Champions Crowned at G&P 11!

Posted by FV on Monday, June 20th, 2010
Photos by Kim LaCourse

The crowd was electric and the fight card did not disappoint as G&P 11 provided some intense MMA action that also saw the Premiere MMA Series crown it’s first ever state champions.

In the main-event, Ray Hernandez (6-1) evened up the series with David Parker (4-2) as he pounded out a one-sided unanimous decision. In their first match up, Hernandez used his superior striking skills to befuddle Parker and appeared to be on his way to win a decision until Parker caught him late in the fight with a triangle choke, forcing the tap out. This time, Hernandez would have none of that!

The fight was on as soon as the first bell rang as both fighters met in the center of the cage unloading hard shots. Hernandez landed some wicked right hooks forcing Parker to go in for the clinch. Here both men let their knees fly trying to get the advantage in this fast paced bout. Parker then forced his opponent against the cage where the action seemed to die down as both men were looking for openings to take it to the ground. Parker tried to create openings by landing foot stomps but in doing so, gave Hernandez the opportunity to spin around and force Parker’s back against the cage. After a few tussles, Parker seemed to have lost his footing and immediately found himself on his back with Hernandez having full mount position. Here is when the ground & pound started as Hernandez unloaded hard shots to his opponents face. Parker used both arms to give him protection but Hernandez unleashed the double hammer fist, breaking through Parkers defense. To his credit, Parker landed some hard shots to the face of Hernandez while on his back. The round ended with Hernandez going for the rear naked choke.

The second saw both men on their feet with Parker going for the knees to the midsection of his quicker opponent. Both men wrapped up with Hernandez scoring a huge take down! Again, Hernandez landed wicked shots but Parker was able to flip his opponent over and gain full mount position. Both combatants took their turns on gaining position and landing hard shots for the remainder of the round.

Round three saw both men content on using their striking skills to set up takedowns. Hernandez began to tee off on Parker with shots from a variety of angles. Parker went for a kick to the midsection as Hernandez landed a two-punch combination that buzzed him. Sensing the end could be near, Hernandez immediately pounced on him landing a flurry that dropped Parker. Opting to keep the fight standing up, Hernandez waited for Parker to get back on his feet. Again, he landed a flurry of shots that buzzed Parker sending him to the canvass. This time, Hernandez jumped on him doing some serious ground & pound damage. And again, to his credit, Parker was moving well with the punches, landing shots of his own. But, this night would belong to Hernandez as he earned an exciting unanimous decision over Parker, evening their own series to 1-1. With this win, Hernandez became the Ground & Pound 155 lb. State Champion!

In the co-main event, super charged Larry Ray (6-3) came out as a man possessed and earned a unanimous decision over highly regarded Chris Kleman (7-2).

In the opening stanza, both men squared up looking for the perfect opportunity to shoot in. Kleman fainted with a right jab and shot in taking Ray to the ground. In a showcase of superb wrestling, both combatants took turns on gaining the advantage over each other. No man had the advantage until Ray worked his way up from his back and spun around Kleman until he had full mount. Here, Ray landed some thunderous shots to the head and body of Kleman to finish the round. The second round saw Ray drive Kleman into the cage. Kleman used his quickness to spin around and literally hop on the back of Ray digging his hooks around his neck. All seemed to be over as Ray fell to the canvas with Kleman’s hooks planted deep under his chin. Ray showed true grit as he refused to tap. Whether it was Kleman losing his grip or realizing that Ray was not going to tap, he released his hooks and jumped into full mount. Ray seized this opportunity as he bucked his opponent far enough to slip out from under Kleman and grab his back. Ray, making up for lost time, applied plenty of ground & pound action as he unloaded hard shots on his opponent taking this fight into the third round. Both combatants showed signs of fatigue in the last round, as they were content on taking turns launching leg kicks. Ray drove Kleman into the cage and scored the first take down and again unloaded with hard shots. For the rest of the round, both fighters took turns on gaining position with both having success. However, all three judges saw it the same way and awarded Larry Ray with a close but unanimous decision. Larry Ray becomes the first 170 lb. Ground & Pound State Champion!

In the first state title bout of the night, in a true clash of the titans, Tyler Beckley (9-2) pounded out a close but unanimous decision over Jake Kraus (5-2). This fight was set for 205-weight limit but these guys moved more like 155-pound fighters.

Both fighters squared up in the center of the cage at the opening bell. Beckley threw a wide right hook, that Kraus slipped, and drove his adversary into the cage. In that whole process Kraus landed a short right hand to the chin of Beckley. Both fighters made their way back into the center of the cage with Beckley landing the first take down with side mount position. Beckley used his forearm to drive into his opponents’ neck to give him enough space to land shots to the head of Kraus. This was not an easy task as he was also giving Kraus enough space to land hard shots of his own while on his back. Kraus used sheer strength to keep Beckley close to him nullifying any more attempts from the hands of Beckley. The second round featured more fast paced action as Beckley landed a right hook and drove Kraus back into the cage. Beckley left his neck open and Kraus went in for the standing guillotine but Beckley picked him up and slammed him into the canvas hard enough for him to slip out of the Kraus’s hooks. Kraus spent most of the round on his back but was never in real danger as Beckley was unable to get that one lock that could end the fight. At a stale mate, the referee brought both combatants to their feet and to the center of the cage. When the action resumed, Kraus landed a hard right hand to the head of Beckley that had him in trouble. Kraus immediately pounced on his dazed opponent as Beckley fell to the canvas. Landing shots anywhere he could, Kraus then had full mount for the first time. This was short lived as Beckley amazingly applied a reversal and had Kraus on his back just as the bell rang. The third round started off with both fighters bloodied and bruised. Beckley threw a right leg kick followed by a left hand and forced the action to Kraus who met him head on going for Beckley’s neck. Beckley wrapped his hooks around the right leg of Kraus and scored the first take down as he tripped up Kraus and again had side mount on him. For the remainder of the round, both fighters did plenty of damage on the ground but it was Beckley who was awarded the unanimous decision and becoming Ground & Pound’s first 205 lb. State Champion!

In perhaps the most anticipated bout of the night, fan favorites and Toledo natives Jason Willman (8-1) and Alvaro Vallejo (13-7) battled for three rounds with Willman picking up the decision victory.

The opening bell had Willman and Vallejo circling each other trying to set the other up with feints. Willman was first to attempt the takedown as he bullied Vallejo against the cage. He then pulled Vallejo’s leg out from under him to score the first takedown. Vallejo quickly scrambled back up but Willman again forced him against the cage. This time Willman used a good wrestling tactic as he pulled Vallejo’s right leg then tripped his left foot forcing Vallejo hard to the canvas. Willman pounced on his foe and began landing hard shots to the head of Vallejo who did his best to cover up. Vallejo tried to regain his footing but gave up his back to Willman who quickly capitalized on the mistake. Again, Willman landed hard punches to both sides of Vallejo’s head. It seemed as if Willman was going for the rear naked choke when he fell to the side of Vallejo who then used this slip up to get full mount on Willman. However, Willman did a good job of holding Vallejo close to him where he could not get off any hard shots. That didn’t stop Vallejo from trying as he found an opening on the right side of Willman’s body where he landed several unanswered punches. Both combatants battled to their feet and began to tee off on each other landing hard shots on the inside. During these vicious exchanges Vallejo landed a hard right hand to the chin of Willman that visibly dazed him and sent him to the canvas on one knee. He quickly got up as Vallejo chased him and began to unload from all angles. He landed another hard right hand on Willman, as he had not fully recovered from the first barrage. Willman showed quite the chin, as he never fully went down and opted to stand his ground and trade bomb for bomb in the final seconds of the round. The round ended with the fighters tied up against the cage. That was all in the first round! The second round saw Vallejo being content with keeping the fight on their feet. Willman had other ideas as he forced Vallejo to the cage going for the take down. With Vallejo showing good takedown defense Willman threw knees to the legs and body of Vallejo with the intent of softening him up. Both fighters found success with landing short uppercuts on the inside. Willman scored the first take down of the second round. Vallejo was able to get back to his feet quickly and unloaded with hard punches. This time Willman stayed in the pocket with him and answered with hard shots of his own. Willman then got Vallejo in a standing guillotine. Vallejo worked his way out and again both warriors let their fists fly as this fight was going into the last round. The last round started off no different than its predecessors. Vallejo wanted to keep it a striking contest. Willman was stalking looking for a takedown. And, just as before, Willman shot in first. Driving Vallejo into the cage scoring the first takedown. Again, Vallejo was able to work his way back up throwing hard punches in the process. Willman dug his hooks in on Vallejo and used his body weight to drag him back to the canvas. After eating a few hard shots to his body, Vallejo made his way back to his feet. Both men went toe to toe from here to the end. Willman threw crippling knees to the body while Vallejo landed vicious hooks and uppercuts. Both fighters brought the crowd to their feet as the final bell rang. After the war these two waged, all three judges awarded Willman with a very close but unanimous decision.

In other bouts:

Rick Day (7-0) of Toledo is proving to be the heavyweight to beat in the area as he defeated Steve Thom (3-3) of Tiffin when the referee waived off the bout from too many unanswered strikes two minutes in the first round.

Geno Czerniawski (3-0) of Toledo made short work of Cory Rodriguez (2-1) of Paulding as he scored a TKO in the first minute of the fight.

Jake Divers (1-0) of Toledo made a successful debut as he submitted Josh Hainer (0-1) at the two-minute mark in the second round.

Jordan Ringenberger (1-0) of Bowling Green made a successful debut as he forced a verbal tap out of Joe Erwin (0-4) in the first round.

SimpleViewer requires Macromedia Flash. Get Macromedia Flash. If you have Flash installed, click to view gallery.