Weisman Stops Felix at WCF 10

WILMINGTON, Mass. -- In the admittedly thin ranks of mixed martial arts prospects out of Vermont, Noah Weisman is rising.

The lightweight (3-1 pro, 2-0 amateur) put in time at the Tri-Star gym in Montreal in preparing for his third-round TKO victory over Luis Felix on June 11 at World Championship Fighting 10.

The self-professed “black Jewish Vermont redneck” carpooled to Firas Zahabi’s facility with fellow Vermonter and UFC veteran Tom Murphy. He is based at the BJJ Revolution Team in Burlington under Julio Fernandes, a Carlson Gracie Sr. black belt.

Weisman showed good spring in his step and head movement in closing the distance against Felix, fighting out of Team Rockstar in Rhode Island. Weisman successfully kept Felix pinned against the corner and worked good body and leg kicks. In the second frame, Felix dropped his hands and tauntingly baited Weisman into punching. Weisman kept pressure on with boxing in tight, and in the third round landed a right hand for a flash knockdown that compelled referee Kevin McDonald to step in.

“I was conditioned, I did a lot of circuit training, a lot of all-around training,” Weisman said. “I wanted to finish the fight. I don’t ever want to win by decision.”

The bout was the co-main event of the tenth promotion by Joseph Cavallaro’s World Championship Fighting at the Aleppo Shriners Auditorium north of Boston. Attendance appeared down from previous events, though notables like John Howard, Dan Lauzon and Boston Celtics golden boy Glenn “Big Baby” Davis were on hand.

It was the first WCF event held under athletic commission regulation, thus shifting the four-minute, two-round structure to the standard five-minute, three-round rule set. Elbows were also implemented.

In the night’s final bout, Wilmington, Mass., native and WCF mainstay Dan Bonnell bounced back from a loss under the Bellator Fighting Championships banner by driving through with a takedown on Christian Rivera and laying in short punches. As the bantamweights scrambled up from the mat, Bonnell synched a guillotine choke for the first-round tapout.

In a hard-fought battle, muay Thai stylist Joel Ly took full advantage of the newly allowed elbows, opening cuts on the bald dome of tough local Billy Walsh. After a series of reversal and grappling skirmishes on the ground in the third round, Ly locked on a triangle and, though he sapped his energy squeezing, notched the submission.

In other bouts:

Anthony Kaponis def. Stephen Stengel -- TKO (Punches) 4:31 R1
Robby Roberts def. Dan Jennings -- Submission (Triangle Choke) 1:11 R1
Lee Emmitt def. Thomasroy Gusler -- Unanimous Decision
Josh Mellen def. Shawn Baker -- Submission (Triangle Choke) 3:01 R1
Buster Crandall def. Chris Madden -- TKO (Punches) 4:31 R1
Jarrod Johnson def. Steve Beck -- Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) 2:43 R1