Iroquois Mixed Martial Arts III (April 26 2008)

Iroquois MMA III

By: Christina Sears
searstina@hotmail.com

 

Matt Ferraro, who fights out of Cutting Edge MMA in Caledonia, made his pro-debut at the Iroquois Mixed Martial Arts III (IQMMA).

Ferraro’s opponent changing on a few occasion with Curtis DeMarce receiving the call three days before the bout accepting to fight  Ferraro.

The IQMMA has been much debated and very shady throughout the commissions in not only Ontario but in Canada. DeMarce making a huge last minute decision to fight on this card meant possibly being suspended from fighting in Winnipeg and other “sanctioned” events throughout Canada.

In round one Ferraro starts off well throwing a decent combination of punches, however DeMarce got a hold of that clinch and started landing some big knees and a bang on head kick.

However this round didn’t last long on their feet, Ferraro managed to suck in a double leg picking DeMarce up dumping him to the mat. From there Ferraro starts to work from DeMarce’s guard but almost gets caught in an arm bar attempt.

At this point both men are not doing much and look a bit tired, DeMarce attempts to get to his feet but again Ferraro’s wrestling shines through when he drags him back down to the mat and continues to work from there. DeMarce attempts a leg lock forcing Ferraro to scramble for a better position. While in the process of doing that Ferraro lands a good punch right down the middle bouncing DeMarce’s head off the mat.

The first round ended with Curtis DeMarce in Matt Ferraro’s Guard.

The round looked close however, Ferraro got more of the take downs, and showed good ground control. Standing DeMarce landed only those knees and head kicks early in the round. But for the majority of the round it was Matt Ferraro with his huge take downs, and ground control.

In my opinion the first round going to Ferraro.

In the second round DeMarce comes out with not only one, but four huge head kicks landing everyone with added combos putting Ferraro against the fence looking like he was in a load of trouble.

But Ferraro managed to grab around DeMarce’s body picking him up and once again taking him down. But he wasn’t safe just yet DeMarce then started with his submission attempts, which was enough for Ferraro to stand up and just rain down some punches again bouncing DeMarce’s head of the canvas of the octagon.

Ferraro shows his submission ability by attempting a key lock from side mount, but was unsuccessful allowing DeMarce to reverse their position putting Ferraro on the bottom.

Ferraro now looking a bit tired he allows DeMarce to take his back and attempt a rear naked choke. In the last 30 seconds of the round Ferraro fights off the choke, with Coach Bryan Edge in his corner giving him instructions to stay calm and just breathe while shouting out time updates. Ferraro manages to survive into the third round.

Again a close round, Ferraro using his wrestling at every chance to take DeMarce to the mat; however DeMarce’s early head kicks and submission attempts might have been enough to per sway the judges into giving him the round.

Round two going to Curtis DeMarce.

With fatigue setting in on both fighters the third round for both was either hit or miss. Both needed to end it with knock out or submission instead of leaving it in the hands of the judges, and that’s exactly what Curtis DeMarce did.

At the beginning of the third Ferraro went for a takedown only this time leaving his head exposed for a guillotine choke, DeMarce see’s that and capitalizes. Once on the ground it was seconds before Ferraro tapped making Curtis DeMarce the winner via submission.

After the fight DeMarce admits that he knew Ferraro was a wrestler and says even though it was his (Ferraro’s) debut as a professional fighter he feels that he was probably the toughest guy he’s fought thus far in his own MMA career.

Another fight that was much talked about was Josh Powell vs Amsterdam’s Noufel Amellark.

Early in the first round Powell and Amellark both started swinging for the fences, punches flying from every direction, Powell getting the better end of the exchanges.

The best way to describe these exchanges would be that of two men who were offered money to just go in there and fight. Neither of them punched like a professional MMA fighters should punch. None of the punches were crisp and technical, more of an amateur who just threw on a pair of gloves and decided to try it out.

But Powell managed to throw a few more punches pressing Amellark against the cage and forced him to cover up. But out of nowhere the ref stops the fight.

Amellark right away throws its hands up as if to say “what the heck” and the I.L.A Arena echoing with the boos of the crowd who were displeased with the stoppage.

The ref announces the winner Josh Powell by Technical Knock out due to “broken nose?”

Like most of the crowd was probably thinking “a TKO by a broken nose? Did I hear that right?”

After the results were announced you see Hamilton’s Jeff Joslin get into a fighting stance bouncing back and forth with Amellark and his corner exchanging some words with Joslin. Powell then steps in with the ref or someone trying to break them up.

Before Jeff interviews Powell about the fight he laughs and said “I don’t know what that was about, I don’t fight for free,” and then goes on with his interview with Powell.

Powell saying that he would fight Amellark again and is up for a rematch anytime, to prove he deserved that win.

The Next Iroquois MMA event will take place June 21’st on the Six Nations Reserve at the I.L.A Arena.

Visit www.iqmma.ca for ticket information.