Gladiators: Fight Night at the Fair Recap

Gladiators Fighting Series hosted its first outdoor event at the State Fair Park in West Allis last evening. The forecast called for severe weather and a thunderstorm watch was issued for Milwaukee and surrounding counties but the only thing severe were the beat downs in the cage. The card featured nine bouts and an eclectic mix of eighteen fighters from twelve different gyms throughout the state and Midwest. Here’s a recap of the nights action.

The evening began with a couple of amateur bouts. First up was Joe Schwane of Adrian Serrano’s Combat Gym in Milwaukee taking on Brad Andersen of Tengu MMA in Slinger. The first two rounds of the fight had Schwane scoring takedowns and executing ground and pound while Anderson looked to stop the fight using guillotine choke attempts. Fast-forward to round three and Andersen starts the action with a kick and combo flurry of punches. Schwane takes the fight to the ground using a trip takedown but Andersen finally gets the guillotine sunk in and Schwane was forced to tap at 31 seconds in round three.

Submission of the Night

If there was a story to be told in the fight card, the second match contained it. Ricky “The Wart” Dubiak of Roufusport, the only West Allis resident on the card and self described, “slightly overweight nerdy kid”, was the West Allis version of “Rudy” last night and the crowd loved him. Having recently defeated David Daleo in a grappling match on Friday, Dubiak took this fight, his first ever MMA bout, on a days notice and after working a shift at the fair against a tough looking guy with tribal armband tattoos and a big height advantage. When undefeated Andrew Trochazka of Sharkbite MMA in Jefferson entered the cage, he looked like he had come to steal Dubiak’s lunch money and cave his head in, but the grappling phenom wasn’t having it. Dubiak looked like a crazed maniac scoring multiple takedowns and getting the back of Trochazka forcing a tapout from a rear naked choke at 57 seconds into the fight. With only a few weeks before Dubiak leaves the land of cheese for the land of 10,000 lakes, he gets himself a win in front of the hometown fans, submission of the night, and a story to take with him to help pick up chicks in Minnesota.

In a 205lb Muay Thai match, Tim “Arch Angel” Nixon of the Haus of Combat in Green Bay only needed 96 seconds to TKO Harold “The Hammer” Johnson of Milwaukee. Knees to the face dropped Johnson the first two times but Johnson was able to get back to his feet. In the final stanza, Nixon throws a high kick and Johnson ducks to avoid but Nixon follows with an uppercut to drop Johnson to the canvas for the third time. Nixon wins the match and will fight Jason “Kaz” Kazmierczak in an MMA match in October.

Fight of the Night

In the fight of the night Marco Daniels of Kenosha faced off against Marc Freidrich of Adrian Serrano’s Combat Gym in a 145lb featherweight scrap. Freidrich started the action with a hard right hook but was then dropped by a right cross from Daniels. Freidrich survives a guillotine attempt by Daniels and begins to unleash a lot of ground and pound. As he’s dishing out punishment from the top he takes the advice from his corner and drops into a heel hook giving up his dominant position for a high-risk submission; he then spends the rest of the round on the bottom with Daniels almost getting his back as the round ends.

Round two begins with Freidrich scoring a takedown and another guillotine attempt by Daniels. Freidrich easily gets full mount, then Daniels back where he secures what looks to a painful neck crank causing Daniels to tap at 1:17 into the round.

Knockout of the night

Aaron “Tower” Toll of Unified Martial Arts showed he’s ready for the pros by taking on and defeating Rashad Brooks of Miletich Fighting Systems. Brooks who is (3-5) seemed to engage a strategy that involved eating about twenty unanswered shots to the head including knees, elbows, and punches before firing back one of his own. When Brooks did throw back he was looking for the one punch knockout and it landed multiple times but Toll showed he is tough and can take a shot. Toll had full mount many times throughout the bout and Brooks was good at sneaking out the back door but offensively he had little to offer. What was most impressive was the sheer amount of punishment that Brooks took without ever falling down. I wouldn’t doubt that Toll landed at least fifty knees to the head of Brooks when all was said and done. In the third round, referee Al Wichers stopped the bout after Toll scores multiple jumping knees that landed cleanly but after it was stopped Brooks finally fell down and took a long time to get back up. I was very impressed with Toll’s cardio, knees from the clinch, and his ability to listen to and take instructions from his corner throughout the fight despite it being only his first pro fight. On the other hand, I thought his takedowns were lacking for his wrestling credentials although I think it was due to the large size of Rashad Brooks. Toll in my opinion should waste little time before moving to the 205lb division where I feel he will become a dominant fighter if he continues to be brought up properly and not to quickly.

Dave “The Polish Punisher” Kleczkowski of Roufusport in Milwaukee wasted no time taking down Brad “Doomsday” Resop off a right leg kick. Doomsday quickly reversed the Polish Punisher but it would be his fate as he was not quick enough to escape the choreographed triangle choke from the bottom. Kleczowski wins at 1:29 in round one.

In what had the makings of fight of the night, Donovan “Recon” Foley of Roufusport in Milwaukee scored his third straight fight since losing to Charles Brown of FVGC in December of 2007. His opponent, Jay “The Silent Assassin” Ellis of Neutral Ground BJJ in Milwaukee definitively dominated Foley for the round but was unable to answer the bell for second round due to an ankle injury suffered while Foley blocked a kick.

Patrick “Bear” Barrantine of Dayton, Ohio came out to the Care Bears soundtrack and raised many a eyebrow with his ring entrance but he was all business in the cage. He landed a body kick to Mike Delany of Chosen Few in Madison. The body kick was immediately followed a takedown where Barrantine torqued a painful looking Americana from side control causing Delaney to tap at 38 seconds in the match.

Gladiators 205lb Light Heavyweight Championship

The much anticipated main event for the vacant Gladiators Light Heavyweight 205lb Championship turned out to be a short and sweet fight for Rob “The Bad Boy of Bayview” Smith of Roufusport. The first right hand Smith threw knocked out Justin “Bacon” Hutter of Waukesha MMA and the three to four hammerfists to the side of Hutter’s face afterward broke his jaw leaving the audience to pick theirs up off the ground.

Smith becomes the new Gladiators 205lb champion after the belt was stripped from Rob “The Bullrider” Wince of Hammer House. Wince’s last defense was against Marcus “The Loudmouth Assassin” Hicks in Canada in April of 2007. Wince was to defend his title against Eric Schafer at Gladiators 48.

According to a post on Wisconsin Combat Sports from the promoter Duke Roufus, retired MMA fighter Pat O’Malley of Chosen Few and promoter of Madtown Throwdown in Madison stated that he wanted to fight the winner of the fight. O’Malley’s teammates Ron Faircloth and Damien Decorah would also make acceptable opponents for the 205lb strap. Other Wisconsin opponents in the 205lb division include Warren Kekahbah, Jesse Veium, and Justin Lehmke.



Full Results

Middleweight MMA -185lbs
Brad Andersen (Tengu Martial Arts-Slinger, WI)
vs.
Joe Schwane (Adrian Serrano Combat Gym-Milwaukee, WI)

Brad Andersen defeats Joe Schwane – Guillotine Choke – RD 3 – (0:31)

Light Heavyweight MMA -205lbs
Ricky "The Wart" Dubiak (Roufusport-West Allis, WI)
vs.
Andrew Trochazka (Shark Bite MMA-Jefferson, WI)

Ricky Dubiak defeats Andrew Trochazka – Rear Naked Choke – RD 1 – (0:57)

Light Heavyweight Muay Thai -205lbs
Harold "The Hammer" Johnson (Independent-Milwaukee, WI)
vs.
Tim "The Arch Angel" Nixon (Haus of combat-Green Bay, WI)
Tim Nixon defeats Harold Johnson – TKO (3 knockdown rule) – RD 1 – (1:36)

Featherweights MMA -145lbs
Marco Daniels (Independent-Kenosha, WI)
vs.
Marc Freidrich (Adrian Serrano Combat Gym-Milwaukee, WI)

Marc Freidrich defeats Marco Daniels – Neck Crank – RD 2 – (1:17)

Heavyweight MMA -265lbs
Rashad Brooks (Miletich Fighting Systems-Bettendorf, IA)
vs.
Aaron "Tower" Toll (Unified Martial Arts-Fond du Lac, WI)

Aaron Toll defeats Rashad Brooks – TKO (Knees) – RD 3 – (2:57)

Middleweight MMA -185lbs
Dave "The Polish Punisher" Kleczowski (Roufusport-Milwaukee, WI)
vs.
Brad "Doomsday" Resop (Unified Martial Arts-Fond du Lac, WI)

Dave Kleczowski defeats Brad Resop – Triangle Choke – RD 1 – (1:29)

Lightweight MMA -155lbs
Donovan "Recon" Foley (Roufusport-Milwaukee, WI)
vs.
Jay Ellis (Neutral Ground BJJ-Milwaukee, WI)

Donovan Foley defeats Jay Ellis – TKO (Unable to answer the bell) – RD 1 – (5:00)

Heavyweight MMA -265lbs
Patrick "The Bear" Barrantine (Team Gurgel-Cincinnati, OH)
vs.
Mike Delaney (Chosen Few-Madison, WI)

Patrick Barrantine defeats Mike Delaney – Americana – RD 1 – (0:38)

Gladiators Light Heavyweight MMA Championship -205lbs
Rob Smith (Roufusport-Milwaukee, WI)
vs.
Justin "Bacon" Hutter (Waukesha MMA-Waukesha, WI)

Rob Smith defeats Justin Hutter – TKO (Strikes) – RD 1 – (0:16)

Notes:

The Shawn Wilkeson vs. Adam Vander Veen fight never occurred because Shawn Wilkerson of Racine, Wisconsin was a no-show.

Fight of the Night
Marc Freidich of Adrian Serrano’s Combat Gym – Milwaukee, WI
vs.
Marco Daniels – Independent – Kenosha, WI

Submission of the Night
Ricky “The Wart” Dubiak of West Allis, WI – Roufusport – Milwaukee, WI

KO of the Night
Aaron “Tower” Toll of Brandon, WI – Unified Martial Arts – Fond du Lac, WI