1. Middleweight Bout – Ross Mason def. Lee Aylett by Rear Choke – 2:29 Round Two
2. Lightweight Elimination Tournament – Mark Wilson def. Brian Davis – Unanimous Decision
3. Heavyweight Bout – James Thompson def. Richie Cranny by Side Choke – 1:34 Round One
4. Welterweight Elimination Tournament – Paul Jenkins def. Rafles Larose – Majority Decision
5. Heavyweight Bout – Ruben Vazquez def. Lee Spencer by Rear Choke – 3:00 Round One
6. Lightweight Elimination Tournament – Pat Carr def. Greg Loughrin – Unanimous Decision
7. Light-Heavyweight Bout – Julian Gonzalez def. Wayne Cook – Disqualification Round One (Cook indefinitely banned from competition)
8. Lightweight Elimination Tournament – Ian Butlin def. Marc Duncan by Triangle – 1:37 Round One
9. Middleweight Bout – Sandy Geddes def. Steve Dempsey by TKO – 0:50 Round One
10. Lightweight Elimination Tournament – Kim Hovgaard def. David McLaughlin – Majority Decision
11. Welterweight Elimination Tournament – Fabricio Nascimento def. Javier Garcia by Triangle – 2:14 Round One
12. Middleweight British Title Fight – Sol Gilbert def. David Patterson by TKO – 3:08 Round One
13. Light-Heavyweight World Title Fight – Pierre Guillet def. Lars Besand by Rear Choke – 4:38 Round Three

Marquardt on Gomm

Denver, CO — The much-hyped IFC Light Heavyweight tournament held almost 10 years after very first UFC in the city it all started was in my opinion one of the better shows in a long time. Fighters from Ruas Vale Tudo, Lion’s Den, Chute Box, Team Extreme, Gracie Baja, Team Quest, and more fought for Chuck Liddell’s belt and $50,000. It was Ruas Vale Tudo’s Renato "Babalu" Sobral that walked away with the belt as well as a heavily swelling eye after defeating Team Extreme’s Jeremy Horn in the finals. Babalu had the first two rounds by slim margins, which may have caused Horn to be over-aggressive as he uncharacteristically fouled Babalu in the third round with a knee to the head of the grounded Babalu. Babalu not only won the tournament but took the hard road getting there with his first two fights going a total of a little over 28 minutes before stepping into the ring to face Horn for another 13, all at an elevation of one mile high.

Academy Of MMA’s Amanda Buckner won the Women’s 135 fight against Victory Athletic’s Ginele Marquez in a fight many knew would be a challenge for Marquez to win. Buckner whipped out a ankle lock, a move she has so far shown no inclination to even try. In yet another example of the IFC’s support for the women’s divisions Jennifer Howe, the only woman to beat Buckner at 135, looked on from the broadcast table where she commentated for this one fight.

This show can basically be divided into two shows; the Light Heavyweight tournament and secondly several other name fighters getting fights against relatively outmatched opponents. Nathan Marquardt, Ron Waterman, and local fighter making his debut Chilo Gonzales also won to no great surprise. Worst moment of the night originally was marked by the "no contest" between Doug Evans and Brad Gumm when Gumm allegedly racked Evans to the point Evans couldn’t continue, an issue hotly debated ringside by Ken Pishna especially with no resolution at this point. This dubious honor of worst moment was replaced a couple fights later with the entire Ron Waterman/"Scary" Jerry Vrbanovic fight. "Scary" Jerry is not exactly what one would call "top caliber" — comments such as "his striking is in question" or "conditioning could use improvement" are understatements. Waterman on the other hand is so good the California promoters are having a tough time finding opponents. This fight was so one-sided it was almost amusing, with Jerry finally succumbing to a "chicken wing" submission. Basically the Light Heavyweight tournament was well worth the one-sided fights with big name fighters that filled the card.

Babalu victorious

• Allen Sullivan def. Eric Escobedo 2:20 R2 by TKO
• Tom Sauer def. Sean Gray 0:46 R1 by guillotine choke
• Renato "Babalu" Sobral def. Trevor Prangley by unanimous decision (30-28, 30-27, 30-27)
• Shogun def. Erik Wanderlei 2:54 R2 by TKO
• Jeremy Horn def. Michail Avetisyan 4:59 R1 by armbar
• Forrest Griffin def. Chael Sonnen 2:25 R1 by triangle choke
• Sauer def. Sullivan 0:39 R2 by arm injury
• Chilo Gonzales def. Jody Poff 1:00 R1
• Babalu def. Shogun 3:07 R3 by guillotine choke
• Horn def. Griffin 3:30 R2 by KO (kick)
• Doug Evans and Brad Gumm ruled "no contest" due to groin injury
• Amanda Buckner def. Ginelle Marquez 2:48 R1 by ankle lock
• Nathan Marquardt def. Steve Gomm 3:28 R1 by submission to strikes
• Ron Waterman def. Jerry Vrbanovic by arm submission
• Babalu def. Horn by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Aguilar

Ft. Lauderdale, FL — AFC 5 showed the split with HOOKnSHOOT has not hurt the fledgling promotion, holding not only three fights of top fighters but a very solid undercard, a rarity in today’s MMA.

Nick Aguilar, the FFC Lightweight Champion fighting out of Dave Strasser’s school, stunned many by taking the inagural AFC Lightweight belt in the main event against heavily favored American Top Team fighter Edson Diniz. In the first round Aguilar didn’t seem to get off the starting block and it looked like Diniz’s ground game was going to provide a one-sided victory. Starting in the second Nick came alive with his striking and seemed to revert to his prepared gameplan. Rounds 2 & 3 were definitely Aguilar’s as he relentlessly fought and earned the unanimous judges’ decision, adding the AFC 155 belt to his FFC one which he will defend October 18th.

If only the Chris Lytle and Dustin Denes fights were as close.

Chris Lytle when he fights at Welterweight is one of the best and most exciting fighters to have such a blotchy record. It’s his fights in Japan where he has fought as Middleweight that ruin his redcord, a strategy he would be wise to adjust. Lytle’s tringle choke and armbar combination seemed to have the ref looking in the wrong place because although Lavender’s body was stiff and "defending" the armbar the legs of Lytle alone choked out Lavender. The ref didn’t seem to notice until Lavender was unconscious and his face was turning blue.

Denes puts Thomas to sleep via triangle

AFC 5 really shone with the undercard. With so many shows now not respecting their own undercards and pointing to boxing as precedent it was refreshing to see a card packed with skilled fighters and not brawlers that would fight for peanuts. American Top Team’s Jorge Santiago came back from his recent quick KO loss in KOTC to beat Derrick Noble was probably the biggest news on the undercard. American Top Team went 3-1, Dave Strasser’s Freestyle Academy went 1-2, Integrated Fighting went 1-1, and local guys Freestyle Fighting Academy (no connection to Dave Strasser) went 3-0 showing no one group could be said to dominate the 10-fight card. Overall exciting and well-balanced for the fans of groundwork balanced with striking while fans of the brawlers and engineered knockouts would be more satisfied elsewhere.

• Joe Cervantes drew Brian Geraghty after 2 rounds
• Jorge Santiago def. Derrick Noble by unanimous decision (20-18, 20-18, 20-18)
• Jorge Masvidal def. Roli Delgado 2:14 R1 by tapout to strikes
• Marcel Ferreira def. Tony Ross 3:17 R1 by rear-naked choke
• Paulo Barros def. Matt Hamilton by unanimous decision (20-18, 20-18, 20-18)
• Efrain Ruiz def. Josh Krueger 3:59 R1 by submission to strikes
• Phil Johns def. Pedro Brandao by unanimous decision (10-18, 20-18, 20-18)
• Dustin Denes def. Nick Thomas 1:47 R1 by triangle choke
• Chris Lytle def. Chatt Lavender 0:55 by triangle
• Nick Aguilar def. Edson Diniz by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)