ShoXC was put together as a joint venture between EliteXC and Showtime in the hopes of highlighting up and coming MMA fighters. As EliteXC commentator Mauro Ranallo said before this particular event went off, ShoXC "showcase(s) those fighters looking to reach the elite level." This particular installment of ShoXC, which came to us all live on August 15, 2008 from the Table Mountain Casino in Friant, California, had its share of intrigue coming in. In the main event, Jared Hamman would be looking to avenge the only loss of his career when he took on Po'ai Suganuma. What's more, Debi Purcell, an MMA pioneer that somehow got left out of the early female MMA television boom would finally get her chance against Rosi Sexton.
Get ready, get set, go!
The first fight of the night saw Ray Lizama take on Keith Berry. Berry is the current King of the Cage Middleweight Champion and wants to be an emergency room RN after his fighting days are over.
As the announcers aptly pointed out, that's quite a dichotomy considering the fact that he sometimes sends his opponents to the ER.
Early on Berry connected with several jabs and straight right hands, setting himself up to land knees inside while in brief clinches. Lizama, however, connected with a very hard left that stunned his opponent for a moment.
But only a brief moment.
From there, Lizama began hitting home with some punches from a distance whereas Berry continued his punches from the outside to the clinch mentality, that is until he connected with a big right hand that floored Lizama. Though he tried to then sink in a rear naked choke afterwards, the fact that he didn't sink his hooks (legs) in made it hard. Eventually Lizama got back to his feet where both fighters simply pounded on one another for the rest of the stanza.
Berry wins round one based on the knockdown and choke attempt. It was an excellent initial round.
The fireworks continued in the second. Berry came out strong, getting inside and landing power shots. Then Lizama connected with a huge flurry of dead- on punches that staggered the King of the Cage Middleweight Champion. Berry, showing a lot of heart, came back with some punches himself. But in the end, Lizama started throwing down once more. Along with this, after two consecutive rights to the body Berry fell to the canvas and the referee stopped the fight appropriately.
An excellent way to start things off.
Ray Lizama wins via TKO at 2:15 of round two.
Female MMA pioneer Debi Purcell had a lot of nice things to say about her opponent Rosi Sexton coming into their fight. "She's amazing. She's definitely world class. I like her as a person; she's a great person inside and outside the cage, so I've got nothing bad to say about her." Of course, this was a fight and Purcell was ready. "I think I'm going to knock her out," she said.
The first round wasn't overly active, with Sexton and Purcell clinching for the majority of the stanza. Sexton was looking for the takedown, whereas Purcell was hoping to hit home with knees or create separation. Purcell showed good takedown defense. A very close round that may have gone to Sexton, based on her aggressiveness in trying to take the fight to the ground.
In the second, Purcell started in with some nice kicks, including one to the face. But then Sexton jabbed her way inside, took Purcell down, and started in with some nice ground and pound. Eventually, however, Purcell pushed Sexton off, while trapping her ankles, and got to her feet.
While on their feet, Purcell connected with a couple of strikes and took Sexton down. From there, some mild and ground and pound ensued, but there wasn't a lot of time until the bell.
This was a very close round. Actually, both were.
Purcell connected with a spinning backfist to start the final round. While inside, she landed some uppercuts and upon separation hit home with a nice right hand. Soon after, amidst the clinching, Purcell looked to take Sexton down but a whizzer turned things over on her. With Sexton on top?she tried a cartwheel kind of pass that didn't work but looked awful good? Purcell started looking for an ankle lock that didn't come to fruition.
Then the bell. Wow, that was close.
The judges agreed. Rosi Sexton wins via split decision.
Before his bout with kickboxing guru Cyrille Diabate, Jaime Fletcher said, "I'm gonna have to give Cyrille the business." He also noted that he was a "sore loser."
Of course, we would only get to see that if Fletcher lost.
Early on, Fletcher pinned Diabate up against the cage but wasn't able to do much there. Upon separation, Fletcher tried a Superman punch that was parlayed by a nice Diabate left. A lot of time was spent along the cage wall jockeying for position between the two from there. But around the two- minute mark, Diabate started to pick Fletcher apart, connecting with knees to the face, kicks to the body, and punches. At around the 25 second mark, Fletcher netted a takedown where he started looking for an ankle lock when the bell sounded. Nice idea in the end, but Diabate still took the round.
In the second, Diabate connected with a couple of very hard body kicks before Fletcher was able to take him down. Eventually, he went for the guillotine, falling to his own back with Diabate in hand. But Diabate moved to side control and out of the submission attempt. Fletcher got up but was immediately taken down again.
From there, Diabate worked from side control where he gained a momentary crucifix position and began raining down strikes. Fletcher turtled up and sustained some more punching damage in that position. Diabate then began to connect with multiple unanswered elbows to his opponent's ribs. Fletcher got out of the position, bleeding badly due to a cut over his eye, and then came the bell.
Fletcher needs a stoppage to win the fight.
In the third, Diabate just began hurting his opponent. He connected with a left hand and some serious body kicks. From there, he probably should've tried to end the fight from a distance. Rather, he ended up pressing Fletcher against the cage wall where his opponent sunk in a guillotine. As the two fell to the canvas, it looked as if Diabate might be in trouble. But eventually he pulled his head out of danger.
Then came elbows and punches from Diabate. The blood was everywhere. Soon after the bell came.
Cyrille Diabate wins via unanimous decision.
Next up was a match between Fabricio Camoes and Sammy Morgan. "Everything in MMA teaches you to get better for everything else in life," said Morgan coming in. Pretty cool statement, no?
After sustaining a couple of leg kicks from Morgan, Camoes slammed his opponent to the canvas, took the mount, and then took his back. Then it was all over.
An impressive showing by Camoes.
Fabricio Camoes wins via rear naked choke after 47 seconds of round one.
Finally came the main event. When these two first clashed, Jared Hamman was stopped by a Po'ai Suganuma right hand rather controversially. Still, Suganuma was man enough to agree to an immediate rematch. So would Hamman, a man that has only been training in MMA for a short time, come through in their second fight or would Suganuma prove that the first ending was no fluke?
Early in the fight Suganuma landed a hard right. The power of it combined with Hamman being off balance left Suganuma on top with side control. However, after some ground and pound Hamman got to his feet. Suganuma immediately began looking for the takedown again, but Hamman used a whizzer to turn things over on him and take his back. Suganuma got to his feet quickly, however, and then landed two nice shots that dropped his adversary.
Hamman recovered and found himself with full guard.
After some ground and pound, Hamman got to his feet. From there, he landed some big shots, rocking his adversary. Then Hamman found himself on top of his adversary, who was instinctively looking for a takedown, raining down hammerfists. Suganuma was in trouble.
Then he was finished.
Awesome and fast paced fight!
Jared Hamman wins via TKO at 2:34 of round one.
In the end, this installment of ShoXC was an excellent one. The Lizama- Berry fight was a back and forth brawl. The Purcell- Sexton bout was also very entertaining and truly exhibited two females with outstanding skills. Of course, Diabate and Camoes looked very good in their respective encounters.
And the main event between Jared Hamman and Po'ai Suganuma was a whole lot of fun. In the end, this one was worth watching for sure.
Get ready, get set, go!
The first fight of the night saw Ray Lizama take on Keith Berry. Berry is the current King of the Cage Middleweight Champion and wants to be an emergency room RN after his fighting days are over.
As the announcers aptly pointed out, that's quite a dichotomy considering the fact that he sometimes sends his opponents to the ER.
Early on Berry connected with several jabs and straight right hands, setting himself up to land knees inside while in brief clinches. Lizama, however, connected with a very hard left that stunned his opponent for a moment.
But only a brief moment.
From there, Lizama began hitting home with some punches from a distance whereas Berry continued his punches from the outside to the clinch mentality, that is until he connected with a big right hand that floored Lizama. Though he tried to then sink in a rear naked choke afterwards, the fact that he didn't sink his hooks (legs) in made it hard. Eventually Lizama got back to his feet where both fighters simply pounded on one another for the rest of the stanza.
Berry wins round one based on the knockdown and choke attempt. It was an excellent initial round.
The fireworks continued in the second. Berry came out strong, getting inside and landing power shots. Then Lizama connected with a huge flurry of dead- on punches that staggered the King of the Cage Middleweight Champion. Berry, showing a lot of heart, came back with some punches himself. But in the end, Lizama started throwing down once more. Along with this, after two consecutive rights to the body Berry fell to the canvas and the referee stopped the fight appropriately.
An excellent way to start things off.
Ray Lizama wins via TKO at 2:15 of round two.
Female MMA pioneer Debi Purcell had a lot of nice things to say about her opponent Rosi Sexton coming into their fight. "She's amazing. She's definitely world class. I like her as a person; she's a great person inside and outside the cage, so I've got nothing bad to say about her." Of course, this was a fight and Purcell was ready. "I think I'm going to knock her out," she said.
The first round wasn't overly active, with Sexton and Purcell clinching for the majority of the stanza. Sexton was looking for the takedown, whereas Purcell was hoping to hit home with knees or create separation. Purcell showed good takedown defense. A very close round that may have gone to Sexton, based on her aggressiveness in trying to take the fight to the ground.
In the second, Purcell started in with some nice kicks, including one to the face. But then Sexton jabbed her way inside, took Purcell down, and started in with some nice ground and pound. Eventually, however, Purcell pushed Sexton off, while trapping her ankles, and got to her feet.
While on their feet, Purcell connected with a couple of strikes and took Sexton down. From there, some mild and ground and pound ensued, but there wasn't a lot of time until the bell.
This was a very close round. Actually, both were.
Purcell connected with a spinning backfist to start the final round. While inside, she landed some uppercuts and upon separation hit home with a nice right hand. Soon after, amidst the clinching, Purcell looked to take Sexton down but a whizzer turned things over on her. With Sexton on top?she tried a cartwheel kind of pass that didn't work but looked awful good? Purcell started looking for an ankle lock that didn't come to fruition.
Then the bell. Wow, that was close.
The judges agreed. Rosi Sexton wins via split decision.
Before his bout with kickboxing guru Cyrille Diabate, Jaime Fletcher said, "I'm gonna have to give Cyrille the business." He also noted that he was a "sore loser."
Of course, we would only get to see that if Fletcher lost.
Early on, Fletcher pinned Diabate up against the cage but wasn't able to do much there. Upon separation, Fletcher tried a Superman punch that was parlayed by a nice Diabate left. A lot of time was spent along the cage wall jockeying for position between the two from there. But around the two- minute mark, Diabate started to pick Fletcher apart, connecting with knees to the face, kicks to the body, and punches. At around the 25 second mark, Fletcher netted a takedown where he started looking for an ankle lock when the bell sounded. Nice idea in the end, but Diabate still took the round.
In the second, Diabate connected with a couple of very hard body kicks before Fletcher was able to take him down. Eventually, he went for the guillotine, falling to his own back with Diabate in hand. But Diabate moved to side control and out of the submission attempt. Fletcher got up but was immediately taken down again.
From there, Diabate worked from side control where he gained a momentary crucifix position and began raining down strikes. Fletcher turtled up and sustained some more punching damage in that position. Diabate then began to connect with multiple unanswered elbows to his opponent's ribs. Fletcher got out of the position, bleeding badly due to a cut over his eye, and then came the bell.
Fletcher needs a stoppage to win the fight.
In the third, Diabate just began hurting his opponent. He connected with a left hand and some serious body kicks. From there, he probably should've tried to end the fight from a distance. Rather, he ended up pressing Fletcher against the cage wall where his opponent sunk in a guillotine. As the two fell to the canvas, it looked as if Diabate might be in trouble. But eventually he pulled his head out of danger.
Then came elbows and punches from Diabate. The blood was everywhere. Soon after the bell came.
Cyrille Diabate wins via unanimous decision.
Next up was a match between Fabricio Camoes and Sammy Morgan. "Everything in MMA teaches you to get better for everything else in life," said Morgan coming in. Pretty cool statement, no?
After sustaining a couple of leg kicks from Morgan, Camoes slammed his opponent to the canvas, took the mount, and then took his back. Then it was all over.
An impressive showing by Camoes.
Fabricio Camoes wins via rear naked choke after 47 seconds of round one.
Finally came the main event. When these two first clashed, Jared Hamman was stopped by a Po'ai Suganuma right hand rather controversially. Still, Suganuma was man enough to agree to an immediate rematch. So would Hamman, a man that has only been training in MMA for a short time, come through in their second fight or would Suganuma prove that the first ending was no fluke?
Early in the fight Suganuma landed a hard right. The power of it combined with Hamman being off balance left Suganuma on top with side control. However, after some ground and pound Hamman got to his feet. Suganuma immediately began looking for the takedown again, but Hamman used a whizzer to turn things over on him and take his back. Suganuma got to his feet quickly, however, and then landed two nice shots that dropped his adversary.
Hamman recovered and found himself with full guard.
After some ground and pound, Hamman got to his feet. From there, he landed some big shots, rocking his adversary. Then Hamman found himself on top of his adversary, who was instinctively looking for a takedown, raining down hammerfists. Suganuma was in trouble.
Then he was finished.
Awesome and fast paced fight!
Jared Hamman wins via TKO at 2:34 of round one.
In the end, this installment of ShoXC was an excellent one. The Lizama- Berry fight was a back and forth brawl. The Purcell- Sexton bout was also very entertaining and truly exhibited two females with outstanding skills. Of course, Diabate and Camoes looked very good in their respective encounters.
And the main event between Jared Hamman and Po'ai Suganuma was a whole lot of fun. In the end, this one was worth watching for sure.
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