The Northern Touch: News and Notes from Western Canada
News and Notes
Kelsey Mowatt Apr 26, 2005
This edition of the Northern Touch includes a final wrap up from
Edmonton’s first King of the Cage event, word from Team Munduruca
fighter Krystof Soszynski fresh off his victory at the Roadhouse
Rumble, and a few thoughts from Joe Doerksen on his recent win at
UFC 52.
Joe Doerksen: Victorious in Must Win
Winnipeg fighter Joe
Doerksen managed to secure a victory in a must win situation
for the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt at UFC 52. Despite taking
several devastating punches from TKO light heavyweight champion
Patrick Cote, Doerksen managed to secure the win at 2:35 of the
third round via rear-naked choke. In taking the fight on relatively
short notice, Doerksen acknowledged his conditioning was not at its
best.
“Only two things about the fight that worried me,” Doerksen said. “One was my conditioning, which I realized was going to be a problem between the first and second round. I didn't have very long to train, but that was the risk I took in taking the fight. I wasn't about to say ‘no’ to that opportunity. The second was that I was spending more time on my back than I wanted to, which I was afraid was going to cost me a decision, since I thought I was too tired to finish him.”
“My plan was to stand up with him,” he said, “but as soon as I found myself in the clinch, I had a chance for a nice throw, and I took it. After the first round ended, I knew there was no way I was going to throw a decent punch. My arms wouldn't do what I told them. He hits hard, but a lot of guys hit hard.”
Doerksen, who recently took an instructor position at Evolution MMA in Vernon, British Columbia, is excited about the opportunity to train full time.
“I should be arriving there in just a few days,” said the middleweight. “Looking forward to it. A few weeks of rest, then I begin training full-time for the first time in my career. I'm interested to see how I will perform in a fight when I have six to eight weeks to prepare, and don't have to worry about a full-time job in between workouts.”
King of the Cage Wrap Up
April 16 featured Western Canada’s first King of the Cage event, and from all accounts, the event was deemed an overwhelming success. Sherdog.com caught up with promoter Ken Kupsch to hear his thoughts on the night, and future plans for future KOTC events in Canada.
Sherdog.com: Was the event sold out?
Ken Kupsch: Very close, all but a couple individual seats.
Sherdog.com: What would you say was the general reaction from the crowd, during and after the event?
Kupsch: According to Corey Fischer, Edmonton was the loudest and most vocal crowd KOTC has ever had!
Sherdog.com: Your comments on the fights themselves?
Kupsch: Once again, from Corey: "The Canadian fighters have proved themselves to be a force to be reckoned with. There were some of the most unexpected outcomes KOTC has ever seen.”
Sherdog.com: You received a fair amount of media coverage, although still from somewhat of a "spectacle" point of view. Your overall thoughts on the media's coverage?
Kupsch: The media coverage was excellent! The Canadian media was fantastic with over three national stations reporting prior to and during the show.
Sherdog.com: Does KOTC of any tentative plans for the future in Western Canada?
Kupsch: Absolutely! You will see more KOTC events in the fall.
The final results for the KOTC April 16 card were:
Nigel Zettergreen def. Steve Durig TKO 0:49 R2
Michael Jerace def. Jesse Lessard unanimous decision 5:00 2R
Jeff Legault def. Chad Hamzeh TKO 2:39 R1
Elmer Waterhen def. JP Pocock KO 0:07 R1
Greg Rogalsky def. Brett Shanks TKO 2:03 R2
Jesse Bongfeldt def. Pedro Albuquerque TKO 0:12 R2
Chris Thomas Peak def. Lance Cartwright TKO 1:14 R1
Chris Fontaine def. Danny Ciofitto TKO (doctor stoppage) 1:21 R1
Ivan Menjivar def. Brandon Carlson rear-naked choke 0:45 R1
Jason Brilz def. Jason Macdonald Decision split decision 5:00 R2
Ruben Villareal def. Jim Dobson submission 1:41 R1
Rodrigo Munduruca: Top Students Win Big on April 16
Rodrigo Munduruca saw his light heavyweight fighter Chris Fontaine pull out a victory over Danny Ciofitto at KOTC on April 16, stopping his opponent in the first round due to a cut. Munduruca had little doubt that Fontaine’s pre-fight training would result in a win.
“Fontaine had been training really hard for this fight,” Munduruca said. “He is so focused right now on his training that is scary! We worked lots on his stand-up and sprawl game, he pretty much did what we worked on for the past month. The event was great; the crowd was amazing! We were treated like royalty by the promoters, that was the best event that we ever participated in.”
Munduruca clearly was also ecstatic about his other student’s performance that same night, Joe Doerksen, at UFC 52.
“Joe did awesome,” said the trainer. “He only had two weeks to prepare for this fight, but what Joe has that a lot of fighters don't: star quality. Even when he is not prepared 100 percent, the guy still fights great. He will be much better prepared for his next fight.”
Joe Doerksen: Victorious in Must Win
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“Only two things about the fight that worried me,” Doerksen said. “One was my conditioning, which I realized was going to be a problem between the first and second round. I didn't have very long to train, but that was the risk I took in taking the fight. I wasn't about to say ‘no’ to that opportunity. The second was that I was spending more time on my back than I wanted to, which I was afraid was going to cost me a decision, since I thought I was too tired to finish him.”
In a fight that saw Cote winning the stand up exchanges, due to his
fatigue Doerksen saw it best to keep the battle on the ground.
“My plan was to stand up with him,” he said, “but as soon as I found myself in the clinch, I had a chance for a nice throw, and I took it. After the first round ended, I knew there was no way I was going to throw a decent punch. My arms wouldn't do what I told them. He hits hard, but a lot of guys hit hard.”
Doerksen, who recently took an instructor position at Evolution MMA in Vernon, British Columbia, is excited about the opportunity to train full time.
“I should be arriving there in just a few days,” said the middleweight. “Looking forward to it. A few weeks of rest, then I begin training full-time for the first time in my career. I'm interested to see how I will perform in a fight when I have six to eight weeks to prepare, and don't have to worry about a full-time job in between workouts.”
King of the Cage Wrap Up
April 16 featured Western Canada’s first King of the Cage event, and from all accounts, the event was deemed an overwhelming success. Sherdog.com caught up with promoter Ken Kupsch to hear his thoughts on the night, and future plans for future KOTC events in Canada.
Sherdog.com: Was the event sold out?
Ken Kupsch: Very close, all but a couple individual seats.
Sherdog.com: What would you say was the general reaction from the crowd, during and after the event?
Kupsch: According to Corey Fischer, Edmonton was the loudest and most vocal crowd KOTC has ever had!
Sherdog.com: Your comments on the fights themselves?
Kupsch: Once again, from Corey: "The Canadian fighters have proved themselves to be a force to be reckoned with. There were some of the most unexpected outcomes KOTC has ever seen.”
Sherdog.com: You received a fair amount of media coverage, although still from somewhat of a "spectacle" point of view. Your overall thoughts on the media's coverage?
Kupsch: The media coverage was excellent! The Canadian media was fantastic with over three national stations reporting prior to and during the show.
Sherdog.com: Does KOTC of any tentative plans for the future in Western Canada?
Kupsch: Absolutely! You will see more KOTC events in the fall.
The final results for the KOTC April 16 card were:
Nigel Zettergreen def. Steve Durig TKO 0:49 R2
Michael Jerace def. Jesse Lessard unanimous decision 5:00 2R
Jeff Legault def. Chad Hamzeh TKO 2:39 R1
Elmer Waterhen def. JP Pocock KO 0:07 R1
Greg Rogalsky def. Brett Shanks TKO 2:03 R2
Jesse Bongfeldt def. Pedro Albuquerque TKO 0:12 R2
Chris Thomas Peak def. Lance Cartwright TKO 1:14 R1
Chris Fontaine def. Danny Ciofitto TKO (doctor stoppage) 1:21 R1
Ivan Menjivar def. Brandon Carlson rear-naked choke 0:45 R1
Jason Brilz def. Jason Macdonald Decision split decision 5:00 R2
Ruben Villareal def. Jim Dobson submission 1:41 R1
Rodrigo Munduruca: Top Students Win Big on April 16
Rodrigo Munduruca saw his light heavyweight fighter Chris Fontaine pull out a victory over Danny Ciofitto at KOTC on April 16, stopping his opponent in the first round due to a cut. Munduruca had little doubt that Fontaine’s pre-fight training would result in a win.
“Fontaine had been training really hard for this fight,” Munduruca said. “He is so focused right now on his training that is scary! We worked lots on his stand-up and sprawl game, he pretty much did what we worked on for the past month. The event was great; the crowd was amazing! We were treated like royalty by the promoters, that was the best event that we ever participated in.”
Munduruca clearly was also ecstatic about his other student’s performance that same night, Joe Doerksen, at UFC 52.
“Joe did awesome,” said the trainer. “He only had two weeks to prepare for this fight, but what Joe has that a lot of fighters don't: star quality. Even when he is not prepared 100 percent, the guy still fights great. He will be much better prepared for his next fight.”
