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| TKO 19 "Rage" Report |
| MMA News Written by Marc Godin | |
| Friday, 28 January 2005 | |
 All photo’s and text are copyrighted. Any unauthorized use of any Photo’s or text from MMA RIng Report is strictly prohibited. All Rights reserved. Full Photo Gallery of TKO 19 can be found HERE... Approximately 2500 fans were on hand to cheer the return of Georges St-Pierre, Patrick Côté and Mark Hominick at TKO 19. The card had been plagued with fight changes right from the beginning with the withdrawals of the Vigneault brothers and David Loiseau, it almost seemed that until the end, we didn’t know who would show up for the show itself. In the end two more matches were cancelled at the last minute, leaving only seven bouts on the final card. Having this number of matches put us in a UFC like atmosphere, which is very different from the usual ten to sixteen matches per cards. Personally, I think it was a good thing, even though it would have been better for everyone to have eight matches in all. Despite all those changes, the TKO card looked great and we could only lay back and expect fireworks from the remaining fighters. The matchmaking for this show made it hard for us to pick winners from the start and lots of contests were very interesting match-ups. The first thing that came up to my mind was that this show could very well become a highlight reel, and as the night progressed, I wasn’t wrong at all. It seemed as if all the fighters could have been the "Fighter of the night" and following the first match, I knew that it would be hard task to pick a winner. All I knew was that it would take a superb performance to dethrone the two time winner, Sam Stout, who was also on this card and aiming to three-peat his performance. It was also nice to see that the mass media was in attendance for some features on fighters. Radio-Canada was focusing on Georges St-Pierre for a television special, and the London Free Press was doing a story on John Fraser and his wife. Last but not least, the Montreal Journal also covered this event and featured a nice article this morning. By the time TKO19 had come and gone, we had a new MMARINGREPORT Fighter of the night, with five matches over in less than a round and only two matches going the distance, here’s my recap of the action as I saw it: Martin Grandmont over Eric Lacelle TKO 1:25 Rd 1 The first bout featured a seasoned “Kid Dynamite” who was in the ring against the professional MMA debut for “The Hammer”, a Canadian kickboxing amateur champion out of team Bergeron in Drummondville . The newcomer showed great striking and dismantled his opponent very quickly. The affair started with good hand striking and kicking from Grandmont before he got caught in a superb judo throw. Unfortunately for Lacelle, he was unable to keep the fight on the ground, and instead, he found himself on the receiving end of a flurry of punches, high kicks and finally the right hand that dropped him. The referee had no choice but to stop the affair at 1:25 of R1. It was an impressive TKO win and we already had a contender for the fighter of the night. Thierry Quenneville over Alex Gasson Unanimous Decision Many awaited this bout with anticipation as it seemed to have everything to be one of the bouts of the night, but in the end, it wasn’t the kind of fight to bring a crowd to its feet. It was a hard fought battle, but there was too much tangling around in the ropes for the crowd to appreciate it to its fullest. From the start, Gasson seemed to have a good plan, which was to tangle with Quenneville from one corner to the other while using his knees as well as foot stomps for damage. It worked very well until Quenneville finally got the takedown. He worked hard to get the side mount and punished Gasson with elbows and knees. This gave him the opportunity to take the full mount and continue his flurry of elbows and punches on Gasson but Quenneville lost his position as Pecker escaped as the bell was sounding to end the first stanza. Much to the crowd’s delight, the second round started with both fighters exchanging on their feet. It didn’t last long as they tangled again in the ropes where seemingly a foot stomping contest broke out. Quenneville then took control with a double leg slam while dropping in his opponent’s guard. He was able to land four good elbows before going for a leg lock. While changing his dominant position, he almost got caught in an ankle lock but he got away by throwing more elbows that opened up a gash around Gasson’s left eye. Pecker had to be checked by the doctor with ten seconds to go in this round and as he was cleared to continue, he finished the round with a flying right hand. The final round began as the second round ended, but it was Quenneville that flew across the ring to land his right hand. Like the first two rounds, it didn’t take long before both fighters tangled against the ropes once again. At one point, Gasson was able to foot stomp ten to fifteen times in a row and the crowd began to boo. But for the Tompkins fighter, it seemed like a good game plan as the right foot of Quenneville seemed damaged when everything was said and done. Gasson finally went for a double leg takedown but almost found himself in a choke, but he managed to escape. In the last minute, Quenneville was able to get a single leg sweep, he then worked the side mount with elbows that gave him another full mount. From there, Gasson gave his back and the crowd favorite worked a rear naked choke until the bell rang to end this battle. All the judges scored the bout 30-27 in favor of Thierry Quenneville for a Unanimous Decision after 3R. David Goulet over John Fraser Ref Stop 4:55 Rd 1 Like all his previous battles, Fraser came out gunning ala Pain Peters. Goulet was able to land a double leg slam but wasn’t able to do much damage in the guard as the referee brought it back on their feet. Both fighters were landing knees in the clinch but Goulet seemed to have the upperhand in this exchange. Soon after, Fraser was swinging like a mad man and Goulet was throwing bombs and good uppercuts as they were both close to getting a knockdown. Soon after, Fraser went for a triangle, but Goulet escaped to get the full mount. From there, he was able to land a series of twenty to thirty blows to the back of Fraser’s hand. At this point, he wasn’t defending himself and the referee had no choice but to end this bout with five seconds left in the round. Fraser wasn’t happy with the stoppage, but the fact of the matter is that he wasn’t defending himself. Goulet wins by TKO at the 4:55 of R1. Sam Stout over Joey Brown TKO 2:45 Rd 1 For this stand up battle, Joey Brown was coming back down to his normal fighting weight against Sam Stout who was aiming for his third straight MMARINGREPORT Fighter of the night award, an award Brown wanted for himself. In his promo, Stout, who is from Ontario , talked in French, much to the pleasure of the crowd. For the first two minutes of this match, Stout caught Brown’s leg after a kick and unleashed with punches before his opponent fell to the ground. The third time, Stout received a warning from the referee as he was asked not to push Joey Brown on the ground and soon after, the Sam Stout show began. He started by throwing rights and lefts before going for the left leg with hard kicks. Brown desperately tried a spinning back fist but continued to be on the receiving end of his opponent’s punches and kicks. Soon after, Stout landed a nice uppercut to end the affair against Joey Brown with a knockdown. Sam Stout was victorious by TKO at 2:45 of R1 and now finds himself in good position for a title shot against Donald Ouimet. Mark Hominick over Shane Rice TKO 4:16 Rd 1 In a rematch of their TKO17 bout where Shane Rice shocked the MMA community by defeating the crowd favorite and TKO poster boy Mark Hominick. “The Little Giant” wanted to prove to everyone that his only win in the ring was no fluke and looked to repeat his impressive performance. On the other hand, the Team Tompkins protégé wanted to set the record straight and reclaim the title he had held for so long. It was clear from the start that both fighters had different views on how to dictate this fight. Early on Rice was going for the double leg takedown to no avail, and Hominick looked to punish his opponent on his feet. Rice was able to land a single leg takedown and from the guard, he quickly worked Hominick to secure side mount before getting the full mount. Unfortunately, both fighters were a little bit too much in the ropes for the referee’s liking, and the bout was brought back up to the feet, much to the chagrin of Shane Rice. He had to start all over again to re gain his advantage. Later in the round, Rice got the double leg takedown and found himself very quickly in the side mount and landed some elbows. From here, he went for an armbar that looked like it was sunk in pretty tight, it looked like Hominick would tap but he was able to escape by spinning around Rice. At this point, the crowd was on its feet and liked what they were witnessing. With his opponent still on the ground, Hominick threw some kicks and landed a severe left hand on Rice. The referee stepped in to halt the bout at the 4:16 mark of the first round and we had a new Canadian featherweight champion. The new champion, should be facing the interim champion Stéphane ’’Simba’’ Vigneault in the next TKO event scheduled for the 2nd of April. Patrick Cote over Ricardeau Francois Split Decision Rd 3 This match was the final one for Côté as a lightheavyweight but was also a special one for him cause he had the opportunity to erase a past amateur lost to Ricardeau François. This was the perfect time to give closure to this ongoing feud with the Charles Ali Nestor fighter. On the other hand, it was the awaited opportunity for “Longplay” to continue on his streak following the win over Wes Sims last September on the inaugural Apex card. Revenge was in the air and the pro Côté crowd was chanting loudly for their favorite. This match turned out to be a tough matchup for the UFC fighter and Côté couldn’t knock his opponent out as he had originally planned. Instead, this match went the distance and Côté won by Split Decision. The only good thing when the verdict came in is that The Predator realized it’s now time to move down to the 185lbs division and needs to work on a few things following this disappointing victory. Throughout the three rounds, “The Predator” was pressing the action trying to connect with his famous right hand working a good shot to the chest followed by a head shot. When this wasn’t working, he changed his plan by coming in with a good left hook followed by a right shot to the head. Both fighters tangled mainly in the ropes where there wasn’t much action and “Longplay” showed good balance and only found himself on the mat once during the entire match. His plan was to jab as often as possible and try to hit Côté with his left back kicks and spinning back kicks. The left kicks were hitting but he couldn’t connect as hard as he would have liked and never hurt the Predator. During the match, Côté tried in vain to bring the bout to the ground, but found himself in a bad matchup where he had to run after his opponent. During the second round, Ricardeau connected with a high right kick but then ran across the ring where Côté ran after him to connect a flying right hand. The crowd wasn’t pleased that much with this bout, but The Predator won it by pressing the action all night long. As he told everyone at the press conference, he will now drop down in weight and will have to work on his stamina and game for his upcoming UFC fight in April saying he cannot always rely on one good right hand to win matches. Georges St. Pierre over Dave Strasser Kimura 1:52 Rd 1
After a year long absence from fighting in front of his hometown fans, Georges St-Pierre made quick work of Strasser. He showed everyone in attendance his improved boxing skills and when Strasser threw a kick, Rush caught it to get the takedown. From the guard, he easily worked for a side mount and went for a tight Kimura where Strasser had no choice but to tap. St-Pierre wins via submission at the 1:52 of R1. At the press conference, he told everyone that he would be fighting against Jason ’’Mayhem’’ Miller at the April UFC show. He wants to shut him up, once and for all, and get back in the hunt for a title shot before the end of 2005, hopefully against Matt Hughes for redemption. Arnold Lim also had the pleasure of handing out the MMARINGREPORT Fighter of the night award to Rush himself, an award that he was proud to receive in front of his hometown crowd. In all, TKO19 was a great show and the number of bouts made it very interesting. The show was over and hour and a half quicker then the average show, but I, as well as many others, appreciated this very much. TKO President, Stephane Patry, informed us all that the next show would be held on the 2nd of April and MMA Ring Report will be there first hand to report all the action. Until next time, support the sport! Full Photo Gallery of TKO 19 can be found HERE... All photo’s and text are copyrighted. Any unauthorized use of any Photo’s or text from MMA RIng Report is strictly prohibited. All Rights reserved. |
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