Props to Zombie Prophet for the fight video.
If you were curious as to how different a night of fights being put together by Nick Diaz would be from a typical night of fights heading into last night’s WAR MMA 1, the short answer is “not too much (yet).” Despite some rule changes designed to prevent stalling and a one point deduction due to timidity during Cody Gibson vs. Darin Cooley – this is right around where you can insert your own Stockton Rules joke – seven out of twelve bouts went to decision. This isn’t to say that the fights were boring, but rather, that the special rules didn’t make much of a difference.
The main event of the evening saw UFC veteran Daniel Roberts take on Justin Baesman. The fight looked like it was in danger of being stopped just seconds into the first round, as Roberts caught Baesman’s kick, took him down and began punching away. But Baesman hung on, and survived the subsequent choke attempt, to get back to his feet and earn two takedowns by the end of the first round.
The second round saw Baesman continue to outwork Roberts, who was visibly spent from his opening efforts by this point. Roberts would earn a takedown of his own at the start of the third round – and spend most of the round in top control – but in the end it wasn’t enough to convince two of the three judges that he did enough to win the fight.
Full Results from WAR MMA 1:
Justin Baesman def. Daniel Roberts via split decision
Evan Esguerra def. Caleb Mitchell via unanimous decision
Clayton McKinney def. Mike Persons via unanimous decision
D.J. Linderman def. Mike Hayes via unanimous decision
Cody Gibson def. Darin Cooley via third-round TKO (3:46)
Roy Boughton def. Mike Martinez via verbal submission (toehold) (R1, 0:28)
Dominic Clarke def. Chris Quitiquit via second-round TKO (doctor’s stoppage, 0:37)
Marcel Fortuna def. CJ Marsh via submission (side choke) (R2, 2:40)
Anthony Tatum def. Joey Cabezas via split decision
Adrian Adona def. Beau Hamilton via second-round TKO (doctor’s stoppage, 5:00)
Mike Ortega def. Jordan Powell via split decision
Derek Brown def. Aziz Rashid via unanimous decision
So what was your impression of WAR MMA’s first event? Do you feel the fights were worth whatever you donated to watch them? Let us know what you think.
