MMA

Jeremy Lloyd

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Last seen: 1 year 27 weeks ago

Joined: 2010-08-06

Four title fights and one superfight will highlight an over-the-top 60th edition of Rumble at the Roseland on December 3rd.

In the welterweight title bout, Jason Novelli and Bill Denney will face off in a matchup of talented fan favorites. Denney recently made news outside the cage after he disarmed a man who had just robbed a hotel with a semiautomatic handgun and held him until police arrived. Novelli, who is making his second attempt at the welterweight crown, has beaten notable fighters like Nathan Orchards and Alex Jordan.

The big boys will get their chance to take center stage as well, as heavyweight champ Chris DeLaRocha looks to defend his belt against undefeated Dylan Clark. Aside from being the baddest man in his weight class, DeLaRocha is also known for knocking out Rico Martinez in just 30 seconds at Rumble 55.

In two more much-anticipated title fights, 125-pound champ David Converse will take on Jeff Alden, while Ryan Truitt and Will Hill will battle it out for the vacant lightweight championship belt. And just to add a little more excitement to the evening, Nathan Allen of Team Quest and Brysen French of Impact JJ will clash in a middleweight superfight.

Of course, anyone who has been to a Rumble at the Roseland event in the past knows that the best fight of the night could just as easily come from two first-timers who have never set foot in a cage before. That's the beauty of of Rumble at the Roseland. It's all about the pride and passion of first-timers getting past their fear and taking that first step into the cage; or sometimes it's all about the pure talent and commitment of an up-and-comer who is fighting for his chance at the big time. Either way, you'll find more heart and raw emotion at this event than any other around.

The Oregonsports.com crew will be on hand to capture all the action with a full photo gallery and event recap, so check in with us later that night for the skinny on all the ass-kickery. If you’d like to join us, get your tickets here.

Jeremy Lloyd

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Last seen: 1 year 27 weeks ago

Joined: 2010-08-06

Thought I'd pass on this press release from the FCFF:

On Saturday, April 23rd the Full Contact Fighting Federation comes back to Portland to host "Rumble @ The Roseland 56." The BIG Boys are going to Brawl in the Main event! A rare Super Heavyweight Championship will take place as well as a face-off between two undefeated fighters for the 170-pound Superfight belt. Tickets available at Safeways Tickets West, www.ticketswest.com and at the door starting at 6pm of the Roseland Theater with fights begining at 7pm.

The Main event brings two giants to the cage: Vancouver's Ryan Harrington weighting in at 290-pounds and Montana's "Big Country" Josh McPherson, who currently resides in Kelso, Washington. Harrington and McPherson have some similarities: both men bring astounding strength, with their collective last four victories ending in round one.

McPherson's last fight was on March 5th at Rumble @ The Roseland 55, where he stunned the crowd and his competition (Nick Butler) with a six second kick-to-the-chin knockout victory. "You don't often see the flexibility and precision of a high-kick from a Heavyweight," said FCFF Matchmaker, Kevin Keeney. Harrington's last fight was on January 22nd 2011 at Rumble @ The Roseland 54. He faced Andy Gilles and dominated, ending the round in only 38 seconds of round number one via a verbal submission.

Also on the Card for Rumble @ The Roseland 56 is a 170-pound FCFF Superfight. The undefeated ground-and-pound fighter Alex Jordan of Tillamook, Oregon will fight the undefeated Jason "Pepsi" Novelli of the notorious fight club: Team Quest. Jordan is a standout high school wrestler from Tillamook that also trains with the guys at the Dog Pound Fight Club. Jordan's goal is to earn this Superfight belt, putting him in line for the FCFF Welterweight Title Shot. "Alex Jordan may have a dominant style with his wrestling but Novelli is one of the most well rounded mixed martial artists the FCFF has ever seen," said Keeney, "there isn't a point in any fight that "Pepsi" looks uncomfortable in." Something will have to give on April 23 and one of these guys will be leaving Rumble 56 with their first ever loss, while the other will leave with a Superfight Belt, and Welterweight Championship Title shot.

Jeremy Lloyd

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Last seen: 1 year 27 weeks ago

Joined: 2010-08-06

Opening Notes:
- A standing room only crowd took in another great show at the Roseland Theater Saturday night as only 12 of 14 fights went to the judges’ scorecards. Props to Chael Sonnen for putting on a great show as usual.

- Ran into MMA legend Matt “The Law” Lindland, who was taking in the action as a spectator. He indicated that he’d have a few moments to talk next Friday at his own MMA promotion, SportFight, which I will be covering. If you’re wondering what Matt has been up to lately, check back next weekend and I’ll have an update for you.

- The next Rumble goes down March 5th. Again, if you’re an MMA fan and you haven’t been to one yet, what’s wrong with you?

- Yes, there was another female bout tonight. JERRY! JERRY! JERRY! Sorry, couldn’t contain myself. It seems like I’m seeing a lot more of these lately, and quite frankly, I like it!

- Now on to the fights in the order that they occurred, along with my random observations…

1) 170 lbs - Shane Patterson DEF Paul Belmont via 1st round submission

2) 145 lbs - Dylan Atkinson (first time fighter) DEF Austin “Danger” Powers (yes, that’s really his nickname) via 1st round submission

3) 170 lbs - Verdad Pezer DEF Daniel Dieringer via 1st round submission
Great story here. Pezer, a karate specialist, hoped on a plan and flew all the way from freakin’ BOSNIA to take this amateur fight. Started the fight off with a great judo throw, then ended up on his back, but locked in a leg triangle choke and held on despite getting slammed to the mat several times, Rampage Jackson-style. Watch out for this kid.

4) 190 lbs - Steve Polopolus vs. Josh Hitsman - Fight scratched because one of these guys didn’t have the proper paperwork. Really dude?

5) 165 lbs - Alex Jordan DEF Raul Bello via 1st round submission
Not sure if this was just a mismatched fight, but Jordan looked pretty impressive, immediately taking the fight to the ground and raining down nonstop punches. Bello got back on his feet, but Jordan wrapped him up, slammed him to the canvas with a picture-perfect suplex, and finished it off with an arm triangle.

6) Super Heavyweight - Ryan Harrington DEF Andy Gilles via 1st round verbal submission
This one took only a matter of seconds before Harrington leveled Gilles with an overhand right. Gilles lay flat on his back for a few seconds before realizing he didn’t want anymore of that, and verbally submitted. Not the most manly way to go out, but hey, I’m not getting in the ring to show him how it’s done.

7) 145 lbs - Rex Foulk DEF Andrew Emsley via 1st round submission

* That’s right, no fight has gone past the 1st round yet. There’s a saying in MMA: “Never leave it in the hands of the judges.” These guys took that to heart, apparently.

8) 205 lbs - Josh Ryan DEF Jacob Perkins in 3rd round via referee stoppage
Ryan pretty much dominated this one throughout, taking Perkins to the ground and connecting on strike after strike. By the third round, the ref had seen enough carnage.

9) 175 lbs - Jeremy Jones DEF Pat Ryan via 1st round submission

10) 170 lbs - Rafael Palma DEF Michael Saiville via 3rd round verbal submission
FIGHT OF THE NIGHT: This is the kind of fight you go to Rumble at the Roseland to see. It wasn’t artistic, or even pretty in any way, but both fighters left it all in the octagon. Immediately to start the 1st round, Palma kicks Saiville SQUARE in the man parts with the most-painful looking shot I’ve ever seen in my life. Completely unintentional, by the way. Saiville writhes in pain for about three minutes, gets up, does a backflip, tells the ref he’s ready to go, and proceeds to take Palma to the ground and pound him mercilessly for the next two rounds.

But in the 3rd, Saiville completely runs out of gas, goes to the ground and lays on his back, knowing that he’s leading on the judges’ scorecards and that Palma has no ground game whatsoever. But Palma will have none of it. He stays on his feet and begins to kick Saiville’s legs over and over with vicious shots. One of those shots must have connected pretty good, because Saiville ended up injuring his ankle, or knee, or something, and had to submit and hop out of the cage on one leg. Lesson to you up and coming MMA fighters: don’t ever underestimate your opponent.

11) Heavyweight - Ricardo Martinez DEF Eric Hurt via 2nd round referee stoppage
Round 1: Hurt lays on top of Martinez and punches him continually.
Round 2: Martinez lays on top of Hurt and punches him continually--but this time the ref stops it.

12) Bantamweight - Austin Warner DEF Craig Jordan via 1st round referee stoppage

13) Heavyweight - Jeremy Morse DEF Josh McPherson via split decision
Evenly matched and relatively uneventful fight goes to Morse in a close decision because McPherson got a point deducted for a rare knee to the body of a downed opponent penalty… while he was on his back. Never seen that before.

* That last fight was the first one all night to go to the judges’ scorecards.

14) 125 lb female fight - Robin Woods DEF Emily Whitmire via split decision
Blondes may have more fun, but in the only female fight of the night, Woods proved that brunettes kick more ass.  Whitmire had faster hands and was able to get in a few nice shots, but she didn’t have many chances. Woods looked like a miniature Matt Lindland out there, holding Whitmire against the cage, then taking her to the mat and proceeding to apply the ground and pound technique with authority. Woods managed only a split decision in her first time in the cage, which was just crazy--she dominated.

15) Light Heavyweight Championship - Kevin Fox DEF Damon Martindale via 2nd round knockout
In his last amateur fight before going pro, Fox went out with a bang, catching Martindale with a vicious right hand to end this one in the second round. It’s hard to really tell much about a fighter from a round and a half, but Fox seems to have the body and the skills to make it on the next level (perhaps SportFight?).

Note: I completely dropped the ball by failing to write down what type of submission every single fight ended with and exactly how much time remained in the round. My bad--I’ll do better next time.

Jeremy Lloyd

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Last seen: 1 year 27 weeks ago

Joined: 2010-08-06

I’ve had the opportunity to do some cool things in my time as an underpaid, overworked and mostly unknown member of the Portland sports media. I got to stand within 5 feet of his Airness Michael Jordan in the visitor’s locker room at the Rose Garden, coordinate a magazine photo shoot with Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge, interview some of the state’s premier athletes and see some great games up close and personal. But some of my favorite sports memories of all time have come from a smalltime amateur MMA event at the Roseland Theater--no joke.  

It’s called Rumble at the Roseland, and it features the area’s top amateur fighters. Some are trying to work their way up the ladder and eventually make it to the UFC. Others? They just wanna kick a little ass and have a good time. For some reason, it’s the latter that gets me going. I’ve seen a 50-year-old man beat down a 20-something whippersnapper, and bring the house down in the process. I’ve seen girls step into the ring and throw down in a way you’ve never seen before on Jerry Springer. And I’ve seen some of the most impressive knockouts ever, because, well, some first-timers haven’t quite mastered the art of self-defense yet.

These amateurs are fighting for the love of the sport, and they always show each other respect after the fight, because that’s how you’re paid in an amateur event--with respect.

Oh sure, it’s gritty, sometimes bloody, and quite frankly, a little bit scary. Ever seen one of those Jean-Claude Van Damme movies where he’s in a cage fight in some dive bar full of blood-thirsty bikers screaming, “Tear his head off!” Well, this is the real life version of that—minus the horrible acting, of course. But I’ve seen kids there, and I’ve taken my 76-year-old dad (who loved it, by the way), so there’s no good reason for you to wimp out.

If you really want to know what mixed martial arts is all about, this is as real and raw as it gets. It’s this Saturday at 7pm, and you can buy tickets here for relatively cheap--at least compared to a Blazer game. I’ll be in the house for the smorgasbord of violent goodness--will you?