FightWorld 5 sells out Sunshine again

report, photos by Cozzone

“We’re gonna get the next fight started just as soon as we clean the blood out of the ring . . . .”

What the ring announcer told the crowd between the fifth and sixth fights of last night’s “FightWorld 5: Off the Hook” at the Sunshine Theater in Albuquerque pretty much summed up the entire nine-bout show.

Blood and guts.

Non-stop thrills.

For action, you can’t beat FightWorld’s consistently sold-out shows—and that’s probably why the popularity of cage fighting, be it FightWorld or King of the Cage or Chris Cordero’s shows, is soaring.

Unlike boxing, the crowd is young. And just as bloodthirsty as the fighters.

The number of fighters are soaring, too. While boxing clubs are talking about less and less amateur fighters joining up every year, attributing the waning interest to video games and TV, the MMA/NHB scene is signing them up.

Last night, 19 amateurs entered the cage—that’s right, 19, for one of the fighters, Juan Gonzales, fought twice—exiting bruised, battered and bloodied. In bouts that are, for the most part, professional (and dangerously unregulated, unsanctioned) matches, nine cage warriors earned a win (Gonzales, two.)

The results:

Grand Junction’s Chandler Holderness defeated Albuquerque’s Mark Pallottino with a first round rear naked choke hold.

In the second match, Albuquerque’s Johnathan Miller forced Las Cruces’ Ari Gamboa to tap out in the third minute of Round One. Miller had Gamboa down early where he pounded him to the ribs and face before the tapout.

Bout Three had Juan Gonzales of Santa Fe fighting his first match, defeating Coty “Ox” Wheeler of Albuquerque with a second round rear naked choke hold.

The first round held the best action all night, with the impetus swinging back and forth from fighter to fighter, from the canvas to trading punches on their feet. The only break in the action was for the ringside physician to check a cut, which was okayed.

In the first minute of Round Two, Gonzales slipped a choke hold on Wheeler, who was forced to tap out.

In the fourth bout, Albuquerque’s Gerald Lovato defeated Las Cruces’ David Zose with an armbar in the first round.

Zose came out swinging, taking control of the fight with his aggression while Lovato kept patient, waiting for the right moment to, with ease, trap Zose into an armbar within two minutes.

In the most brutal bout of the night, Albuquerque’s Andres Mondragon lost by TKO in Round Two against Las Cruces’ Jose Marquez.

The fight was halted momentarily in the first when Mondragon, bleeding all over the canvas, was brought before the ringside doc to check a cut on the bridge of his nose. Surprisingly, despite the blood, the doc okayed the action to continue.

The fight resumed and the 17-year-old Mondragon gave as good as he got, coming close to stopping his foe with choke holds but with the slippery Marquez battering Mondragon with fists as they rolled around on the canvas.

In the second round, the two traded shots on their feet—Marquez’s specialty (this kid should box). Later in the round, Marquez floored Mondragon and the fight was stopped.

In the sixth bout, and only distance fight of the night, Albuquerque’s Matt Priest won a split decision over Las Cruces’ Adrian Apodoca.

Apodoca had Priest on his back throughout most of Round One, but was unable to pass the guard and assume a choke hold. In the meantime, Priest landed elbows at every opportunity.

In the 2nd, Apodoca scored another takedown but lost a point for gouging soon after. On the canvas, Priest landed what must’ve been close to 50 hammer strikes to the top and temple and Apodoca’s head—when the ref stood them up, Apodoca was barely able to stand up. The fight resumed and after more of the same action, and another break in which the ref stood them up, Apodoca was barely able to stand. Still, the fight resumed, on the canvas, for the remainder of the round, after which Apodoca collapsed against the cage, exhausted.

Judges were split: two for Priest, one for Apodoca.

In the seventh bout, Albuquerque’s Rich Kemp won by submission with a first round front choke hold over Edgar Delgado of Las Cruces. Kemp had Delgado on his back the entire time before the stoppage.

In Bout #8, Juan Gonzales made his return to the ring for his second bout of the night.

This time, it was Travis Sherman of Colorado who became his victim, losing by a first round rear naked choke hold.

In the ninth bout, Albuquerque’s Lorenzo Coca defeated Gerald Sedillo of Las Cruces with a first round rear naked choke hold.

Sedillo was winning when the two traded shots on their feet, but when the fight went to the matt, Coca took over, assuming the hold for the stoppage.

In the final bout of the night, Chad “Soup Bone” Lemoine of Albuquerque made short work of Las Cruces’ Dan Sanchez when he had him tapping out by armbar in the first minute.

MMA/NHB action continues on June 17 and 18 when King of the Cage comes to the Kiva Auditorium on Friday; followed by Cordero’s “Demolition” on June 18th.