World Series of Fighting 11 results release, photos & videos
Jul 6, 2014 Comments
(PRESS RELEASE) -- DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., -- World Series of Fighting
155-pound champion Justin
Gaethje (12-0) kept his perfect career record intact by
stopping previously undefeated and inspirational lightweight
Nick
Newell (11-1).
That bout served as the headlining bout of Saturday's "World Series of Fighting 11: Gaethje vs. Newell" event, which took place at Ocean Center. The four-fight main card aired on NBC, a first for the Las Vegas-based promotion.
"All I've been asking for is a war, and that's exactly what Nick
gave me today," Gaethje told WSOF announcer Joey Varner
in front of the nationally televised audience. "So I appreciate
him, and I thank him."
Gaethje and Newell attacked from the opening bell, engaging in a ferocious firefight that entertained the enthusiastic Florida fight fans from the start. Both had moments of success on the feet, but it was Gaethje who began to gain steam as the frame wore on.
As the second round started, it was obvious the pace of the opening round had taken its toll on Newell. Meanwhile, Gaethje seemed to be getting stronger, and his pinpoint striking opened up a cut over his opponent's left eye. The attending physician came in to view the wound, but a gutsy Newell insisted he was capable of continuing.
"There was a lot of blood," Gaethje said. "I think it was satisfying to hear him say he was going to take me down, and he wasn't able to. Because I knew that where he needed to get it and he knew that."
Unfortunately for him, the courage was only rewarded with more strikes from Gaethje, who used a flashy high kick and a series of straight punches to send Newell to the canvas and seal his own successful title defense.
In the night's co-main event, veteran fighters Jon Fitch (26-6-1) and Dennis Hallman (53-14-2) battled in a middleweight attraction with Fitch dominating throughout and earning the unanimous decision win, 30-27 on all three cards.
A powerful Fitch low kick swept Hallman to the floor in the early going, and he avoided a few submission attempts from the bottom as he rained down ground-and-pound blows from the top. In the second round, Fitch didn't bother with the standup game, quickly slamming Hallman to the floor and pounding away with more punches from a dominant position. Hallman briefly threatened with a heel hook, but Fitch rolled through it and continued his assault from the top.
"During the first exchange I got a deep thumb in the eye so I was a little unsteady and didn't know which way it was going to go," Fitch said. "That changed the face of the fight because I could only see half of him."
Bantamweight Cody Bollinger (16-2) picked up his second World Series of Fighting victory with an impressive first-round stoppage of Pablo Alfonso (9-6).
Bollinger was relentless from the start, and when the fight hit the floor, he shifted tirelessly from submission attempt to submission attempt. The non-stop attacks paid off in the form of a rear-naked choke, and Bollinger earned the tap from Alfonso at the 2:37 mark of the first round.
""My strategy was to stay on my feet and hit him as hard as I could," Bollinger said after the win. "I think I respected his jiu-jitsu too much, but I should because he's great at that. I came in here with a lot of hype, and tonight I knew I had to put on a show."
In the card's first main-card matchup, lightweights Melvin Guillard (32-13-2) and Gesias Cavalcante (18-8-1) engaged in an absolute shootout, just as both promised, but it was "The Young Assassin" who proved victorious in the battle of former training partners.
With punches, kicks and knees flying from the opening bell, the fighters marked an impressive launch of World Series of Fighting's first live broadcast on NBC. Cavalcante tried to take the fight to the floor in the second frame, but Guillard climbed immediately back to his feet and began to unleash fury on the feet. Two straight punches wobbled Cavalcante, and Guillard pounced on his wounded foe with a barrage of punches and elbows that forced referee Telis Assimenios to stop the fight at the 2:36 mark of the second round.
"I went out there and had a hell of a debut," Guillard said after the win. "He even got me on the ground, and I got back up and handled business.
"I'm going to take that strap and become the face of this organization. I'm here to make noise."
In the night's final preliminary bout, Jake Heun (6-3) returned from a year-long layoff to earn a hard-fought decision win over Kendrick Miree (5-2).
While Miree was successful with a few takedown attempts, he wasn't able to ever truly capitalize on the position. Meanwhile, Heun peppered his opponent with powerful punches on the feet and racked up enough points to take home a decision win, 29-28 on all three judges' cards.
Submission specialist Neiman Gracie (2-0) kept his professional record unblemished, but it certainly didn't come easy. Dustin Holyko (2-1) floored Gracie with a big left hand in the opening round, but he wasn't able to finish his opponent, and it would come back to cost him in the second frame.
Gracie recovered from the onslaught and brought the fight to the floor in the second round, where he was able to work to the back and scores a tapout by rear-naked choke at 2:21 mark of the frame.
In a 175-pound catchweight contest, Jose Caceres (8-5) outpointed Walber Brito de Barros (6-6) over the course of 15 minutes. While de Barros was a game competitor, Caceres was simply the busier fighters in all aspects of the contest and was justly awarded the win with scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.
In the night's first fight, light heavyweight Muhammed DeReese (2-0) outgrappled Rashaun Spencer (4-7) en route to picking a unanimous decision win with scores of 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28.
About "WorldSeries of Fighting" (WSOF) "World Series of Fighting" (WSOF) is a world wide premier profesional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight promotion dedicated to delivering the best action-packed fights for fight fans by producing the best possible match-ups between elite fighters from around the world. For more information please visit WSOF.com. Follow "World Series of Fighting" on Twitter @MMAWorldSeries and "World Series of Fighting" President Ray Sefo @SugarRaySefo.
About NBC SPORTS GROUP When the Comcast-NBCUniversal transaction was completed in January 2011, the sports assets of the two companies combined to form NBC Sports Group, which serves sports fans 24/7 with premier live events, insightful studio shows, and compelling original programming. The sports media company consists of a unique array of broadcast television, cable television, radio and digital sports assets, including NBC Sports, NBC Olympics, NBCSN (NBC Sports Network), Golf Channel, 12 NBC Sports Regional Networks, NBC Sports Radio and all of their respective digital properties. NBC Sports Group possesses an unparalleled collection of television rights agreements, partnering with some of the most prestigious sports properties in the world: the International Olympic Committee and United States Olympic Committee, the NFL, NHL, NASCAR, PGA TOUR, PGA of America, USGA, Churchill Downs, Premier League, MLS, World Series of Fighting, Tour de France, French Open, Formula One, IndyCar and many more.
About Ocean Center The Ocean Center aims to be recognized as the premier convention facility in the Southeast. The Ocean Center offers competitive rates and excellent customer service and is conveniently located in east Central Florida. A service of Volusia County Government, the Ocean Center can accommodate meetings of 10 to 10,000 and offers more than 205,000 square feet of interior exhibit, meeting and convention space. Learn more at www.oceancenter.com.
That bout served as the headlining bout of Saturday's "World Series of Fighting 11: Gaethje vs. Newell" event, which took place at Ocean Center. The four-fight main card aired on NBC, a first for the Las Vegas-based promotion.
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Gaethje defended his WSOF Lightweight title and kept his belt by
earning the TKO stoppage at 3:09 of the second round of a scheduled
five-round fight.
Gaethje and Newell attacked from the opening bell, engaging in a ferocious firefight that entertained the enthusiastic Florida fight fans from the start. Both had moments of success on the feet, but it was Gaethje who began to gain steam as the frame wore on.
As the second round started, it was obvious the pace of the opening round had taken its toll on Newell. Meanwhile, Gaethje seemed to be getting stronger, and his pinpoint striking opened up a cut over his opponent's left eye. The attending physician came in to view the wound, but a gutsy Newell insisted he was capable of continuing.
"There was a lot of blood," Gaethje said. "I think it was satisfying to hear him say he was going to take me down, and he wasn't able to. Because I knew that where he needed to get it and he knew that."
Unfortunately for him, the courage was only rewarded with more strikes from Gaethje, who used a flashy high kick and a series of straight punches to send Newell to the canvas and seal his own successful title defense.
In the night's co-main event, veteran fighters Jon Fitch (26-6-1) and Dennis Hallman (53-14-2) battled in a middleweight attraction with Fitch dominating throughout and earning the unanimous decision win, 30-27 on all three cards.
A powerful Fitch low kick swept Hallman to the floor in the early going, and he avoided a few submission attempts from the bottom as he rained down ground-and-pound blows from the top. In the second round, Fitch didn't bother with the standup game, quickly slamming Hallman to the floor and pounding away with more punches from a dominant position. Hallman briefly threatened with a heel hook, but Fitch rolled through it and continued his assault from the top.
"During the first exchange I got a deep thumb in the eye so I was a little unsteady and didn't know which way it was going to go," Fitch said. "That changed the face of the fight because I could only see half of him."
Bantamweight Cody Bollinger (16-2) picked up his second World Series of Fighting victory with an impressive first-round stoppage of Pablo Alfonso (9-6).
Bollinger was relentless from the start, and when the fight hit the floor, he shifted tirelessly from submission attempt to submission attempt. The non-stop attacks paid off in the form of a rear-naked choke, and Bollinger earned the tap from Alfonso at the 2:37 mark of the first round.
""My strategy was to stay on my feet and hit him as hard as I could," Bollinger said after the win. "I think I respected his jiu-jitsu too much, but I should because he's great at that. I came in here with a lot of hype, and tonight I knew I had to put on a show."
In the card's first main-card matchup, lightweights Melvin Guillard (32-13-2) and Gesias Cavalcante (18-8-1) engaged in an absolute shootout, just as both promised, but it was "The Young Assassin" who proved victorious in the battle of former training partners.
With punches, kicks and knees flying from the opening bell, the fighters marked an impressive launch of World Series of Fighting's first live broadcast on NBC. Cavalcante tried to take the fight to the floor in the second frame, but Guillard climbed immediately back to his feet and began to unleash fury on the feet. Two straight punches wobbled Cavalcante, and Guillard pounced on his wounded foe with a barrage of punches and elbows that forced referee Telis Assimenios to stop the fight at the 2:36 mark of the second round.
"I went out there and had a hell of a debut," Guillard said after the win. "He even got me on the ground, and I got back up and handled business.
"I'm going to take that strap and become the face of this organization. I'm here to make noise."
In the night's final preliminary bout, Jake Heun (6-3) returned from a year-long layoff to earn a hard-fought decision win over Kendrick Miree (5-2).
While Miree was successful with a few takedown attempts, he wasn't able to ever truly capitalize on the position. Meanwhile, Heun peppered his opponent with powerful punches on the feet and racked up enough points to take home a decision win, 29-28 on all three judges' cards.
Submission specialist Neiman Gracie (2-0) kept his professional record unblemished, but it certainly didn't come easy. Dustin Holyko (2-1) floored Gracie with a big left hand in the opening round, but he wasn't able to finish his opponent, and it would come back to cost him in the second frame.
Gracie recovered from the onslaught and brought the fight to the floor in the second round, where he was able to work to the back and scores a tapout by rear-naked choke at 2:21 mark of the frame.
In a 175-pound catchweight contest, Jose Caceres (8-5) outpointed Walber Brito de Barros (6-6) over the course of 15 minutes. While de Barros was a game competitor, Caceres was simply the busier fighters in all aspects of the contest and was justly awarded the win with scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.
In the night's first fight, light heavyweight Muhammed DeReese (2-0) outgrappled Rashaun Spencer (4-7) en route to picking a unanimous decision win with scores of 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28.
About "WorldSeries of Fighting" (WSOF) "World Series of Fighting" (WSOF) is a world wide premier profesional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight promotion dedicated to delivering the best action-packed fights for fight fans by producing the best possible match-ups between elite fighters from around the world. For more information please visit WSOF.com. Follow "World Series of Fighting" on Twitter @MMAWorldSeries and "World Series of Fighting" President Ray Sefo @SugarRaySefo.
About NBC SPORTS GROUP When the Comcast-NBCUniversal transaction was completed in January 2011, the sports assets of the two companies combined to form NBC Sports Group, which serves sports fans 24/7 with premier live events, insightful studio shows, and compelling original programming. The sports media company consists of a unique array of broadcast television, cable television, radio and digital sports assets, including NBC Sports, NBC Olympics, NBCSN (NBC Sports Network), Golf Channel, 12 NBC Sports Regional Networks, NBC Sports Radio and all of their respective digital properties. NBC Sports Group possesses an unparalleled collection of television rights agreements, partnering with some of the most prestigious sports properties in the world: the International Olympic Committee and United States Olympic Committee, the NFL, NHL, NASCAR, PGA TOUR, PGA of America, USGA, Churchill Downs, Premier League, MLS, World Series of Fighting, Tour de France, French Open, Formula One, IndyCar and many more.
About Ocean Center The Ocean Center aims to be recognized as the premier convention facility in the Southeast. The Ocean Center offers competitive rates and excellent customer service and is conveniently located in east Central Florida. A service of Volusia County Government, the Ocean Center can accommodate meetings of 10 to 10,000 and offers more than 205,000 square feet of interior exhibit, meeting and convention space. Learn more at www.oceancenter.com.
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