X1 Battlegrounds 4 – Full Results !

Report by Robert Monroe – editor MMA Hawaii

Photo’s by Drew Erickson and Norman Kaui -   MMA Hawaii Photography

Marcelo Tigre pulls a no show!  Mark Moreno demolishes John Geraghty with one right hand ! Eddie Yagin shines !

Neal Blaisdell Arena was home to the X1 Battlegrounds 4 card on Saturday night June 10^th. Even though the scheduled main event of UFC Vet Trevor Prangley vs. Marcelo Tigre was cancelled due to Tigre supposedly having a broken hand the rest of the night had the local boys once again saving the show. I don’t believe anyone left the arena unsatisfied except for Prangley. Prangley was called to the ring for his comments on Tigre’s no show and when informed it was a supposed broken hand that kept Tigre from participating Prangley commented. “Broke hand, Broke back mountain, whatever? I am here, I came to fight. This is what I do." Hopefully Prangley will be able to return to Hawaii in the future as he is a great, action packed, fast paced fighter.

On a side note Phil Baroni was called to the ring and said he had heard of a guy named Robbie Lawler that had been over here beating up on the Hawaiian's, Baroni went on to say he wants to kick Robbie Lawlers ass. After the bouts were over I spoke with Baroni and he made mention of the match possibly happening on a ICON card in the future but that nothing had been signed as of yet but it is a match he wants.

Moving into the spotlight of the “New” Main Event was none other than Mark Moreno of Bulls Pen. Moreno was facing tough Freestyle Academy mainland fighter John Geraghty.

Both fighters started the bout cautiously exchanging good strong leg kicks. Only pawing jabs were used by both fighters in the early part of the round. Geraghty looked as if he was tired of waiting and rushed in. Unfortunately he rushed right into a huge right hand. The first “real” punch of the fight. Geraghty fell like a ton of bricks. The punch landed square in the left eye socket of Geraghty. He was on the ground for what seemed like an eternity while the ringside doctor’s and EMT staff worked on him. Finally Geraghty left the ring under his own power. An ambulance was called to the Arena for precautionary reasons. Last word was that fortunately Geraghty would be ok. Moreno took time to thank the crowd and his sponsors with the help of the back of his fathers shirt which listed Moreno’s sponsors.

Eddie Yagin of Grappling Unlimited faced off against game Kana Hyatt of Young Guns. Both fighters started the bout with big punches but most did not land. Had any of those punches landed for either fighter it would have been a very short bout. Both fighters did land solid leg kicks in the first round. Toward the end of the round Yagin shot in for a big double leg takedown. When Hyatt hit the ground he immediately pulled guard. Yagin ended the round strong with one big elbow strike and two moderate punches.

The second round had both fighters swinging for the fences again only this time both sides started to land. Once again Yagin opted to go for the takedown and Hyatt pulls guard again. Yagin moved to side mount and unleashed a barrage of punches to Hyatts head when Hyatt moved onto his side making the back of his head available to Yagin. Hyatt worked to defend himself but the referee deemed it was necessary to step in and stop the fight .

Mark Oshiro of Bulls Pen made short work of Tony Belvedere of Team Devils Den. Belvedere immediately was looking to take down Oshiro but Oshiro countered perfectly and secured a guillotine choke in the opening minute of round one. Belvedere slumped over face first on the bottom rope unconscious and upon waking still thought the fight was going on. Fortunately for him it was not.

In a bizarre bout Bryson Kamaka of 808 FF took on amped up Joshua Ferreira of Freelance Waianae.

Ferreira had a very emotional ring entrance giving the crowd “most muscular” poses and growling. The face off in the middle of the ring left the crowd knowing that these guys were ready to get it on. The bout amazingly enough started a little cautious on both fighters sides. Kamaka landed a hard inside leg kick that took out the leg of Ferreira and caused him to lose his balance. Kamaka sensing a perfect time to attack launched a flying knee at Ferreira but Kamaka ran straight into a solid punch that sent him to the ground. Visibly hurt Kamaka scrambled to get up. But Kamaka only made it to one knee and one hand when he was kicked in the head by Ferreira. The referee jumped in and at first it looked as if they were going to give the fight to Ferreira but upon seeing the big screen Ferreira was disqualified as the rules state that you cannot kick a fighter to the head that is down. Kamaka was clearly not KO’d and was trying to make his way to his feet when the kick landed to his head sending him crumbling back to the canvas. Kamaka was incensed and wanted to continue the fight causing both corners to jump in the ring along with numerous security guards. This bout definitely should set up a rematch. I think everyone would want to see it and definitely both fighters would want it.

Dylan Clay put on a Jiu-Jitsu clinic taking care of the much bigger and stronger Kimo Woelfel. Surprisingly Clay was willingly ready to strike with Woelfel. Once both fighters were on the ground Clay was able to get Woelfel’s back and worked to sink the rear naked choke. Kimo does a good job defending it and eventually works his way out and escapes. Clay pulls guard and puts Woelfel in what appeared to be a super tight triangle. The end of the round came to save Woelfel.

At the start of the 2^nd round again surprisingly the much smaller Clay drove Woelfel straight back landing head snapping punches. When they hit the corner Clay pulled off a huge takedown. This put the fighters tangled up in the ropes and the ref moved them out and repositioned them. Once again Clay managed to get Woelfel’s back and sunk his hooks. Woelfel started to roll across the ring and Clay managed to stay stuck to the big mans back in perfect position. Woelfel survived the rear naked choke in the first round but could not survive this one. Woelfel taps out mid way through the second round.

808 FF fighter John Crisostomo faced Chad Guzman from Team Papakolea. From the outset Crisostomo looked to have too much experience and skill for Guzman. Crisostomo controlled the bout with big leg kicks and put on a picture perfect display on how to stay in range and slip shots with angles and make your opponent pay. For myself, this was possibly the highlight of the night.

I cant wait to see the dvd of this ten second sequence. After slipping and landing big punches Crisostomo slammed Guzman to the mat and ended up on top in the north – south position. Crisostomo worked his way into position to apply an arm bar. Guzman worked well to defend only to find himself in danger of a triangle choke. Guzman again attempted to escape only to be caught in a tight arm bar which ended the fight in the first round.

Lorrin Ishimine and Kaleo Kwan had a back and forth see-saw battle. Ishimine started the bout attempting a superman that missed. When the two hit the mat Ishimine put Kwan on his back and Kwan pulled guard quickly. Ishimine attempted to pass but settled for a little bit of ground and pound. Many of the shots missed as Kwan did a good job defending. Ishimine moved to the side mount where the round ended. At the close of the first Ishimine landed a handful of knee strikes to Kwan’s ribcage from the side mount.

Round two started out wildly. Both fighters ended up trapped in the corner where Ishimine looked to try a double leg takedown. Kwan did a amazing job defending the takedown. Ishimine then went for a single leg hoping to have better luck. Ishimine adjusts and goes for a judo throw which failed and ended up with him falling. Kwan then capitalized  with a big knee strike. Both fighters ended the second once again trapped in the corner.

Round three begins with Ishimine shooting and getting the takedown. Kwan once again gets to the guard position. With not enough action to satisfy the ref he stands the fighters up. At this point both fighters became very hesitant to throw. Allmost a minute went by in the round without any action. This could very well have been what cost Kwan the bout. Kwan’s corner was shouting to Kwan to get busy but it fell on deaf ears.  Ishimine heeded his corners urging and lands a big right hand which quite possibly could have secured the win for him. The fight was close but the judges saw the bout in Ishimine’s favor giving him the decision.

“Dirty Dave” Moreno went to war with Lorenzo Moreno. It didn’t last long but it was one full round of action. That’s all a spectator can ask for. Dave landed strong hard leg kicks and eventually both fighters went to the ground.

Dave ended up pulling guard and Lorenzo works his strikes. Dave reversed and got full mount. Once in the mount Dave unleashed a series of hard elbows. I can testify to this as they were laying right in front of me. The elbow strikes did immediate damage. Dirty Dave goes for an arm bar but Lorenzo manages to escape. The round ended with both fighters standing but Lorenzo was wearing the damage of the elbow strikes. Lorenzo appeared to have trouble seeing as he walked back to his corner with blood streaming down his face. When the bell sounded to start the second round the doctor had stepped up to look at Lorenzo’s injuries and deemed that the fight should not go on. To Lorenzo’s credit he showed huge heart while continuing to fight after the elbow strikes. They were as solid as it gets.

Aleka Rincon faced off against Marcus Moreno. In round one both fighters traded strong shots with Rincon landing some good knee strikes.

Round two had Rincon landing a solid knee strike only it was unfortunately to Moreno’s groin. When the action started Moreno gets a takedown and Rincon works to reverse his postion on the bottom. Moreno pulls guard, Rincon does a nice job passing guard and then once again Moreno works to gain the guard position back again. Rincon again passes to gain control from the north – south position. Both fighters worked the ground and pound as the opportunities came to them.

Round three sees Rincon with a big slam. Once again both fighters traded position throughout the last round. Rincon appeared to have the upper hand in the last round finishing strong. The judges saw it the same way and awarded the unanimous decision to Rincon.

In the preliminary bouts the results were as follows.

David Balicao of Nanakuli Kickboxing went head to head against Donald Gonzalez of Young Guns in a XMA Standup bout. Both fighters traded well with Gonzalez looking to have the upper hand in the first.

Round two had both fighters once again very evenly matched.  

The bout seemed to be determined in the third when unfortunately for Gonzalez he seemed to be waiting and was not busy enough to win the round. His corner urged him to get busy but he was hesitant. The last twenty seconds of the fight ended with both fighters landing some good shots. In the end the judges saw the bout for Balicao.

In an amateur bout Thomas Ferguson was able to finish off Nickolas Agricola at one minute even of the first round. Ferguson applied a tight rear naked choke to get the win.

The opening bout was an amateur bout that had Peter Placido getting the nod in a unanimous decision win over game Gene “Bino” Gregory.

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