The third fight of the night, between Jeremy Cross and Ricky Gomez was my favorite by far. Once again the DJ started up some loud beats but this time a live voice rang out and Ricky Gomez came out proceeded by some local rappers (DSR, Big Tuck, Tom Tom) and they put on a show as they walked him to the ring. All heads were bobbing to the phrase "I'm a tussle wit ya" and a large Ricky Gomez fan group went nuts. I'd be the first to clown these guys but it actually sounded great and got everyone involved.
Once in the ring Ricky Gomez looked like a salty pro with some firecracker hands. When the bell rang Cross and Gomez met in the middle and Cross threw a bomb. Gomez deftly took a half-step back and Cross missed his chin by a hair. Gomez answered with a left-right-left-right-left so in cadence that even the surliest of drill sergeants would be proud. All of them landed square on Cross's chin. Cross went down. Cross got up. Cross got his count and returned to action only to get about five more pops before going down again.
Cross is a tough kid and ain’t giving up so he got back in there one more time. This time it's a left hook on the button and Cross was laid out. I mean seriously laid out. Gomez remained in the corner with his arms on the ropes while Cross lay flat on his face with his head between Gomez’ shoes.
It was at this point I cursed my camera. It’s one of those slooow response things where I press the button and the picture is taken four seconds later. By the time my picture is taken, Gomez is handed his trophy. I’m not happy.
Gomez is the obvious crowd favorite and the whole place is on their feet. I’m now satisfied with wasting a Friday on a Dallas trip.
I find out later that Gomez has only been training for six months. He’s lost 55 pounds while training and with that quick of a learning curve, I can’t wait to see what he can do when he knows what’s really going on and his body catches up.
After an intermission we return to see two women go to work in a real
battle. Most fans I talked to thought Savannah Payne versus Victoria Remington was the fight of the night. I can’t blame them. Most of the card was filled with lopsided victories, so it was refreshing to see a fight consisting of three rounds of everything.
It was sloppy due to inexperience but these women fought their hearts out. Neither had enough power to knockout the other but that didn’t stop them from trying. Both Payne and Remington took a beating and showcased plenty of MMA knowledge. Punches, submissions, Muay Thai, kicks were all displayed by these tough women.
There was enough action that I couldn’t really keep up but basically Payne outworked and outlasted the more technical Remington. Payne scored a unanimous decision in the only fight of the night to go the distance.
Rocky Long came out with UFC vet Pete Spratt in his corner and maybe in his hands as well. Long got right to work and landed three good punches, dropping Devon “Much Love” Miller immediately. Miller popped right back up but caught a crisp uppercut in the next exchange.
Miller didn’t want to trade anymore and tried to change the scenery by pulling Long into his guard. Long wouldn’t go down and wanted to keep things in his world. They stood back up and Miller finally took Rocky down with a double-leg. But once on the ground Rocky mounted and snagged Miller in an armbar, forcing him to tap.
Jason Sallee approached before his fight to tell me that Sherdog.com has his win/loss record wrong. Apparently he’s 1-1. I explained to him that in the world of Sherdog, I’m a powerless runt just trying to keep up with the big dogs but I’ll try my best.
Danny Payne and Sallee come out banging and Sallee was able to get a good knee to Payne's gut when they are in a quick Thai clinch. Payne took Sallee down and threw punches in Sallee's guard. Payne gained control in the mount but then inexplicably dropped down for an ankle lock that backfired, enabling Sallee to pop up and grab Payne's arm.
Payne tries to turn inside and avoid an armbar but ended up laying on his side with Sallee sitting on his shoulder with his arm secured in a
sort of standing armbar. With Payne still on his side, not tapping,
Sallee kept scooting forward on that shoulder and violently cranked that arm until the ref got queasy and called the fight for fear of the fighter’s safety.
I can say with confidence that Jason Sallee is now 2-1, people!
In the main event of the night we saw Frank “Axe Murderer” Kirmse take on salty boxer Marcus Hicks. Hicks lives up to his nickname — he’s 5’6 but a full 165 pounds and looked every bit the “wrecking ball.” Kirmse on the other hand may want to wait a few more fights before borrowing the nickname of one of the sports best.
I’m not looking to pick on Kirmse alone. It’s time our sport looks at the whole nickname thing a little closer. I mean look at UFC interim heavyweight champ Andrei “Pitbull” Arlovski. Who came up with that? The guy has hair on his traps! He’s from Belarus! He should be called “Vlad the Impaler” or something more scary and apt than a crappy middle school mascot. Seriously.
Anyway back to the action. Kirmse is able to get a stiff punch on Hicks but Hicks shrugged it off. Hicks looked smooth and relaxed on his feet and I smelled blood in the water. Sure enough Kirmse got rocked against the ropes and Hicks pounced. As they both go to the ground Hicks gets side mount and started landing elbows to the ribs. From my spot I can’t see if he tapped from strikes or an armbar but he taps just the same.
Hicks gets a big trophy and the night is over.
Overall I was really impressed with the quality and professionalism of the Inferno crew. Promoters Mark Hickman, Adam Nix and York Ash have a possible gem on their hands. Once the show is able to grow they will be able to secure some more evenly matched fighters. These guys plan on having events either every month or every other month so I look forward to seeing their progress. Having trainers Pete Spratt, Guy Mezger and Brazilian legends “Jacare” and Roberto Traven on hand won’t hurt their growing reputation as a quality event either.
Fighters Eric Schambari, Rocky Long and Marcus Hicks all looked to be on a different level but it’s hard to say until I see them fight some more. Hopefully for them, we’ll be hearing their names more and more.
I apologize for the lack of quality photos; I wasn’t able to get close enough to battle the house lights so just use that sweet imagination of yours. I’ll include the miscellaneous photos I was able to snag and I hope you really enjoy the pictures of the karate demonstration that was puzzling to the moderately MMA savvy crowd.