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Wiuff Retains, Hawkins Wins IFO Title
LAS VEGAS, Dec. 28 -- Travis
Wiuff (Pictures) continued his ascent back up the
light heavyweight ladder with another impressive first-round
stoppage Friday in the main event of the IFO's "Fireworks in the
Cage IV" at the Riviera Hotel & Casino.
Wiuff took his time before delivering a beating onto Jesse Veium. When the UFC and PRIDE veteran did open up, it was all over.
He scooped up and slammed Veium down hard to the canvas mere seconds into the contest. From there Wiuff systematically worked for proper position and leverage. Veium tried to posture up along the fence and sweep his more muscular opponent to no avail.
Wiuff's immense strength kept Veium pinned along the fence, and once Wiuff saw some daylight, he exploded with an onslaught of elbows and punches. After several of the strikes were blocked, a few found their home on Veium's face, which opened up the floodgates for utter bombardment.
The brutal assault continued until referee Mario Yamasaki had no choice but to rescue the ravaged Veium.
Wiuff scored the TKO at 3:25 of the opening round to hold onto his IFO light heavyweight title. After the bout, which had come on the heels of original opponent Cyrille Diabate (Pictures) pulling out at the last minute, Wiuff said he intends to return to larger shows like the UFC.
In the co-main event, Del Hawkins (Pictures) survived an early scare to capture the vacant IFO bantamweight title.
Brandon Foxworth (Pictures) all but had Hawkins submitted with a deep guillotine late in the opening stanza, but Hawkins escaped the choke. Then the tides turned heavily in Hawkins' favor, and he never relented.
Though Foxworth hung tough and made the scrap an entertaining affair throughout, it was Hawkins' hunger and superior stamina that paved the way to victory.
Hawkins buckled Foxworth early in the second with a sizzling flurry of punches, and when Foxworth staggered to the ground, "The Filipino Delight" immediately latched onto his back and tried to sink a rear-naked choke. However, Foxworth was too savvy to succumb to the submission and escaped.
Hawkins spent the final few minutes of the second stanza pounding away with elbows and punches. In the third round, he launched a brutal up-kick to Foxworth's cheek after Foxworth had scored an opportune takedown that was his last positive move of the fight.
After a failed leg lock attempt, Foxworth went to his side and tried to escape Hawkins' fury. However, the attack was too much as Hawkins delivered a blitzkrieg of punishment punctuated by three murderous elbows.
Finally Foxworth had enough and tapped out at the 3:42 mark of the third.
Popular local boxer Elena "Baby Doll" Reid made her mixed martial arts debut in the final dark bout of the evening.
Tammie Schneider was absolutely no match for the veteran pugilist. Her standup was no match for Reid, and the Missouri native couldn't bring Reid down to the canvas. Eventually Reid stopped her 2:05 into the second round after a vicious barrage of punches to the body.
Dennis Davis (Pictures) had a difficult time figuring out Reynaldo Duarte (Pictures)'s perpetual motion and odd angles, which gave Davis fits for almost two full rounds. Duarte's riddle was solved in due time, however, as Davis timed his leg kicks and sporadic punches to the body, which wound up slowing Duarte down.
In the third, Davis scored an early takedown and coasted to the finish line with decent ground-and-pound. He wound up securing a unanimous decision with margins of 29-28 and 30-27 twice. The fight was much closer than the two 30-27 scorecards read, but Davis was clearly the victor.
Jeff Cox saved the crowd from falling asleep when he flattened Joe Cronin with a savage overhand right early in the third round. After horrendously uneventful rounds one and two, Cronin walked into the bomb that dropped him flat on his back. Referee Steve Mazzagatti immediately waived off the action once Cronin crashed onto the canvas, signaling the end at just 55 seconds into the third.
Ryan "Darth" Bader, a two-time NCAA wrestling champion, was too much for Brad Peterson to handle as the Tempe, Ariz., native won a clear-cut unanimous decision.
Bader scored numerous takedowns throughout the contest. When the fighters were on their feet, Bader's kickboxing experience was more than capable of keeping Peterson, who grew terribly fatigued, at bay. In the end, Bader won via tallies of 30-27 on all three scorecards.
In the opening bout of the evening, Buddy Roberts quickly dispatched Dennis Bacon, forcing him to tap out due to a rear-naked choke at 1:06 of the opening round. Roberts scored a takedown moments into the contest and eventually seized Bacon's back, which led to the relatively easy choke. Bacon looked a little overwhelmed and had no choice but to tap out once the choke was sunk.
The Chris Reedy-Waachim Spiritwolf fight was scrapped at the last minute when Reedy was unable to get licensed in Nevada. According to the IFO, Reedy was under suspension from the New Jersey Athletic Commission.
Wiuff took his time before delivering a beating onto Jesse Veium. When the UFC and PRIDE veteran did open up, it was all over.
He scooped up and slammed Veium down hard to the canvas mere seconds into the contest. From there Wiuff systematically worked for proper position and leverage. Veium tried to posture up along the fence and sweep his more muscular opponent to no avail.
Wiuff's immense strength kept Veium pinned along the fence, and once Wiuff saw some daylight, he exploded with an onslaught of elbows and punches. After several of the strikes were blocked, a few found their home on Veium's face, which opened up the floodgates for utter bombardment.
The brutal assault continued until referee Mario Yamasaki had no choice but to rescue the ravaged Veium.
Wiuff scored the TKO at 3:25 of the opening round to hold onto his IFO light heavyweight title. After the bout, which had come on the heels of original opponent Cyrille Diabate (Pictures) pulling out at the last minute, Wiuff said he intends to return to larger shows like the UFC.
In the co-main event, Del Hawkins (Pictures) survived an early scare to capture the vacant IFO bantamweight title.
Brandon Foxworth (Pictures) all but had Hawkins submitted with a deep guillotine late in the opening stanza, but Hawkins escaped the choke. Then the tides turned heavily in Hawkins' favor, and he never relented.
Though Foxworth hung tough and made the scrap an entertaining affair throughout, it was Hawkins' hunger and superior stamina that paved the way to victory.
Hawkins buckled Foxworth early in the second with a sizzling flurry of punches, and when Foxworth staggered to the ground, "The Filipino Delight" immediately latched onto his back and tried to sink a rear-naked choke. However, Foxworth was too savvy to succumb to the submission and escaped.
Hawkins spent the final few minutes of the second stanza pounding away with elbows and punches. In the third round, he launched a brutal up-kick to Foxworth's cheek after Foxworth had scored an opportune takedown that was his last positive move of the fight.
After a failed leg lock attempt, Foxworth went to his side and tried to escape Hawkins' fury. However, the attack was too much as Hawkins delivered a blitzkrieg of punishment punctuated by three murderous elbows.
Finally Foxworth had enough and tapped out at the 3:42 mark of the third.
Popular local boxer Elena "Baby Doll" Reid made her mixed martial arts debut in the final dark bout of the evening.
Tammie Schneider was absolutely no match for the veteran pugilist. Her standup was no match for Reid, and the Missouri native couldn't bring Reid down to the canvas. Eventually Reid stopped her 2:05 into the second round after a vicious barrage of punches to the body.
Dennis Davis (Pictures) had a difficult time figuring out Reynaldo Duarte (Pictures)'s perpetual motion and odd angles, which gave Davis fits for almost two full rounds. Duarte's riddle was solved in due time, however, as Davis timed his leg kicks and sporadic punches to the body, which wound up slowing Duarte down.
In the third, Davis scored an early takedown and coasted to the finish line with decent ground-and-pound. He wound up securing a unanimous decision with margins of 29-28 and 30-27 twice. The fight was much closer than the two 30-27 scorecards read, but Davis was clearly the victor.
Jeff Cox saved the crowd from falling asleep when he flattened Joe Cronin with a savage overhand right early in the third round. After horrendously uneventful rounds one and two, Cronin walked into the bomb that dropped him flat on his back. Referee Steve Mazzagatti immediately waived off the action once Cronin crashed onto the canvas, signaling the end at just 55 seconds into the third.
Ryan "Darth" Bader, a two-time NCAA wrestling champion, was too much for Brad Peterson to handle as the Tempe, Ariz., native won a clear-cut unanimous decision.
Bader scored numerous takedowns throughout the contest. When the fighters were on their feet, Bader's kickboxing experience was more than capable of keeping Peterson, who grew terribly fatigued, at bay. In the end, Bader won via tallies of 30-27 on all three scorecards.
In the opening bout of the evening, Buddy Roberts quickly dispatched Dennis Bacon, forcing him to tap out due to a rear-naked choke at 1:06 of the opening round. Roberts scored a takedown moments into the contest and eventually seized Bacon's back, which led to the relatively easy choke. Bacon looked a little overwhelmed and had no choice but to tap out once the choke was sunk.
The Chris Reedy-Waachim Spiritwolf fight was scrapped at the last minute when Reedy was unable to get licensed in Nevada. According to the IFO, Reedy was under suspension from the New Jersey Athletic Commission.
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