PFC Delivers The Goods
LEMOORE — It didn’t take long for the Palace Fighting Championship to make its mark in the Central Valley.
Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino Entertainment Director Christian Printup says it was the fastest mixed martial arts event sellout in Valley history and history was written Thursday night at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino with 11-action packed bouts that drew a buzz from the sold out crowd of 1,500 plus.
“I really subscribe to a transcendental approach to life, in that we are always learning, always in a state of becoming and seeing the Palace Fighting Championship go from me scribbling notes and ideas at 3a.m. about six weeks ago to the live show tonight, a sold out crowd, exciting fights, and highly energetic production values has been surreal,” Printup said. “My staff and I have worked together to produce over four-hundred events together, but tonight is a day that will really stand out in our careers.”
And for good reason.
In the main event, Eric "Butterbean" Esch (8-3-1) of Birmingham, Al delivered exactly what crowd came to see — a quick and decisive knockout.
Madera's Charles Hodges (0-1) was game and attempted to stand and trade with “Butterbean” and even enjoyed a brief moment of a solid flurry, but “Butterbean” covered nicely.
Hodges corner urged him to slow the pace and as they did so “Butterbean” erupted with a solid combination that ended with a right hand that put Hodges to the canvas.
In the co-main event, Capital City Fighting Alliance’s Poppies "Tachi Kid" Martinez (10-2) of Lemoore won by unanimous decision over Josh Gardner (4-8) of Bakersfield in a lightweight bout.
For three rounds Martinez took Gardner down, stayed on top and unloaded with a ferocious ground-and-pound attack.
“That wasn’t really the plan,” Martinez said. “He stunned me pretty good with a clean left there in the first round. He staggered me.”
Following Gardner’s big left, Martinez took Gardner down. Martinez was stuck in Gardner’s guard, but was able to land several elbows and right hands to the body. Martinez held Gardner down for the majority of the round. Gardner had a huge knot over his right eye when he returned to his corner at the end of the first round.
“He was a tough guy,” Martinez said. “I really didn’t doubt him at all.”
In the second round, Martinez took Gardner down in the corner and continued to work on Gardner's right eye with elbows. Martinez seemed just too strong on top.
In the third round it was more of the same. Martinez scored an early takedown and was effective with ground-and-pound. He even took time to wave to some of his fans.
“Poppies was very dominant tonight. Josh Gardner doesn't have a shiny record, but he is a very tough, experienced guy who has only lost to well skilled fighters,” Printup said. “Tonight Poppies really showed off his immensely improved wrestling and grappling skills. He got caught with a very solid punch by Gardner and he showed his chin again and his ability to recover. I thought he fought a Matt Hughes type of fight tonight. He was comfortable staying in Gardner's guard, negated any substantial submission attempts by Gardner and really put on a ground-and-pound clinic.”
The build up for the showdown between Lemoore's Kenny Ento "The Dragon" (6-1) and Tulare's Roy "Hit Boy" Arriola (1-2) was phenomenal.
In what turned out to be one of the fan-favorite fights of the night, Ento did virtually word-for-word what he said he would in his middleweight bout.
“I said no armbars,” said Ento, who has won five of his six fights via the armbar submission. “I wanted this standing and it went exactly the way I said it would. I worked my jab, got the Muay-Thai clinch and got it done with knees.”
It took just 31 seconds for Ento to silence Arriola.
Ento was more animated than he has ever been after or before a fight, screaming and yelling after the stoppage.
“He's been talking a lot of smack. It seems like it’s almost been a year,” Ento said. “I really had enough. I'm not the type to talk smack, but he's been after me for a while and it was really pent up inside me.”
Arriola came out as expected. He fired away quickly and let his right hand go early.
“We were ready for that,” Ento said. “I knew he was going to throw that overhand right and I had planned on countering. We knew he dropped his head a lot and I would pressure for a clinch and then pull his head down and knee.”
Ento landed several knees that rocked Arriola and dropped him to a knee in the corner of the ring where Ento rushed in and finished him off with a few punches.
“I loved fighting here in the ring,” Ento said. “I like it a lot better than the cage. I loved the venue, too. It was much better having the fights inside here. The crowd was right on top of you.”
Ento is expected to be one of the staples of the PFC, along with Martinez and some other local standouts.
“Kenny Ento isn’t a guy that really let's you in. He doesn't open up but I could sense that Roy Arriola's constant taunting and petitioning for a fight with him had him kind of on edge. I think he felt "Why does this guy want to fight me so badly?” At first I think it was something he laughed off,” Printup said. “But as the fight was signed and in the last few days I could tell Kenny was going to look to make a profound statement and he did.”
“But I take my hat off to Roy Arriola, he is a classy guy and he gave it his best. He just realized that his best wasn't enough, at least not tonight,” Printup added. “For Kenny, he is going to be back in action here on March 22nd and we expect to see him take a step up in competition. I'd like to get Kenny a fight that could take him to the next level.”
Shawn Bias (9-3) of Oroville defeated Stockton's Brandon "Loose Cannon" Jennies (1-1) in a lightweight bout by referee stoppage due to strikes in 1:36 of the first round.
“That's pretty much how I thought things would go after he didn’t shake my hand,” Bias said. “We’re all fighters here and should be friends after. You should be respectful or some one is going to hand it to you, preferably me.”
Bias took Jennies down early and then Jennies rolled to his back and then back to mount.
The Oroville fighter was able to do a lot of damage early both in the mount and with Jennies’ back.
Bias was effective with his ground-and-pound and took Jennies back and the fight ended soon after.
“I'm here to show people what I've got,” said Bias, who was easily the most colorful fighter on the card.
“If you're going to leave something at home, why come here. This is by far the best venue that I’ve fought at and I have 13 fights. I will be back here in March, too, so watch out.”
In a controversial welterweight fight, Lemoore's Chris Botelho (4-2) and Josh “Clark Kent” McCartney (1-0) of Bakersfield had their bout end in a no contest in the second round after Botelho was struck with an unintentional groin strike.
“I felt like I could have continued,” Botelho said. “But it was the fourth time that he hit me low. Herb Dean didn’t think it was a good idea to continue. I’m just very disappointed that it ended this way in front of my home town fans.”
McCartney landed a nice early flurry that wobbled Botelho in the second round. Midway through the round, though, McCartney landed a knee that was ruled a groin shot by Dean. In the first round, McCartney lost a point for an obvious groin shot.
“I definitely didn’t hit him in the groin in the second round,” McCartney said. “He gave me his best shot and I smiled at him and I feel like he just didn’t want anymore.”
“I'm very disappointed,” McCartney added. “I'd like to come back, though, and fight him again.”
Botelho was caught in an early guillotine choke in the first period, but was able to work out. The Lemoore fighter regained his composure and worked his Muay Thai skills, working for the Muay-Thai clinch and landing a strong knee and then followed moments later with a inside leg kick.
McCartney landed a knee to the groin late in the round and a point was taken away. After a few minutes of rest, Botelho landed some knees and then McCartney scored a takedown before the end of the round.
“I want to come back here and fight for sure,” Botelho said. “I'd like to fight McCartney again for sure. There are no hard feelings there. We’re fighters and that kind of stuff happens all the time.”
Clovis’ Ralph Lopez (2-0) won by ref stoppage due to strikes in 1:15 of the first round over Fresno's Shahob Nasbaradi (0-2) in a featherweight bout.
A quick takedown by Lopez, a two-time high school state wrestling champion in California, resulted in stiff punches and elbows to the ribs. Lopez worked to the mount and the fight ended soon after.
“I felt like I could have stood with him,” Lopez said. “My corner wanted me to take him down, so I did. Then went for that ground-and-pound.”
“It felt great out there,” Lopez continued. “This is a great venue. It really pumps you up to fight here in Lemoore at the Palace Fighting Championship.”
Parlier's Mike Moreno (1-1) won by knockout over Visalia's Francisco Magallon (2-4) in a welterweight bout in 37 seconds of the first round.
It was the most devastating KO of the night.
Moreno quickly established dominance in the ring and grabbed a Muay-Thai clinch and unleashed devastating knees and ended the fight with a crushing knee and some ground-and-pound.
“The clinch is natural to me,” Moreno said. “My knees are like my jab. I’m comfortable throwing them at all times. I also have cardio to go 20 rounds if I have to.”
Tulare's Rafael Del Real (3-4) submitted Madera's Rolando Torres (2-3) via armbar in a light heavyweight bout in 2:08 of the third round.
“I had to go to plan ‘B’ in this fight,” Del Real said. “Plan ‘B’ was ground-and-pound. I was expecting him to come out a certain way and I had planned to slap the left and hit with the right, but for some reason he had switched up his stance.”
Del Real scored an early takedown in his corner with a deep double-leg takedown in the first round. The fight was restarted in the center of the ring, but Torres did well defending. Torres took some vicious body shots towards the end of the round and then a flurry of brutal ground-and-pound.
Torres sunk a guillotine and the fight went to ground with Del Real in side control in the second. Del Real eventually worked his head free and then was able to unleash more ground-and-pound.
In the third period, Del Real once again landed a takedown and then passed to mount in his corner and worked for a beautiful armbar.
“I've been getting beat by submissions and I made up my mind to learn some,” Del Real said. “I really have to thank Kenny Ento for helping me with my subs.”
Andrew Martinez (2-1-1) of Lemoore defeated Taft's Billy Terry (1-1) in a welterweight bout by unanimous decision.
In an action-packed first round the pair stood and traded with each other. Andrew Martinez landed a few leg kicks and Terry was effective with his jab.
The pace slowed in the second period until Terry landed a flurry in his corner. Andrew Martinez was able to land a big right hand in the period, though.
Andrew Martinez took the center of the ring in the third and was effective with more leg kicks. Terry was able to land a few flurries, but Andrew Martinez was much more aggressive.
“I wanted to go to the ground,” Andrew Martinez said. “I think that I had some bad timing and he did a good job with his sprawl. Overall, I thought it was a good decision, though. I was a lot more aggressive.”
Taft's Tommy Contreras (1-0) won his pro debut by ref stoppage due to strikes in the third round over Hanford's Brian Huerta (0-1).
In bantamweight action, Capital City Fighting Alliance’s Dave Espinosa (2-0), who is a former UC Davis wrestler, defeated Sacramento’s Nelson Ocampo (0-1) by rear-naked choke in the second round.
“The last six weeks my staff Mary Moon, Larry Ruiz, Roxanne Martinez and Joey Perez worked so hard to make the Palace Fighting Championship a reality,” Printup said. “I'm very grateful for the support of the Tachi-Yokut tribe, our executive management and all of the associates of the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino for believing this could be done.”
Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Wes Sims will headline the March 22nd card against Tulare’s Anthony Fuller.
Jan / 18 / 2007 08:15
Write a comment