By Dave Meltzer
Welcome to our live coverage
The entire upper deck with the exception of about 300 seats are blocked off, but even the most optimistic predictions of a crowd was 8,000 without any established drawing cards. There are a decent amount of people here for this point in the show.
Eric Jacob from Sacramento vs. Alexander Trivino from San Jose is the opener. Trivino armbarred him from the bottom in 37 seconds.
Jorge Interiano, whose disciple is Voodoo style, so I guess he's either been trained by Papa Shango (hey, they both grew up in San Jose, it's possible) or he's auditioning for a heel role with All Japan, will face Travis Johnson, a San Jose fighter in both men's pro debut.
Johnson was seemingly doing the Kalib Starnes, dancing backwards in a round where nothing happened except a few body blows by Interiano.
Johnson slipped trying to get away but got up before taking more than a punch or two. Johnson is throwing some body kicks in between dancing backwards. Intreiano teed of on him late in the round, opening a cut under Johnson's right eye. Up until then, little action.
Johnson looks as though he didn't want to come out for round three so it's over. Technically it was doctor stoppage but Johnson was hardly protesting and he'd only taken a few punches.
They just announced fans could text the stipulations of the main event. Choices are no elbows on the ground, Cecil Peoples banned from judging the fight and the back of the head being defined as vritually the entire head except if you draw a line down the front of the face and have one inch in every direction legal.
Cyrillo Padhillo of San Francisco vs. Jesse Jones of Redwood City is next.
Padhillo got a takedown in the first round. Both connected with nice punches. An advanced copy of Randy Couture's autobiography is staring me in the face yelling, "Read me, Dave."
Padhillo bulled Jones against the fence in round two and took him down. He's throwing knees to the butt. Ref ordered a stand-up. Jones is throwing knowing he's behind and Padhillo taunted him, sticking his chin out, and Jones never found the chin.
Actually, we were told everything from behind the ears and from the very top of the head down is considered behind the head and illegal.
Jones decked Padhillo with a punch and throwing punches on the ground, but Padhillo grabbed him from the ground in a double leg and got on top. Padhillo should take the fight 29-28. Nelson Hamilton 29-28, second judge 30-27, Peoples 29-28 for Padhillo. I do a Peoples joke and he scored it perfect.
HD-Net is now covering this live. If you keep up with this, you'll know when Thomson vs. Melendez starts because that has potential to be a hell of a fight.
Bryan Caraway vs. Alvin Cacdac. Caraway's specialty is Cowboy Karate. Sounds like an idea for a horrible TV series.
Caraway took him right down. Got his back. I wonder if he learned Jiu Jitsu while doing whatever it is cowboys that specialize in karate do. He's working for a choke and it looks like Herb Dean stopped it. Cacdac tapped from the choke in 1:38. Evidently the Cowboy style of karate does include ground work.
Bobby Stack from Pacifica vs. Jose Palacios from Fremont.
Stack's entrance music seems like a heavy metal version of the theme from Hornswoggle.
Palacios has a major cheering section, since he's originally from San Shou and was Cung Le trained. Le is in his corner. He also got some boos. Stack was booed heavily. Crowd is pretty hyped for a prelim fight. Already loud Jose chants. Now loud Bobby chants. Sorta like MSG in 1979. Palacios connected with a good right, knocking Stack's mouthpiece out. Stack had to work but got the takedown. Jose chant. Now a Bobby chant. Stack has a nasty welt on his right side from a kick early. Close round because Stack didn't do any real damage on the ground. I'd go with Palacios.
Stack took him right down. Not much happened early. Palacios was scoring as much from the bottom. Stack went for an armbar but didn't get it, enabling Palacios to get on top as the round time ran out. I have this one for Stack, so we should be even going into three.
High kick by Stack. Knee to the body. Stack with a takedown. He went for a German suplex but Palacios blocked it enough to where it was just a takedown. He held on and thought about trying a second one. Stack now has a full mount. Stack with some punches from the top. Great reverse by Palacios with 43 seconds left. But Stack got back on top in a scramble. Time over. Stack 29-28.
Unanimous decision, 29-28 across the board for Stack. Fans are booing but it was the right call. Ken Shamrock is here as the interviewer.
Chris Cariaso vs. Anthony Figueroa is next. They are 135-pound regulars here and should be a good match.
Figueroa will be the crowd favorite here. Nice takedown by Cariaso. Cariaso broke through with a half-dozen punches. Cariso passed to side control. Now full mount. Cariaso trying for a wristlock. Figueora escaped and got up but Cariaso took him back down. Figueroa blocking almost everything Cariaso is throwing from the top. Cariaso with two knees to the body. Figueroa out and a nice knee to the chin as time ran out. Cariaso 10-9
Cariaso immediately got the takedown to start round two. Cariaso threw a few punches from the top but did no damage. Cariaso got full mount. He tried another wristlock but let it go. Cariaso threw some punches from the top and got his back and working for a choke but Figueroa escaped the first time. Cariaso with punches, got the choke again and this time Figueroa had to tap. Disappointing fight and totally one-sided. Time was 1:54 in round two.
Raymond (Real Deal) Daniels vs. Jeremiah (Was a Bullfog) Metcalf is next. Daniels is the star of the WCL and 18-0 as a kickboxer but this is his first fight under MMA rules.
Metcalf is also a Voodoo practitioner. Daniels mostly booed but no major reaction. He's a good showman but the people don't like him. Metcalf bulled him in the corner, stomping on his toes. Metcalf took him down with a double leg. Daniels grabbed a guillotine but Metcalf popped out. That would have been funny had the kickboxer choked out the MMA guy. Metcalf throwing some punches from the top. Metcalf connected with some good punches and worked into a full mount. He's pounding him from the top. This may not last much longer. Daniels lasted the round but I'd go 10-8 on this one.
Metcalf closed the distance and took Daniels down again. Now he's got full mount. Metcalf is scoring with a lot of punches from the top. Got his back in a scramble and now has a choke. Daniels tapped out with blood streaming out of his nose. Total one-sided shellacking. Metcalf made fun of his kickboxing doing a crane pose. So much for Chuck Norris going on TV about how his guys would clean up in MMA when his best fighter got destroyed by a journeyman.
Time was :59 of round two.
Elaina Maxwell vs. Miesha Tate is next. Maxwell is a protege of Cung Le and best known for being the opponent in the match that put Gina Carano on the map at the end of 2006 in this very same arena. An observation. Crowds here and all over NorCal are usually quiuck to boo when action gets slow, but there have been slow matches tonight and zero booing. Either:
1) Crowds are appreciating it more
2) When you have 7,500 fans in a city where MMA is this popular, they are the real fans of the sport and the other 8,000 that come when the stars are out aren't here are empty seats tonight that aren't booing.
Which means, if I'm a promoter, I'm very happy with the boos and and people coming because it's the cool thing to do in town on this night.
Maxwell got a few punches and a knee in before being taken down. Tate look like a freaking stud woman. 145, strong and in great shape. Got a full mount. Tate going for an armbar while Maxwell sort of trying a triangle, really a head scissors, at the same time. Crowd going nuts the last 20 seconds of this. Tate finally escaped from the head scissors and got the arm extended with seconds left in the round. Maxwell tapped twice without about two seconds left but the ref didn't see it. She got up and said "I didn't tap." They showed the replay on the big screen, showiong her tap, and nobody stopped the match.
Tate took her right down. She got a full mount and is throwing punches from the top. Maxwell did this cool head scissors escape and his choking her with the head scossrs. Tate got free. Tate is too strong and athletic for Maxwell. 20-18.
High kick by Maxwell but Tate got inside. Well, after my big speech, now the crowd is booing a lack of action. Ref seprated them and Tate put the fight right back in the same position. Maxwell spun around and got Tate's back. Maxwell's holding the fence for seconds at a time to keep her balance. Awful officiating. Nothing being called. Time ran out on Maxwell as she was working for an armbar. Should be 29-28 for Tate as Maxwell clearly won this round.
All three judges have it 29-28. For those keeping track at home, Peoples has scored every match perfectly so far.
Tate was asked about the end of round two and she never made a claim that she had it, but thought she was close to having it. She was nice, saying she hopes to fight for the people here again. They were indifferent to her. That's 0-3 for Cung Le's students tonight.
Bobby Southworth vs. Anthony Ruiz for the lightheavyweight title is next. Ruiz bloodied Southworth up and kind of wrecked him when they fought last year in a non-title match.
Southworth took him right down. Now he has his back. Ruiz reversed at 2:24 in. Southworth got up and took Ruiz down. Southworth working for an armbar as Ruiz went for a sweep. Ruiz is out of trouble and throwing knees to the side and back. Southworth looks tired at this point. Southworth's round close 10-9. Dull round.
Ruiz got a takedown right away. Southworth nearly got up but Ruiz single legged him back down. Southworth back up and this time he got the takedown. Ruiz reversed with 1:50 left. Southworth is really tired. But he went for a triangle from the bottom. Ruiz got out and then Southwroth ended on top in the scramble. Southworth did nothing but rest on top, though. Very close round. Maybe Southworth 10-9 just because of that triangle attempt. It wasn't close, but nobody did much of anything this round either.
Ruiz came out fast going for a takedown and got Southworth down. Bad move because I think he'd have the edge standing based on the first fight and he's taking a hell of a risk trying to win a decision here. Southworth is back up. Now Southworth is on top although doing nothing from that position. This isn't the level of horrible that Southworth vs. Tiger White was a few years back, but this match sucks bad. This is one of those shows where the last two matches are really going to have to save it. Southworth now has a full mount and got Ruiz's back. They should give both these guys five or six yellow cards at this point. Crowd isn't booing it as much as if the casual fans were here. Now Ruiz is on top. He threw three punches. Both standing and Ruiz threw a knee but Soutworth got another takedown and threw a few punches to the ribs. I'd give the round 10-10 but maybe very slightly for Ruiz if you had to make a pick. So 30-28 Southworth at this point.
Southworth got the takedown to start round three and has Ruiz's back. Both standing and Ruiz throwing knees. Crowd is starting to hate life right about now. Southworth took him down again. Ruiz is bleeding from nose. Now Ruiz got the takedown. Southworth is trying for a reverse armbar but gave it up. Southworth got up and got the takedown with 20 seconds left. He got side mount and chose to rest. Southworth's round, 40-37.
Round five. Kind of like counting down being as POW. Southworth got the takedown right away. Ruiz got up and Southworth took him down again. I'm about to confess to a crime I didn't commit right about now. For the 5th round of a title fight, this place is quiet. Southworth's throwing a few punches but mainly just keeping Ruiz down. THANK GOD IT'S OVER. 50-46 Southworth.
Here are the scores: Rosales 48-47 Southworth. The only close round was three. Peoples 49-46. Nelson Hamilton 50-45. Even though the local guy won, and he deserved to win, crowd booed anyway. They are booing the hell out of Southworth as he does his post-match interview. He actually cut a good promo but people booed so loud they couldn't hear. Then Southworth told all his San Jose fans to give it up for Ruiz. A few people did cheer but most booed. 40 crowd killings minutes is finally over.
They are bringing clebrities ito the ring. Phil Baroni, Ken Sharmock, Bas Rutten (not that big a pop but biggest so far), Frank Sharmock (no reaction except some boos), Cung Le (big reaction).
Nam Phan vs. Billy Evangelista is next. On paper this should be a good match. Phan is always exciting and Evanglista is unbeaten.
Phan is undersized at lightweight, should be a featherweight so that could play a factor here. Evangelista took him down and is punching him from the top. Evangelista just outpowering him. Phan tried to use the cage to avoid going down. Evangelista teed off. Evangelits caught him with a lot of punches from the top. Phan is composed taking them and working but he's getting zero offense in. I could see this as a 10-8 because it was one-sided with solid damage. This is not the match it needed to be at this point.
Now they are trading. Phan rocked Evangelista with punches. Good knee by Phan. Good straight right. Evangelista tried a takedown and didn't get it. But he bulled Phan into the cage and closed the distance, taking away his striking game. Phan broke free. Good right by Phan and another good right by Phan. Phan missed a haymker. Evangelista is tired. Good left and another good punch and Evangelista's mouthpiece is out. Evangelista got the takedown with 2:12 left. Phan back to his feet. Phan throwing elbows to the side of the head. He cut Evangelista's head with a hard elbow high in the head. Evengelista's blond hair turning red like a bleached blond wrestler in the 70s. Evangelita got another takedown. Phan's round 10-9.
Phan coming out strong with punches . Evangelista working hard for a takedown but Phan escaped. Both throwing knees from a clinch but not effecitve. Evangelista tried a high kick and Phan back with a punch. Phan with a body shot. Evangelitsta back with one. Hard knee by Phan. Evangelista ready to go at this point. But he shot in to break the momentum. Phan is against the cage staying up. Evangelista got him down but Phan got back up. Another takedown by Evangelista. Ref Herb Dean ordered a stand-up. Front kicks by Phan and punches. Hard left by Phan. Evanglista threw a high kick. Phan's round. I have it 28-28 because of the 10-8 round but I'm more lenient on 10-8 then these judges will probably be and no way Phan didn't win two and three.
Nelson Hamilton 29-28 Phan Marcos Rosales 29-28 Evagelitsa Abe Belardo 29-28 Evangelista. Fans are booing like crazy this decision. No way Phan didn't win two and three. No way. Freaking Abe Belardo. Well, and Marcos Rosales. Good fight. But it would be nothing speical on most big promotion shows. This show needs a great main event. Everyone at press row couldn't believe Phan didn't get rounds two and three,.
Gilbert Melendez vs. Josh Thomson for the lightweight title is next.
Gilbert Sr. in the corner holding up the belt is the happiest guy in the building. Jake Shields and Nick Diaz are in the corner. Hide your pot and don't let him in the cage.
Fans booed Thomson a lot. He's never been booed here before. Thomson. Thomson does't look in the same cosmetic condition he usually shows up in. Smaller and not as muscular although looks in great shape. Gilbert got a big star but not superstar reaction. Lots of cheers and some boos.
Melendez looks in better shape than usual, which is scary. Melendez with a left was the first good punch. He has Thomson backing off and Melendez going for a takedown. Thomson with a good knee up the middle. Thomson inside going for a takedown and took Melendez down. He's got a front headlock and almost a cradle. Thomson with punches on the ground. Thomson with more ground and pound., Melendez with a scramble got the top. Thomson seemed real happy just to have Melendez down. Good knee by Thompson as he got up. Thomson 10-9, but close. Good round. I think Thomson seems happy just to fight close while Melendez wants to win bad.
Great trade, front kick by Thomson, quick scramble. Thomson still looks thrilled he's staying in there. Hard elbow by Melendez off a break. Front kick and superman punch by Thomson. Body kicks by Thomson. Thomson with two lefts to the head. Great trade with Thomson hitting a hard knee as Melendez shot. Thomson outstriking him. Thomson with a knee and spinning back kick. Another jab. Melendez actually moving back. Melendez with right to the jaw. Thomson with a takeodwn at the end of the round. Thomson 20-18.
Great trading back-and-forth here. Fight is living up to its hype. Melendez tried a shot, Thomson sprawled. Thomson with a knee. Pace slowing. Melendez connetced with a few punches. Body kick by Thomson. Another trade with both landing. Another body kick by Thomson. Melendez scored with good punches. Thomson firing back. Thomson with a knee. Melendez going forward and Thomson backing up. Thomson caught him with a punch and and tried a takedown and got Melendez down. Thomson got his back but Melendez threw him off. Thomson has the game plan to beat him. 30-27
Melendez with front kicks. He keeps connecting with front kicks. Thomson with more front kicks to the body. Melendez seems tired and frustrated now. Low kicks by Thomson. Good left as Melendez came in. Bull and a matador type match. Melendez with punches but Thomson back with front kicks. Thomson with hard punches to the jaw. More body kicks. Great knee to the head by Thomson but Melendez back with punches. Thomson with another takedown with 1:10. Got side mount. Thomson got his back again. Thomson has his back again. Going for a choke as time is running out but Melendez got out. 40-36 Thomson.
Final round. Thomson going for a takedown and got him down. Thomson has his back again but Melendez escaped. Jabs and low kick by Thomjson. Body kick by Thomson. Thomson got his back. Trading punches. Thomson getting stronger, good knee as Melendez came in. Thomson with a takedown and spun to his back but Melendez out. Front kick to the head by Thomson. Melendez scoring with punches but he's tiring. Crowd going nuts. Not a match of the year but a real good match as far as almost complete domination by a heavy underdog. Thomson fought a fanstatic fight from start-to-finish. Melendez with a good punch as time ran out. 50-45 Thomson.
Scorecards all three judges 50-45 for Thomson, as the new champion. Fight was good enough to save the show.
Jesse Gillespie vs. Eric Lawson ends the show.
Lawson via choke in 1:03
{plug}
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