On a Saturday night chock-full of combat sports, World Series of Fighting 10 wrapped up quickly. Topped by three title fights, we saw one champion get minted, one champion get dethroned and one champion establish himself among the pound-for-pound best in the world.
The headlining bout, a showdown between Jesse Taylor and David Branch to name the promotion’s first middleweight champ, saw Branch take a surprisingly quick win. Taylor shot for a takedown as soon as the bell sounded, but Branch sprawled with ease, prompting Taylor to pull guard with a guillotine choke. Branch defended without incident and turned his way into a brabo choke, which forced Taylor to tap shortly thereafter.
It was a surprisingly quick win between two grinders, but it showed that Branch is not somebody to be trifled with. He will almost certainly face fellow UFC veteran Yushin Okami in his first title defense.
In the night’s co-main event, Roufusport’s Rick Glenn pulled off a big upset over the heavily favored Georgi Karakhanyan. The fight got off to a fast start as Karakhanyan got deep on an armbar attempt and nearly tore his arm apart a la Ronda Rousey vs. Miesha Tate 1. Glenn miraculously escaped and attacked Karakhanyan with savage ground-and-pound to, quite possibly, steal the round.
In the second, the two exchanged blows before Glenn stuffed a takedown attempt, worked Karakhanyan to the cage and unleashed savage strikes. While the now-former champ would survive the round, he was unable to answer the bell for the third due to a broken rib and was declared the loser by TKO.
Glenn would receive his belt, flanked by Ben Askren and Duke Roufus, and sent a strong message to WSOF’s entire featherweight division.
Congrats to @gladiatorglenn new champ!!!! pic.twitter.com/aVkkZmjMgG
— Ben Askren (@Benaskren) June 22, 2014
Women’s strawweight champion Jessica Aguilar made Emi Fujino look every bit the jobber she was supposed to be with an absolutely dominant win. Aguilar busted up the challenger with punches in the first round and kept her a bloody mess for all 25 minutes of their fight.
It was every bit the squash match people expected, and Aguilar looked every bit the elite talent she is billed as, scoring a unanimous 50-44 decision victory.
Unfortunately, this is the only kind of fight we can look forward to from “Jag.” With Invicta and the UFC both scooping up all the strawweight talent they can find, WSOF has no serious opponents for her and few prospects it could build toward such a fight.
UFC castaway Tyson Griffin and Pride Bushido veteran Luiz Firmino combined for what was quite possibly the best fight of the night. Firmino asserted himself early, getting the better of Griffin with punches. Griffin would bounce back nicely in the second, landing heavy punches and taking Firmino’s back. Unfortunately, Griffin’s iffy gas tank got the better of him, and Firmino took advantage late to secure the decision win.
In the opening fight, Team Alpha Male prospect Lance Palmer absolutely ran through Nick LoBosco. The four-time All-American wrestler scored a takedown in the opening seconds of the fight, worked his way to back position and poured on uncontested punches for minutes on end before sinking in a rear-naked choke.
It was an eerily dominant win by Palmer, and it certainly made him look like one of the best featherweights outside the UFC.
The full results are as follows, per MMAFighting.com’s Guilherme Cruz:
Main Card
- David Branch def. Jesse Taylor via submission (D’Arce choke) at 1:41 of Round 1
- Rick Glenn def. Georgi Karakhanyan via TKO (doctor stoppage) at 5:00 of Round 2
- Jessica Aguilar def. Emi Fujino via unanimous decision (50-44, 50-44, 50-44)
- Luiz Firmino def. Tyson Griffin via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Lance Palmer def. Nick LoBosco via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:15 of Round 1
Undercard
- Derrick Mehmen def. Dave Huckaba via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-25, 30-27)
- Timur Valiev def. Adam Acquaviva via TKO (flying knee) at 1:35 of Round 3
- Krasimir Mladenov def. Angel DeAnda via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Ashlee Evans-Smith def. Marciea Allen via TKO (elbows) at 3:01 of Round 3
- Jimmy Spicuzza def. Justin Jaynes via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- A.J. Williams def. Tanner Cowan via TKO (strikes) at 0:44 of Round 1
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