(Image source: Joshua Stebbings)
Steve Kennedy became the second Australian Fighting Championship middleweight champion on Saturday with a fourth round submission win over TUF: Smashes alumni, and one-time UFC fighter, Manny Rodriguez.
The clash headlined the promotions AFC 7 event at the Melbourne Pavilion.
Besides a late takedown from Rodriguez, the opening round was primarily a standup encounter, as both men looked for an early opening. landing the cleaner shots, including a solid left hook to the face — which Kennedy took in his stride — points wise it was Rodriguez with the edge by rounds end. 10-9 Rodriguez.
Much of the same continued in the early stages of the second stanza as Rodriguez proved to have a slight advantage in the boxing department. Kennedy was quick to avoid any real damage however, and continuously pawed back shots of his own. As the round progressed, Kennedy began to throw caution to the wind while Rodriguez settled into a counter striking role. After tagging Rodriguez with an uppercut, Kennedy landed his most significant strike of the round, in the form of a right hand which wobbled Rodriguez. Kennedy immediately took the fight to the canvas, however Rodriguez did well to nullify any offence and soon after the referee intervenes with a standup. A wayward head kick from Rodriguez soon after, which sees him fall flat on his backside, allows Kennedy to take back control. After eating a few shots to the head, Rodriguez rolls and the round closes out with Kennedy in full guard. 10-9 Kennedy.
A solid left hook, along with a right punch to the midsection of Kennedy, highlighted the opening minutes of the third as Rodriguez returned to the front foot. Kennedy ducks an over committed looping hook soon after however, and claims Rodriguez’s back once again. Rodriguez eventually gets Kennedy back to full guard, where he eats short shots until the referee again stands them up with just seconds remaining. 10-9 Kennedy.
The early stages of the forth round sees Kennedy capitalise on a failed takedown attempt from Rodriguez and soon after ends the entertaining contest with a Kimura from side control.
The win takes Kennedy’s record to 13-6 while Rodriguez slips to 9-5.
The co-main event saw Peter Davenport and Dean Purdon in an entertaining back and forth rematch of their AFC 5 clash. Unlike their first encounter, which Purdon ended early with a come from behind submission, the contest went the distance with the judges scoring it unanimously for Davenport. Davenport’s power punching proved to be the telling factor in the win over a resilient Purdon, who stayed busy on the back foot throughout.
AFC 7 also featured the first stage of the promotion’s bantamweight tournament with Gustavo Falciroli vs Kai Kara-France and Charlie Alaniz vs Giancarlo Embradora.
Coming off a lengthy absence from competition, arguably Australia’s top bantamweight, Gustavo Falciroli, 31, and young Kiwi standout, Kai Kara-France, 20, fought to a disappointing no contest early in the second round. Kara-France had some late success in the striking department but ultimately Falciroli, a BJJ black belt, controlled the Kiwi with his wrestling and grappling prowess.
The end of the bout saw Falciroli crumple Kara-France with a knee to the body which sent him crashing head first through the ropes. With the Kiwi unable to continue, the contest was waved off, which sent Falciroli and his supporters into celebration mode. The jubilation was short lived however, as the official verdict was ruled a no contest due to Kara-France colliding with a ringside table.
Falciroli released the following statement via Facebook regarding the incident.
“Today I SHOULD have won my fight by KO.
“Unfortunately, the fight was bizarrely called a no contest due to a plastic water bottle and the ridiculous cage ban in Victoria.
“In the second round, I landed a combination, finishing with a knee that sent my opponent through the ropes (for the second time in the fight) and the referee stopped it. I came back to the corner and celebrated, saying that the knee landed perfectly and it was clear to everyone that I won.
“Post fight, however, the commission advised that my opponent hit his head on a plastic water battle (initially it was claimed to be a table) when he fell through the ropes and that he was not able to continue due to the clash with the bottle.
“Obviously this is absurd so we will be lodging a formal complaint in an attempt to overturn the no contest.“
Regardless of what Kara-France actually collided with outside the ring, the incident only reinforces the argument for the scrapping of the state’s cage ban.
In the opening bantamweight tournament fight, explosive local fighter Charlie Alaniz proved too good across the board for Giancarlo Embradora with the judges scoring the faced paced encounter unanimously in his favour.
Nineteen year-old Jordan Lucas kept his undefeated record intact (4-0) with a first round armbar submission of Sydney’s Adam Corbett. Corbett replaced Ivo Dos Santos on just one weeks notice after Dos Santos was ruled unavailable due to a broken rib. Post fight, Corbett reveled the extent of the defeat on social media, posting that his arm is broken.
Among other results from the night, Victorian based Brazilian, Rodolfo Marques, unanimously outpoint New Zealand’s Mark Abelardo to advance to the next stage of the promotion’s featherweight tournament. Despite holding a sizable experience advantage, Marques, a BJJ black belt and veteran of over 18 professional MMA fights, couldn’t put away the resilient Kiwi, who coming into the clash was listed on Sherdog.com with a pro record of 2-2.
Unofficial Results:
- Steve Kennedy def Manny Rodriguez via Submission (Kimura), Rd 4, 0:51
- Peter Davenport def Dean Purdon via Decision (Unanimous)
- Nick Patterson def Rod Staader via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 1, 1:57
- Gustavo Falciroli vs Kai Kara-France – No Contest, Rd 2
- Alex Volkanovski def Luke Catubig via TKO (Strikes), Rd 3, 4:39
- Charlie Alaniz def Giancarlo Embradora via Decision (Unanimous)
- Rodolfo Marques def Mark Abelardo via Decision (Unanimous)
- Jordan Lucas def Adam Corbett via Submission (Armbar), Rd 1, 2:00
- Callan Potter def Troy Resic via TKO (Strikes), Rd 1, 4:59
- Chris Birch def David Gibb via Submission (Guillotine Choke), Rd 1, 3:42
