to get his arm under D’Ante’s neck–but D’Ante manages to rip the securing arm loose, and eventually turn over and take top position, in Derrius’s guard! Derrius is quick to get his position back, making D’Ante defend a variety of transitions, before eventually managing to sweep Jackson over and take full mount once again! Jackson’ struggles to escape, forcing Webb to defend hip escapes and an explosive bridge–causing an inadvertent clash of heads, that Bruno Alves either ignores or doesn’t notice, just before the horn sounds to end round 1.
Kayla Chapman’s Scorecard (Unofficial): 10-8 Webb — An incredibly dominant round, that saw Webb nearly knock out AND submit Jackson. If it wasn’t 10-8, I dunno what could be. The fouls might put some of the judges off, I guess? But they weren’t penalties, so it shouldn’t.
ROUND TWO: Jackson gives Webb a taste of his own medicine to begin round 1, with a big overhand right that keeps Derrius on his toes, although Jackson doesn’t land the shot. Derrius takes advantage of D’Ante’s commitment to the heavy shot, and lands a MASSIVE combination, two jabs, a straight right, then a winging left uppercut that snaps D’Ante’s head back! Webb punctuates his flurry with a vicious oblique kick that wrenches Jackson’s knee and forces him back. Derrius stalks his rival, throwing a kick to the body that D’Ante defends–only to change trajectory and slam the kick into the side of Jackson’s head, and drop him like a sack of potatoes! Bruno Alves doesn’t need to wave the fight off, Derrius already has his hands in the air before D’Ante even hits the ground!
Winner: Derrius Webb by KO (High Kick) at 0:52 Round 2
Statistics: Derrius Webb
Punches 15/20 (75%)
Kicks 11/11 (100%)
Clinch strikes 3/3 (100%)
Takedowns 0/0 (0%)
GnP strikes 0/0 (0%)
Submissions 1/1 (100%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 192 s
Statistics: D’Ante Jackson
Punches 0/6 (0%)
Kicks 0/0 (0%)
Clinch strikes 0/0 (0%)
Takedowns 0/1 (0%)
GnP strikes 0/0 (0%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 192 s
Kayla Chapman’s Opinion: Far and away the most one-sided fight of these two mens’ rivalry, Derrius Webb puts an exclamation mark on a flawless season 2 campaign. With the title around his waist this season, it’ll be interesting to see: does he come back to defend in season 3, or does he move on to Union or Ryujin? If I were Derrius, I’d test the waters at Middleweight in Union. I don’t think Everset is going to help hone his skills any more than they already are. As for D’Ante, a rough night, but let’s not pretend this performance is indicative of him as a fighter–he could easily get the call as well, and I’d be very curious how he goes in the Middleweight division as well.
ROUND ONE: No sooner has the fight started, than Dax lands an absolutely MASSIVE right hook to Donaldson’s chin! He stumbles back, but as Dax presses forward, he nearly walks right into a massive return punch from Donaldson! While the punch misses, Dominic’s able to tie Dax up in a clinch and turn him against the cage before digging a series of shots to the body. Dax ties up Dominic’s arm so he can’t throw any more shots, and the fight stalls out abruptly–and Ron Anderson has no patience for an inactive clinch, separating the men and restarting the bout at range. Dax unloads a quick three punch combo; Dominic’s able to deflect a couple of the punches, but the third connects hard! This time, Dax makes sure to keep his distance, while still throwing BIG shots, blasting Dominic with a right hand and an uppercut that drops him to the mat! Dax steps back and beckons Dominic back to his feet–only to absolutely STARCH him with a right hand when he stands back up, dropping him to the canvas again! While Dominic’s not out-out, Ron Anderson waves the fight off to prevent him from taking any further damage, and Dax Levandrier is once again the Heavyweight Champion!
Winner: Dax Levandrier by TKO (Punch) at 2:22 Round 1
Statistics: Dominic Donaldson
Punches 0/2 (0%)
Kicks 0/0 (0%)
Clinch strikes 3/5 (60%)
Takedowns 0/0 (0%)
GnP strikes 0/0 (0%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 11 s
Statistics: Dax Levandrier
Punches 9/11 (82%)
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: Goodness gracious, what a rebound from Portland! Dax Levandrier looked human for once in his life in Portland, but he corrected that mistake in a hurry, and retains his title through season 2. Now 2-for-2 in championships, I think it’s time for him to move up–and personally, I wanna see how he goes against the heavy hitters in Ryujin. And for Dominic, let’s not ignore what he did this season: literally a perfect round-robin, including a knockout of Dax. He’s 100% a threat wherever he goes, tonight just didn’t go his way. If he comes back to Everest next season, I think he’s immediately a favorite–if he moves up, it’ll be interesting to see how he goes.
ROUND ONE: Both ladies touch gloves, and while Marshall takes a half-step back, Bombelles is quick to engage, winging a looping right hand that CRASHES into Victoria’s chin! Clearly stunned early, Victoria tries to make a little room–which gives Eugenie room to throw a Superman Punch that just barely misses–and gives Victoria a chance to counter, though her uppercut is deflected relatively easily. Victoria seems to have her wits about her again, and presses forward with a quick left jab, right hook combo, but Eugenie avoids the shots and counters with a WICKED oblique kick that looks like it might have hyperextended Marshall’s knee! She’s definitely struggling, and the subsequent takedown attempt…doesn’t really come close. Victoria eats a knee on the way in, but she still tries to power Eugenie to the mat–to no avail; Eugenie’s able to keep her balance, and force Marshall to pull guard. Victoria’s inexperience off her back is evident, as Eugenie’s able to control any of Victoria’s attempts to improve her position, and gradually makes her move, first to half-guard, then to side-mount, then to full mount! Victoria throws up a few less than effective punches before attempting to shrimp escape and recover her half-guard…but Eugenie rolls with her, taking her back this time, wrapping up both hooks! Bombelles digs for a rear naked choke, but Victoria’s able to fight the hands off and throws a couple punches back at Eugenie’s head–nothing too effective, though. Eventually, despite the dominant position, Archie Driscoll has to stand them up due to inactivity–and Eugenie picks up where she left off, landing a sharp one-two combo that wobbles Victoria, then a massive left straight that nearly turns the lights out on the Twin Cities fighters. Nonetheless, Victoria presses forward, feigning a takedown attempt…but Eugenie doesn’t bite on it, and just lands a stream of punches that rock Victoria’s head back, then a massive overhand right that finally puts her down!
Winner: Eugenie Bombelles by KO (Punches) at 3:17 Round 1
Statistics: Eugenie Bombelles
Punches 12/14 (86%)
Kicks 2/2 (100%)
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 92 s
Statistics: Victoria Marshall
Punches 0/3 (0%)
Kicks 0/0 (0%)
Clinch strikes 0/0 (0%)
Takedowns 0/1 (0%)
GnP strikes 0/5 (0%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 92 s
Kayla Chapman’s Opinion: Eugenie clearly learned her lesson from Vancouver–don’t give Victoria Marshall an inch. It was a nearly flawless performance from the Frenchwoman, who becomes the 4th Strawweight Champion, following in the footsteps of Gianna Howard, Elliot McMillan, and Rachel Parsons. Nearly flawless from start to finish, there’s no question she’s due for a call from Dante Reed–imagine a fight between her and Gianna Howard, though? Crazy. As for Victoria, a rough way to cap off what was a much better season 2, but you can’t take away from the improvement she’s made since moving to Twin Cities. I want to see her back in Everest next season, because, with a little refinement to her striking, I think she could be a serious threat at 115, but right now, she’s too reliant on her wrestling.
ROUND ONE: The final fight of season 2 begins similar to how the two fighters left off in Seattle: a touch of the gloves, followed by Cat Harris powering Ciaran to the mat with a double leg takedown! Both fighters exchange punches on the ground, but neither lands anything of significance–in fact, it’s Cat’s bigger windup that gives Ciaran a chance to reverse position and drive her over to her back, ending up in Harri’s guard instead! There’s a lot of jockeying between the two, small movements and attempts to make space to improve position, but for a good minute on the ground, the most significant action is a hammerfist from the bottom from Harris–until she tries to reverse position Ciaran, and ends up giving him room to sit back for an ankle lock! Cat manages to kick herself free to the lock, but Ciaran scrambles back on top–for a moment, anyway, until Cat’s able to switch her hips and turn him over, taking full mount now! Harris’s gameplan on top is no secret by now, and she wastes no time in going to work, dropping BIG shots to the side of Callahan’s head! Ciaran eats several shots before managing to tie up Cat’s arm, and in a burst of energy, turns her back over, ending up in her guard. Harris digs a couple heel kicks to the ribs, getting warned by Colin Davenport not to hit the spine, although he doesn’t cite her for a foul. The fight stalls out in this position, though, and while Colin gives them time to work, he eventually has to stand them up for inactivity. Back on the feet, Harris feigns a punch and drops for a double leg takedown again–this time, Ciaran didn’t get a chance to even see it coming, and Cat’s able to drive him down straight to side-mount, then pass easily to full mount! Again, she unloads a barrage of punches, mainly aimed at the side of Ciaran’s head, but he’s able to deflect some of them and eventually tie up her arm again. There’s a struggle between the two, Cat trying to rip her arm free while Ciaran tries to turn her over–and eventually, it’s Callahan that gets his way, managing to turn her over as far as half-guard. The pace of the fight grinds to a halt, as Ciaran solidifies his position before making any further movements–Cat’s able to prevent a couple attempts to move to mount, so Ciaran moves to side-mount. Cat scrambles to get off her back, ending up getting to her knees before Ciaran snatches a Guillotine Choke! It’s not especially deep, though, and Cat pops her head out, ending the round on top, in Ciaran’s guard.
Kayla Chapman’s Scorecard (Unofficial): 10-9 Harris — The takedowns were on Cat’s side, what little striking there was went Cat’s way, and while Ciaran manages to secure two submission attempts, neither got especially close. Not a dominant round, either way, but definitely one for Cat.
ROUND TWO: Cat opens round two with a quick one-two combo–that nearly gets her head snapped back by a counter uppercut from Ciaran that makes her rethink her tactics! Callahan circles Harris, not wanting to give her another opportunity at a takedown; he only engages when he thinks he’s found a good angle, but Cat parries the shot and counters with a series of stinging jabs. Ciaran digs a hook to the body that just barely misses, leaving Harris a chance to counter with a big straight right hand! Callahan just gets out of the way himself, and returns fire with a big uppercut that staggers Harris back! Ciaran’s confidence is clearly brimming as we pass the minute mark of round 2, and he starts getting a little more willing to engage, throwing a big uppercut followed by a straight left hand, but Harris manages to deflect the jab and drop for another double leg takedown! She only gets as far as Ciaran’s guard this time, though that doesn’t stop her from raining down punches to both the body and head! With Ciaran defending the onslaught, Cat works to pass to half-guard, but just as she gets there, Ciaran manages to drive her over and take top position for himself! Ciaran works to pass Cat’s half-guard, including covering her face to obstruct her breathing, but in the process manages to poke Harris in the eye–which Colin Davenport doesn’t see! Cat’s visibly squinting, and her entire priority changes; instead of working to get up or get on top, she just locks Ciaran down to buy herself some time to recover. Ciaran tries to advance his position, but Cat keeps him firmly in place, until eventually Colin has no choice but to stand the two up. Cat takes an extra second or two to refocus her vision before getting up, but eventually the fight restarts on the fight–with a wild slugfest! Neither fighter throws particularly disciplined punches, they’re just winging shots at each other in hopes of hitting–and Ciaran gets the better of the exchange, even opening a cut over Cat’s right eye that raises concern on the face of Colin Davenport. Nonetheless, he doesn’t stop the fight, and Harris circles away from Ciaran, avoiding a body shot before lowering her level and snatching a single leg takedown! Ciaran resists, but eventually loses his balance, and Cat passes straight to side mount! Before she can do anything, though, the horn sounds to end the round.
Kayla Chapman’s Scorecard (Unofficial): 10-9 Callahan (19-19 Push) — A much better round for Ciaran, he looked sharp on the feet, he had counters for most of what Cat did on the ground, and while she landed some solid ground and pound, I don’t think it did more than Ciaran’s striking did. Close round, though.
ROUND THREE: Cat opens round 3 with a huge haymaker left hand that Ciaran ducks under easily, but when he moves to counter, she follows up with a big uppercut that staggers him back! Cat rushes in with a flurry of straight punches that force Ciaran onto his bicycle early–and every time he engages, Cat engages back, and forces him to circle out again. Cat’s pace slows down as quickly as she burst forward, though, pawing with jabs to gauge Ciaran’s focus–and when she notices it’s low, she feigns a takedown before landing a crisp one-two combo that backs Ciaran up a step! Callahan returns fire with a big left hook, but Cat comes in with an uppercut at the same time! Ciaran manages to absorb the impact and press forward, flicking jabs out that catch Harris before she can get her punches off! Ciaran loads up a big left hook, but Cat ducks under–and even though it’s obvious she wanted a takedown, before she can even drop levels, Callahan circles away to keep her from shooting. In fact, when Cat chases him down, it’s Ciaran who hits a double leg of his own this time! Cat locks her guard and tries to squirm her way free, but Ciaran pins her in place, so she digs a couple heel kicks to his ribs, akin to the first round. While they aren’t especially effective, they do obviously annoy Ciaran, and force him to move–in fact, he seems to want back to his feet, but Cat clings to him and drags him back to the mat. Again, Cat shrimps to try to escape to Ciaran’s back, but he’s able to keep her from moving, and uses her aggression against her, managing to sneak his way to half-guard, then to side mount! Despite the bad position, it’s Cat on the offense, throwing a few weak punches to the side of Ciaran’s head–and, since the fight stalls, Colin Davenport stands the two fighters up, with less than 20 seconds to go! Right away, Cat drops for a takedown, dragging Ciaran to the mat with a single leg and passing straight to side mount! She unloads a flurry of short hammerfists, nothing too impactful but enough to keep Ciaran from trying to escape the position until the horn sounds.
Kayla Chapman’s Scorecard (Unofficial): 10-9 Harris (29-28 Harris) — Despite Ciaran getting a takedown on Cat, he didn’t do a whole lot with it, where Cat was able to land a few good shots in the early part of the round, as well as the takedown and ground and pound flurry at the end. I don’t know how much damage it really did, but even a little is better than none, so I’ll give her the round and the title.
JUDGES’ SCORECARDS
Catherine Harris 10 10 10: 30
Ciaran Callahan 9 9 9: 27
Catherine Harris 9 10 9: 28
Ciaran Callahan 10 9 10: 29
Catherine Harris 10 10 9: 29
Ciaran Callahan 9 9 10: 28
Winner: Catherine Harris by Split Decision
Statistics: Catherine Harris
Punches 15/28 (54%)
Kicks 0/1 (0%)
Clinch strikes 0/2 (0%)
Takedowns 5/5 (100%)
GnP strikes 14/47 (30%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 495 s
Statistics: Ciaran Callahan
Punches 14/32 (44%)
Kicks 0/0 (0%)
Clinch strikes 1/3 (33%)
Takedowns 1/1 (100%)
GnP strikes 0/1 (0%)
Submissions 2/2 (100%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 495 s
Kayla Chapman’s Opinion: Okay, first off, wow, apparently nobody agrees on anything. Neat! I think the right person won, ultimately, but I’d be curious to know the logic behind the 29-28 for Ciaran, find out what they considered more important that the others didn’t. Regardless, Cat gets her hand raised and the title, making amends for the loss to CC Flynn in last year’s final, and like the other champions, she’s got a choice to make–does she come back and defend, or move up? And, interestingly, if she moves to Union, does she go to 135, or 155? There’s not a lot of wrestlers at Lightweight, that might be a good opportunity for her. As for Ciaran, I like him as a fighter, he’s got a lot of upside to him, he’s talented everywhere the fight goes, but if I’m Delaney, I tell him to consider another season in Everest to sharpen his skills and refine his aggression before testing the shark infested waters at 135 lbs.
Venue: Chase Center
Location: San Francisco, California
Attendance: 12,022
Date: August 13, 2022
Fighter Payouts: $4,545,000
Gate: $1,145,000
FIGHT OF THE NIGHT
Catherine Harris vs Ciaran Callahan
PERFORMANCE OF THE NIGHT
Dax Levandrier, Derrius Webb, Eugenie Bombelles
TOP EARNERS
Dax Levandrier ($1,110,000)
Derrius Webb ($1,110,000)
Catherine Harris ($1,080,000)
Eugenie Bombelles ($1,065,000)
RECAP
Derrius Webb def. D’Ante Jackson by KO (High Kick) at 0:52 Round 2
Dax Levandrier def. Dominic Donaldson by TKO (Punch) at 2:22 Round 1
Eugenie Bombelles def. Victoria Marshall by KO (Punches) at 3:17 Round 1
Catherine Harris def. Ciaran Callahan by Split Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)