The wonderful town of Victoriaville was welcoming again as the Colisée des Bois-Francs was once again packed with a heated crowd ready for eight action packed fights at TKO 23 “Extreme”. Quite honestly, I have to say that it was probably the best MMA card I seen live in years, and probably the best since the legendary UCC 12. Every fight seemed to have something memorable happen, and even though 2 fights were cancelled in the last week, the tremendous action delivered by the fighters was worth every penny of admission. TKO once again left the competition in the dust, without further ado, here is my recap of the fights...

James Haourt (1-2-0) Unanimous Decision (Round 3) Sylvain Cloutier (3-3-0)

Right off the bat, Haourt cut the distance and looked to clinch with Cloutier, however, much to his surprise it was Cloutier that took him down first. Cloutier couldn’t hit Haourt much from the guard however and referee Denis Bourdon stood them back up only to have Haourt then make a good account of his wrestling background and start to take Cloutier down with double underhook takedowns. He almost got caught in a guillotine for his efforts but got some good shots going in Cloutier’s guard and almost landed a guard pass, but the bell came and saved Cloutier from getting caught in a dangerous position. The first stanza was very close, but Haourt had set his pace in the last minute.

Haourt picked up where he left off in the first round, getting his trademark double underhook takedown again. The Team Legion fighter mastered the art of weathering the storms though and got the fight to be stood up again only to be taken down again, but this time around, he ended up on his back, mounted. Cloutier tried to reverse Haourt and take the back, but the Team Tompkins fighter ended up carefully brushing him away to guard. Haourt made his only real try to end the fight by diving for a heel hook, but Cloutier showed good defense against the submission that looked to be deep. The fight got back up again, but the Ontario fighter got another takedown before the bell.

Cloutier surprises Haourt in the third, going himself for a double leg takedown that tumbled Haourt to the mat but both fighters seem exhausted at this point. The third round saw them trading some takedowns and exchanging some ground and pound from the guard as both guys showed tremendous heart, but in the end, Haourt’s crafty wrestling skills struck the judges and got him the nod.

Stéphane Vigneault (9-3-0) TKO (Towel Thrown) Round 3 (3:55) Greg Compton (5-1-0)

The fight started on the feet with Compton doing surprisingly well with his boxing, looking to cut the distance and score. He did eventually get the clinching distance he wanted, but it was Simba who got the takedown with a superb foot sweep that lifted Compton off the ground, from there Vigneault then kick started his destructive ground and pound game. Alternating between brutal swinging elbows and kicks while standing up, “Simba” went for his trademark foot stomp and even for a flying stomp to the stomach that landed to Compton’s midsection . Vigneault ended the round with a methodical and relentless rain of elbows to Compton’s dome which opened two severe cuts to the Ontario fighters hairline that got a doctor check. The cut didn’t affect Compton’s vision, but he seemed to lose a lot of blood. Compton scored a takedown in the last minute of the first round, but Vigneault reversed him, looking too powerful and experienced for Compton.

The second round started up with Vigneault taking Compton down again and continued his methodical, borderline surgical elbow dissection of his opponent to the great pleasure of the crowd. Compton showed a lot of heart, hanging on and even getting his guard up and ready for any mistake from Simba, but sadly for him, the Magdelene Island native made no such error. Compton decided to switch strategies at this point and got back up, surprisingly, in the last minute of the round, Compton placed some good shots on Vigneault who looked confused and defensive. After the fight, Simba confessed to yours truly of having lost one of his contact lenses, making the distance hard to calculate, but it was Compton’s moment. Despite bleeding, despite being behind on the score cards, he fought his heart off. Sadly for him again, “Simba” landed an uppercut, kick and flying knee combo that deprived Compton from stealing the round despite a gutsy effort.

Vigneault got back to the winning ways in the third as he caught Compton’s kick and tumbled him to the mat. The massive blood loss seemed to affect Compton now as he was now giving up position to “Simba” who mounted him, and took his back, but due in part to all the blood on the fighters, couldn’t grab Compton for a choke. Vigneault continued then, to hammer down on Compton, giving him a huge black eye, until Compton’s corner have seen enough and threw in the towel. Great fight for both guys who fought to the best of their abilities, but “Simba’s” methodical style went through everything Compton had to offer.

Dave Parizeau (3-1-1) Submission (Triangle Choke) Round 1 (0:40) Billy Kidd (2-3-0)

This was a short and strange fight to say the least. Parizeau came in with the superior reach, which seemed to affect Kidd, who was billed as a striker. The fight started off with Kidd cutting the distance and looking to clinch, but in mere seconds, he pulled Parizeau into mount position over him. Kidd then reversed Parizeau to guard, but gave up the triangle choke right away which Parizeau took without a second thought. Kidd tried to slam Parizeau, but came up short and tapped out. Parizeau didn’t have the chance to showcase his stand up skills like he wanted, but sometimes you have to take your opponents gifts and Kidd offered him a triangle choke within one minute, and he took it. This gave Parizeau another first round stoppage, both of his last two fights have lasted less than a minute, a stat which is usually a sign that he is ready to make the jump to the next level.

Thierry Quenneville (9-3-0) Submission (Armbar) Round 1 (1:20) Max Marin (5-7-0)

First off, I’d like to come back on my declarations about their last fight. I still think it was a fair stoppage by Phillipe Chartier, but as I saw on TKO highlight opener, it was a bit more ambiguous than I thought. A rematch was indeed needed to clear off any doubts. With the Nevada State Athletic commission’s Steve Mazzagatti as a referee, the probability of a shady stoppage wasn’t in the program. This fight started up as a carbon copy of the first with Marin flurrying at Quenneville to cut off the distance. He had a nice surprise in the clinch with Quenneville, the bigger and stronger fighter, controlling the pace. Marin did take Quenneville down, but it was the beginning of the end for him as Quenneville worked a superb modified armbar from the guard that popped Marin’s arm and left no doubt this time about who was the winner. After the fight, Marin took the microphone and announced his retirement, due to multiple injuries and showed good microphone skills while doing so. Is a fight analyst career to expect in the future? Well if I was promoter, I would surely hire him...

Martin Désilets (3-0-0) (TKO Cut) Round 2 (1:13) Krysztof Soszynski (7-3-0)

In a classic striker versus grappler battle, Désilets the kickboxer ran to Soszynski, who joyously dived for a double leg, taking the fight to the ground. Désilets got right back up as both fighters clinched and exchanged some dirty boxing. Soszynski got him back down with a superb suplex, but again, Désilet got back up. This was the story of the fight, a crazy battle for position that made the best heavyweight fight in TKO history if you want my opinion. In the first round, Soszynski chased Désilets around the ring and never allowed him to get his punching game going. Soszynski got tagged with some knees in the clinch, but answered with some knees of his own, but slipped and ended a terrific first round on his back. Soszynski couldn’t control Désilets on the ground, but deprived his opponent the opportunity to effectively mount any kind of offense.

Soszynski opened up the second round with another successful double leg, but Désilets, the smaller man, looked to be stronger than the Team Tompkins man and reversed him to his guard. Désilets got up right away and started hammering some right hands that cuts Soszynski and forced the referee Phillipe Chartier to order a doctor check. Doc Meunier declared the cut dangerous for Soszynski’s vision and the fight was stopped. Very resilient and courageous performance from Désilets who probably got himself a title shot with this impressive win.

Chris Horodecki (2-0-0) KO (Kick) Round 3 (4:41) David Goulet (6-4-0)

A lot of people prior to this fight thought that Goulet was too big of a step up for the young Horodecki, who looked impressive, but seemed a bit green against Stéphane Laliberté. Well, Horodecki showed up packing more muscles this time around and showed determination to go through another rugged veteran of Team Legion. From the opening bell, Horodecki decided to make a statement, starting to chase down Goulet and throwing various combos of punches, low kicks, and high kicks. Goulet was looking to close the gap and throw some knees of his own in the clinch, which he proceeded to do, and for a short while it was an equal battle with the Team Tompkins prospect. Horodecki was the one controlling the pace of the fight and as he got out of Goulet’s clinching attempts with punches, he outwrestled Goulet, even when taken down, he got back up right away and most impressively, he showed good jiu-jitsu, passing Goulet’s guard with a Jiu-Jitsu 101 guard pass. Goulet kept getting back up, but Horodecki kept landing combos at a scary pace and took down Goulet at will. After the first round this was already one hell of a fight, but Horodecki showed a more extensive game and displayed every tool in his bag to surprise and frustrate the gritty Goulet.

Goulet missed a takedown in the opening seconds of the first round, and Horodecki was able to get his back and get his hooks in. He got some punches going from this position and was able to bloody up Goulet’s nose. Resiliently, Goulet managed his way back to his feet, but the legendary Team Tompkins cardio kicked in and Horodecki stard to land at will on a gassed Goulet. The young fury got so excited in his combos that he gave his back to Goulet who jumped for a rear naked choke, but in the process managed to throw Horodecki over the top rope and both fighters almost fell on your’s truly. Horodecki started picking up the pace and virtually did what he wanted in the ring, as he was hitting and taking Goulet down at will. Goulet got another moment in the last seconds of the round when he reversed Horodecki to his guard, but the bell rang and both guys went to their corners for a minute of rest.

Horodecki opened up the third stanza firing some low & high kicks on a Goulet that looked discouraged and frustrated and barely defended himself. His trainer Steve Claveau in the corner at this time, had the towel in hand, ready to stop the fight, but the courageous Goulet got back in the fight, or at least defended properly enough to extend the inevitable. Horodecki worked his ground and pound game on a dead tired Goulet who was miraculously still combative and he even got the mount for a short period of time in the third after Horodecki slipped and fell! Horodecki remained patient however, and maneuvered well and reversed Goulet back to guard. They get both back and Horodecki got his now trademark snap the head to high kick to end the fight beautifully. It was half a knockout, half exhaustion because when Horodecki snapped Goulet’s head to set up the kick, the Team Legion fighter was already limp. The kick just ended the fight with style and gave Horodecki the fighter of the night award for his dominating performance. Very impressive victory and after this showdown he deserves his nickname as the Sidney Crosby of MMA.

Sam Stout (8-1-1) KO Round 1 (4:40) Donald Ouimet (10-5-0)

If Chris Horodecki was the fighter of the night, the revenge fight between Sam Stout and Donald Ouimet was the fight of the night and arguably the fight of the year. What a furious battle these two had. Ouimet kept pressuring the fight and keeping the action in close quarters, so Stout leg kicks were blocked or smothered or slipped with a crafty step back. “The Extra Terrestrial was very aggressive, swinging away at Stout that seemed frustrated and a bit unfocused with Ouimet’s surprising but clever game plan. Stout showed the resilience however and adapted to the close quarter action and cut to clinching distance. As Ouimet took a step back to regain his distance, he made a small mistake by lowering his hands and it was enough for Stout to capitalize and wobble the ex champion. Ouimet, confused, kept going forward and that was more then Stout needed and four unanswered right hands sent Ouimet down for the count and made referee Steve Mazzagatti stop the fight, and rightfully so. Stout showed international level skills by knocking out Ouimet who was a dominating Canadian champion. The only guy who did that much damage to Ouimet before was James Martinez at TKO 20....will a showdown between these two happen?

Jonathan Goulet (15-5-0) Submission (Bulldog Choke) Round 1 (3:05) Shonie Carter (32-14-6)

The main even of the evening saw two UFC veterans going at it for the pleasure of the home town fans, who were cheering loudly for their hero, Jonathan Goulet. Carter wanted to cut the gap to Goulet, but the Road Warrior kicked the veteran and kept his distance. Carter seemed to be a lot physically weaker than Goulet and the Canadian brushed him away from the clinch with ease every time Carter found his way inside. Goulet didn’t seem to do more than contain Carter who, by attacking, deprived Goulet from mounting offense of his own. Carter got the clinch once more, but he slipped in the process and Goulet managed to capitalize and get the bulldog choke and the tapout. The bout was a bit uneventful after the two wars waged by the Team Tompkins members, but Goulet was able to effectively take out the UFC veteran.

So that was it, it was a great night of fights in Victoriaville, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to send them to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it