War at Wild Bill's!

 

By Jim Terwoord

 

With neon lights glowing, searchlights beaming overhead and MMA on the menu, Wild Bill's in Duluth made it almost feel like Vegas last night for the first '08 installment of their venerable Fight Night. Well, maybe it wasn't Mandalay Bay or the Joynt, but for the 5,000 or so rabid fight fans packed into the place, there were plenty of buff guys and major cleavage in the crowd, just like Vegas - as well as a loud opening bell for the 2008 Georgia MMA calender.  Headlining the main event was nineteen year old Dan Lauzon (East Bridgewater MA) of UFC fame, who gave us a brief glimpse of his sparkling future with a quick victory over Andrew Montanez in a 165 pound tangle. Scary fast and aggressive early on, Lauzon hit Montanez with a flying knee that left him dazed. Quickly taking Montanez's back, the "Upgrade" sunk in deep hooks and set about pummeling him from behind. With Montanez unable to defend himself and with a bloody face only a mother could love, the referee stopped the beating at 1:48 of the first round.

 

After the fight Lauzon told GAMMA he wanted to finish the fight early to conserve energy for an upcoming fight in two weeks - yeah - that's right folks - weeks - not months! Dany is currently scheduled for upcoming fights on February 8th against Andrew Calandrelli and on March 15th against buddy Dale Hart of Maine. When asked if he had anything to say to Calandrelli, his next opponent he simply replied "Andrew just be ready." One thing's certain - this guy is gifted and clearly not "J-Lau's brother" anymore. All he needs is experience - and at the pace he's going he'll soon have plenty. GAMMA will feature part 3 of our talks - the final post fight interview with the "Upgrade" later this week.

 

The co-main event featured a rematch of Tom Nguyen and Rhomez Brower following their epic 185# struggle at the last WB Fight Night - won by Brower. This one was disappointing by comparison. Both men seemed determined not to make a mistake, rather than committed to notching a win. The first and second rounds consisted of heavy clinching along the ropes, with a few brief flurries of ineffective striking and zero takedowns. Round 3 opened with yet more clinching, neither man able to budge the other. Nguyen finally managed to fell Brower by takedown late in the third and gain side mount, which probably won the fight for him, despite Brower's last second reversal. The unanimous decision went to Nguyen.

 

"Fight of the Night" honors went to pros Tony Souza (FL) and Willie Smalls (GA) in a scintillating 212 pound thunderclap of a bout. Smalls attacked Souza from the opening bell in a feverish, windmill attack, firing fists and elbows like machine guns and completely dominating the early going. The question was: when would his arms run outa juice? The answer came at 4:35 of the first round, when Souza managed to wriggle out of his grasp, reverse him and sink in a rear naked choke that ended the bout. The action had the entire crowd on their feet witnessing the sudden, stunning reversal of fortune that saw Souza raise his arm after absorbing a nasty beating early. That's MMA kids - if at first you don't succeed -find another way to win! Short - but a great fight and what MMA is all about. Both fighters brought 3-1 records into the ring and earned loud applause from GAMMA.

 

In the night's only Muay Thai match up, pro champ Philip Botha (Marietta-Knuckle Up) solidly defended his title with a second round KO of Chris Clodfelter (Statesville, NC- Champions MT). The confident, lethal Botha calmly pressed Clodfelter in the first round, often leading with his right and landing several combinations toward the end of the round. Clodfelter collapsed in his corner at the end of the first and probably should have stayed there. The second saw the speedy Botha land another right from nowhere -on the button- that left Clodfelter in LaLa land, unable to stand at ten. Advantage Botha -who remains the Southeast Regional MT champ.

 

The night's first pro clash featured two big Georgia fighters - 240 pounders James Faye of Decatur (New Blood FC) vs. Chris Bradshaw of Canton (KO Sports). Bradshaw quickly took down Faye at the bell, driving him into a corner and making a brief guillotine attempt. Faye struggled to his feet and grabbed Bradshaw's arm, pulling him off the mat hard. Bradshaw's upward momentum allowed him to land a brutal knee shot to Faye's head that dumped him back into the corner, covering up from the storm of Bradshaw shots that followed. The referee stopped the fight - and many in the crowd thought too early - at 1:33 of the first.

 

Another big boy bash featured 265 pound Will Mora of Statesville, NC (Champions MT) against Sam Holloway of Kennesaw (HardCore). Hollaway dominated from the outset, taking down Mora at will and administering significant punishment in the form of fists, elbows and multiple submission attempts. Gaining full mount after a quick takedown in the third, Hollaway continued to punish Mora with a hailstorm of punches and a Kimura attempt. The clash ended in a referee's stoppage, with Mora unable to defend himself.

 

The last pro event proved a puzzle. Josh Rutgers of Jacksonville, FL squared off against Clay Harvison of Kennesaw (Knuckle Up) in a 170 pound battle that saw trouble from the stare down. Harvison leaned heavily on Rutgers's forehead during the battle of the blink and turned up the pressure at the bell, attacking furiously. With the action directly in front of GAMMA, Rutgers was taking punishment, but did not appear to be badly hurt when he surprised everyone with a tap out from strikes at 1:37 of the first, immediately exiting the ring and leaving the crowd wondering exactly why he came.

 

A full course of amateur MMA rounded out the night's twelve fight card, which ended after midnight. MMA rookies Jamal McClennon and James Campbell squared off in a 155 pound contest won by McClennon fifty seconds into the second by referee stoppage.

 

Chris Ruiz of McDonough (HardKnox MMA) defeated Erik Skates of Fort Myers, FL in a 190 pound event by rear naked choke at 1:38 of the second round. Wild Bill's regular Darell Parodi (Carrollton - Top of the Line Fitness) carried his Marine Corps flag into the ring to get fired up for his three round unanimous decision victory over Brian Moore (McDonough - HardKnox) in a 165 pound dust up.

 

Thirty-eight year old D.J. Wegesin of Cumming got a win over twenty year old Mang Lor of Statesville, NC by guillotine choke 52 seconds into the second round of their 145# contest - score one for the old guys. Veteran light heavy gym rat Sam Grizzle, fighting out of the HardCore gym in Athens, made his "mmartistic" debut with an impressive 22 second victory by rear naked choke over Shawn White of Jacksonville, FL. Not to be outdone, Alpharetta's Lizzy Miller choked out Rebecca Witmer of Cincinnati, OH with a guillotine 57 seconds into the first round in the inaugural female MMA fight at Wild Bill's. The night even had the gals behaving badly - ya gotta love it!

 

Wild Bill's serves up its next menu of tasty Georgia MMA on Friday, March 28th. Tickets are already on sale through Ticketmaster or the Wild Bill's Fight Line (404-626-2126). We'll be in the front row - see you there!

 

Jim Terwoord for GeorgiaMMA.com