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The “New and improved” UCC/TKO organization had a lot to live up to. With a previous show that was entertaining and packed with big name fighters, UCC 12 was a huge success, or was it? With the problems that plagued it outside of the ring the UCC organization had a black mark that would change it’s name forever. It would seem with such a entertaining show behind the UCC organization,their strength would be growing by the day, but unfortunately that was not the case. The problems went public very quickly and the UCC organization had it’s previously strong name wading in the mud, now 8 months later, would the TKO organization have what it took to build on the strength of the fights that took place in the ring and not the fights that took place outside it? Would they be able do it without a their original main event in Pete Spratt Vs Georges St Pierre? With a new organization and a lot of hype to live up to it was time to put, up or shut, up and put up they did.

Steve Vigneault Vs Sean Pierson

In a grand display of heart and determination by both fighters, Vigneault erased the previous two losses to Pierson in one fell swoop, but it wasn’t easy. Coming out entertaining the crowd Pierson "The Pimp Daddy" came out dressed in the full pimp gear, white cane and all. Mack Daddy Flex came out dressed as a mini version of the Pimp Daddy and an entourage that included scantily clad ladies. The crowd was eating it up and getting fired up, and roared in approval when the middleweight champ Steve Vigneault made his entrance. The crowd was going wild for Vigneault from the outset of this bout but it was not looking good for him in the early goings. Vigneault was taken down by a fresh Pierson and proceeded to eat numerous knee’s and elbows to the face the cut his face and bled into his eye. [Having spoken to Vigneault afterwards he said that he was unable to see out of one eye for the majority of the first round until his corner-man wiped the blood off his face.] Round one was all Pierson as he battered and bloodied Vigneault for much of the round and Vigneault had difficulty stopping the takedowns. It looked as if the end was near for Vigneault and would have to live with the fact that Pierson defeated him three times but Vigneault got spiked on his head by Pierson and the action was stopped. It forced Pierson to the stand up position and gave a moments respite for Vigneault. That was the break he needed and Vigneault started coming on in the second round as Pierson appeared to fatigue coming out in the second and third rounds. Vigneault was able to capitalize by controlling the stand up using sharp combo’s too keep Pierson at bay and do enough damage to win the final two rounds. In the second round Pierson saw another opportunity slip away as he had side control in the corner and was dishing out the punishment but Vigneault was able to get out of the ropes for the restart in the standing position. Pierson looked to tire visibly in the third round but he showed heart of his own trying to push for another takedown, or any kind of offence that could help him win the fight but n the end it was not enough as Vigneault took the hard fought decision after a war. Vigneault wins the decision after three rounds. A worthy main event made better by two warriors who went for the win at all times.

Mark Hominick Over Ryan Diaz

Diaz is well known in the west as a very tough competitor out of the very well respected Gibson’s Pankration school in Port Moody. A very well rounded fighter with strong stand up skills would be a different test for Hominick, finding a fighter that finally wanted to stand with him was a change of pace for the quick fighter from the Shawn Thomkins academy. The fight started well for Diaz as he was able to fight off his back after srprisingly getting taken down by Hominick and worked hard for a very tight looking heel hook in the corner of the ring. It looked like Hominick was in trouble and in pain but he just ate the pain and waited patiently for his opportunity to escape. The near fall seemed to ignite the fiery competitor as he went on to storm Diaz with super fast combo’s and leg kicks that stung Diaz. Diaz was now the fighter that was in trouble as Hominick looked to get stronger and stronger as the bout went on. Near the end of the first round Hominick had Diaz in trouble in the same corner that he almost got Heel Hooked in and punished him but the bell sounded just as the fight seemed to be closing out. Hominick would not be stopped on this night however as he went on to continue the onslaught and punish Diaz for the early part of round two until the ref had to come in and stop the bout. An emotional Hominick was respectful after the fight congratulating Diaz on a hard fought fight and accepting a challenge from the former 145 UCC champion Richard "The Monkey" Nancoo. It looks like that fight could be in the works for a future TKO event. This is an important win for “The Machine” who had been on a losing streak of late and proved that he is back and better then ever.

Denis Kang Vs Stephan Potvin

Denis Kang has been on a roll of late and it looks like he is finally finding his groove. He controlled the fight from the outset as he looked more like a stand up or ground and pounder than a Jiu Jitsu man. He has been training with boxing coach Tony Pep of late and it really showed against a man that many people felt would be the superior boxer. That was not the case in this fight as Potvin never looked to find his footing in this match, with Kang put him on the defensive for most of this bout. Kang never attempted one shoot in this fight and his vastly improved striking seemed to have a lot to do with it. Denis found his way onto the top position twice in the fight once on what appeared to be a slip and one on a failed shoot attempt by Potvin and used both occasions to his advantage using the ground and pound techniques that we haven’t seen Kang use in the past. He worked from the side control dropping strong elbows and knee’s using his strong Jiu Jitsu base to keep him on top and the accumilation of the numerous strikes added up on Potvin’s face. His faced got battered more and more as the fight went on and Potvin could not find his way out from the bottom. Eventually midway through the second round the ref was forced to step in and stop the contest. It looks like Kang is on a roll and after defeating Keith Rockel and getting to the finals of the Superbrawl middleweight tournament appears on the verge of finding his way to one of the big shows.

Blake Fredrickson Vs Donald Ouimet

Fredrickson came in on the strength of an undefeated record and Ouimet coming off a loss to Fredrickson’s team mate Kultar Gill. In a close battle that went to the judges decision, most of the three round fight followed the same pattern with Fredrickson picking his spots and looking for the opening for a takedown and Ouimet taking his time and not over committing his punches so he didn’t leave himself open to a takedown. Fredrickson was successful early getting the takedown but the takedown’s were harder and harder to come by as the fight went on. Fredrickson resorted to going for a couple of fancy leg submission attempts from what looked to be scissor leg take downs but Ouimet defended well and did just enough to get the judges decision.

Yan Pellerin Vs Patrick Cote

This fight was a stand up war with the experienced Pellerin going in against Cote who only had two fights to his name. The winner of this fight was to go on to compete for the Canadian lightheavyweight belt so a lot was on the line for both fighters. Cote looked like the stronger boxer and flaunted it on several occasions dropping his hands every so often In moments of showboating to the crowd and confidence. Pellerin was not able to capatalize on Cote’s flaunting and for a patter that found it’s way onto all three rounds Cote used his superior boxing skills to dominate most of the boxing exchanges knocking Pellerin down once and stunning him on more then one occasion. The three round fight ended in a unanimous decision for Cote he should now be in line to challenge for the vacated Canadian light heavyweight belt.

David Goulet Vs Stephane Dube

A crazy back and forth bout that had everyone guessing until the final bell, this bout had a bit of everything including non stop high energy fighting right up until the bitter end. Goulet looked like the stronger boxer and worked his stand up while trying to stay on his feet, Dube on the other hand was strong from the bottom but had the hands to hang with Goulet. Both fighters hit each other with everything they had with neither fighter giving an inch. In the end though Goulet was able to take Dube’s back after giving what looked to be some illegal hard knee’s to the back of Dube’s head and finished with the rear naked choke.

Cameron Brown Vs Pascal Gosselin

Brown was originally scheduled to fight Kristof Midoux and Gosselin was originally fighting Glen Murdoch but both fights fell through so both fighters signed on late notice to fight each other. Brown was the dominant fighter from the beginning and he was able to take the bout to the ground when he needed to and eventually took the rear naked choke in the second round from a game Gosseling and finally got his first taste of MMA victory after two losses and a draw..

"Proving Grounds" Undercard

Dany Laflamme Over "Pain Peters Split Decision

In the rubber match Laflamme was able to squeek the split decision away from Pain peters. Peters looked to fatigue early in the bout and lost the first round of the bout on the strength of Laflamme’s strong leg kicks. Several of the leg kicks appeared to strike the kneecap and Laflamme lost a point for the fouls. In round two Pain looked to come on stronger and get close to take the bout or at least the draw but the split decision was given to Laflamme. Very close fight.

Jeff Joslin Over Alex Gasson 2:40 Rd 1

The hype that surrounded Joslin over the past year or so apperears to be for real as Joslin looked calm and collected from the stand up and ground. He dominated the bout from front to back and being a jiu jitsu guy that has gone the distance with Kang in Abu Dhabi, could be a force to be dealt with in due time. It appears they are smartly bringing him along slowly and he looked impressive in his TKO debut.

David Guigui Over Steve Claveau Decision

Antonio Carvalho Over Phillip Lagace Ref stoppage 3:10 Rd 2

Steve Duquette Over Andy Social 2:39 Rd 1

Kyle Sandford Over Aaron Tregear 2:16 Rd 1

With so much to live up to TKO delivered a solid show in the face of it’s biggest challenge to date. With the loss of the main event it seemed like things were looking grim but the fighters put on a great show full of back and forth excitement for the 2900 fans in the crowd at the Pierre Charbanneau centre in Montreal. The show ran a whopping 6 hours long and although it would seem that some fans would lose interest with an MMA overload that didn’t seem to be the case. Most fans became more and more vocal as the event went on and peaked as the main event came to a close. Word on the street is that the next TKO event will be in November, with Loiseau a possibility for the card. No other names have been mentioned to this point but judging from the fights tonight, names or no names, the card should be exciting. This card lost it’s main event but the fights that took place were competitive and very action packed. A good show to kick off the inaugural TKO event. I cant wait till November.-MMARR-

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