PRO MMA’s (promma.info) Matt De La Rosa was on hand for this past weekend’s Cage Combat Fighting Championship-11 ‘Rush‘ at Kezar Pavilion to take in some MMA action in a cold and damp summer evening in San Francisco, California. The evening boasted two title fights, one female attraction and teased the headlining Middleweight title bout for CCFC’s next card in October.
The evening started off with Bantamweight action between Matt Sanchez and Scott Weems. Sanchez stuffed an early take down attempt by Weems up against the cage and successfully maneuvered the fight down to the ground in a dominant top position. After peppering Weem’s head with shots from behind, Sanchez positioned himself for an Anaconda attempt. Sanchez than switched from the Anaconda to a beautiful Guillotine and locked in the submission at the 1:12 mark of the first round.
Patrick Dixon and Ted Von Roll pressed the action in the first round of their 185 pound bout. Von Roll tried to work his shot early and often; however, Dixon defended well and managed to reign down blows from the top. Von Roll got back to his feet, managed a double leg and finished the round working in Dixon’s guard. However, between rounds, doctors took their time checking out Von Roll in his corner and the bout was stopped and declared a technical draw due to an injury to the back of the head that Von Roll sustained in the first.
American Kickboxing Academy’s Davin Clark took on Thomas Haines in more Middleweight action on the cards third bout of the evening. Clark dictated the pace of the fight by mixing up his strikes with high kicks, knees and combos. Haines ate multiple knees and kicks to the head in his attempts to take the fight to the ground in the first. When the fight did hit the floor, Clark remained on top for the duration of the bout and even locked on a one arm Guillotine before Haines powered out at the end of the first. Clark controlled the entire fight; however, elected not to capitalize on an opportunity to put Haines away after knocking him down in the second round. Nevertheless, Clark took home the victory across the judges score cards.
The next fight could have been billed as ‘The East Bay’ versus ‘The City’ when Concord’s Ryan Bastinaelli took on San Francisco’s Evan Esguerra. The ASU product looked to take the fight to the ground immediately as he shot in against the Muay-Thai artist and Esguerra defended but could not stop the next attempt. Bastianelli worked from guard and even slammed Kurt Osiander’s pupil t twice before round one came to a close. In opening seconds of the second, Bastianelli scored on another shot and hoisted Esguerra for yet another slam. This slam would be his last as Esguerra applied a Guillotine at :58 in the second round for the win.
Zak Bucia wasted no time at all against Daniel McWilliams in their Welterweight bout, ending the fight in the opening moments with a Rear Naked Choke. Bucia proceeded to transition beautifully from a mounted Guillotine attempt, to having both hooks in and stretched McWilliams out easily for the choke and earning the tap at 1:20 in the opening Stanza.
Dave Rasouli and Justin Hoglund spent the entire first round exchanging take downs against the cage, causing the Kezar Pavilion to bust out the ‘Boo birds’. Hoglund would cause the crowd to be brought to a frenzy when he decided to turn his take down attempt into a flying Guillotine submission. Rasouli tried to fight back by bending down and standing straight up several times. However, Rasouli elected not to slam Hoglund and unsuccessfully tried to pop his head out of the hold before tapping out. Hoglund jumped up on the cage, causing Cage Combat and California State Athletic officials to have to calm the crowd and keep them from getting to close to the cage.
Jamie Seaton and Emily Thompson put on quite a show in the lone female bout of the evening. Thompson, a David Terrell student, stepped into the cage after dropping a decision to Erin Toughill at PFC-13 back in May and looked to bounce back with a victory over Seaton. The two women started trading shots in the center of the cage immediately and would not slow down once the fight hit the canvas. Neither competitor seemed to maintain a dominant ground position for long as both squirmed out of bad spots and wound up with hooks in on the back and in the mount position through out the fight. Seaton landed more shots on the feet and even dished out multiple up kicks from her back, taking home her first ever pro victory in the form of a 29-28 split decision.
After an in ring interview hyping a future bout with Middleweight Champion David Mitchell and Jamie Jara, Michael Manaquil and Mikey Gonzalez traded high kicks, looping hooks and a superman punch to kick of their bout. Manaquil knocked Gonzalez down in the center of the cage and proceeded to pound away at Gonzalez from the standing position before the referee stepped in and stopped the fight.
Buddy Roberts looked to defend his CCFC Heavyweight Championship against John Devine in the night’s co-main event. After two lack luster rounds of one-two combos and weak take down attempts, Devine turned up the volume in the early portion of the third round by working some dirty boxing and a nailing a take down against the cage. Roberts looked tired and Devine smothered the champion from half guard and landed shot after shot. The referee stepped in and stopped the bout giving Devine the TKO victory and the title mid way through the third round.
The main event between young prospect Ky Hollenbeck and Welterweight Champion Jeremiah Metcalf definitely earned the nod for fight of the night. Metcalf looked to be in great shape and had answers for the athletic Hollenbeck in every area of the fight. Metcalf neutralized the Thai specialist on the feet for the majority of the fight despite eating some knees late in the second round. Metcalf was able to find his way into every ideal ground situation and even broke free from three of Hollenbeck’s arm bar attempts. Despite Hollenbeck’s last attempt at a heel hook in the waning seconds of the third and final round, Metcalf earned the Unanimous decision and retained his 170 pound strap.
Quick Results
- Jeremiah Metcalf def. Ky Hollenbeck – UD – 3rd 5:00
- John Devine def. Buddy Roberts – TKO – 3rd 3:13
- Evan Esguerra def. Ryan Bastianelli – Guillotine – 2nd 0:58
- Zak Bucia def. Daniel McWilliams – RNC- 1st 1:20
- Jamie Seaton def. Emily Thompson – SD – 3rd 3:00
- Justin Hoglund def. David Rasouli – Guillotine – 2nd 0:52
- Ted Von Roll vs. Patrick Dixon – Technical Draw – 1st 3:00
- Matt Sanchez def. Scott Weems – Guillotine – 1st 1:12
- Michael Mananquil def. Michael Gonzalez – TKO – 1st 2:00
- Davin Clark def. Thomas Haines – UD- 3rd 3:00
Stay tuned to PRO MMA (promma.info) for an exlcusive post fight interview with co-owner and promoter Todd Middendorp and the full photo gallery from the CCFC-11 event.
Good stuff Matt. Glad to see you back in action.