Saturday, September 18, 2010

Matt Smith vs. Pedro Gonzalez 135 title

Rd. 1
Smith on top for a majority of the match, but Gonzalez slips out and slaps on a guilotine. Gonzalez wins by submission 3:12 into first.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Dennis Olson vs. Tom Moreau

Rd. 1
Lots of posturing. Both take turns on top while on the mat, but it's Olson who spends the majority of time riding Moreau.
Rd. 2
Moreau gets on top of Olson and won't give up. He keeps pounding away and there's nothing Olson can do. Moreau wins by TKO at 4:39 of second.

Brandon Cyr vs. Nick Rivera

Rivera, a student at UNH, comes out quick and has the advantage in the first round. Then it's all Cyr as he takes the top and lands lots of punches. Cyr wins by TKO at 2:45 of the third.

Cody Lightfoot vs. Kym Sturdivant

Lightfoot spends most of the bout riding Sturdivant, but can't get the submission. Lightfoot wins by unanimous decision.

John Benoit vs. Josh Hersey 155 title fight

The two exchange a couple blows on their feet. Once its gets to the mat it's all Benoit, who wins by submission 4:50 into the first round.

Chris Fisette vs. Ben Hudson

This one comes down to the judges. It's amazing that Fisette even makes it that long as he takes blow after blow to the head, but doesn't go down.
Hudson wins by unanimous decision.

Justin Homsey vs. Jeremy Ross

First pro fight of the night.
Homsey, a huge crowd favorite, slips out from the bottom of a grapple and slaps on a quick ankle lock to get the tap out 1:28 into the first round.

Gordon Smith vs. Colton Blanchette

52-year-old Smith lasts all three rounds, but 18-year-old Blanchette wins by split decision.

GFL 9

Already about 2,000 people here and the fighting hasn't even started yet.
Highlights of the first Pedro Gonzalez/Matt Smith fight are airing on the big screens, as well as previews for the major fights on tonight's card.

GFL 9

Sitting ringside at GFL 9 in the Whittemore Center.
First impressions are that the setup is great. Really professional.
The ring is in the center of where the ice rinl would typically be. There are maybe a couple hundred seats on the floor, then the rest of the usual seating.
Visibility should not be a factor for anybody. There are five big screens hanging from the rafters, a huge one at one end of the rink and four above the octagon.
There is also professional lighting over the ring, a runway to the cage for the fighters and a great soundsystem.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

GFL looking to make history Friday

Friday night is a big one on the local mixed martial arts scene.
At Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut, the Kings of the Cage makes its East Coast debut with a full slate on fights including Manchester's Nate Lamotte. The main event of that card will feature Jimmy Rivera against former WBO boxing champion Ray Mercer.
That event will be televised on HDNet starting at 10 p.m.
Even closer to home, in Durham, MMA history could be made in the Granite State when Global Fight League hosts GFL 9 at the Whittemore Center on the campus of the University of New Hampshire. I will be giving live updates from the event here at "End of the Line."
With a capacity for nearly 6,000 people, the Whitt is the largest venue in the state to ever host an MMA event.
GFL is taking a chance with this, but has played its hand quite brilliantly by targeting college students, which make up a huge fan base for the sport. The GFL has also recently hosted a couple other events down the road at the Dover Ice Arena, planting the seed for local interest.
It will be interesting to see how many people turn out on Friday. The GFL has certainly put together a good card to attract fans.
The event's headliner is a bantam weight championship between Pedro Gonzalez (6-3) and Matt Smith (7-2).
The fight that catches my eye, however, is for the middle weight championship, where Tom Moreau (6-2) of Derry will take on Dennis Olson (11-5) of Amherst. Moreau and Olson are two of the best fighters in New Hampshire, but have struggled lately. They each have a ton of talent and one will get back on the right track Friday.
And one of my favorite fighters, Cody Lightfoot (4-1), will compete in the heavyweight class when he takes on Kym Sturdivant (4-2).
The rest of the card is as follows: Brandon Cyr (2-0) vs. Nick Rivera (2-0); 155lb GFL Lightweight Championship - Josh Hersey (4-1) vs. John Benoit (8-2); Chris Fisette (3-3) vs. Ben Hudson (2-1); Jeremy Ross (3-2) vs. Justin Homsey (7-1); TBA vs. Josh Bourque (3-2); Trevor Stone (3-3) vs. Yann Oliveira (1-0); Devin Powell (1-1) vs. Ryan Thomas Clark (0-0); Brandon Fleming (2-0) vs. Austin Perault (0-0); Keegan Hornstra (1-4) vs. Billy Bonnell (0-0); Aaron Smith (3-0) vs. Christian Fenderson (1-0); Bobby Flynn (2-1) vs. Adam Gaudreault (0-1); Colton Blanchette (0-0) vs. Gordan Smith (0-0).
The event starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster.