Cage Page 6

In the sixth installment of the Kauai Cage match there were several things that took some of the gleam off the normally stellar shows.  First of all a few of the Kauai MMA stars were unable to fight due to injury or other commitments.  The drizzling rain seemed to suck some of the energy from the crowd which seemed to be divided between the block party in Poipu and this event.

The fans that chose to support the MMA event and endured the showers were treated to the best striking display Kauai has ever seen in MMA.  

120-125 lbs. (Woman's Kickboxing)

Rene Oliver (Puhi Disciples) vs. Kylene Espina (Freelance-Kauai)

Rene was the aggressor in the first round.  She threw powerful flurries that forced her opponent back.  She threw relatively straight punches that snapped the head of her opponent back and she landed several clean shots.  Her kicks were more effective as well.  Kylene looked a little overwhelmed at times but kept trying to counter.  While Kylene was the taller fighter she was unable to keep the distance to take advantage of her reach. 

In the second round Rene slipped but got back up,  it was drizzling and the mat was slick.  She was landing more clean punches and Kylene hung in there looking for a way to solve the riddle of her relentless opponent.

In the final round Rene started landing punches at will and Kylene looked fatigued.  At this point no one would question were if she decided to quit but she had far too much pride to stop fighting.  Kylene was looking fatigued and was unable to fend off her opponent but she was able to go the distance.

Rene Oliver wins via judge's decision

Ben Sandobal (Freelance-Oahu) vs Nestor Honorato (Quicksilva)

155-160 lbs. MMA

This was Ben's first MMA match but he was seemed to been relatively calm and collected.  Ben came out to the Karate Kid music and there were cheesy quotes being yelled from the stands like "Get him a body bag! Yeah!!!".   Nestor was the aggressor and looked to put leather on his opponents face.  He was the shorter fighter and had difficulty reaching his opponents head,  forcing him to lung at his opponent.  Ben  blocked the punches and took Nestor down.  Nestor was in a lot of trouble early as he fell into a side mount and the was fully mounted.  He was taking a lot of punishment from the mount but kept moving his head and his hips to escape.  He turned to his back to avoid the ground strikes to the face but Ben went for a rear naked choke.  Ben failed to flatten his opponent which allowed Nestor to explode up and reverse him.  Ben showing a lot of moxy for a green fighter immediately transitioned into a triangle choke but Nestor was too strong and stout to succumb to the choke.  He pounded his way out and paid his opponent back with some effective ground strikes of his own.  Ben clinched after Nestor aggressively tried to use his boxing skills and got a takedown.  The mat was slick again and it looked like Nestor may have slipped.  Nestor is clinching and tying up Ben.  He is pushed up against the cage but he is moving his hips and trying to work his guard up high for a submission but is unsuccessful.  He turns himself away from the cage and is able to stand up.  Not much action till the bell rings.

In the second round Nestor feigns another flurry up high but instead bull rushes his opponent and gets a pretty good takedown.  He pushes his opponent to the fence but Ben works his guard up high and threatens with  several submissions enough to where Nestor is unable to pummel his opponent freely.  The round ends in with little action.

In the final round Ben throws a hay maker that misses.  Nestor lands a big punch that wakes up the crowd.  Both fighters fight for traction as the grapple on the slick mat.  Ben is shooting for a takedown but Nestor is sprawling effectively and striking in between drives.  Ben does a nice wrestling sit out reversal and gets a takedown but his ground strikes are weak and ineffective.  This was a hard fight to score but Nestor seems to have tried to end the fight rather than win by points which seems to factor more heavily in these judges criteria.  Fight could go either way depending on the criteria;  points or overall performance to win the fight.

Nestor wins via judges decision

Kougi Malone (Freelance Kauai) vs. Chuck Rapozo (Quicksilva)

155-160 lbs. MMA

Kougi is working the body with kicks to the body.  He shoots for a takedown but they are slipping around and both fighters go back to standing.  Kougi throwing more body kicks and gets a big slam on Chuck.  Chuck grabs the fence blatantly to prevent him from being lifted about Kougi's shoulders and keeps holding on the the fence while the are on the ground.  Chuck has been holding on the the fence for quite sometime and the ref either ignores this or is unaware.  Chuck seems to be landing the more effective punches from his back,  he throws up kicks effectively as well.

In the second round Kougi goes back to his body kicks and has his hands down.  He is telegraphing the kicks and always looks to double up.  It is only a mater of time until Chuck counters with an over hand right that stuns his opponent.  Chuck goes for a takedown but Kougi goes for a guillotine that looks deep.  Chuck powers out and goes for an anaconda rolling choke but Kougi escapes.  Chuck is on his back and throwing up kicks that snap Kougi's head back violently.  Kougi stays in that kicking rand and eats a few more kicks.  He is swinging a little wild but does not land many clean shots.

In the third round Chuck goes for a guillotine attempt and ends up just holding his opponent on all 4's.  He is striking from this position and starts to land some effective strikes.  the ref calls for a time out and Kougi is checked.  The ref stops the fight due to bleeding.

Chuck Rapozo wins via TKO

Sherri Ephan (Freelance-Kauai) vs. Sally Krumdiak (C3 Fighters Wash)

140 woman's kickboxing

Sherri is looking much improved from her last fight early on.  She seems more settled and her striking has more snap.  She kicks to the body but Sally sweeps her.  Sally seems like the stronger strikers and she seems committed in throwing an axe kick to the leg of Sherri after striking up top.  The fans can almost feel her shin digging deep into Sherri's leg on each kick.

The second round starts and Sherri continues to work her jab with some success.  The fighters exchange punches and Sally scores a knockdown.  Sherri gets up immediately and they resume fighting.  For the rest of the round the fighters exchange strikes with Sally getting the edge,  they clinch and Sally gets in a chopping kick to the same spot of Sherri's leg.  Sally backs her opponent into the cage and unloads a huge swarm for punches,  Sherri is in trouble but makes it out of the round.

In the last round Sherri is showing the effects of the chopping leg kicks.  Her ability to strike has been diminished because of her hampered leg.  Sally takes advantage of this and continues to throw on top and finish with a blow to the same point on Sherri's leg.  Sherri has heart but knows it is pointless to continue at this point.  Sherri fought a good fight but was simply outclassed in this fight.

Sally Krumdiak wins via TKO.

Hunter Seelbinder (Bulls Pen)  vs.  Kelsey Espina (Freelance-Kauai)

200 lbs.  MMA

At the start of the fight Kelsey immediately secures a tight clinch and seems to be controlling his opponent well and seems to have him off balance.  Kelesy uses his superior position to go for a takedown but his feet slip out from under him and Hunter lands in side mount.   Hunter has a tight hold on Kelsey and is pounding him,  he slips his leg over for full mount and is pounding Kelsey.  Kelsey explodes at the right time and gets to his feet and gets another good clinch but his feet slip out again.  This time he lands in his guard.  Kelsey tries to get up but Hunter gets his back,  Kelsey starts to escape but hunter re-establishes control and is able to sink in the rear naked choke.

HUnter Seelbinder wins via rear naked choke.

Tristen Kamaka (808FF) vs.  Nainoa Dung (UFT)

65-70 lbs. (Exhibition kickboxing match)

Both fighter entered the ring as undefeated fighters and really got the crowd out of their seats with their fighting.  Tristen comes from a fighting family in Oahu and put on a display of lightning fast punches and hard high and low kicks.  Nainoa showed skills way beyond his years but he was out classed in this fight.  Late in the second round Tristan hurt his foot but survived the round and came back strong to finish the fight.

Tristen Kamaka wins via judge's decision.

Julio Moreno (Bulls Penn) vs. Sergio Hurtado (Freelance Kauai)

135 lbs. MMA

This was one of the highly anticipated fights of the night.  Sergio is a well respected grappler who has racked up wins  all over the state.  He was making his MMA debut against a solid fighter who comes from a well know fighting family.  Julio started of the fight with a low kick that caused Sergio to stumble slightly.  Julio was embolden by the and aggressively looked to follow his retreating opponent.  Sergio stopped in his track and hit a very clean double leg that put Julio flat on his back,  planting in squarely on the mat.  Sergio threw some punches to the ribs of his opponent and passed to side mount.  He tried to mount but was caught in the half guard.  Both fighters scrambled up and Sergio aggressively went for a guillotine which looked deep.  Julio managed to escape but ended up on his back where Sergio used his superior grappling to pass Julio's guard and get a full mount.  Julio gave up his back and was able to fend off Sergio's rear naked choke until the round ended.

The rest of the fight seemed to follow this script,  Julio landing 1 or 2 leg kicks which Sergio seemed unable to check,  Julio coming in to put some leather on Sergio's face but Sergio changing levels with very clean takedowns that planted Julio in the mat.  Sergio would pass the guard easily but his emphasis was control rather that striking.  The ref would stand the fighters up and the sequence would repeat itself.  Sergio dominated the fight and can be a force in MMA if he improves his striking and low kick defense.

Sergio Hurtago wins via judges decision.

Andre Solis (Freelance-Kauai) vs. Keoni Bryant

170 lbs. MMA

Keoni is well known for his striking prowess and not much was known of his opponent Andre.  The fight started with Keoni coming on strong throwing a flurry of punches that seemed to overwhelm his opponent.  To his credit Andre was able to weather the early storm and got a takedown.  Keoni was able to scramble up instantly.  Andre did the wise thing and tried to tie up Keoni to neutralize his striking.    Keoni looked like he was working a cervical submission but Andre was able to power out of the hold and get another takedown.  Again Keoni seemed to just explode up and in a scramble caught Andre in a deep rear naked choke.

I was impressed by both fighters in this fight.  I had never heard of Andre before but he seemed like a very strong fighter who fought a very smart fight.  It looked like he had a good game plan and he executed it well,  he was simply outclassed.  Keoni Bryant was very impressive with his striking power and hand speed but what really impresses me is his ability to scramble up.  It is this ability that allows him to be aggressive with his stand up because he is not concerned with being taken down.  He also transitions well from the scramble into submissions and striking.

Keoni Bryant wins via rear naked choke.

Casey Daniels (Team MMAD) vs.  Ron Veraderro (Jesus is Lord)

185. lbs. MMA

In this fight both fighters put on the best display of striking in MMA Kauai has ever seen.  Casey got off first and was throwing combos that were landing with such force they could be heard all the way from the top of the bleachers.  He threw all sorts of different combos that were landing.  In spite of Casey's power,  hand speed and accuracy Ron kept coming forward throwing single hooks at time.  It looked like the fight was going to be all Casey as he seemed to be landing multiple punches at will while his opponent would throw single hooks that looked slow and telegraphed in comparison.  That was until Ron started to land some of those clubbing punches.  Ron's punches lacked the  loud cracks of Casey's when landing and they didn't look as stunning,   but they had this concussive power that rocked his opponent.  This wasn't apparent initially because Casey seemed to be dominating until he started to wobble towards the end of the round and Ron look to finish his opponent.

In the second round both fighters began to stand toe to toe.  Casey still throwing fast,  hard and accurate but Ron seeming to get the edge.  Casey looked hurt again and looked to take the fight to the ground.  Casey got the fight to the ground and started to throw some very powerful punches and elbows that rocked his rival.  Ron blocked most of the strikes but seemed to be hurt by Casey's elbows and punches even when partially blocking them.  He dug down deep and kept tying up Casey to get a stand up.  Once standing Ron way show signs of being hurt from the ground assault.  He was backing up trying to recover while Casey pressed the fight.

In the last round Casey tried to get the fight on the ground after some stand up but Ron was able to defend the clinching takedown attempts.  Ron worked some inside kicks.  Both fighters cinched and Ron seemed to get the edge in the striking from the clinch.

Ron Vardaderro wins via judge's decision.

Chico Cantiberos (Eastsidaz) vs Buck Bisbey (C3 Fighters)

150 lbs. MMA

Chico starts off with a nice inside leg kick.  Buck trying to shoot for a takedown but slips.  Chico goes for a  standing guillotine  and jumps on Buck to pull him down but Buck is to strong and remains standing and just shakes Chico off.  Buck is now on top and passes to side mount he is punching and elbowing but doesn't seem to be landing anything cleanly.  He gets a full mount on Chico and starts to rain down punches that forces the ref to stop the fight.

After the fight Eben Kaneshiro is invited to the ring by the announcer and both parties agree to have a rematch at the March fight.  Eben promises to train hard and bring the title back to Kauai.

Buck Bisbey wins via TKO

Kimo Woelfel (Eastsidaz) vs. Landon Showwalter (C3 fighters)

170 lbs. MMA

Kimo looks huge for a 170 pound fighter,  Landon does too though Kimo looks muscular and Landon is tall and slender.  The fight start and Kimo throw a flurry,  Landon covers up and clinches Kimo as he moves in.  Landon works the legs in the clinch kneeing Kimo's thigh,  stomping on his foot and going over the top for an Muay Thai elbow.  Kimo is pressed against the fence but he breaks free and throws another swarm of punches with bad intentions causing his opponent to back up.

For much of the fight it is evident that Landon plan is to cover up when Kimo throws a flurry,  let him come in and clinch.  From the clinch Landon pushes Kimo into the fence and knees him in the thigh and throws the occasional Thai elbow over the top.  Kimo breaks tried to push himself off the cage,  disengage and throw flurries and upper cuts to get out of the corner.  This cycle is broken when Kimo gets a big slam and works on softening up his opponent on the ground.  Landon tries the rubber guard and seems to have both a triangle and a leg which he can transition to a sweep or heel hook.  He keeps the leg and goes got a  triangle and uses the leg to control Kimo.  The triangle isn't deep but Kimo is still vulnerable because Landon has his leg.  Kimo uses his free arm to pound his way out.  Landon continues to try for armbar submissions but it seems like Kimo has solved Landon's rubber guard and is landing some effective strikes after foiling all of his submission attempts.

In the final round Landon is throwing a lot of low and high kicks with moderate power,  he seems to be setting Kimo up for something.  Kimo responds with another flurry and the old cycle continues with Landon clinching and working his knees and elbows.   Kimo does a better job landing uppercuts from the clinch which forces Landon to disengage.   The fight is very close but it seems like Kimo was busier towards the end after getting his second wind. 

Kimo Woefel wins a judge's decision.