EVEREST // PHOENIX
- Isaac Cohen
- Mar 14, 2021
- 7 min read
The night opens up with a heavyweight prelim bout featuring one of 9th World’s prospects that has been solidifying his nickname “Lights Out”. Gauge Lattimore opened up with a massive hook that nearly ended the contest right there. Somehow, Ian Clemens was able to stay upright and fire back, only for Lattimore to counter and touch him up good. This one didn’t last long as Lattimore landed a textbook hook and pitched a shutout in just over a minute with a TKO win.
Winner: Gauge Lattimore by TKO (Hook) at 1:06 Round 1
Statistics: Gauge Lattimore
Punches 9/9 (100%)
Kicks 0/0 (0%)
Clinch strikes 0/0 (0%)
Takedowns 0/0 (0%)
GnP strikes 0/0 (0%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 0 s
Statistics: Ian Clemens
Punches 0/0 (0%)
Kicks 0/0 (0%)
Clinch strikes 0/0 (0%)
Takedowns 0/0 (0%)
GnP strikes 0/0 (0%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 0 s
Our second contest in the prelim block featured two Featherweights looking to even up their records. Pedro Ito struck first with a looping left hand that connected right on the button and nearly put Silva out early. But Francisco weathered the storm and fought back with a brilliant mix of punches and kicks that kept Ito guessing. Pedro was able to land some big shots, but Silva’s leg kicks were the X factor. He fought on the perimeter and chopped away at the leg, eventually landing one so hard that it, at the very least, hyper-extended Pedro’s knee that caused him to crumble under his own weight. That discomforting scene was enough for the official to step in and call this one off inside the first frame.
Winner: Francisco Silva by TKO (Low Kick) at 2:18 Round 1
Statistics: Francisco Silva
Punches 2/10 (20%)
Kicks 8/11 (73%)
Clinch strikes 0/0 (0%)
Takedowns 0/0 (0%)
GnP strikes 0/0 (0%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 0 s
Statistics: Pedro Ito
Punches 8/9 (89%)
Kicks 0/0 (0%)
Clinch strikes 0/0 (0%)
Takedowns 0/0 (0%)
GnP strikes 0/0 (0%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 0 s
The Prelim Main Event was another bout featuring two fighters striving to get to a .500 record, this time in the Strawweight Division. This was a slow and methodical chess match that went the distance. Jan Matsuda did not get too anxious in his approach, rather he stayed patient and took what his opponent gave him. He out-struck Rebecca Lacroix with ease while also scoring a couple of takedowns along the way to earn an unquestionable unanimous decision win.
JUDGES’ SCORECARDS
Rebecca Lacroix 9 9 9: 27
Jan Matsuda 10 10 10: 30
Rebecca Lacroix 9 9 9: 27
Jan Matsuda 10 10 10: 30
Rebecca Lacroix 9 9 9: 27
Jan Matsuda 10 10 10: 30
Winner: Jan Matsuda by Unanimous Decision
Statistics: Rebecca Lacroix
Punches 3/14 (21%)
Kicks 1/3 (33%)
Clinch strikes 0/0 (0%)
Takedowns 0/1 (0%)
GnP strikes 0/10 (0%)
Submissions 3/3 (100%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 308 s
Statistics: Jan Matsuda
Punches 10/17 (59%)
Kicks 11/21 (52%)
Clinch strikes 0/0 (0%)
Takedowns 2/2 (100%)
GnP strikes 0/0 (0%)
Submissions 4/4 (100%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 322 s
The main card began with a Featherweight bout featuring Bevin Gordon-Starr, a man coming off an incredible flash KO win in his debut, and Kenneth Rodríguez, another fighter striving to break even with his record. Gordon-Starr put on an absolute striking clinic, landing nearly everything he threw while staying untouched. He pushed the pace to the point where Rodríguez was in survival mode early, but couldn’t make it to the bell. After the referee warned Rodríguez to defend himself, The Menace ate a crushing head kick, followed up with an uppercut that resulted in the official to step in and stop any further damage for Rodríguez.
Winner: Bevin Gordon-Starr by TKO (Uppercut) at 2:29 Round 1
Statistics: Bevin Gordon-Starr
Punches 17/22 (77%)
Kicks 7/7 (100%)
Clinch strikes 0/0 (0%)
Takedowns 0/0 (0%)
GnP strikes 0/0 (0%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 0 s
Statistics: Kenneth Rodriguez
Punches 0/6 (0%)
Kicks 0/0 (0%)
Clinch strikes 0/0 (0%)
Takedowns 0/0 (0%)
GnP strikes 0/0 (0%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 0 s
Up next on the docket we are presented with a Welterweight bout between Kelvin Taylor and Royal Holt, two big potential fighters looking to inch their ways closer to title contention. Things started out slowly and cautiously, as the two were feeling out each other’s game plans. Royal Holt wanted to keep the fight standing and tried working in the clinch, but Taylor was able to do enough on his feet to set up and execute several takedowns to keep Holt grounded. Throughout the fight, Taylor would try to work in a variety of submissions on the ground, but Holt was always able to defend them and scramble back to his feet. The final round was a strong finish for Royal Holt, who out-boxed his opponent but did get taken down in the final moments of the fight. This looked to be a pretty tight contest, which didn’t surprise me that Kelvin Taylor won by a Majority Decision. Although, after doing some digging and seeing the scores, the 10-8 score in the second round caught me a bit by surprise.
JUDGES’ SCORECARDS
Kelvin Taylor 10 10 9: 29
Royal Holt 9 8 10: 27
Kelvin Taylor 10 10 9: 29
Royal Holt 9 8 10: 27
Kelvin Taylor 9 10 9: 28
Royal Holt 10 8 10: 28
Winner: Kelvin Taylor by Majority Decision
Statistics: Kelvin Taylor
Punches 8/17 (47%)
Kicks 0/2 (0%)
Clinch strikes 0/0 (0%)
Takedowns 6/8 (75%)
GnP strikes 2/6 (33%)
Submissions 8/8 (100%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 328 s
Statistics: Royal Holt
Punches 13/28 (46%)
Kicks 0/1 (0%)
Clinch strikes 6/17 (35%)
Takedowns 1/1 (100%)
GnP strikes 0/9 (0%)
Submissions 2/2 (100%)
Clinch Attempts 0/1 (0%)
Time on the ground 285 s
We reach our final bout on the undercard, and this one has a lot of hype and speculation tied to it. Union GP President Dante Reed is never one to outright say a non-title fight is a number one contender, but c'mon man, this one just has to be. The number two and three ranked Heavyweights squaring off, and later in the evening we have the champ and number one ranked contender going at it. With that said, this one felt like it was going to be an absolute brawl, which it was. But unfortunately, it was pretty one-sided. The Boxing Champion DeMarcus Gresham came into this one raring to go, and his opponent Mack Sharpe, was completely outclassed. Gresham was hunting for the knockout, but Sharpe surprised us all by hanging on til the end. You have to give Mack credit though, the guy went the distance against a Champion in only his third pro MMA bout, but that’s about the only caveat you can take away from this contest. Gresham was able to impose his will on Sharpe and dominated the fight from start to finish, leaving Sharpe a bloody mess in the aftermath.
JUDGES’ SCORECARDS
DeMarcus Gresham 9 10 10: 29
Mack Sharpe 10 9 8: 27
DeMarcus Gresham 10 10 10: 30
Mack Sharpe 9 9 8: 26
DeMarcus Gresham 9 10 10: 29
Mack Sharpe 10 9 8: 27
Winner: DeMarcus Gresham by Unanimous Decision
Statistics: DeMarcus Gresham
Punches 71/91 (78%)
Kicks 0/0 (0%)
Clinch strikes 11/18 (61%)
Takedowns 1/1 (100%)
GnP strikes 2/7 (29%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 3/3 (100%)
Time on the ground 35 s
Statistics: Mack Sharpe
Punches 3/66 (5%)
Kicks 0/0 (0%)
Clinch strikes 0/42 (0%)
Takedowns 0/11 (0%)
GnP strikes 0/12 (0%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 80 s
Now we head into our Co-Main Event which is for the Strawweight Championship. Elliot McMillan has been on an absolute tear, accumulating an unblemished 5-0 record spanning across three companies while capturing gold in the process. His opponent tonight, Terrico Harris, is relatively unknown aside from the fact that he trains under the world class 9th World PI. This was a clash of styles but it didn’t take long to find out which one would prevail. McMillan stormed his opponent early and often with a ferocious arsenal of striking. Harris wasn’t even able to land one punch before the referee peeled McMillan off after a crushing uppercut to put this fight to bed in the first round.
Winner: Elliot McMillan by TKO (Uppercut) at 1:54 Round 1
Statistics: Elliot McMillan
Punches 8/9 (89%)
Kicks 1/3 (33%)
Clinch strikes 1/1 (100%)
Takedowns 0/0 (0%)
GnP strikes 0/0 (0%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 0 s
Statistics: Terrico Harris
Punches 0/3 (0%)
Kicks 0/0 (0%)
Clinch strikes 0/0 (0%)
Takedowns 0/0 (0%)
GnP strikes 0/0 (0%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 38 s
Finally, we make it to the Main Event of the evening, the Heavyweight Championship clash between the defending Wayland Hughes Jr. and the Russian silent assassin, Sergey Loktev. The press tour was pretty quiet from these two, keeping a respectful tone for each other. The fight started off just the same, as both fighters were feeling each other out and were cautious in their approach. Wayland Hughes out-struck his opponent while the fight was standing, but Hughes was particular with it as he used his striking to set up the takedown and control the ground game. This was a recurring theme for round two and beyond, as Hughes got an early takedown and was able to control the tempo with his ground game. Loktev showed good signs though, as he rolled to get top control and when the fight was stood up, out-struck the champ. Hughes’ game plan was evident as round three commenced, as he continued to hit takedowns seemingly at will and looked comfortable to out-point his opponent in this contest. However, late in the third round, those takedowns were taking a toll and Hughes was starting to look gassed. Loktev pummeled the body on the ground and that was a focal point for him from here on out. The defending champion got a second wind in the fourth, landing some solid strikes, but Loktev steadily started coming back, continuing to target the body which was doing some big time damage. Hughes got another takedown, but at this point Loktev was more comfortable on the ground and continued to target the body. As we reached the fifth and final round, it was clear that Loktev was down on points, but he still looked fresh while Hughes was sucking wind and fading fast. Loktev was landing some significant strikes that was doing a ton of damage and even cut Hughes bad over the eye with a shovel hook. Hughes started mailing in the takedowns which allowed Loktev to sprawl back and stuff them and counter back with more striking. Loktev landed a brutal hook to the body that folded Hughes over, which triggered him to dive in for a desperation takedown. Loktev stuffed it once more, and as Hughes was standing up, Loktev swung for the fences with another shovel hook that turned the lights out on Hughes, giving us a new Heavyweight Champion!
Winner: Sergey Loktev by KO (Punch) at 2:21 Round 5
Statistics: Wayland Hughes Jr.
Punches 23/50 (46%)
Kicks 0/0 (0%)
Clinch strikes 0/1 (0%)
Takedowns 7/12 (58%)
GnP strikes 12/23 (52%)
Submissions 6/6 (100%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 596 s
Statistics: Sergey Loktev
Punches 23/44 (52%)
Kicks 4/6 (67%)
Clinch strikes 2/2 (100%)
Takedowns 0/0 (0%)
GnP strikes 25/60 (42%)
Submissions 0/0 (0%)
Clinch Attempts 0/0 (0%)
Time on the ground 605 s
Venue: GCU Arena
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Attendance: 5,000
Gate: $471,750
FIGHT OF THE NIGHT
Wayland Hughes Jr. vs Sergey Loktev
PERFORMANCE OF THE NIGHT
Bevin Gordon-Starr, DeMarcus Gresham
Uncut Version: Click Here
Comments