EVEREST // THE BIG SMOKE

ROUND ONE: Everest MMA returns to Vancouver for the first show of Season 3, and this season, we begin with the newly reshaped Flyweight Division–and a returning fighter from the past two seasons, in Victoria Marshall, who faces DRIP 7 alum Tatiana Ruiz, who earned her contract with a razor-thin split decision win over then-undefeated Heidi Butler. And apparently, nobody read Ruiz the script on how Victoria does things, as the two ladies have barely touched gloves before it’s Ruiz who drops for a takedown and drives Marshall to the mat! In a flash, Tatiana’s passed to half-guard, then to side mount, and with only a moment of struggle, all the way to mount! Before she can do much with the position, though, Victoria’s able to hip escape and recover her full guard, but Tatiana doesn’t get deterred by losing her position–she just starts SLAMMING punches down on Victoria! Body shots and head shots have Bruno Alves watching carefully, warning Victoria to cover up–and she does, absorbing some of the impact from Tatiana’s punches, before the Seattle born Twin Cities fighter manages to catch an arm, and sweeps Tatiana over! Victoria’s now in full mount, but it’s Tatiana throwing punches from the bottom at first; they’re more annoying than effective, but they keep Victoria from launching an attack–for a moment, at least. But when she gets an opening, oh my goodness, Victoria starts dropping MASSIVE elbows, just a barrage that cracks Tatiana’s head down into the mat! Ruiz tries to roll to recover some semblance of her guard, but Victoria rolls with her and takes her back! Ruiz scrambles to get back on top, and in the scramble, the two ladies bump heads–and Bruno Alves stops the fight…and takes a point away from Tatiana!? It didn’t look that bad, just incidental contact, it certainly wasn’t deliberate, but Bruno’s the official. Once Victoria’s back on her feet, the fight restarts, with Ruiz winging a big looping right hand, which Marshall’s able to slip out of the way and counter with a couple quick straight punches, that get punctuated with a massive right hook that wobbles Ruiz, and opens a cut over her right eye! Victoria drives forward, almost straight up tackling Ruiz to the ground, before posturing up in the Brazilian’s guard and just raining down elbows again! Every single one aimed at that cut over Ruiz’s eye, forcing her to focus on covering up–and giving Victoria an easy pass to half-guard! Tatiana keeps throwing punches from the bottom, but nothing really puts a stop to Victoria’s momentum–instead, it’s Victoria herself that accidentally does that, as in the process of covering Ruiz’s mouth to disrupt her breathing, Victoria’s finger grazed Ruiz’s eye, and Bruno Alves has to stop the fight again–and this time takes a point from Victoria! Two incidental fouls, two point deductions, this is baffling, but once again we’re in recovery time. Ruiz takes a little longer, but eventually she’s able to get her bearings, and the fight restarts on the feet once again. Ruiz tags Marshall with a stinging inside leg kick, but when she goes for another, Victoria checks it and absolutely SLAMS an uppercut into Tatiana’s chin! Ruiz stumbles backward, and before either woman can re-engage, the horn sounds to end the round.

Kayla Chapman’s Scorecard (Unofficial): 9-8 Marshall — What a weird round. Bruno Alves quick on the trigger to take points away, hopefully that doesn’t influence anything later on. I’m gonna say Victoria gets the advantage in this round, when she was in good positions, she certainly did more damage, but it’s far from dominant. This is still a very winnable contest for Tatiana.

ROUND TWO: Victoria opens round two throwing caution to the wind–massive flurries of punches, lefts and rights, straight and hooks, that keep Ruiz moving. Not many land, but the ones that do clearly wobble the Brazilian, who tries to keep Victoria at a distance with a straight kick up the middle…that the Seattle native catches and uses for an easy takedown! Victoria passes quickly to half-guard, then just postures up and starts raining down punches in bunches! Bruno Alves watches the fight close, warning Tatiana to defend herself, which triggers the Brazilian to start scrambling–and, unfortunately for her, gives up her back again in the process! Victoria already has one hook in, and after a couple big shots from the back, space opens up for her to get the second one in! And immediately, Victoria’s after a Rear Naked Choke! Tatiana defends it well, long before Victoria really has it, but she eats a few punches that bust up her lip in the process. This pattern becomes the story of the fight at this point–Victoria clearly wants the submission win tonight, but Tatiana’s defense is solid enough to avoid it…but in defending the choke, she takes a couple big shots. Rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat, until Victoria manages to flatten Tatiana out, and from there, she just abandons the choke and starts absolutely WAYLAYING Tatiana with punches. Ruiz tries to defend as best she can, but her best defense is to roll back to her back–where Victoria can SLAM down elbows from the top! Ruiz eats one, two, three, four straight elbows before the lights go out, and Bruno Alves rushes in to halt the fight!

Winner: Victoria Marshall by KO (Elbows) at 3:27 Round 2

Statistics: Tatiana Ruiz
Punches 3/4 (75%)
Kicks 1/3 (33%)
Clinch strikes 1/2 (50%)
Takedowns 1/1 (100%)
GnP strikes 15/30 (50%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 338 s

Statistics: Victoria Marshall
Punches 10/16 (62%)
Kicks 0/0 (0%)
Clinch strikes 1/1 (100%)
Takedowns 2/2 (100%)
GnP strikes 34/42 (81%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 338 s

Kayla Chapman’s Opinion: A competitive first round becomes absolute domination in the second. I said this a lot last season, you really can’t overstate how much good Twin Cities has done for the career of Victoria Marshall. Record-wise, she still has a long way to go to make up for her struggles in Season 1, but in the cage, this is a totally different fighter from who we saw fight Rachel Parsons and Elliot McMillan. Tatiana had her moments in the first round, it certainly wasn’t out of reach, but she found out what everyone last season found out–don’t let Victoria get on top of you, it’s not fun.

ROUND ONE: When the Cruiserweight division was folded in Union, it would’ve been a relatively safe assumption that it was done for good–which is why, personally, I’m happy to see it revived in Everest for Season 3! And we kick the new division off with a pair of DRIP 7 winners, Poland’s Milo Dragomir and Japan’s Yoshida Sanzo. Both men touch gloves, and waste absolutely no time getting to work–Milo in particular starts out hot, with a flurry of quick punches; some connect, but Yoshida’s able to parry the majority of them, although he comes out of the exchange squinting an eye as if one of Milo’s early shots poked him. Referee Ron Anderson doesn’t stop the fight, for better and worse, and instead, Yoshida has to rely on his boxing to keep him out of danger. As Milo presses forward, Sanzo manages a quick one-two combination that halts him in his tracks, and opens a small cut under Dragomir’s left eye! Milo digs a big hook to the body, but Sanzo blocks most of the impact and manages to tie Milo up in an over-under clinch, backing him up against the fence. Sanzo lands a couple knees to the body, then a big uppercut to the chin that wobbles Milo, but Milo manages to clamp down and prevent any further significant damage. After quite a bit of jockeying for position between the two, with nothing really happening, Ron Anderson breaks the clinch up and the fight restarts at range. Milo eats a couple quick punches from Sanzo, but fires back with a HUGE uppercut that snaps Sanzo’s head back! He follows up with a massive body kick that almost doubles Sanzo over, then punctuates it with a couple more powerful punches. Sanzo tries to respond with a volley of his own, but Milo ducks back, then SLAMS a kick to the body in, that puts Sanzo down! Before Dragomir can do more damage, Ron Anderson rushes in and waves the fight off.

Winner: Milo Dragomir by TKO (Body Kick) at 3:02 Round 1

Statistics: Milo Dragomir
Punches 1/11 (9%)
Kicks 3/3 (100%)
Clinch strikes 1/1 (100%)
Takedowns 0/0 (0%)
GnP strikes 0/0 (0%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 1/1 (100%)
Time on the ground 0 s

Statistics: Yoshida Sanzo
Punches 9/12 (75%)
Kicks 0/0 (0%)
Clinch strikes 5/8 (62%)
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: Like with the heavyweights in previous seasons, these big guys still scare me with this kinda power. Milo didn’t land a whole lot, but when he did, it looked like Sanzo was getting hit by a train. Scary scary stuff from my seat, and a great 6 point opening for Milo. Sanzo looked good early on, he did a lot of good work in the clinch, so this first fight is way too early to write him off. I’ll be curious to see how he looks in the future.

ROUND ONE: Our first Welterweight fight of the season! Kratos Combat Sport’s “Slick” Ricky Jackson returns from season 2, where he had a 1-2 record to move to 5-8 overall, meets the Cro-Magnon, Gavin Watts, a DRIP 7 winner who had a spectacular comeback win by Knockout against Ameer Bell–but Watts looks to prove himself as a well-rounded fighter to kick this fight off, by feigning a punch and dropping levels for a single leg takedown early! Jackson almost gets swept off his feet, but he’s able to recover his balance and get his feet planted back on the mat, eventually escaping Watts’ grip and tagging him with a stinging inside leg kick! Watts throws a powerful right cross that Jackson only JUST manages to get out of the way of, but when Jackson presses forward himself, Watts keeps him on the outside with a few straight counter punches. Most of them miss, but they force Ricky to rethink engaging. Eventually, though, Ricky’s able to time the shots right, duck one of Gavin’s punches and shoot in for a double leg takedown of his own! Watts resists, but Jackson keeps his double-underhook grip, and secures a…well, no pun intended, a slick ankle sweep that dumps Watts to his back! The fight slows down considerably once they’re on the mat, though; Ricky starts working to pass Watts’ guard, but Gavin’s able to keep him in place, while not doing much to attack from the bottom or improve his own position–and ultimately, Dusty Whittaker’s infamous impatience shows, and the two men get stood up. Jackson restarts with another powerful low kick, but Watts checks that one and responds with a big overhand punch that whizzes past Jackson–and, again, Ricky finds his moment, this time securing the double leg takedown with relative ease! He only makes it as far as Gavin’s guard, and again there’s a lot of jockeying for position between the two men; Ricky manages to maneuver Gavin’s head up against the fence, and looks like he’s about to just start slamming down punches, but when Watts moves to defend his head, Ricky slips through his guard and passes to Side Mount, then to Full Mount! Watts throws up a couple punches from the bottom, but they don’t have much effect on Ricky. Gavin gets a little more frantic to get up, bucking his hips and trying to turn Ricky over repeatedly, but Ricky rides the escape attempts out and just keeps firm control on top. Watts again throws up a couple punches, but this time, Ricky’s ready for it, and snatches the arm and sits out for an armbar! It’s TIIIIIIIIIIIGHT, the only thing keeping Watts in the fight is he has a grip on his own hand and he’s slowly inching his arm out of danger–while also lifting Ricky up off the mat! Ricky releases the hold rather than risk being spiked on his head, and Watts escapes to his feet. Ricky stays down for a moment, but Dusty Whittaker tells him to stand up to restart the fight. This time, it’s Watts on the offense, and he manages an absolutely monstrous takedown of his own, scooping Ricky off his feet and planting him back to the mat! But Watts isn’t in a mood for patience, with only thirty seconds left in the round, and in his scramble to get to a better position, Ricky manages to sweep him all the way over and take Full Mount again! There’s not much time to do anything, though, before the horn sounds to end round 1.

Kayla Chapman’s Scorecard (Unofficial): 10-9 Jackson — A couple big takedowns, the armbar attempt, a sustained period of dominant positioning, and a couple big shots on the feet. Not a WHOLE lot got done in this round, but what did happen was almost 100% Ricky. Relatively easy round to score, I’d be stunned if anyone scored it differently.

ROUND TWO: Round two begins with a firefight; there’s no feeling out process, there’s no pawing jabs or anything, both men just start throwing punches! Neither lands anything significant, really, but the danger is there for both men; rather than risk it, though, Ricky jabs his way into range then drops and lands a nifty little single leg takedown, that he quickly spins into a kneebar attempt! He’s got it TIGHT, but Gavin’s able to kick himself free after a couple attempts and eventually scrambles back to his feet. Ricky tries to goad him into re-engaging on the ground, but Gavin just backs up, and eventually Ricky’s stood up by Dusty Whittaker. Gavin tries to engage multiple times, moving into range with a couple quick jabs, then trying to establish a clinch, but every time he gets close, Ricky responds with a big right hand that keeps Watts at bay! It’s on Gavin’s third attempt that Ricky shakes the formula up, and once again drives him to the mat with a double leg takedown! Watts manages to keep his guard, but Ricky sits back for a straight ankle lock before he can lock the guard up! Watts is able to wriggle his foot free, but he can’t keep Ricky from stay in the dominant position; in fact, when Ricky feigns reaching for a heel hook instead, and Watts has to try to keep his foot out of reach, Ricky pivots and swims through Watts’ guard, all the way to Full Mount once again! And Dusty Whittaker gives him…exactly 10 seconds to accomplish anything before standing them up. Dusty, I swear, I will pay for you to take BJJ lessons to understand this position better, you cannot POSSIBLY think ten seconds is long enough. ANYWAY, midway point of the fight, we’re back on our feet, and we start as we mean to go on, with an absolutely wild firefight on the restart! Jackson gets the better of the exchange, landing a couple shots that clip Gavin, and Gavin responds by trying to drag the fight back to the mat–but Ricky’s able to resist the takedown attempt, and turn Gavin against the cage, securing double underhooks. There’s some jockeying along the fence, not much in terms of attacks for several seconds, before Ricky throws a shoulder strike that gets Gavin’s attention–and, once again, Ricky drops for a takedown and scoops Watts off his feet! This time, Ricky doesn’t give Dusty a chance to accuse him of passivity, moving straight to Side Mount, then to Full Mount, and when Gavin tries to escape back to guard, all the way to Back Mount! Ricky immediately digs for a Rear Naked Choke with thirty seconds left in the round, but Gavin’s able to fight off the choking hand, so Ricky pivots his hips and sits out for an armbar! Gavin grabs his own hand again, preventing Ricky from straightening the arm out just long enough to run out the rest of the round.

Kayla Chapman’s Scorecard (Unofficial): 10-9 Jackson (20-18 Jackson) — It feels like it’s only a matter of time before one of these submission attempts pays off for Ricky Jackson, but give credit to Gavin Watts’ defense, he’s kept himself in this fight. That said, I think this is easily a second round for Ricky, and Gavin needs to throw that big right hand if he wants to win this fight.

ROUND THREE: Round three starts off much slower than the first two–in fact, the first thirty seconds or so are just pawing punches or missed leg kicks, no real engagement. It’s only when Gavin Watts goes back to that big right hand that won him his fight on DRIP that we saw the round come alive! Ricky managed to just get out of the way of the punch, but he nearly got his head taken off by a follow-up uppercut! Jackson shakes the impact off and keeps Watts at distance with a powerful oblique kick, that if I didn’t know better I’d say hyper-extended Gavin’s knee. Yikes. Watts is clearly looking for that big right hand, though, as he throws two or three big straight rights and one massive overhand all in a row, but Jackson avoids all of the punches. Watts misses on a big low leg kick, and Ricky takes advantage by wrapping him up from behind and literally straight up German Suplex-ing him to the mat! It was a wicked takedown, guys, and while I’d personally be gasping for air after getting hit with it, Gavin Watts somehow manages to scramble around and get his guard back–only long enough for Ricky to pass into half-guard, though. Ricky tries to pass his leg through and move to Full Mount, but Gavin manages to keep Ricky trapped, and the fight largely stalls out–and this time, I’ll give Dusty Whittaker credit; he gave them a chance to work, but the fight had very much stalled out when he stood them up. Two minutes left in the fight, and Gavin clearly knows he needs a knockout to win, as he launches a wicked flurry of punches right off the restart, but Ricky’s able to keep his distance and avoid any major impact. Ricky takes advantage of Gavin’s over-commitment, and manages to secure a Thai clinch, with which he instantly jumps guard and drags Gavin to the mat again! While Gavin’s securing his position, Ricky’s already on attack, and hits a sweep that turns Gavin over! Ricky’s now in full mount, and while Gavin throws up punches from the bottom, it only plays into Ricky’s strategy–he manages to catch Gavin’s arm again, almost sitting out for an Armbar again, but Gavin retracts his arm quickly and tries to scramble to get his guard back. Ricky rolls with him, though, and takes his back with both hooks in quickly! Gavin tries to turtle up to defend from the Rear Naked Choke, but Ricky breaks him down, then isolates an arm and spins his hips out for an armbar from the back! Ricky grits his teeth, determined not to lose this one like he had the others, and while Gavin resists the submission for as long as he can, he’s eventually forced to tap–with only two seconds left in the fight!

Winner: Ricky Jackson by Submission (Armbar) at 4:58 Round 3

Statistics: Gavin Watts
Punches 6/27 (22%)
Kicks 0/1 (0%)
Clinch strikes 0/3 (0%)
Takedowns 1/5 (20%)
GnP strikes 0/8 (0%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 491 s

Statistics: Ricky Jackson
Punches 11/20 (55%)
Kicks 4/5 (80%)
Clinch strikes 0/0 (0%)
Takedowns 6/6 (100%)
GnP strikes 0/0 (0%)
Submissions 6/6 (100%)
Clinch Attempts 1/1 (100%)
Time on the ground 498 s

Kayla Chapman’s Opinion: Ricky Jackson will be thanking his lucky stars that he caught that armbar when he did–if 145 lbs last season taught us anything, it’s that any point you can gain could be crucial, and Ricky only JUST managed to secure the bonus point for a finish in the third round. Fantastic grappling display when he actually got a chance to grapple (Dusty, I want you to know that I’m shaking my fist as I write this), and it paid off in the end with a very impressive finish. Gavin Watts had moments of being threatening, those big right hands in the third round in particular had bad intentions written all over them, but he didn’t set them up, he was just winging them. Hopefully we see him learn a little more striking discipline going forward, because I think he could be a big threat.

ROUND ONE: Our second Cruiserweight fight brings us another pair of DRIP alumni–episode 6 this time, as 29 year old Brazilian phenom Mauro Santos de Lima faces a 28 year old Greek meat grinder in Spyro Chronis. Both men are 5-0 thus far in their careers, with de Lima scoring an early kneebar submission in his DRIP appearance, while Chronis pounded out a clear cut Unanimous Decision win in his, so whoever’s 0 goes tonight, I suspect it does so violently. And when the fight starts, I’m almost proven right immediately–Chronis wings a huge punch straight out the gate, but de Lima avoids it and lands with a MASSIVE counter uppercut that swells up Chronis’s face early! Mauro doesn’t waste any time, he’s barely finished the punch before he’s in on a single leg takedown, passing with ease all the way to side mount! Chronis scrambles to recover half-guard, but Mauro passes easily to full mount, and almost immediately sits out into an armbar! Chronis manages to get his arm free for the moment, but Mauro shifts his hips and adjusts into a belly-down armbar instead! Chronis tries to roll free, but de Lima sinks his hips in and Spyro tapes frantically!

Winner: Mauro Santos de Lima by Submission (Armbar) at 1:02 Round 1

Statistics: Mauro Santos de Lima
Punches 1/1 (100%)
Kicks 0/0 (0%)
Clinch strikes 0/0 (0%)
Takedowns 1/1 (100%)
GnP strikes 0/0 (0%)
Submissions 2/2 (100%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 40 s

Statistics: Spyro Chronis
Punches 0/0 (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 40 s

Kayla Chapman’s Opinion: Wow. Just, just wow. Mauro Santos de Lima, what a way to put your whole division on notice. One big punch, one big takedown, and a swift transition into a submission, it barely took a minute and it was virtually flawless. I mean, what else can you say? Spyro Chronis didn’t get a chance to show his talents that saw him utterly dominate Abdul-Salam Nadim on DRIP, so hopefully we’ll see better from him in the weeks to come.

ROUND ONE: Flyweight Debuts! An unassuming 19 year old from Wales and a brawler from Baltimore step into a cage together, and what do you think happens first? If your guess was Alexandra Hughes literally immediately shooting for a single leg takedown and sweeping Ronnie Banks to the mat, give yourself a cookie, you got it right! Ronnie manages to lock her guard on the way down and prevent Alex from passing any further, and the two trade relatively ineffective shots on the ground, before Ronnie shifts her position, and when Alex misses a big downward punch, Ronnie turns her over into Full Mount! Alex hip heists out and manages to recover her guard quickly, but neither fighter can do much from within the Welsh woman’s guard, and Jack Gibbs stands them up. Ronnie jabs her way into range before catching hold of Alex’s head, securing a Thai clinch as she drives Alex back against the cage. Alex tries to shuck Ronnie’s arm off and get away, but Banks keeps her clinch tight, then SLAMS a knee into Alex’s face! The Welsh girl is clearly rocked for a moment, and Banks starts to unload punches–but it gives Hughes a chance to pommel and turn Ronnie against the cage instead! This time, Alex shucks Banks’ hand off her head and absolutely UNCORKS a flurry of punches–lefts, rights, straights, uppercuts, all with the intent to put Banks down early! Banks manages to tie Hughes up again, more to buy herself time now, before pushing her away and disengaging. The fight restarts in the center, with Alex looking much more confident than she had a moment ago; Ronnie jabs her way into range,but she gets rocked with a big right hook from Hughes once she’s in close! Alex wings a looping right hand that misses wildly, but she manages to recover before Ronnie can counter with anything, and instead, lands a nice crisp uppercut when Banks tries to move in again! Alex flicks out a quick one-two combo–that immediately sees Ronnie wincing and pinching her eye shut! Jack Gibbs stops the fight and checks on Banks, who’s claiming an eye-poke–and, like we saw in the other Flyweight contest, a point is taken from Alex Hughes very abruptly! I don’t like this trend tonight, again I have to point out that certainly wasn’t intentional, but Jack Gibbs made his decision, and Alexandra Hughes now has to win the round to stay even with Ronnie Banks. When Ronnie’s good to go, the fight restarts–basically the same way it began, with Hughes dropping for a takedown…this time, though, Banks is prepared, and it forces Alex to pull guard! The two women barely hit the mat before Alex switches her hips and sweeps Ronnie over into Full Mount! Banks tries to recover her guard, but Alex rolls with her and takes her back instead! Ronnie clearly tries to turtle up to catch her breath, maybe she wasn’t quite as ready to go from the foul as she thought she was, but Alex hasn’t been told to stop–and she doesn’t, she drops an absolutely MASSIVE elbow that collides with Ronnie’s forehead! Ronnie covers up, but Alex switches to digging for a Rear Naked Choke instead! She gets the arm under the chin, but Ronnie fights off the hand behind the head, and the horn sounds to end the round.

Kayla Chapman’s Scorecard (Unofficial): 9-9 Push — This was almost certainly Alex Hughes’ round, but our officials’ hair-trigger point deductions tonight have made it essentially a wash. Banks looked dangerous in the clinch, that’s where I’d tell her to go if I’m her corner, but between the takedowns and ground positioning, I give the round to Hughes.

ROUND TWO: Literally the first punch of the round. Alex Hughes threw one punch to open round 2, and Jack Gibbs stopped the fight to call an eye poke again–and, AGAIN, deducted a point from her! I might understand this one, it’s happened once already, I kinda get it, but to penalize another point for an incidental foul just seems ridiculous. Nonetheless, Hughes is once again under the gun, and Banks recovers enough to keep going, so we’re back where we started–and honestly, if I’m Alex Hughes, I’m hesitant to throw any punches at this point! But I’m not her–and she’s certainly not tentative, in any way. Right off the restart, Alex slams a body kick that almost doubles Banks over, then lands a looping right hand that smashes into Banks’ face! She punctuates the two brutal shots with a spinning heel kick to the head that obviously wobbles Banks, and in her disorientation, Ronnie drops levels and shoots for a takedown–but eats a driving knee that stops that pipe dream! Banks retreats to buy herself some time, but Hughes is in pursuit. Alex eats a couple leg kicks for her efforts before dodging a third one, and absolutely SLAMS a haymaker of an uppercut into Ronnie’s chin! Banks is clearly on queer street at this point, but she manages to jab her way in tight and securing a clinch again. She just holds Alex in place, though, not even throwing much from the position; she’s just buying herself recovery time, but Jack Gibbs steps in to break the clinch, for…some reason? I don’t know what’s going on tonight. Banks circles her opponent, pawing with a jab before slamming a kick to the body in, that visibly causes Alex to wince. Banks moves in to take advantage, but Hughes lands a quick straight right hand that stops her! Hughes takes a step or two back, flicking out a quick low kick, then a follow up high kick that juuuuuust clips Ronnie, but doesn’t do much damage. What it does do, is put Ronnie on the back foot, and Alex fakes a punch before driving for a double leg takedown, sweeping Ronnie to her back, but only as far as her guard. The fight slows down on the ground, as the two ladies jockey for position, Alex landing a couple pitter-patter strikes to the body that make Ronnie defend, but aren’t going to stop the fight–but what it does, is gives Alex a chance to pass all the way to Side Mount! From here, Alex is much more willing to engage, and starts dropping elbows–one, two, three of them rock Ronnie’s head into the mat, before Alex passes easily to mount! Ronnie scrambles, but gives up her back like the first round! Alex again digs for a Rear Naked Choke, with a minute left to get it and Ronnie in a bad spot, but Banks’ defense holds up once again–at least, at first, until Alex switches her hips and sits out for an armbar! Ronnie clearly got caught by surprise, and taps in a hurry!

Winner: Alex Hughes by Submission (Armbar) at 4:57 Round 2

Statistics: Alex Hughes
Punches 6/10 (60%)
Kicks 5/5 (100%)
Clinch strikes 5/10 (50%)
Takedowns 2/3 (67%)
GnP strikes 6/10 (60%)
Submissions 2/2 (100%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 279 s

Statistics: Ronnie Banks
Punches 5/7 (71%)
Kicks 2/6 (33%)
Clinch strikes 1/3 (33%)
Takedowns 0/0 (0%)
GnP strikes 0/0 (0%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 279 s

Kayla Chapman’s Opinion: Before I get into this, can we take a second and just discuss how quick we’re taking points away tonight? Goodness gracious, things happen in fighting! I haven’t seen anything so far that makes me think these fouls have been intentional, but we’ve seen 4 point deductions already. Sheesh. ANYWAY. Let’s talk about this fight–what a coming out party for Alexandra Hughes, now 11-0 already, and she’s only 19 years old! She’s gonna get better and better, and this was a very impressive performance for her. Ronnie Banks looked dangerous at times, she landed a couple really big punches, and that knee to the face looked absolutely wicked, but when the fight hit the mat, it just seemed like she was out of her depth. We’ll see if that’s really the case, or if this is more a testament to Alex than it is an indictment of Ronnie.

ROUND ONE: And now, Featherweights take center stage! A young phenom out of Japan, 8-1 Masami “Goodside” Rose quite literally punched his ticket to Everest on DRIP episode 6, by unceremoniously dribbling Ernesto Galvez’s head like a basketball in the second round of their fight, while Bulgaria’s Andrei Kozlov fought a convincing fight against Chase Coleman on Episode 7 before securing the victory with a slick Anaconda Choke. A pair of proven finishers get underway in…a less than emphatic start, if I’m honest; there’s a lot of early feeling out, a lot of respect shown between both men. Masami’s the first to engage, as he feints a jab and digs a brutal hook to the body that very clearly gets Kozlov’s attention right away! Kozlov circles out to get his bearings again, but Masami’s on the attack; Kozlov slips a punch from the Japanese buzzsaw and manages to secure a clinch, eventually backing Masami up to the fence and securing a Thai plum. Rose pommels to secure a grip of his own, and immediately steps in for a reaping throw, but Kozlov manages to stay on his feet and the fight stalls against the fence; Darrell Stevens gives the two men a chance to engage, but when they don’t, he eventually separates them and restarts the fight. And straight off the restart, Rose drives for a double leg takedown that puts Kozlov on his back! Masami digs a couple shots to the body that don’t do a whole lot of damage, but keep Kozlov’s guard in place, so when he eventually starts to pass, Kozlov’s not watching him as close–and he manages to slip all the way to Side Mount! Masami immediately starts dropping elbows right to Kozlov’s forehead! A couple get through, but Andrei’s able to get his defense up and absorbs most of the impact, before taking advantage of Masami’s aggression, and recovering his guard. Masami postures up, but that only gives Andrei a chance to catch a leg and go for a kneebar! He’s got the leg wrapped up, but it’s not in the right position, and Rose is able to wriggle free and escape to Half Guard! I thought I saw a crack of heads in the scramble, but Darrell Stevens didn’t stop the fight, so maybe I was just still assuming the worst from the earlier fights. Kozlov locks Masami down at half-guard, though, and neither man is able to do a whole lot on the ground…and eventually, Darrell Stevens has to stand both men up. To which…Masami basically says no; immediately on the restart, he drags Kozlov back to the mat with a single leg takedown, but Kozlov’s able to recover his guard quickly and locks it before Masami can try to pass. Rose postures up, trying to drop some ground and pound, but Kozlov anticipates it and manages to catch Masami’s arm, switching his hips for an armbar quickly! Masami starts to pull his arm free, but before he can get too far, Andrei switches to a Triangle Choke! Andrei has the frame, but Masami prevents him from getting the right angle, and rides out the round in minimal danger despite the frame.

Kayla Chapman’s Scorecard (Unofficial): 10-9 Rose — Not a whole lot of tremendously effective work in the first round, but Masami’s positional dominance and takedowns are going to supersede the hail mary submission attempts from Kozlov at the end.

ROUND TWO: Round two starts with Andrei Kozlov rushing forward and shooting for a single leg takedown, that catches Masami by surprise but doesn’t actually get him to the ground. Rose lands a couple quick jabs that force Kozlov to circle away, before moving back in with a brilliant combination…that Masami manages to get out of the way of. The Prodigy 206 fighter smiles a big, visibly taunting grin at his opponent, before absolutely ROCKING him with a couple big straight punches, punctuated by an uppercut at the end of the combo! Kozlov wobbles, but doesn’t buckle, and instead shoots for another takedown, but Masami shows his balance and maintains his stance, and instead manages to take Kozlov down with a footsweep takedown! The fight stalls out, though, as when Masami tries to pass, but Kozlov locks him down, and when Kozlov tries to reverse the position, Rose keeps him flat on his back, and after a minute or so of back and forth struggling, Darrell Stevens stands the two men back up. Back up, Masami blitzes forward, connecting with a couple quick jabs before dropping for a double leg takedown and absolutely SPIKING Andrei into the mat! Darrell Stevens warns Masami about the arc of the throw, but the Prodigy fighter has just started absolutely slamming punches into Kozlov’s ribs and head. Masami easily passes to full mount, and just starts slamming down punches from the top, forcing Kozlov to keeps his guard up–but even then, some of the punches are getting throw! Kozlov is warned to defend himself, and in his struggle, he rolls to his stomach and gives up his back! But it’s right at the end of the round, and before Masami can do anything with it, the horn sounds to end round 2.

Kayla Chapman’s Scorecard (Unofficial): 10-9 Rose (20-18 Rose) — Again, a pretty easy round to score. Masami was definitely more effective, Kozlov didn’t even get the benefit of the attempted submissions this time. He needs a finish, desperately, in round 3 if he wants to win.

ROUND THREE: Masami opens the round with a powerful straight punch that clips Kozlov’s chin and seems to wobble him right away–and he does not leave anything to chance this time! Masami lands an absolutely CRUSHING overhand right that buckles Andrei Kozlov’s knees, and puts him out cold. Darrell Stevens doesn’t even need to wave the fight off, Masami’s already celebrating long before he steps in the way!

Winner: Masami Rose by KO (Punch) at 0:27 Round 3

Statistics: Masami Rose
Punches 5/5 (100%)
Kicks 0/0 (0%)
Clinch strikes 1/1 (100%)
Takedowns 1/1 (100%)
GnP strikes 22/48 (46%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 293 s

Statistics: Andrei Kozlov
Punches 0/4 (0%)
Kicks 0/1 (0%)
Clinch strikes 0/0 (0%)
Takedowns 0/4 (0%)
GnP strikes 0/0 (0%)
Submissions 3/3 (100%)
Clinch Attempts 0/1 (0%)
Time on the ground 293 s

Kayla Chapman’s Opinion: THAT…was not who I meant, when I said he needed a finish, but goodness gracious what a shot from Masami Rose! Prodigy may just have themselves a diamond in this young man. His takedowns looked great, what we saw of his standup was impressive, including that knockout obviously, and he looks like a horror to have on top of you. Andrei Kozlov didn’t have the best night, but he was certainly threatening with submissions and if he could’ve landed one of those takedowns and gotten on top himself, the fight may have played out differently. I’ll be curious to see how both of them do, going forward.

ROUND ONE: Welterweight Debuts! Undefeated at 5-0, South Africa’s Kian de Beer made a big name for himself in kickboxing, but when he came to MMA, there were questions about what the added wrinkles would do to his success–and through 5 fights, the answer is “nothing;” across the cage, 8-1 Norwegian Nightmare Alekzander Kristiansen has found similar success with his hands and his feet, so this looks primed to be a kickboxing fan’s dream fight–and de Beer clearly got the message, as he STARTS the fight with a Superman Punch that…guys, the sound it made when he cracked Alekzander with it was horrifying. It busted the Nordic Nightmare’s nose open right away, and Kian didn’t slow down his attack at all. He just threw BOMBS, landing significantly more than he missed, but even the ones that Kristiansen was able to parry sounded bad. Archie Driscoll warns Alekzander to protect himself, but Kian doesn’t even give him a chance; another three punch combo wobbles the Norwegian, and Archie has to step in before any more damage is done.

Winner: Kian De Beer by TKO (Punches) at 0:57 Round 1

Statistics: Alekzander Kristiansen
Punches 0/1 (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

Statistics: Kian De Beer
Punches 10/12 (83%)
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: When your breakdown of the fighters takes more space in your report than your breakdown of the fight, that probably says something. Kian De Beer did not come to Vancouver to play, he came to make a statement, and guys. Statement made. This is a DANGEROUS man at 170 lbs, and think about this: that was all punches, we didn’t even see his kicking game. Yeesh. I’m worried about the way Alekzander’s nose started bleeding right off that Superman punch, hopefully no major damage happened and we’ll get to see what he can do in the future, but for tonight, all credit due to Kian De Beer for a decisive 6 point win.

ROUND ONE: We close out the evening with a hometown girl, getting a hometown welcome! Sadie Williams returns from Season 2, and welcomes back Jethro Benson to the Union Grand Prix umbrella–in a way that only another fighter can, with an absolutely blistering inside leg kick! Sadie smiles and circles around Jethro, who keeps his position in the center of the cage, beckoning Sadie to engage with him. She shrugs and jabs her way into range, and both fighters just start throwing hands! Most of the shots either one lands don’t do much, until Sadie slips a big straight right from Jethro, and throws her whole body into an uppercut that I’m absolutely certain I saw knock a tooth out of Jethro’s mouth! But he’s still on his feet, somehow, and throwing punches even! They’re sloppy, though, and Sadie avoids with relative ease, landing a couple digging hooks to the body to take the wind out of Jethro. Jethro takes a half-step back, but that just gives Sadie a chance to push forward again, landing a big three punch combination that’s punctuated by an uppercut straight up the gut! With Jethro trying to block Sadie’s punches, the Vancouver girl lands an easy double leg takedown, and swiftly passes to half-guard! The two fighters jockey for position, Jethro coming close to recovering his guard a couple times, but Sadie’s able to re-establish her control on top, before eventually slipping her leg free and passing to Side Mount! Before she gets a chance to do much, though, Jordan Ripley’s seen enough and stands the fighters up, to a protest from Sadie and no small part of her hometown fans–and myself, if I’m honest, but it’s not the most egregious thing we’ve seen all night. Back on the feet, Jethro doesn’t give Sadie a chance to land anything big, he forces his way in, making Sadie have to avoid a few BIG shots; she gets clipped by one straight right hand, but manages to come back with a quick double-jab, then a straight right hand. Benson feints a kick, but Sadie doesn’t bite and, instead, just slams a right hook in! Jethro circles away for the first time in the round, before pawing with a jab to try to get his range back; Sadie, meanwhile, pushes forward–almost straight into a huge haymaker from Jethro! She just manages to move out of the way, but it slows the fight down significantly for the last minute. Every time Sadie comes in, Jethro throws a big punch to keep her at bay and, maybe, knock her out–but they don’t seem to connect, and the round ends at a relatively leisurely pace.

Kayla Chapman’s Scorecard (Unofficial): 10-9 Williams — This is not the Sadie Williams we saw in Season 2; I can’t imagine she would’ve stood up with Jethro last season, which makes you wonder what the folks at Titan MMA and 10th Planet Vancouver did to boost her confidence, huh? Jethro’s clearly a danger, he’s throwing those big bombs and Sadie’s got a history with being hit by those, so he’s not out of it…but he couldn’t land much this round, it was an easy round to score for Sadie.

ROUND TWO: Hey, remember how I said we didn’t see the Sadie Williams of Season 2 in that first round? She’s back. Literally from the touch of the gloves, Sadie drops levels–not for a takedown, but for an Imanari Roll instead! She laces Jethro’s legs with her own, drags him to the mat, and manages to adjust and catch a kneebar! Before Jethro even knows what she’s done, it’s locked up, and he has to tap!

Winner: Sadie Williams by Submission (Kneebar) at 0:51 Round 2

Statistics: Sadie Williams
Punches 29/34 (85%)
Kicks 1/1 (100%)
Clinch strikes 0/0 (0%)
Takedowns 2/2 (100%)
GnP strikes 0/0 (0%)
Submissions 1/1 (100%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 102 s

Statistics: Jethro Benson
Punches 3/31 (10%)
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 102 s

Kayla Chapman’s Opinion: I don’t even really know what to say there, except wow. Sadie Williams looks much improved from last season, she looks more confident on her feet, more confident in her attacks, she’s more willing to go for things where last season she might’ve been a little hesitant under the bright lights. There was no hesitation tonight, and if this is the fighter we have going forward, this is going to be a dangerous new look for the 10th Planet girl. Jethro couldn’t bring the success from DRIP 7 into Everest tonight, but let’s not dismiss him on the back of one bad night–if that fight on DRIP showed us anything, it’s that on any given night, Jethro Benson can pick you apart and put you down. Tonight just wasn’t that night.

Venue: Rogers Arena
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Attendance: 11,986
Date: November 20, 2022
Fighter Payouts: $505,000
Gate: $898,950

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT
Tatiana Ruiz vs Victoria Marshall

PERFORMANCE OF THE NIGHT
Kian de Beer, Mauro Santos de Lima

DISCLOSED EARNINGS
Sadie Williams ($70,000)
Victoria Marshall ($50,000)
Kian De Beer ($45,000)
Ricky Jackson ($40,000)
Jethro Benson ($35,000)
Mauro Santos de Lima ($35,000)
Tatiana Ruiz ($30,000)
Alekzander Kristiansen ($25,000)
Masami Rose ($25,000)
Alex Hughes ($25,000)
Milo Dragomir ($25,000)
Andrei Kozlov ($20,000)
Ronnie Banks ($20,000)
Spyro Chronis ($20,000)
Gavin Watts ($20,000)
Yoshida Sanzo ($20,000)

QUICK RECAP
Victoria Marshall d. Tatiana Ruiz by KO (Elbows) at 3:27 Round 2
Milo Dragomir d. Yoshida Sanzo by TKO (Body kick) at 3:02 Round 1
Ricky Jackson d. Gavin Watts by Submission (Armbar) at 4:58 Round 3
Mauro Santos de Lima d. Spyro Chronis by Submission (Armbar) at 1:02 Round 1
Alexandra Hughes d. Ronnie Banks by Submission (Armbar) at 4:57 Round 2
Masami Rose d. Andrei Kozlov by KO (Punch) at 0:27 Round 3
Kian De Beer d. Alekzander Kristiansen by TKO (Punches) at 0:57 Round 1
Sadie Williams d. Jethro Benson by Submission (Kneebar) at 0:51 Round 2

CRUISERWEIGHT
▲ #1 [06 pts.] Mauro Santos de Lima (6-0-0)
▲ #1 [06 pts.] Milo Dragomir (9-2-0)
▼ #3 [00 pts.] Spyro Chronis (5-1-0)
▼ #3 [00 pts.] Yoshida Sanzo (7-4-0)

WELTERWEIGHT
▲ #1 [06 pts.] Kian De Beer (6-0-0)
▲ #2 [04 pts.] Ricky Jackson (6-8-0)
▼ #3 [00 pts.] Alekzander Kristiansen (9-2-0)
▼ #3 [00 pts.] Gavin Watts (6-3-0)

FEATHERWEIGHT
▲ #1 [05 pts.] Sadie Williams (8-5-0)
▲ #2 [04 pts.] Masami Rose (9-1-0)
▼ #3 [00 pts.] Jethro Benson (12-6-0)
▼ #3 [00 pts.] Andrei Kozlov (9-5-0)

FLYWEIGHT
▲ #1 [05 pts.] Alex Hughes (11-0-0)
▲ #1 [05 pts.] Victoria Marshall (3-5-1)
▼ #3 [00 pts.] Ronnie Banks (7-1-0)
▼ #3 [00 pts.] Tatiana Ruiz (4-2-0)

▲ = Ascend in Rankings
▼ = Descend in Rankings