In non-title fight action at Nitro MMA 9 on Saturday night, a much bigger looking Chris Lokteff (pictured) took his professional record to 11-1 with a second round stoppage over previously unbeaten Cameron Bracewell in a fight that little believed would go the full three rounds.
As the fight began, Lokteff clinched before Bracewell turned him around and clinched against the cage. As they separated both guys swung with heavy punches with trying to find the knockout blow. Bracewell was inches away with a swinging left before shortly after losing balance while swinging with a wild left. Lofteff immediately took the opportunity to dive on top where he transitioned from half guard to side-control. There Lokteff unloaded with knees to the body while attacking the far arm of Bracewell. Lokteff locked up a tight kimura and the submission attempt had Bracewell coming close to tapping before he struggled though it and escaped back to his feet. Bracewell immediately went on the attack as the round ended.
As the second round started, Lokteff started to get the better of the exchanges coming in with nice one-two punches before stepping out of Bracewell’s return fire. Lokteff took the fight to the ground where he was able to unload with some solid ground and pound. That opened up the rear-naked choke submission which Lokteff immediately took forcing Bracewell to tap 1:46 into the second round.
The win was Lokteff’s third at heavyweight and no doubt puts himself in line to capture the heavyweight title, currently held by Felise Leniu from Sydney.
Team Allegiance fighter Sam Bastin was one of the fighters of the first half of 2013 with a impressive KO over Jason Preece and an upset TKO stoppage over Rob Hill back in May. At Nitro MMA 9, Bastin came up against Nitro regular Alex MacDonald who was bringing in a 5-1 record into the cage. Bastin started the fight with nice body shots before unloading with a combination of punches that finished with a left hook that found it’s mark. MacDonald stayed calm and shortly after was able to get the fight to the ground. There the locally based fighter moved from side-control to mount where he landed short punches and elbows. Bastin regained half-guard before MacDonald moved back to side-control where he attacked with an Americana. Bastin escaped but MacDonald stayed a move ahead and went straight into the mount position. Form there he finished the round unloading with strikes.
Bastin started the second round with another body punch before MacDonald got the fight to the ground again. He quickly moved from side-control to mount and from there was able to keep the dominant position, unloading with short elbows and punches. The barrage of strikes continued as MacDonald upped the tempo. Finally the referee had seen enough and chose to halt the contest at 4:27 of the second round.
Impressive win for MacDonald who wins his fourth straight fight. His only loss came via a unanimous decision to Isaac Tisdell just over a year ago. A possible rematch against Tisdell could be in the near future for MacDonald.
Five Rings Dojo fighter Matthew Frincu and his opponent Nathan Ngan put on a quick and entertaining battle as both fighters came out hard swinging for the fences in their scheduled welterweight clash. Frincu got the better of the exchange, rocking Ngan who came back and landed a overhand right of his own which forced Frincu to take a step back. Ngan immediately rushed forward but a kick from Frincu smashed an off-balance Ngan to the canvas. Frincu immediately followed him to the canvas where he unloaded with heavy punches before securing the rear-naked choke submission. Ngan tapped at 52-seconds into the fight. Explosive performance by Frincu who was forced to give away 20% of his purse after marginally missing weight on Friday night.
In only the second ever women’s MMA bout on the Nitro card, Jessy ‘Jess’ Rose-Clarke showed superior wrestling skills to defeat recently crowned world women’s boxing champion Arlene Blencowe from Port Macquarie. It was a cautious start by both girls early but as soon as the opportunity opened up, Jessy secured the takedown. Blencowe utilised the cage to walk back up to her feet and landed a nice right punch. Jessy secured another takedown but again Blencowe proved hard to keep down as the she scrambled back to her feet. Jessy landed a nice leg kick before connecting with a left punch. Jessy controlled the action against the cage where she was able to land a nice knee as the round ended. In the second round, Jessy again secured the early takedown. Blencowe swept but Jessy managed to scramble straight back to the top position. From there the Integrated MMA fighter landed shots from inside guard. When Blencowe attempted to escape, Jessy quickly took the back where she locked up the hooks, and the choke to get the tap at 3:38 of the second round.
Michael Roger and Tim Moore went to battle in a 58 kilogram bout which was a rematch of their 2012 fight. Back then Roger won via a 17-second knockout. It was a much harder fight this time for Roger who overcame early back control and constant submission attempts to win a unanimous decision. Roger controlled the fight from the top but had to be aware as Moore continued to look for a submission from his back. With seconds remaining in the fight, both fighters stood toe-to-toe in the centre of the cage much to the crowds enjoyment.
Earlier in the night, Shannon McClellan got his career back on a track with a victory over Edwin Arana. The Five Rings Dojo fighter stayed on the front foot throughout the fight as Arana looked for the big knockout blow. McClellan stayed active on his feet and regularly threw a flying knee. At the end of the opening round, McClellan locked up a very tight triangle but Arana managed to see out the round. In a back and forth battle both fighters put on a good performance but in the end, McClellan got the majority decision.
In the opening fight of the night, Mitchell Mallatt and Matthew George put on a great display of submission grappling skills. Both fighters locked up tight submissions but it was Mallett who would get the win as a rear-naked choke submission forced George to tap.
Nitro MMA 9 was held at the Logan Entertainment Centre, in Logan City Queensland. The event sold out with many interested parties being turned away at the door. Their next event is scheduled for the same venue on October 26.
