Tasmanian fighter Connor ‘The Law’ Murphy (pictured) booked himself a light heavyweight final spot in the Championship Tournament on Friday night, with a controversial first round TKO win over former NSW Waratah, and Wimp 2 Warrior season 1 winner, Francis ‘The Northern Beaches Bad Boy’ Cullimore in the Brace 28 main event. The Priscus Fogagnolo trained fighter will now go on to face the in-form Mike Turner from Adelaide for the 2014 Light Heavyweight Championship Title on November 22, at the AIS Arena in Canberra.
Brace 28 took place at a packed North Sydney Leagues Club and featured the first stage of the promotion’s semi-final bouts in this year’s Championship Tournament. The second and final group of semi-finals will take place the following night (Sat. August 9) at the same venue.
Round one began with Cullimore landing a right hand before Murphy fired back with a leg kick. A second leg kick attempt from Murphy landed low and the clash was halted briefly while Cullimore recuperated. Upon the restart, Cullimore began to show his strength with a pair of power punches, however Murphy backed up and avoided any real damage. Murphy landed another leg kick not long after. Cullimore came forward feigning uppercuts and looking to come over the top with the right hand. Cullimore fired off a leg kick of his own, however Murphy kept hold of the kick and forced him to the canvas before gaining mount soon after. Cullimore rolled allowing Murphy to take his back before landing short shots to the head of the 37 year-old. Cullimore looked to work his way back up but Murphy used his wrestling to keep him from standing. Cullimore got back up eventually, however Murphy drove him back down and connected with more short shots to the head. From there, Cullimore rolled and made his way back up again while Murphy continued striking and the ref waved the short lived fight off, much to the confusion and disappointment of the crowd. Directly following the stoppage loss, Cullimore protested the call with support from his vocal fan base in attendance.
Popular Central Coast fighter Jamie Mullarkey will face off with either JJ Van Aswegen or Gokhan Turkyilmaz for the Featherweight Championship Title in Canberra after submitting Sydney’s Byron Cowell in the co-main event. Mullarkey took the featherweight semi-final victory in the closing seconds of the first round with a rear-naked choke. The second featherweight final spot will be decided on Saturday night with Van Aswegen and Turkyilmaz set to meet in the Brace 29 co-main event.
Nineteen year-old Mullarkey didn’t have the entertaining scrap all his own way with Cowell close to locking up an armbar midway through the first round. Mullarkey defended well however, and prevented the New Zealand born fighter from extending his arm. Mullarkey broke free eventually and landed a short shot before standing once more. The two fighters exchanged strikes before Mullarkey scored another takedown moving straight into half guard. From there he connected with elbows then worked to the mount which forced Cowell to roll. Mullarkey pounced on the opportunity and sunk in the rear-naked choke forcing Cowell to tap. Post fight the youngster called for a rematch with newly signed One FC Aussie Martin Nguyen, who he suffered his sole MMA loss to as an amateur at Brace 21.
In a Bantamweight Championship Semi-Final clash, Giancarlo Embradora and Tom Cruz met in a closely contested, technical, and fan-friendly bout which in the end was decided by the judges. It was Embradora who walked away with a majority points decision and now advances to the bantamweight final in Canberra to face either Edwin Arana or Jordan Lucas for the division’s 2014 Championship Title.
It was a tentative start from both fighters at the opening bell. Embradora began with a leg kick as Cruz landed a Jab in response. After briefly hitting the canvas, Cruz regained his feet and forced Embradora up against the cage. Embradora reversed position not long after and dropped down searching for a takedown. He got it but Cruz sprung back to his feet. After a period of time with Embradora controlling Cruz against the cage and working for another takedown, the ref stepped in and separated the two. As they reengaged, Cruz began to use his sizable reach advantage with his jab. A swinging left missed from Embradora but he continued forward and tied Cruz up against the cage where he controlled him once again. Cruz reversed position and the two fighters exchanged knees before Cruz landed with a number of crowd pleasing shoulder strikes. Embradora reversed position on the 10 second warning and the first round came to an end.
Much like the opening round, the second frame began cautiously with both fighters looking to pick their shots wisely. Cruz landed with a right hand to the body, with a leg kick connecting from Embradora. Cruz continued to use his reach in the second but Embradora did well to target his legs with solid kicks. Cruz then drove in and dumped Embradora to the canvas landing in half guard. Embradora did well to sweep Cruz and wind up in top position and the two fighters were standing again not long after. Cruz forced Embradora against the cage but once again the ref separated the two. As they reengaged, Cruz fired off a leg kick of his own however it landed low and the ref stepped in to give Embradora time to recover. They touched gloves on the restart and as the 10 second warning sounded Cruz charges forward with a flying knee. End of the second.
A left hand landed from Cruz followed up by a jab as the final round commenced. Embradora swung and missed with a left in response. Cruz continued with the jab as blood began to cover Embradora’s face. He shoots in and drags Cruz to the floor, however Cruz did well to work back to his feet. Embradora scored another takedown not long after and after a period of inactivity the ref stood them up. Embradora looked for the takedown once again but Cruz winds up in top position before the bantamweight semi-final clash came to an end.
Rob Wilkinson kept his unbeaten streak alive against Central Coast veteran Rick Alchin in the middleweight semi-final on Friday night. The Tasmanian claimed the victory in the final minute of the opening round with ground and pound. Wilkinson will face the winner of the Brace 29 middleweight semi-final between Gerhard Voigt and William Namoa.
This one began with a touch of gloves before Alchin opened his account with a leg kick. He searched for a takedown soon after but Wilkinson did well to defend for a period of time. Alchin eventually got him down before Wilkinson worked back to his feet. They both exchanged strikes from there with Alchin connecting with a straight right while Wilkinson landed a leg kick right hand combination. Wilkinson then got a takedown before landing solid shots from full guard. Wilkinson continued with hard shots from the top position and the ref intervened and waved it off after a number of elbows.
In non-tournament action from the night, SPMA trained Andrew Mills put in a dominant performance against the Blue Mountain’s Jia Xu in his first pro fight to win by unanimous decision. Mills controlled the middleweight fight with takedowns and grappling, however was not able to put away a resilient Xu who was left bloodied up by the final bell.
The second bout of the night saw 22 year-old welterweights Ali Cevik and Aydin Mrouki battle to a doctor’s stoppage in the first round. Cevik took control of the short lived contest with superior striking and clinch work before the bout was called off between rounds due to a visibly broken arm suffered by Mrouki, no doubt from a kick early on in the fight.
Jeff Bowers and Nick Roche opened proceedings with a welterweight slug-fest which saw Bowers send Roche crashing to the canvas with a series of uppercuts to win by TKO early in the third round.
Brace 28 Results:
- Connor Murphy def Francis Cullimore via TKO (Ref Stoppage), Rd 1, 4:21 – Light Heavyweight Semi-Final
- Jamie Mullarkey def Byron Cowell via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 1, 4:47 – Featherweight Semi-Final
- Giancarlo Embradora def Tom Cruz via Decision (Majority) – Bantamweight Semi-Final
- Rob Wilkinson def Rick Alchin via TKO (Elbows), Rd 1, 4:16 – Middleweight Semi-Final
- Andrew Mills def Jia Xu via Decision (Unanimous)
- Ali Cevik def Aydin Mrouki via Doctor Stoppage (Broken Arm), Rd 1
- Jeff Bowers def Nick Roche via TKO (Punch), Rd 3, 1:54
{module Comment on this Article}
