Huseyn Aliyev got a second chance at the Fury FC featherweight belt, and he made it count.
Advertisement
Van Blasts Moran
In the Fury FC 67 co-main event, a battle of two of Texas’s top flyweight prospects ended in statement win by 20-year-old phenom Joshua Van, who buried Paris Moran under an avalanche of punches against the fence early in the second round. That is not to say the victory was an easy one; for most of the first round, Van struggled to deal with the much larger Moran, a former bantamweight. When the second round began, however, it was a different story. Van shook Moran with a short right-left combo, then followed him to the fence, where he laid on a long stream of hooks and uppercuts that buckled Moran’s knees and spurred referee Joe Soliz into action. The TKO win came officially at 36 seconds of Round 2, bringing Van’s record to 6-1 with all six wins coming by stoppage in the first two rounds. Moran’s loss—his first since dropping to flyweight—leaves him at 7-2.
Caballero Shocks Shelton
Peter Caballero managed the biggest upset of the night—and the biggest win of his career—taking down “The Ultimate Fighter Season 24” semifinalist and six-time UFC veteran Eric Shelton in Sunday’s feature fight. A tall, rangy bantamweight, Caballero enjoyed significant advantages in height, reach and apparent strength against former flyweight Shelton, who entered the fight as a 4-to-1 favorite. Caballero landed takedowns in all three rounds, including a couple of emphatic slams, took Shelton’s back multiple times and threatened with chokes. Shelton had a few moments, including a spinning backfist and flying knee that both landed cleanly, but Caballero shrugged them off, and so did at least two of the judges, as the Corpus Christi native won by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28). The win brings Caballero’s record to 11-5; Shelton falls to 15-8 with the loss.
Torres Stays Undefeated against Mercado
One of Fury’s top homegrown prospects, Justice Torres, stayed perfect as a professional with a hard-fought win over fellow featherweight up-and-comer, Aric Mercado. Torres, a protégé of UFC bantamweight Adrian Yanez, put an early stamp on things by flooring Mercado with a left hook late in the first round, then swarming with punches until the bell. The second and third rounds were less clear-cut, as Mercado forced Torres to defend himself from a diverse series of submission attempts, but in the end Torres prevailed via scorecards of 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28. With the win, the 24-year-old Houstonian is now 5-0, with all five wins coming in the Fury FC cage; Mercado drops to 6-2.
Echeverry Steamrolls Compton
Former Fury lightweight champ Nico Echeverry left nothing to chance, using his vastly superior wrestling and suffocating top pressure to take a dominant three-round decision over Nick Compton. In a rinse-and-repeat performance, Echeverry struck for takedowns within the first minute of each round, then launched a deliberate but relentless ground assault, advancing to mount, side or back control by the end of the each round. Compton’s advantages in height and reach were rendered moot, and after 15 minutes, Echeverry was awarded the win by two 30-27 scorecards and one 30-26. The win brings Echeverry to 12-5 and puts his decision loss to Anthony Romero last November in the rear view; Compton goes to 13-10 in defeat.
Whitney Edges Guzman in Slugfest
In a matchup of lightweights riding four- and five-fight win streaks, Darren Whitney kept his spotless professional record intact despite duking it out with Santiago Guzman to deliver one of the best fights of the evening. Whitney and Guzman delivered three rounds of alternating momentum shifts on the feet and some grueling dirty boxing in the clinch. Much of the difference in the fight came down to a nasty cut suffered early in the first round by Guzman, and Whitney’s offensive wrestling, which allowed him to drag the action to the ground to his own benefit several times. All three rounds were individually close, but it was “D-Day” who prevailed by split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29) to move to 5-0 as a professional; “The Scorpion King” Guzman falls to 5-3.
Heffernan Catches Luna’s Neck
Fury featherweight contender Jake Heffernan picked up a win on Sunday, tapping out Anselmo Luis Luna Jr. with a third-round guillotine choke. In a grappling-heavy affair, “The Grinder” lived up to his nickname for most of the first two rounds, as he and Luna traded takedown attempts, sweeps and attempted guard passes. Once the final round began, however, the finish came in a hurry. Luna immediately dropped levels for a takedown attempt, which Heffernan countered with a front headlock. He then dropped to his back and cinched up the choke, closing his guard as he did so. After a brief struggle, Luna was forced to tap at 0:17 of Round 3. The victory brings the Gracie Barra Woodlands mainstay to 9-3 and gets him back in the win column after his unanimous decision loss to Dimitre Ivy at Fury FC 54 last November; Luna (17-9) sees a modest two-fight win streak snapped in defeat.
After Mix-Up, Gomez Tops Jimenez
Carlos Jimenez def. Aaron Gomez via split decision in the #FuryFC67 main card opener. The hometown crowd loves it, but I thought Gomez won.
— Sherdog (@sherdogdotcom) August 14, 2022
In the main card opener, a fun, high-paced bantamweight scrap was briefly marred by controversy—or confusion, at least—as Aaron Gomez (4-1) appeared to have won at least two of three rounds against Carlos Jimenez (2-2), only to have Jimenez announced as the winner by split decision. Gomez scored the only clean knockdown of the fight with a first-round punch, and his armbar attempt at the end of the second was the closest either man came to a finish on the ground. As it turned out, the judges had in fact scored the fight in favor of Gomez, but a mistake in tallying had caused an incorrect verdict to be handed to the in-cage announcer. Later in the evening, the correction was made and Gomez declared the winner by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28).
Prelims: Saenz Throttles Amadeo
On the Fury FC 67 undercard: Hector Saenz (3-0) made quick work of Soloman Amadeo (1-3), taking him down and lining up an arm-triangle choke at 1 minute, 22 seconds of their lightweight bout; lightweight Mike Murphy (7-4-1) tapped out Juan Carlos de Leon (0-3) with a rear-naked choke at 2:32 of Round 2; Mario Moore (1-1) stopped Jacob Bradley Williams (0-3) with punches at 2:23 of the first round of their heavyweight tilt; Oliver Jiminez (1-1) defeated Jose Lemus (0-1) with a flying knee and punches at the 3 minute, 56 second mark of their bantamweight contest; featherweight Jordan Plutin (3-4) handed Brandon Meneses (1-1) his first career loss via rear-naked choke in just 96 seconds; Xavier Kie (2-1 amateur) defeated the debuting Jathen George at featherweight; and in a battle of debuting amateur lightweights, Joshua Aleman ground-and-pounded Tyler Mora for the stoppage at 2:14 of Round 1.
Related Articles