photos and report by Chris Cozzone If you want to see your favorite hometown cage fighters batter hapless out-of-town foes for easy wins, don’t bother going to FightWorld. But if you want to see blood and guts action, then you’ll be right at home in the smoke and noise and high-volume combat the FIT/NHB Gym puts on every two or three months at the Sunshine Theatre in Albuquerque. Last night was no exception. The Sunshine Theatre’s packed house of 750 screaming fans were treated to two significant pro fights and an eight-bout amateur undercard, none of which disappointed. In the main event, hometown hopeful Carlos Condit (12-1 MMA) hit his first roadblock and pro loss when Houston, Texas’ Carlo Prater (11-1-1 MMA) had him tapping in the first round. Condit and Prater fought the opening 40 seconds on their feet, sizing each other up and trading kicks, until Prater took control by taking Condit down—a rarity for the formerly undefeated fighter. While in control, Prater was unable to mount the elusive Condit, who was unable to reverse control and drop shots on Prater in the second minute. Control was short-lived, for Prater closed shop on Condit and within the next 60 seconds, had him tapping out at 2:51 of the first round with an airtight triangle choke hold. Condit took the loss well. “Nothing risked, nothing gained,” he said afterward. “Prater was a formidable opponent and he was the better man tonight. I lost, but I was still able to do something I love to do—fight.” “I wouldn’t change anything about this fight,” said Arlene Vaughn, who trains Condit with husband Tom Vaughn. “Anything can happen in this game—sometimes you’re on, sometimes you’re not. Carlo fought a good fight.” Prater, who trains with UFC superstar and lightweight People’s champ Yves Edwards, had nothing but praise for his downed opponent. “It’s easy for guys like me to come into someone’s hometown,” he said after the fight. “I had nothing to lose—and that’s a position I like to be in. “But Carlos? He had all the pressure. But I take my hat off to him. He’s a stud. He gets all the credit in the world for stepping up like he did. He’s a tough fighter and was able to get out of two mounts. But I tried to take my time and calculate. It just a matter of time before I could get into range and grapple—and that’s where I thought I had more baggage.”
In the co-main event, Thomas Schulte (8-2 MMA) made his return to the cage after a ten-month layoff following a hard loss, making short work of game Randy Hauer (4-4 MMA) of Houston, Texas. After the first 35 seconds on their feet, with Hauer fighting an elusive strike-and-move game, Schulte saw his opening and shot forward, taking Hauer down and, soon after, out with a perfectly executed triangle choke hold at just :55. Schulte, formerly of Jackson’s Gaidojutsu but now working with the FIT/NHB Gym, said he was prepared for a longer fight. “It was over quicker than I thought it’d be. I wanted some time on my feet but when I had the opportunity, my body took over and I took him down.” Undercard action On the eight-bout amateur undercard: Albuquerque’s Mike Valdez took out Jr. McDonald of El Paso in the 1st round. Valdez had McDonald down early and was able to drop enough shots on a captured McDonald until the ref stopped the contest at 2:17. Lee King of Houston surprised Albuquerque’s Lalo Maldonado with a first round TKO win. King’s superior kicks and first takedown had Maldonado on the defense, although he was able to reverse roles by lifting King off the canvas and drop him with a bonecrushing drop. King showed no signs of damage, though, and quickly turned the tables, seeking an armbar and elbow hold, to no avail. But after too many strikes to the head rained down on Maldonado, the ref stopped the contest at 1:23 in favor of King. In the third bout, Albuquerque’s John Judy stopped Lubbock’s Joey Spencer in the 2nd round by TKO. The first round, spent almost entirely on the mat, was fairly even, with Judy’s takedowns giving him the edge. But at the round’s end, Spencer was dead tired—his fatigue gave Judy the opportunity to take him out at 2:03 with too many strikes. Bout #4 had Albuquerque’s Russell Franklin forcing Ray Young of Lubbock, Texas, pulling a ‘no mas’ at 4:12 of the 2nd. Round One was a deadlock, with both fighters grappling on the mat, but with the ref forcing a break twice in order to jump start more action. In the 2nd, Franklin pulled ahead, smashing Young to the canvas twice. With the fight starting to drain out of him. Young left an opening that had Franklin landing two solid right hands, the second of which had Young shaking his head ‘no mas’. In the fifth bout, Frost “the Icepick” Murphy of Texas took out formerly undefeated Tim Means of Albuquerque with a second round triangle choke hold. Murphy’s early control had Means looking for a way to reverse the action—including an intentional headbutt that had the ref shaking his finger at him. Resorting to fair means, Means was, however, able to flip the fight around but Murphy, unwilling to get up, was unwilling to play Means’ game. Preferring to grapple, Murphy got his chance in the second stanza, forcing Means to tap out from a triangle choke hold at 3:05. Unbeknownst to observers, Means had taken the fight despite a still-fresh bullet wound in his leg, just three weeks prior. He was taken to the hospital after the fight after re-injuring his still-healing wound. One more fighter would be taken to the hospital: Albuquerque’s Lafeyette Barela blew his lateral meniscus in the first, losing to Roswell’s Leo Urquidez. After a fairly even round, Barela lifted Urquidez off the canvas and dropped him—unfortunately, the damage was to himself when his knee was forced outward on the takedown, forcing the ref to give the win by TKO to Urquidez at 3:52. Bout #6 had Albuquerque’s Matt Knaub outmuscling Jason Lantrip of Houston for the only decision of the night. While in control most of the time on the ground, Knaub was unable to drop shots or armbar the clinging Lantrip, so had to settle for the unanimous decision. In the shortest fight of the night, Albuquerque’s Brant Gibbs had Houston’s Hayden Maughn tapping out from an armbar at just :44 seconds. The next scheduled FightWorld show will be November 27th, once again, at the Sunshine Theatre.
# # # © 2004 by New Mexico Boxing.com. |
|||||||||||||||
