Commonwealth Games wrestler Shane Parker was too good for Justin Cobby at Urban Fight Night 6 on Sunday, claiming a well deserved unanimous decision in the show’s main event.
The event took place at the Whitlam Leisure Centre in Liverpool, Sydney.
Parker looked confident in his striking from the get-go and dropped the Perth based new-comer early with a straight right. Cobby to his credit recovered almost instantly. Parker took centre cage while Cobby circled backwards as the flyweights exchanged strikes. Parker, the shorter of the two, looked to use his speed to get inside with combinations while Cobby had some success catching Parker on occasions coming forward. Parker showed off his wrestling prowess at one point in the opening frame, scooping Cobby up easily and dumping him hard on his back. Cobby, a BJJ purple belt, went straight to work searching for a triangle choke submission before working nicely back to his feet.
The second round began with a touch of gloves. Parker caught Cobby with an overhand right and wrestled him to the canvas, winding up in side control. Cobby worked back to full guard and immediately went on the offensive from his back, forcing a cautious Parker to back out and return to his feet. The two continued to exchange before once again Parker took Cobby down with another big slam from up over his shoulder. Cobby, looking unfazed by the ride, again proved dangerous on the canvas and Parker soon stood back up. Parker came forward with a punch-kick combination, Cobby grabbed a leg but was taken to the ground by the stockier Parker. They returned standing soon after. The round closed out with Cobby diving in for a takedown, which Parker easily avoided before firing off a handful of hammer-fists to the side of Cobby’s head.
The final round began cautiously from both fighters. Parker attacked with kicks while Cobby looked to keep him at a distance with his jab. At one point, Parker unleashed a flying knee to the midsection of Cobby, who continued to show good resilience and composure. Both men had some success in the standup in the third round but it was Parker who look to land the cleaner blows. The fight ended in a scramble as both men looked to finish what was an entertaining technical contest strongly. Parker was awarded the victory unanimously by the judges.
In the co-main event, Lion’s High Performance light heavyweight Tyson Pedro dominated Trinity MMA Adelaide’s Michael Fitzgerald with an array of strikes before submitting him with a standing guillotine choke in the opening round.
A faced paced amateur featherweight title fight between undefeated prospects Brad Shortland and Robby Lara headlined the amateur portion of the card. Training out of the Nova MMA gym, Shortland earned a well deserved victory in the clash, out striking Lara, who never looked like backing down, before finishing the Roots trained fighter with punches from back mount.
With Peter “The Chief” Graham in his corner, IMC welterweight Adam Rehayem defeated Rob Viero from Focus MMA in a strong performance. Rehayem, the stockier of the two fighters, hurt Viero with uppercuts and power strikes throughout the encounter. Viero put in a resilient effort but in the end he was left crumpled over with a solid knee to the body from Rehayem, who finished the contest with strikes on the ground.
Prodigy MMA’s Harry Thomson scored a quick submission in a lightweight bout with ATT’s Matt Cassell. Thomson got the fight to the canvas early and controlled Cassell from top position before sinking in the rear-naked choke and earning the tap.
Popular fighters Saipele Esera (Lion’s High Performance) and Shahin Bakhtiyari (ATT) met in an explosive 86kg battle. The entertaining fight was closely contested going into the second frame. Both men let their hands go to begin the round, standing toe-to-toe in a crowd pleasing display. It was Bakhtiyari who connected, however, and Esera hit the canvas sending the crowd into celebration mode.
SPMA trained lightweight Cooba Watkins stopped My BJJ’s Ofa Misa at lightweight. The bigger looking Watkins stayed calm and composed throughout the contest, picking his shots while Misa attacked the legs with kicks. After surviving a long-lasting guillotine choke attempt from Misa to end the opening round, Watkins upped the pace in the second, picking Misa apart in an impressive striking display before claiming the TKO with multiple punches against the cage.
Among other fights on Sunday, ATT Sydney’s Sani Laititi backed up his impressive UFN 5 knockout, dropping Hulk MMA’s Keegan Richmond cleanly in an exchange to claim another first round stoppage.
Meanwhile, PMA welterweight Emil Jeries made short work of Louay Ishak in the second fight of the evening, tripping the SPMA trained fighter before sealing the victory with hammerfists on the canvas at just 1:05 into the short-lived scrap.
The night of fights opened up with an entertaining 66 kg battle between Andrew Ho (ATT) and Michael Goufas-Piper (Macarthur MA). Ho ate left hands throughout from Goufas-Piper, a southpaw who showed good movement. Ho did have some success of his own, however, in what was primarily a boxing match. Those straight left hands combined with body kicks from Gougas-Piper were too much in the end for Ho, who was left folded over with just 10 seconds left in the fight.
The next Urban Fight Night event is scheduled for Saturday May 7. According to the promotion, the pro portion of the show is expected to expand and names like Tai Tuivasa, Randall Ray, Brandon Ropati, JJ Van Aswegen and Raja Shippen are possibilities.
Results (Pro):
- Shane Parker def Justin Cobby via Decision (Unanimous)
- Tyson Pedro def Michael Fitzgerald via Submission (Guillotine Choke), Rd 1, 2:20
Results (Amateur):
- Brad Shortland def Robby Lara via TKO (Punches), Rd 4
- Cameron Rowston def Josh Francis via Submission (Arm-Bar), Rd 2, 2:50
- Adam Rehayem def Rob Viero via TKO (Knee, Punches), Rd 3, 1:20
- Harry Thomson def Matt Cassell via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 1, 1:30
- Wayne Cummins def Hayder Khudair via Submission, Rd 2
- Jose Bautista def James Long via Submission, Rd 2
- Joseph Culibao def George Symes via KO (Punch), Rd 1, 0:45
- Andrew Khare def Stuart Mcbeath via Decision
- Shahin Bakhtiyari def Saipele Esera via TKO, Rd 2, 0:10
- Cooba Watkins def Ofa Misa via TKO (Punches), Rd 2, 1:01
- Sone Laititi def Keegan Richmond via KO (Punch), Rd 1
- Emil Jerries def Louay Ishak via TKO (Punches), Rd 1, 1:05
- Michael Goufas-Piper def Andrew Ho via TKO (Kicks, Punches), Rd 3
