Controversy swirls around PFC 9

LEMOORE, CA. — A Palace Fighting Championship title belt did not change hands during the PFC 9 mixed martial arts show Friday night at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino.

But Isaiah Larson felt like that would have happened if a freak event had not halted his PFC light heavyweight title match vs. champion Jorge Oliveira.

The scheduled five-round bout was declared a no contest after Oliveira suffered a rib injury early in the third round.

"My game plan was working very well,'' Larson said. "I was doing everything I wanted to do.''

What Larson (6-1) wanted to do early in the third round was score a takedown against the ropes. But when he lifted Oliveira, the latter slipped through the ropes and both fighters fell on to a rail outside the ring. Larson landed on top of Oliveira, who took several minutes to regain his feet and then declared he could not continue.

Since the bout did not go three full rounds — the number needed to render a technical decision via the scorecards — Oliveira (6-2-1) retained his title via the no contest. The bout officially ended at 0:36 of the third.

"Isaiah Larson and Jorge Oiveira will rematch in November at PFC 11. Jorge was legitimately injured during their spill out of the ring. You never want to see something like that in a championship bout, one that was shaping up to be a great fight but it can happens," PFC President Christian Printup said. "Isaiah Larson is a tough dude, we knew that coming in. He wouldn't have gotten the opportunity to challenge for the title if he wasn't championship material. In November, they can finish their business."

Larson, a St. Paul, Minn. fighter, wasn't sure the fight-ending incident was purely an accident.

"I felt like he was giving in, like he was trying to get out of the ring to avoid a takedown,'' Larson said.

Larson gave up four inches in height to the sleek Brazilian, but he was surprisingly effective trading blows at long range and more than held his own on the ground with Oliveira — a Muay Thai/Jiu Jitsu specialist.

"I know people thought I was some patsy from Minnesota, but I'm nobody's patsy,'' said Larson, who controlled part of the first round, most of the second, and the early seconds of the third.

Oliveira apologized to the fans over the public address system for not being able to continue, and said he had been prepared to go the five-round distance.

"I was just getting warmed up,'' Oliveira said. "There were still two more rounds to go.''

'RHINO' CAN HANDLE THE 'PAIN'

Former World Extreme Cagefighting light heavyweight Doug 'the Rhino' Marshall returned to the ring with a second-round knockout of Phil 'the Pain' Collins in an entertaining catch-weight 195-pound bout.

Marshall (8-3) battled through a rocky first round, but quickly rebounded to dispatch Collins (6-3) with a right hand in the second.

Marshall was rough on himself despite the victory, "It wasn't a A-level performance,'' said Marshall, from Visalia, CA. "I should have taken him out 25-30 seconds into the first round.''

Marshall admitted he endured some nervous excitement in his first bout since losing his WEC crown to Brian Stann. But his all-around skills — not to mention his hard-nosed attitude —carried him through.

"I always fight to win,'' Marshall said, "whether I'm fighting for a million dollars or one dollar, or whether I'm fighting in front of a lot of people, or whether I'm fighting in a bar.''

Collins scored well with punches to the head in the first round, and also showed a solid ground game. But the Merced, CA., fighter never really got to Marshall, who connected with a big knee shortly before sending Collins sprawling with a right to the forehead.

'UNDERDOG' RALLIES

Casey 'the Underdog' Olson (8-2) dropped the first round, but took the last two to pull out a close-but-unanimous three-round decision over Tito Jones (4-2) in a featherweight bout.

Jones, from Sacramento, scored well with kicks and punches in the opening round. But Olson managed resounding takedowns in the second and third rounds to win 29-28 on all three official scorecards.

Olson, a former Fresno State wrestling star, knew his success would depend on his ability to take the bout to the mat.

"There's no doubt his hands are faster than mine,'' Olson said. "I just had to keep working, looking for takedowns.''

Olson did just that in the second and third rounds, pulling slams that enabled him to control the action from the ground for the majority of both stanzas.

OTHER BOUTS

—Dominique Robinson (13-2-1), Oakland, CA., won on strikes over Chuck Kim (6-7), Bakersfield, CA, at 2:00 of the second round of a lightweight bout.

—Jaime Jara (19-5), North Highlands, CA, won by submission (guillotine choke) over Marcus Gaines (4-5), Sacramento, CA., at 0:33 of the second round of a middleweight match.

—Mickey D. Martinez (6-1-1), Lemoore, CA., finished off Chayondray Johnson (0-3), Fresno, CA., with strikes at 1:31 of the first round of a welterweight bout.

—Joe Soto (2-0), Porterville, CA., stopped Darren Crisp Jr. (4-3), Visalia, CA., via submission by knee bar at 1:08 of the first round of a lightweight fight.

—Ulysses Gomez (2-0), Las Vegas, scored a 51-second, submission (arm-bar) triumph over Hector Alex Sandoval (0-1), Sacramento, in a flyweight fight.

—Juan Lopez (2-2), Bakersfield, CA., won by submission (rear-naked choke) over local sports writer Jeremy Luchau (1-1), Hanford, CA., at. 0:33 of the second round of a lightweight match.

—Paul Gonzales (2-0), Lemoore, CA., halted Alfredo Mirales (0-2), Bakersfield, with a rear-naked-choke submission at 1:51 of the first round of a welterweight matchup.

—Alex Ortiz (1-0), Corcoran, CA., won by strikes over Javier Cervantes (0-1), Hanford, CA., at 0:58 of the second round of a featherweight matchup.

For breaking PFC news go to www.palacefightingchampionship.com. You can also find other PFC and Palace information at http://www.tachipalace.com.

Jul / 21 / 2008 08:34