Will
06-15-2008, 06:24 PM
HOFFMAN ESTATES, ILL. – Adrenaline MMA fashioned its first show Saturday night at Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill., just outside of Chicago with fighters from various promotions and a wide range of skill level.
The fledgling promotion cobbled together former UFC fighters, mixed martial artists late of the International Fight League, and a trio of fighters with losing records. An attempt also was made to appeal to Chicago-area fans by booking fighters, including Terry Martin, Rory Markham and Mike Russow, from the Windy City.
It all amounted to a debut that lacked the energy and electricity of a big-time fight card before a sparse crowd estimated at slightly more than 2,000.
"We want to be the Strikeforce of the Midwest and to do that, you have to bring the best Midwest fighters together," said Adrenaline CEO Monte Cox in assessing the show. "I was happy. How can you not like this set of fights? We had a little bit of everything."
Part of that everything was a submission victory for Chicago policeman Mike Russow in the main event. Russow was scheduled to face veteran Jeff Monson, but a slow-to-heal fractured hand kept the "Snowman" from answering the bell. Jason Guida (23-18) stepped in Monday to take the fight and succumbed quickly to a guillotine choke from Russow.
"I haven't fought since New Year's Eve, so it was good to get back in there," said Russow, now 10-1. "I got him with the neck crank, and I just started squeezing. I really appreciate Jason taking this fight on short notice. I have a lot of respect for him."
In the middleweight co-feature, Terry Martin snapped a two-fight losing streak, winning by disqualification after Daiju Takase hit him low with kicks three times in less than two rounds. The initial blow came in the first and really stung Martin, who took some time to gather himself. Takase dropped two more shots south of the border in the second round, and the fight was called. Martin (17-4) was dominating the standup action anyway, and it was clear that Takase (7-12) was overmatched.
Forrest Petz mounted an impressive two-round comeback to earn a unanimous decision over veteran Brian Gassaway in an entertaining middleweight affair.
Gassaway easily won the first round by dropping Petz with a left cross and working him on the ground. At one point, Gassaway (28-18-2) had mount, but Petz didn't panic and was able to buck Gassaway off to survive the round. Petz (14-5) went on to get the better of the standup exchanges and do enough damage in the judges' eyes in rounds two and three to earn the decision. All three judges saw the fight 29-28.
After being roughed up in the first round by Jeff Cox, Bart Palaszewski produced the knockout of the night with a blistering roundhouse kick that landed flush on Cox's jaw and knocked him out cold.
Following the first stanza, it looked like Palaszewski was on his way to a fourth consecutive defeat. Cox took Palaszewski down and laid into him with ground-and-pound while controlling the action on the mat. After referee Herb Dean stood them up, Cox (9-6) connected with a straight right that floored his opponent and put Palaszewski in an 0-1 hole.
However, Palaszewski (29-11) came out with a sense of urgency in the second frame and found an opening for the head kick that ended the fight with just less than two minutes left in the round.
It took Chicago's Rory Markham less than a minute to dispatch of the outclassed Jay Ellis in a fight that was not much more than a warm-up for Markham. Ellis opened the bout by charging Markham and leaping for a flying knee. He ended up missing and catapulting over Markham's head.
Markham pounced on the miscue and rolled into side control. When Ellis reversed and put Markham on his back, the former IFL fighter wasted little time applying a modified triangle choke that drew the tap from Ellis (11-16) just 57 seconds into the match.
"He was pretty strong, but I went for the triangle and was able to finish him," Markham (14-4) told the partisan crowd after the fight. "Anytime I can fight in Chicago, I'll get in this cage for you guys."
While Monte Cox would have certainly liked more fans in the seats for the launch of the Adrenaline MMA brand, he acknowledges the timing of the show was less-than ideal.
"I talked to other promoters in music and other things, and everything seems to be down right now," he said. "Last time I did a show here, we had people driving 100 to a 150 miles. We didn't get that tonight. It's hard. A 150 now is costing you 70 bucks, and I think people factor that in. Plus, the Quad Cities, where we normally draw really well from, is flooded. We just didn't have a lot of things go our way."
Adrenaline MMA – Inaugural Show Results
Sears Centre Arena – Hoffman Estates, IL
Main Card
* Heavyweight – Mike Russow def. Jason Guida, submission (guillotine choke), 2:13 of first round
* Middleweight – Terry Martin def. Daiju Takase, disqualification, 3:35 of second round
* Middleweight – Forrest Petz def. Brian Gassaway, unanimous decision, 29-28 x3
* Lightweight – Bart Palaszewski def. Jeff Cox, KO (kick), 3:07 of second round
* Middleweight – Rory Markham def. Jay Ellis, submission (triangle choke), :57 of first round
* Lightweight – French def. Massouh, submission (rear-naked choke), 3:18 of second round
* Welterweight – Joe Jordan def. Ryan Williams, unanimous decision, 29-28 x3
Prelims
* Welterweight – Mike Stumpf def. Dom O'Grady, TKO (strikes), 3:53 of second round
* Welterweight – Tom Belt def. Marcus Levesseur, TKO (strikes), 4:10 of first round
* Heavyweight – Antwjuan Hayes def. Kerry Schall, unanimous decision, 29-28 x3
* Light Heavyweight – Aaron Rosa def. Ron Fields, TKO (strikes), :34 of second round
* Middleweight – Hector Urbina def. Dave Kleczkowski, TKO (strikes), 1:19 of second round
* Light Heavyweight – Louis Taylor def. Adam Maciejewski, unanimous decision, 30-27, 29-28 x2
* Bantamweight – Joe Pearson def. John Hosman, submission (triangle choke), 1:42 of first round
The fledgling promotion cobbled together former UFC fighters, mixed martial artists late of the International Fight League, and a trio of fighters with losing records. An attempt also was made to appeal to Chicago-area fans by booking fighters, including Terry Martin, Rory Markham and Mike Russow, from the Windy City.
It all amounted to a debut that lacked the energy and electricity of a big-time fight card before a sparse crowd estimated at slightly more than 2,000.
"We want to be the Strikeforce of the Midwest and to do that, you have to bring the best Midwest fighters together," said Adrenaline CEO Monte Cox in assessing the show. "I was happy. How can you not like this set of fights? We had a little bit of everything."
Part of that everything was a submission victory for Chicago policeman Mike Russow in the main event. Russow was scheduled to face veteran Jeff Monson, but a slow-to-heal fractured hand kept the "Snowman" from answering the bell. Jason Guida (23-18) stepped in Monday to take the fight and succumbed quickly to a guillotine choke from Russow.
"I haven't fought since New Year's Eve, so it was good to get back in there," said Russow, now 10-1. "I got him with the neck crank, and I just started squeezing. I really appreciate Jason taking this fight on short notice. I have a lot of respect for him."
In the middleweight co-feature, Terry Martin snapped a two-fight losing streak, winning by disqualification after Daiju Takase hit him low with kicks three times in less than two rounds. The initial blow came in the first and really stung Martin, who took some time to gather himself. Takase dropped two more shots south of the border in the second round, and the fight was called. Martin (17-4) was dominating the standup action anyway, and it was clear that Takase (7-12) was overmatched.
Forrest Petz mounted an impressive two-round comeback to earn a unanimous decision over veteran Brian Gassaway in an entertaining middleweight affair.
Gassaway easily won the first round by dropping Petz with a left cross and working him on the ground. At one point, Gassaway (28-18-2) had mount, but Petz didn't panic and was able to buck Gassaway off to survive the round. Petz (14-5) went on to get the better of the standup exchanges and do enough damage in the judges' eyes in rounds two and three to earn the decision. All three judges saw the fight 29-28.
After being roughed up in the first round by Jeff Cox, Bart Palaszewski produced the knockout of the night with a blistering roundhouse kick that landed flush on Cox's jaw and knocked him out cold.
Following the first stanza, it looked like Palaszewski was on his way to a fourth consecutive defeat. Cox took Palaszewski down and laid into him with ground-and-pound while controlling the action on the mat. After referee Herb Dean stood them up, Cox (9-6) connected with a straight right that floored his opponent and put Palaszewski in an 0-1 hole.
However, Palaszewski (29-11) came out with a sense of urgency in the second frame and found an opening for the head kick that ended the fight with just less than two minutes left in the round.
It took Chicago's Rory Markham less than a minute to dispatch of the outclassed Jay Ellis in a fight that was not much more than a warm-up for Markham. Ellis opened the bout by charging Markham and leaping for a flying knee. He ended up missing and catapulting over Markham's head.
Markham pounced on the miscue and rolled into side control. When Ellis reversed and put Markham on his back, the former IFL fighter wasted little time applying a modified triangle choke that drew the tap from Ellis (11-16) just 57 seconds into the match.
"He was pretty strong, but I went for the triangle and was able to finish him," Markham (14-4) told the partisan crowd after the fight. "Anytime I can fight in Chicago, I'll get in this cage for you guys."
While Monte Cox would have certainly liked more fans in the seats for the launch of the Adrenaline MMA brand, he acknowledges the timing of the show was less-than ideal.
"I talked to other promoters in music and other things, and everything seems to be down right now," he said. "Last time I did a show here, we had people driving 100 to a 150 miles. We didn't get that tonight. It's hard. A 150 now is costing you 70 bucks, and I think people factor that in. Plus, the Quad Cities, where we normally draw really well from, is flooded. We just didn't have a lot of things go our way."
Adrenaline MMA – Inaugural Show Results
Sears Centre Arena – Hoffman Estates, IL
Main Card
* Heavyweight – Mike Russow def. Jason Guida, submission (guillotine choke), 2:13 of first round
* Middleweight – Terry Martin def. Daiju Takase, disqualification, 3:35 of second round
* Middleweight – Forrest Petz def. Brian Gassaway, unanimous decision, 29-28 x3
* Lightweight – Bart Palaszewski def. Jeff Cox, KO (kick), 3:07 of second round
* Middleweight – Rory Markham def. Jay Ellis, submission (triangle choke), :57 of first round
* Lightweight – French def. Massouh, submission (rear-naked choke), 3:18 of second round
* Welterweight – Joe Jordan def. Ryan Williams, unanimous decision, 29-28 x3
Prelims
* Welterweight – Mike Stumpf def. Dom O'Grady, TKO (strikes), 3:53 of second round
* Welterweight – Tom Belt def. Marcus Levesseur, TKO (strikes), 4:10 of first round
* Heavyweight – Antwjuan Hayes def. Kerry Schall, unanimous decision, 29-28 x3
* Light Heavyweight – Aaron Rosa def. Ron Fields, TKO (strikes), :34 of second round
* Middleweight – Hector Urbina def. Dave Kleczkowski, TKO (strikes), 1:19 of second round
* Light Heavyweight – Louis Taylor def. Adam Maciejewski, unanimous decision, 30-27, 29-28 x2
* Bantamweight – Joe Pearson def. John Hosman, submission (triangle choke), 1:42 of first round