WCSC play by play live from San Francisco

Photos of the event.A night of both Muay Thai and MMA is about to kick off from the Kezar Pavilion in San Francisco.  We have already seen the local MMA stars turn out for this event including names like Kurt Osiander, Darren Uyenoyama, Gilbert Melendez, Jake Shields, Eric Lawson and Ryan Bastianelli. He was scheduled to fight but his opponent dropped off due to his imprisonment in the county lock up!  Not to be outdone, Anderson Silva is here cornering two of his fighters!  The arena begins to fill up and separate in their academies sections. Stay tuned as the fights will start shortly.

UPDATE.. There appears to be an issue with the ring ropes and there tautness. A delay is forthcoming. Welcome to grassroots MMA.. There has been a shifty sighting in the arena. Seth “Shifty” Binzer from Celebrity Rehab fame is also in attendance. Currently all he is seeing the the rebuilding of the ring. More excitement to come. Bryan Padilla started off the night in a Thai fight winning a unanimous decision.

Next up is a student of Gilbert Melendez’s El Nino fight team. Juan Nunez vs Osmar Delino. Nunez gets taken down and works from bottom. Battle of the Gracie teams as Osmar represents Charles Gracie. Osmar passes and then mounts, reigning down strikes. He sets up an arm bar from the mount but is unsuccessful. He tries again and catches the submission. Nice display of grappling from top.

Osman”Junior” wins @ 2:55 of the first by armbar

Taylor Morrison vs Andrew Valladarez.

Morrison is again cornered by Darren Uyenoyama. FTCC has a strong showing here so far.

Ryan Roy fighting out of Fairtex wins the next Muay Thai fight. MMA up next. More rope tightening between the action.

Jessie Gillespie vs Mike Fazzino is up next. The bout is an amateur MMA bout. 4×3 minutes. Gillespie comes out with Darren Uyenoyama in his corner. Fazzino’s entrance to a reggae song gets the pot infused crowd hyped! Only in California can you get in trouble for drinking but not smoking at an event. Neither fighter won the battle against their barber. Gillespie gets the early takedown but ends up on the bottom. Fazzino stands over him and the crowd wants a stand up. The roles are reversed now with Gillespie standing over Fazzino. Round two starts fast with Gillespie attempting a takedown. Fazzino defending then began eating some heavy right hands. Mike Fazzino taps out with the referee standing right over them but does not stop the fight. Gillespie contiues his assault for a few more seconds and stops on his own accord. Horrible reffing but thankfully Fazzino is ok.

Jessie Gillespie wins by tapout in round 2

Taylor McCorrison vs Andrew Valladarez is up next. Andrew is cornered by Josh Thomson and Taylor has Darren U with him. Taylor gets the takedown earl and fends off a triagle attempt. He passes to the side mount. In an attempt to buck Taylor off, he gave up his back. The rounds ends with Taylor dominating the grappling throughout the round.

Taylor shoots for a takedown and is working hard for a double leg, he gets it, controlling an active Valladarez before diving for a leg lock. They scramble fight and Taylor starts to work for a double again, finishing it, thenhavingtheref stand them up. Valladarez is swinging for the fences and the crowd reacts accordingly. Taylor’s had enough sohe shoots and finds full mount to end the round. 10-9 Taylor.

Taylor goes for a takedown and they nearly fall out of the ring onto Fast Eddie! Taylor is shutting down the active guard well, but can’t mount any offense either. They’re stood up and Taylor promptly shoots for the takedown. Valladarez gives up his back, and Taylor inches for the choke, however, he loses the grip fight, ending up in mount and throwing some hard shots to end the round. 10-9 Taylor.

The judges score the bout split, prompting immediate boos, 29-28, 30-27, and 28-29 for Taylor.

Josh Neal vs Josh McDonald is next. The bouts really are moving quickly. Neal starts with a high kick that sounded good but not really connecting. McDonald sucks him to the ground in half mount. McDonlad works on passing as Gil Castillo shout instructions on how to do so. Neal to his credit regains full guard and the action slows a bit. Back on their feet now with 10 seconds left in the round. The round comes to a close.

Round 2 begins with Neal getting taken down again. This is a mirror image of the first round. The ref stands the fighters up as McDonald attempts to get mount. Another fuck up by the refs. The round finishes out just like the first. Round 3 goes the same as the first two. Mcdonald should win as easy decision.

We are back after alittle internet difficulty. Jose palcios won his Muay Thai bout with a nice KO to the body.

Eduardo Baiao defeated Damacio Shubert by split decision. Each round mirroered each other with Damacio tenative to fire standing up for fear of the takedown. Damacio was cornered by Anderson Silva and his passion was unmatched in the corner. Anderson could be heard screaming instructions throughout the fight. Baiao was cornered by Ralph Gracie in victory.

Gabe Solorio came up blazing and defeated Uriah Faber trained AJ Fonseca with an armbar in the first round.

Next Bout: Alvin Cacdac vs. Chris Carasio

Cacdac comes out to Bob Marley’s “One Love.” “Let’s get together and feel alright” somehow doesn’t capture the sentiment of a mixed martial arts fight.

Round one…HERE…WE…GO…Carasio avoids a flashy kick by Cacdac and finds a takedown soon after. He’s working to pass while fighting off a guillotine attempt. He responds with a guillotine of his own whilestill locked in Cacdac’s. Now they’re battling for a takedown and this chair I’m sitting in is uncomfortable but probably not as uncomfortable as they are right now. Big takedown by Cacdac puts Carasio through the ropes andhe getsto hisfeet and does the same. Back in the center of the ring, Carasio gets a takedown and takes the back, Luke Stewart shouts instructions to figure four body lock but Carasio doesn’t hear and the round ends. 10-9 Carasio.

Round two…Carasio headhunts with two big head kicks that are blocked. He fights off a takedown and gets his own. He knees to the body on the mat and is searching for a pass. Cacdac is holding on like Carasio is his last dollar. He reverses and Carasio begins to work his Ralph Gracie guard. A fan shouts, “Choke him with the ropes!” Well, at least he’s creative. Cacdac continues working on top, throwing a punch or two. Carasio finds an omaplata and Cacdac fights it off. They scramble to their feet and Carasio tries a takedown until the bell rings. 10-9 Carasio.

Round three…Carasio starts with a high kick again but Cacdac responds with the same. Carasio gets after it and momentarily rocks Cacdac, they tangle up and Cacdac slamshim in a topsy-turvey way. But Carasio manages to lock in a triangle. Cacdac appears to momentarily escape but Carasio locks it in tighter. A slam finally loosens it but Carasio gets an armbar from guard. The ref gets caught in the mess and then moves out the way, perhaps realizing THAT HE’S NOT IN THE RIGHT SPOT. A stand-upputs the fighters back in the center ofthe ring and the two exchange a quick flurry to endthe round. 10-9 Carasio.

Fourth and final round (don’t ask why its a four round fight because I couldn’t tell you)…Cacdac starts the bout with a low leg kick and a superman one-two. He clinches up and Carasio fights it off, slamminghimonto the outside apron. Carasio tries a takedown after they restart. Cacdac gains leverage. All clinch now. Fighters are tiring. Carasio lifts him for a slam but Cacdac holds onto the rope like its his blanky. It’s comicalhow extended he is from avoiding the slam by holding the rope. The ref inexplicably doesn’t dock Cacdac a point. 10-9 Carasio.

They were scheduled to go four but apparently are going five….Everyone is confused.

Well here goes the fifth. Cariaso fluries and clinches up, forcing Cacdac to give up his back. Carasio puts him on the mat and Cacdac dives for a kneebar. Shouldn’t have done that as Carasio uses the roll to flatten him out, securing a rear-naked choke and the win in the ultra-mega-final round 48 seconds in.

The main event unfortunately did not happen. Ky Hollenbeck was scheduled as the main event from the get go. With the initial delay caused by the ring ropes, this forced WCSC to scramble with the final few bouts. All of the Muay Thai fights, took place with Rick Cheeks winning is bout by decision. I was backstage watching Ky warm up with Kurt Osiander when I decided to check on the time left until he went on. It was there that I discovered from the promoter that the main event was to be cancelled due to time restrictions. The Kezar Pavilion was only sheduled until midnight and there was not enough time squeeze in all the bouts. Personally I felt that the Jenna Castillo and cheeks bouts could have been pushed in order to get the Hollenbeck fight in. Once it was announced to the crowd that Hollenbeck would indeed not be fighting, the majority of the crowd booed and then began to exit. There was only about 30% capacity in the building wen the Cheeks bout began.

Alll in all, this show had its fair share of issues, whether it be judging or organization but the fight5s themselves I found to be largely entertaining. That is the most importan part to a successful promotion so we look for constant improvement in coming shows from the WCSC.

Stay tuned for a complete photo gallery in the coming days including someexclusive backstage shots of fighters pre and post fight.