Caveman is here for a rundown on Ground Force Fights 5 Throwdown at the Downs. Promoter Rich Mitchell put on his best show to date. He already paid me, so I don’t have to hype this card anymore, but I still think it was the best ground Force Fights show I have been to, maybe the best all amateur show I have been to. There were some technical difficulties with the PPV streaming service, and I apologize for that. The weather was miserable as well, but anyone that stuck out the rain was treated to nothing but great fights all night long. There was not a stinker all night, in an all amateur show with guys that have never fought before that is a very rare claim.
I did interviews with all the fighters on the card check them out at: https://www.cavemans-corner.com/43-2/ or https://www.youtube.com/user/Captaincavemandenz and if you have a minute click subscribe and click the bell on my YouTube channel.
The show got off to an auspicious start. Quentin Marozzi was supposed to take on Malaki Williams. Quentin was overweight when he showed up to the weigh-ins and Malaki was no where to be found. Quentin struggled to make weight (there are no saunas at the venue) but after a struggle made weight. Malaki rolled up past midnight and made weight. Fight was on. Malaki trashed his hotel room (Rich is way to nice of a guy to post that publicly, but I will) including defecating in the bed, and wrecking the room. He was removed from the card. Two events in a row for Quentin I feel for him.
First match of the night was Johnathan Marconi vs Orelvis Hernandez in a no-gi grappling match. It was an explosive match with very little let off in the action. Oreo tired the bigger Marconi out with an impressive wrestling attack. Marconi was stunned by the spot-on commentary, gave me a thumbs up on my ability to call the action and was taken down. Oreo submitted the very game Marconi with a modified Ezekiel choke. Great match for the crowd to get into the mood for some mma.
Beginning of the end for Marconi
First fight of the night was a scrappy contest between Paul Freeman and Kenny Hale. There was a lot of back and forth action to start the contest, but it was very evident Paul was looking to get the fight on the floor. Paul did that and was hit with an illegal strike from a downed opponent. I am not 100 percent sure on this rule, but it makes sense. They were fighting in a novice rules fight (No striking your opponent in the head when he is on the floor) Hale was on the ground and booted Paul in the face who was standing. It dropped Paul the ref stopped the fight and deducted a point. The fight continued and Paul finished the round but looked extremely fatigued.
Next round starts and Hale started to find his range. Paul rushed him to the cage attempted a takedown was too fatigued to finish. Hale landed on top and entered a grappling exchange with the BJJ blue belt. Paul was able to lock up and finish a kimura. After the fight Paul was on the cage floor from exhaustion for a few minutes. It may have been emotion pouring out of the father of 5. (You know he must have stamina to have 5 kids) Last year he was a 200-pound drug addict, MMA has turned his life around. (Listen to his story here)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3hcGAo0i6I and http://www.cavemans-corner.com/
The next bout on the card was a Heavyweight battle that rocked the cage. Tyrique Ransom got welcomed to the cage by Virginia MMA veteran Zach Mannon. Zach and Tyrique had a wild start to the battle both landing serious shots. Zach dropped Tyrique about mid round and Ransom was stuck in the position he feared going into the bout being trapped underneath the mammoth Mannon. Tyrique survived the round and the bottom position. Keith Forant was in his ear as soon as the round ended.
When the second round started Tyrique came out looking reminiscent of his coach. Hands up, solid defense, and he took over the second-round landing knees and much tighter punches. He landed a solid knee, followed by a punch that dropped Mannon to the canvas, ended the fight, and earned Ransom knockout of the night!
Mike Bernard and Anthony “The Felon” Rowe met up next in the shortest match of the night. There was a little bad blood between these two as Rowe took on Bernard’s dad in a bit of a heated social media war. Rowe tried to get into Bernard’s head on Facebook. The two got in the cage and there was a big size discrepancy between the two of them. It looked like Tweek from South Park against Matt Hughes before the fight got underway. When the fight got started, Bernard grabbed Rowe and in the most impressive slam in Ground Force Fights history, slammed him to the mat in WWE fashion. Locked in the arm triangle, switched sides went to knee on Belly and finished with a quick sub. Rowe’s most impressive feat was lasting a few seconds in Bernard’s gorilla like grip. Impressive performance, moving Bernard to 2-0 and leaving Rowe in solitary confinement.
Jake Braunscheidel and Carter McGee were up next. Both men look like the kind of guys that make you feel insecure around your lady. Two alpha males collided in the cage Saturday night. Jake dominated the round even if my broadcast partner Mark Murry missed it. He had the second biggest slam of the night and dominated the round by slamming and Canadian repeatedly into the canvas.
Round two started and the ultra-tough McGee was determined round two would be different. He started finding the range on Jake. He was piecing Jake up for a minute then Jake landed his best right hand of the fight. Carter responded and it gave Jake an opening for another takedown. Once Jake enters on a takedown, he is going to finish as he scored another easy takedown. By round 2 it was evident that Jake was the far superior grappler.
Round three Jake looked to be more fatigued then Carter who landed a few solid lead hooks. Jake was falling into more of a wrestling stance then a fighting stance. McGee was fatigued as well however and as soon as he got square to Jake, he landed another takedown.
Jake won the decision handily and after explaining to Mark Murray how judging works, I decided that I am going to have to have Tim Corrado explain the three D’s to him. This fight was way more exciting then it sounds in the write up and both guys stock in this promotion skyrocketed from this battle.
With the monsoon coming, Rich Mitchell did what he does best and made a quick decision to skip the intermission and go right into the BJJ super fight. Esteban Salinas took on Mike Schultz. Esteban is a brown belt about to be black, while Mike is a black belt, so this was a technical battle. I thought Mark Murray would be into two guys rolling around in PJ’s but not so much. I think if I was a good friend, I would buy him a ground force gi and show him why gi is great. I’m glad I’m not a good friend (I am not parting with my Ground Force gi). All kidding aside, these guys attacked each other fast, furious, and tactically. There was no laying in guard grip fighting, they went after it. In Mike Schultz’s best match I have seen him in, he finished Salinas with a choke.
The first full rules MMA fight, Max Dorn versus Vince Capozzi, was next and on a regular night this fight would have been fight of the night. This was a rematch. These two guys fought under K-1 rules last time and were both looking forward to the rematch. Max took this match on a few day’s notice. You wouldn’t be able to tell from the fight. Both guys fought hard. I thought if Max came into this fight in shape it would be fight of the night. Max was in shape.
Both guys came in sharp the punches, kicks, and takedowns all were sharp. There was no feeling out process. They picked right up where they left off in their K-1 Battle. Max’s Muay Thai was very sharp, he landed more kicks and knees and dominated in the clinch. The fight was competitive throughout the contest, but Max clearly did enough to win. The first two rounds were pretty much the same, but Max did a little more every round and took both rounds. In the third round, at one-point Vince had Max pressed on the cage I thought breaking off and going for the KO might have brought him victory. (Max looked a little tired) Vince tried to work for a takedown and it gave Max a chance to get a second wind and finish the round strong. Both men looked great and both continue to improve with every fight.
Every fight Max has put on in GFF has been a fight of the night candidate and this was no different. There was a great show of respect after the fight and for a contest put together this week you couldn’t ask for a better show. I would like to see Max get a title shot or a contender fight in the near future.
Donaven Levi versus Stephan Kleckler was the next battle. These guys seemed to have a little bad blood. The stare down was intense at the weigh in and there was no glove touch at the fight. Levi was coming off a win in the last 14 days and looked much improved since I saw him fight last. Kleckler was looking to rebound at his last performance where he looked impressive on the ground but was unable to finish a deep armbar.
Kleckler was the hometown guy and you could hear the audience’s appreciation for the Bohn mma fighter as he stepped into the cage. The fight started and there was a quick exchange and Levi deposited the fan favorite on the ground quickly with a slam. Kleckler dropped back for a leg lock and gave up mount. I personally am not a fan of dropping back when your tools are limited (No toe holds, or heel hooks are allowed in amateur mma.) Kleckler recovered and the same exact sequence happened again.
Levi was fighting with something I consider a sizable disadvantage. His corner men were not all that great. They seemed more like friends then coaches. If you are going to get in the cage you need coaches with you. Friends can not tape your hands (Levi was looking for someone to wrap him before the fight) Or know all the things that come with being a corner. I am not sure that his corner men knew they were allowed to come into the cage in between rounds and bring the stool.
Second round starts and they pick up right where they left off. Kleckler has a bit of hard time with the range of the fight. He is fighting from a little bit to far away and Levi takes advantage by darting into range and landing big strikes on Kleckler. Steve gets a little desperate and starts throwing spinning techniques with the same result. Feeling the desperation, Kleckler pulled guard to get the fight into a grappling exchange. Levi was able to get to a dominate position and launch some ground and pound. Steve was forced to tap out due to strikes. Anyone that taps an opponent the quality of Steve Kleckler with strikes deserves submission of the night. After both fighters showed great respect to each other. During my interview with Levi he called out Quentin Marozzi at 145. That got intense and the crowd loved it more then the commission. ?
Another great battle between Nequoyah Sethi and Jason Gomez was up next. Sethi is a GFF veteran that hasn’t had much luck in the cage. He looks like a Greek statue. Shredded like a julienne salad and tall for the weight class, he has the physical tools to be a star. The sport is ninety percent mental and 36.5 percent physical, so he has struggled. I have a Chinese wife, so my abacus is freshly tuned. His coaches at AST wouldn’t let him fight until he got his head on right. Gomez hasn’t fought in years and is coming back to the cage after a long break. He worked his body back in shape, sold tickets, and was ready to go.
The fight was a highlight reel for Sethi in the first round. He dominated the clinch and the open floor. Gomez was trying but couldn’t find any openings on Sethi who looked to be a foot taller in the cage. There where times in that first round I thought Gomez might be finished but there is no quit in that soulless ginger.
Round two was more competitive Gomez started finding the range a bit. Sethi got a takedown and started working on top. Gomez reversed finished the round on top laying down some serious ground and pound. Both men went to their respective corners the momentum had shifted to the home crowd, Gomez’s side.
I often say every fight has a turning point you can point to, why someone won and why someone lost this was it for this fight. Sethi in the past would lose focus get swept in the moment and fall short. Xi Lau said in his corner “How about you try not f****** quitting this time.
Sethi came out and controlled the distance and took the fight away from Gomez. He slowed the action down stayed long and away from Gomez. In a finally flurry he got Gomez on the floor and ended the contest with the most significant strike of the fight. It was a great performance by both men and a coming out for Nequoyah Sethi. Now that the rust is off looking forward the seeing Gomez again ASAP.
Main event was up next and everyone’s unanimous choice for Fight of the Night honors was a women’s contender bout. Shotzie Doran took on Laura Niz. Laura fights out of WNYMMA and fitness and took the bout on a few hours’ notice. I was actually just pulling into the weigh-ins as this bout was officially confirmed.
Shotzie fights out of Victor Kettlebell and they had her ready to go. Both girls started out round one a little tentative, neither had film on the other and there was a huge disparity between the two of them. Shotzie was awarded with giant rounds of applause for every punch and clean kick she landed and was soon piecing Laura Niz apart with her range. You could see the frustration mounting in her eyes as she would fall short with her punches and Shotzie would touch her. Laura did a good job of moving her head and not absorbing the full power of Shotzie, but the kicks were adding up. Laura caught one of Shotzie’s kick and put her on the floor. That gave her some momentum and she started getting closer to finding her range landing some kicks of her own.
The round ends. Shotzie’s corner puts up her legs and rubs them out Muay Thai style while Laura’s corner squat down and talk with her eye to eye while she sits on the stool. These two beautiful warriors rose up to their feet and go back to work neither is fatigued. Round two starts off with more of the same, but Laura stays under control and catches a few more of Shotzie’s kicks and starts landing more of her own shots. The crowd gets louder rooting on Shotzie fighting out the Playmates Int. corner. Shotzie lands some devastating looking knees, but Niz is unfazed. Laura is doing a good job catching kicks so Shotzie starts switching stances to land cleaner. What a round this was.
Same thing in the corner again this round, Shotzie’s corner massages her legs Niz’s corner kneels in front coaching. Neither of her regular coaches could be there I am not sure she has worked with either man before or round three gets underway.
You can see the steam coming off both women’s bodies, the scene is like a movie and they get underway. The smaller Niz continues to find ways to get inside Shotzie’s range. Neither girl let up for the entire round. Most of the crowd is on their feet cheering for Shotzie, and then the fight. The clapper goes and both girls’ leave their hearts on their sleeves neither backs down. Great fight to cap off a night of amazing fights. The fight of the night ends in a majority draw. The girls end the battle with a hug and thank you’s. Like always, the women stole the show. Mark Murry and I were on our feet for most of the third round he wanted his Joe Rogan moment and he got it.
Special thanks to Curtis Mosely for all the amazing photo’s