RFO returned to their home base at the Richland County Fairgrounds over the weekend, and a big crowd was on hand as per usual for Big Guns 17 – The Exorcism.
It was a card that took a lot of hits with fighters falling out in the weeks leading up, but matchmaker Scott Corbin and promoter Matt Trukovich put on yet another solid fight card that left the fans happy at the end of the night.
An unfortunate incident took place when RJ Buck (1-1) injured his knee warming up for his co-main event bout against Mike Williams (2-4), leaving that bout unable to go down. A total of 11 fights did happen, and our full recap is below.
‘Of the Night’ Awards
Performance of the Night: Chico Bays
Fight of the Night: Josh Longood vs. Kendale Young
Submission of the Night: Josh Longood
Knockout of the Night: Chaka Worthy
For full results from RFO: Big Guns 17 – The Exorcism, click here.
Honebadger Comeback
Josh Longood (3-0) was losing his fight against Kendale Young (1-1) until midway through the second round, when he was finally able to get it to the ground into his wheelhouse. Young was using good footwork and staying on the outside away from the hometown favorite, who seemed to be telegraphing his strikes and was unable to set up his takedowns.
But then Longood got the fight to the ground with a solid takedown in the second, and from there the tide of the fight started to turn. Young was able to roll Longood with sheer power despite being in a bad full mount spot, but once Longood was on his back he began to look for submissions, and he locked in an arm bar, almost immediately forcing the tap as Young appeared to injure his arm.
It was a great test for Longood, and hopefully he will start to work on the holes that were exposed in his striking game on Saturday night. The sky is still the limit for him, and training at Ronin is only going to make him better each and every day.
Flawless Victory
Perhaps the fight I was most excited for on the card was the middleweight contest pitting Chico Bays (2-0) and Tony Dipiero (0-1). Both fighters had lengthy amateur careers and were looking for a big win on Saturday.
But the fight was all Bays from the time the first bell sounded, as he was landing strikes at will against the Cleveland native. A head kick just seconds into the fight was partially blocked, but Bays made him keep thinking about the head kick as he was landing his short check left hook time and again.
Another head kick about 90 seconds in dropped Dipiero, but he was able to make it back to his feet before Bays pounced. Bays dropped him again seconds later with that short left hook, and from there he did pounce and threw a few finishing blows before the referee jumped in to save Dipiero.
Gunther is a machine
Much like Longood, John Gunther (2-0) appeared to be in trouble in multiple spots in his fight against Chris Tucker (1-3). He got clipped with a big shot early in the first round, but he walked through it and was able to land a takedown of his own to get the fight to the ground. He then transitioned to Tucker’s back, where he threw some big elbows as he looked to open up the guard.
The fight was stopped after a flurry from Gunther, but Tucker’s corner complained of illegal elbows to the back of the head that the referee missed. At least one elbow did appear to land to the back of the head, but Gunther was in control of the fight at that point.
Impressive amateurs
The amateur card took a hit in losing one fight during weigh-ins and then one fight the day of, but eight bouts still went down and featured a good amount of talent.
Chaka Worthy (2-0), the little brother of pro fighter Khama Worthy, made the trek from Pittsburgh and earned our “knockout of the night” honors for his victory over Thomas Morris (0-1). Worthy was in a bit of trouble early in the fight as Morris had a D’arce choke locked in deep, but “The Star Destroyer” was able to work his way out and back to his feet. His boxing skills were impressive, and he finished the fight with a pair of right hands – first on to the body, and then a right hand to the jaw that put Morris away.
Aleksa Camur (3-0) is just 20 years old, but he may be the next big thing to come out of the Strong Style Fight Team. He stayed patient against the more experienced Apineru Vele (4-2), who was throwing big shots and swinging for the fences, and was eventually able to cut off the cage and pick his spots. He landed a vicious 1-2 combination early in the second round, and Vele dropped as the referee jumped in to save him. Camur earned the TKO win and is one of the fighters to watch out for in the near future.
Camur’s teammate Kenny Locsei (4-0) also stayed unbeaten, as he tapped Laurence Wilder (2-1) with a rear naked choke with just seconds left in the first round. Locsei landed big strikes from the back of Wilder, who opened up and allowed Locsei to sink in the choke for the win.
Lighweight Sean Felton (5-3) traveled all the way from New York with a pretty big cheering section, and he was able to take home the victory with a workmanlike performance to earn a unanimous decision over Bill Gingery (10-9).