By: William Holmes
Promoter Rob Hydak brings a seven fight Mixed Martial Arts Card to the Resorts Casino in Atlantic City. This card features a main event of Douglas Gordan vs. Joey Rivera for Cage Fury’s welterweight championship, and several up and coming fighters.
Ozzy Dugulubogov landing a hard left hand on Brian Kelleher.
The first fight of the night features a bantamweight matchup between Brian Kelleher and Siyam Yousefi. It is obvious from the start that Yousefi has the height advange. This fight starts off with a series of leg kicks by Yousefi, and Kelleher answers with an immediate takedown into half guard. Kelleher lands a series of hard elbows and solid ground and pound. Yousefi attempts to escape only to get trapped into a guillotine and is forced to tap.
Tom Marcellino (2-0) vs Mtume Goodrum (0-1) Lightweight
The first round starts off with an early takedown attempt by Goodrum allowing him to land in side control. Goodrum quickly attempts to transition into a full mount position, but perhaps too quickly as Marcellino reverses into top side control. Marcellino has Goodrum pressed against the cage and lands a few short elbows and some decent ground and pound, with several being landed with Goodrum being stacked by Marcellino. Near the end of the round Goodrum is able to get back to his feet, only to eat a hard knee by Marcellino and a standing guillotine attempt. 10-9 Marcellino
Second round starts with a takedown attempt by Goodrum , only for him to get caught in a tight guillotine attempt. Both fighters get back to their feet and Marcellino lands a hard left hand. Goodrum answers with another takedown, and lands some short body shots from top. Goodrum again gets reversed and attempts a guillotine, but it was very weak. Towards the end of the round Marcellino lands some hard shots from the top position, and has Goodrum stacked against the fence again. 10-9 Marcellino
Prior to the start of the last round you can see Goodrum’s face is swelling up from some of the shots that has been landed on him. Marcellino with some nice punches on Goodrum, and after pressing Goodrum on the fence is able to take him down and land on top of him. Goodrum again takes damage on bottom, and briefly gets back to his feet before getting taken down again. 10-9 Marcellino
Clean sweep for Marcellino 30-27.
Amiri Shabaz (0-0) vs Leonardo Figuera (0-0) Welterweight
The next match features a fight that was not listed on the original fight card of Amiri Shabaz vs. Leonardo Figuera. Leonardo fights out of Renzo Gracie’s fight camp, so you know his jiu-jitsu is top notch. The fight starts off with Leonardo and Amiri exchanging leg kicks. It is immediately apparent that Leonardo wants to take the fight to the ground. He eventually does with a deep shot. The rest is textbook jiu-jitsu as Lenoardo lands some strikes from top position to soften his opponent up before transitioning to a more dominant position, and eventually sinks in a rear naked choke after Shabaz gives up his back. Shabaz is forced to tap, giving Leonardo Figuera his first professional MMA victory.
Ozzy Dugulubgov (0-0) vs Kevin Horowitz (3-2) Welterweight
Ozzy comes into the cage clearly the more in shape fighter, and is a Russian who is currently based in New Jersey. Ozzy starts off the first round landing some hard kicks, and some very heavy hands. Fight goes to the ground with Ozzy attempting an ankle lock, with Horowitz able to esape back to his feet. Ozzy throws some vicious looking strikes and lands on top of Horowitz. Ozzy throws and lands some heavy blows on Horowitz, who turns his back to Ozzy, and again eats some heavy blows. Ozzy is very quick in his transition on the ground. The end of the round features Ozzy landing some heavy blows on Horowitz, leaving the audience wondering how is Horowitz able to still stand on his feet. 10-8 round for Ozzy Dugulubogov, very impressive first round.
Second round starts off with Ozzy starting off where he left off in the second round, landing some very hard strikes. After a series of heavy left hands one wonders if Horowitz has a jaw of steel. A hard knee landed by Ozzy causes the ref to stop the fight. The fans think it’s an early stoppage, but Horowitz wasn’t doing anything but taking punishment from Ozzy Dugulubgov. At the end of the fight it is announced that Ozzy is signed to a three fight deal with Cage Fury Fighting Championships, and he shows a lot of promise.
Daryl Harris (4-1) v. Nah-shon Burrell (4-1) Welterweight
In the promo that is played before the fight Harris states he is making his pro debut, but his record is listed as 4-1. Harris also claims to have world class jiu-jitsu. Fight starts off with a nice one two combination landed by Burrell, and Harris answers by clinching Burrell against the cage to land a very nice throw on Burrell. Burrell quickly gets back to his feet with Harris clinching behind. The fighters separate and a very nice exchange between both fighters brings the crowd to it’s feet. The fighters are again pressed against the cage, and Harris lands some decent knees to the legs and body. Harris grinds Burrell against the cage, who is eventually able to get his back off the cage and land some solid blows on Harris from his feet. Harris answers with a takedown attempt on Burrell leading to a crowd pleasing slam, but Burrell quickly gets back up. The round ends with Burrell landing some very nice strikes on his feet. Very tough round to score, with Burrell landing the better shots standing, and Harris doing more damage on the ground and when pressed against the cage. I scored it 10-9 for Burrell only because he seemed to hurt Harris with his strikes, but it was close.
Second round starts with Burrell landing a hard right hand on Harris through his high defensive guard standing. Burrell is clearly the better striker of the two. Burrell lands a nice double jab followed by a . Fighters are both standing and are really going at it, and Burrell lands another hard right hand that knocks Harris down and follows it with more hammer fists. The referee stops the fight and Burrell wins by 2nd round KO. Best fight of the night.
Roger Zapata is brought into the ring to help hype up his next fight for Cage Fury on June 10th.
Jay Coleman (6-4) vs Samuel Jackson (10-20) Lightweight
Jay Coleman fights out of Ricardo Almedia’s fight camp, and Samuel Jackson comes in as a last minute opponent. Fight starts off with a high kick attempt by Coleman, and two hard body shots. Coleman lands a quick takedown, but Jackson gets back to his fight. Coleman is able to press the action against the cage and is getting the better of Jackson when the action is pressed against the cage. Fighters exchange on their feet, with Coleman landing the harder shots. Coleman again with a takedown on Jackson landing in side control, and follows with some strikes from the top. 10-9 round for Coleman.
Second round starts off with Coleman landing a hard left hand. Coleman again lands a takedown into side control, and quickly transitions into full mount position. Coleman starts landing some very hard elbows from the full mount position. A few more land and the referee is forced to stop the fight. Jackson was not escaping the full mount position, and it was a good stoppage. Coleman with the victory, and it is discovered after the fight that Jackson accepted the fight on Tuesday.
Douglas Gordon (11-9) vs Joey Rivera (5-0) Welterweight
The last fight of the night is for Cage Fury Fighting Championship’s welterweight belt. The fight starts off with both fighters exchanging a series of body kicks. Gordon lands a nice overhand right, but for some reason is circling towards the power hand of Rivera. Rivera presses Gordon against the cage and trips Gordon to the ground, but Gordon quickly gets back up. A hard body kick by Rivera drops Gordon, and Rivera follows up by landing into top position on Gordon. He lands some hard short elbows, and few right hands on Gordon’s face. Gordon switches position and gets into Rivera’s full guard. Rivera attempts a triangle but eats some hammer fists as a result. Round ends with Rivera employing a butterfly guard with double underhooks. Close first round, but I scored for Rivera 10-9.
Second round starts with Rivera attempting some low kicks, and Gordon lunging with with some punches. Gordon appears to catch Rivera with a right hand and Rivera falls to the ground. Gordon is on top of Rivera landing some solid ground and pound. Out of nowhere Rivera slaps on a triangle choke. Gordon attempts to punch his way out of it but it is too tight. Rivera switches to an armbar and Gordon is forced to tap. Nice finish from Joey Rivera.
Greg Soto is brought into the cage to hype up a welterweight title fight between himself and Rivera.
Overall this was a very exciting card to watch, and Cage Fury appears to have some promising prospects on their roster. Joey Rivera, Ozzy Dugulubgov, and Nah-Shon Burrell showed the most promise and should be prospects to be on the look out for, especially Ozzy Dugulubgov. A matchup of Burrell and Dugulubgov would certainly bring fireworks, and is the matchup that this author wants to see the most coming out of this card.