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Klarcyk and Bias Take Home PFC Gold
LEMOORE, Calif., July 19 -- Palace Fighting Championship 3: "Step
Up" brought a 17-fight card highlighted by a bountiful crop of
young and exciting fighters.
In what was the fight of the night, Shawn Klarcyk (Pictures) and David Espinosa (Pictures) literally stepped up; delivering a five-round fight that was exciting and competitive, whipping the crowd into a frenzy along the way. There was quite a bit on the line with the vacant PFC featherweight title up for grabs.
Espinosa came out hard and actually cut Klarcyk over his left eye very early in the fight. Showing some good wrestling skill, Espinosa scored with a few nice slams before launching into an all-out ground and pound attack.
However, Klarcyk was able to fend off anymore damage in round one and kept the fight going. He even began to mount a small comeback before the round came to a close.
The second frame opened with a standing exchange before Klarcyk notched a takedown. Espinosa fought for position, attempting submissions along the way. He came close to securing an oma plata but Klarcyk was able to defend before transitioning to a heel hook attempt.
Klarcyk's superior cardio was a key factor as the momentum swung in his favor. A tiring Espinosa allowed Klarcyk to impose his will en route to winning the final three rounds. On the strength of his takedowns and work from the mount, Klarcyk took home the close split-decision win and the shiny new PFC featherweight strap.
In another championship showdown, Shawn Bias (Pictures) took on Aaron Maldonado (Pictures) for the vacant PFC bantamweight belt. Bias came into the fight looking more like a kid from a documentary about gothic teenagers then a fighter. Don't let the looks fool you this kid can fight!
Bias seemed to have a simple game plan: Throw some punches to close the distance and work for the takedown before making his way to the mount.
Although under relentless attack, Maldonado proved game, challenging Bias with strikes after eluding his offensive submission game. In the end, a weary and bloody Maldonado succumbed to a rear naked choke in the closing seconds of the fourth round.
After the fight, Maldonado's corner men claimed that he had fought most of the fight with a broken arm sustained in the first round from a Bias' kick.
Former Fresno State wrestling standout Casey Olsen returned to Lemoore to face an overmatched Brandon Jinnies (Pictures). Unable to deal with Olsen's overpowering grappling, Jinnies was forced to fight from his back for most of the bout. Olsen took home a dominant three-round unanimous decision due to his superior positioning and takedowns.
Underdog Seth Dikun took on Angelo Antuna (Pictures) in what turned out to be a very good scrap. Both showed off well-rounded skill sets in the back-and-forth affair. Team Wildman's Dikun finally took the upper hand when he secured a fight-ending rear naked choke at the 2:20 mark of the second period.
Former NCAA division one champion wrestler Mark Munoz (Pictures) made his MMA debut against last-minute replacement Austin Achorn. A jittery Munoz made short work of Achorn, unloading a furious salvo of elbows and punches after taking the fight to ground with a trip takedown. Munoz inaugural MMA fight was a success but did not last long enough for fight fans to gauge the highly-touted prospect's potential.
Ruben "Warpath" Villareal induced a Rafael Del Real tapout with a Kimura from his back at 2:18 of the opening frame.
In what turned out to be the fastest fight of the night, Mike Cook (Mike Cook' class='LinkSilver'>Pictures) knocked out Rolando Torres (Pictures) with a right-left combination that floored Torres just 12 seconds into their scheduled three-rounder.
Mickey Martinez picked up a unanimous decision win in his rematch with Robert Breslin (Pictures). Martinez showed some improvement in his standup game and was able to control the action from the clinch. Martinez overcame a pair of low blows on his way to victory.
Dewey Cooper (Pictures) stepped into the ring for his first professional MMA match against muscle bound Adam Smith (Pictures). Cooper, a grizzled K-1 kickboxing veteran, called upon his wealth of ring experience to easily handle the much larger Smith. Size has never mattered to Cooper who was known for taking on all comers in his K-1 career.
Cooper fought as if he was in a K-1 ring for most of the bout until he was finally taken down by Smith. Cooper went on to display an adequate ground game when he reversed the bigger Smith.
The talented striker, back on his feet, soon thereafter dropped Smith with a left. A wobbly Smith survived a final flurry before the final bell sounded an end to the carnage. Cooper employed a plethora of kicks and crisp punches to secure the unanimous decision victory after three rounds.
"I have wanted to do this for ten years," a jubilant Cooper exclaimed in his post-fight interview.
Kenny Ento (Pictures) and Joel Crawford met up in a middleweight tussle. Ento, a Central Valley favorite, dominated the fight from the get go, landing a big knee before taking the fight to the ground. From there it was academic as Ento locked up Crawford's arm at 1:31 of the opening round for the armbar win.
Mario Rivera (Pictures) earned a win over Jiu-Jitsu-minded Joe Chaidez (Pictures). Rivera, taunting his opponent, was able to score a knockdown with a hard chopping leg kick. Rivera rode out the rest of the contest earning a unanimous decision win by out-positioning Chaidez.
Ralph Lopez (Pictures) trapped Marcus Blood (Pictures)'s arm and pelted him with elbows, forcing him to tapout in the first round of the card's opening fight.
In other action:
Cleverson Dezonet def. Rolando Jaime by submission (guillotine choke) at 2:17 1R
Chris Botelho (Pictures) def. Josh McCartney (Pictures) by unanimous decision 3R
Jeremy Freitag (Pictures) def. William Santos by unanimous decision 3R
Scott Brommage (Pictures) def. Elvis Franco by submission (ankle lock) at 2:04 1R
Rolando Velasco (Pictures) def. Jason Georgianna (Pictures) by unanimous decision 3R
In what was the fight of the night, Shawn Klarcyk (Pictures) and David Espinosa (Pictures) literally stepped up; delivering a five-round fight that was exciting and competitive, whipping the crowd into a frenzy along the way. There was quite a bit on the line with the vacant PFC featherweight title up for grabs.
Espinosa came out hard and actually cut Klarcyk over his left eye very early in the fight. Showing some good wrestling skill, Espinosa scored with a few nice slams before launching into an all-out ground and pound attack.
However, Klarcyk was able to fend off anymore damage in round one and kept the fight going. He even began to mount a small comeback before the round came to a close.
The second frame opened with a standing exchange before Klarcyk notched a takedown. Espinosa fought for position, attempting submissions along the way. He came close to securing an oma plata but Klarcyk was able to defend before transitioning to a heel hook attempt.
Klarcyk's superior cardio was a key factor as the momentum swung in his favor. A tiring Espinosa allowed Klarcyk to impose his will en route to winning the final three rounds. On the strength of his takedowns and work from the mount, Klarcyk took home the close split-decision win and the shiny new PFC featherweight strap.
In another championship showdown, Shawn Bias (Pictures) took on Aaron Maldonado (Pictures) for the vacant PFC bantamweight belt. Bias came into the fight looking more like a kid from a documentary about gothic teenagers then a fighter. Don't let the looks fool you this kid can fight!
Bias seemed to have a simple game plan: Throw some punches to close the distance and work for the takedown before making his way to the mount.
Although under relentless attack, Maldonado proved game, challenging Bias with strikes after eluding his offensive submission game. In the end, a weary and bloody Maldonado succumbed to a rear naked choke in the closing seconds of the fourth round.
After the fight, Maldonado's corner men claimed that he had fought most of the fight with a broken arm sustained in the first round from a Bias' kick.
Former Fresno State wrestling standout Casey Olsen returned to Lemoore to face an overmatched Brandon Jinnies (Pictures). Unable to deal with Olsen's overpowering grappling, Jinnies was forced to fight from his back for most of the bout. Olsen took home a dominant three-round unanimous decision due to his superior positioning and takedowns.
Underdog Seth Dikun took on Angelo Antuna (Pictures) in what turned out to be a very good scrap. Both showed off well-rounded skill sets in the back-and-forth affair. Team Wildman's Dikun finally took the upper hand when he secured a fight-ending rear naked choke at the 2:20 mark of the second period.
Former NCAA division one champion wrestler Mark Munoz (Pictures) made his MMA debut against last-minute replacement Austin Achorn. A jittery Munoz made short work of Achorn, unloading a furious salvo of elbows and punches after taking the fight to ground with a trip takedown. Munoz inaugural MMA fight was a success but did not last long enough for fight fans to gauge the highly-touted prospect's potential.
Ruben "Warpath" Villareal induced a Rafael Del Real tapout with a Kimura from his back at 2:18 of the opening frame.
In what turned out to be the fastest fight of the night, Mike Cook (Mike Cook' class='LinkSilver'>Pictures) knocked out Rolando Torres (Pictures) with a right-left combination that floored Torres just 12 seconds into their scheduled three-rounder.
Mickey Martinez picked up a unanimous decision win in his rematch with Robert Breslin (Pictures). Martinez showed some improvement in his standup game and was able to control the action from the clinch. Martinez overcame a pair of low blows on his way to victory.
Dewey Cooper (Pictures) stepped into the ring for his first professional MMA match against muscle bound Adam Smith (Pictures). Cooper, a grizzled K-1 kickboxing veteran, called upon his wealth of ring experience to easily handle the much larger Smith. Size has never mattered to Cooper who was known for taking on all comers in his K-1 career.
Cooper fought as if he was in a K-1 ring for most of the bout until he was finally taken down by Smith. Cooper went on to display an adequate ground game when he reversed the bigger Smith.
The talented striker, back on his feet, soon thereafter dropped Smith with a left. A wobbly Smith survived a final flurry before the final bell sounded an end to the carnage. Cooper employed a plethora of kicks and crisp punches to secure the unanimous decision victory after three rounds.
"I have wanted to do this for ten years," a jubilant Cooper exclaimed in his post-fight interview.
Kenny Ento (Pictures) and Joel Crawford met up in a middleweight tussle. Ento, a Central Valley favorite, dominated the fight from the get go, landing a big knee before taking the fight to the ground. From there it was academic as Ento locked up Crawford's arm at 1:31 of the opening round for the armbar win.
Mario Rivera (Pictures) earned a win over Jiu-Jitsu-minded Joe Chaidez (Pictures). Rivera, taunting his opponent, was able to score a knockdown with a hard chopping leg kick. Rivera rode out the rest of the contest earning a unanimous decision win by out-positioning Chaidez.
Ralph Lopez (Pictures) trapped Marcus Blood (Pictures)'s arm and pelted him with elbows, forcing him to tapout in the first round of the card's opening fight.
In other action:
Cleverson Dezonet def. Rolando Jaime by submission (guillotine choke) at 2:17 1R
Chris Botelho (Pictures) def. Josh McCartney (Pictures) by unanimous decision 3R
Jeremy Freitag (Pictures) def. William Santos by unanimous decision 3R
Scott Brommage (Pictures) def. Elvis Franco by submission (ankle lock) at 2:04 1R
Rolando Velasco (Pictures) def. Jason Georgianna (Pictures) by unanimous decision 3R
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