XFO 35 took place at the Copernicus Theatre in downtown Chicago, Illinois last night. The action saw one amateur fight and eight professional fights. Many notable guests were in attendance including Felice Herrig, Bart Palaszewski, Ricardo Llams and both Pat and Jeff Curran. Read on for the full recap and results of the night’s competitions.
The first fight of the night didn’t take long at all. Mike Ryan needed just twenty seconds to force Billy Blackwell to tap. After a low kick by Ryan, Ryan took the fight to the ground and locked in the fight ended armbar.
The second amateur bout was to feature Chris Hartwig taking on Sean Martin. Unfortunately Martin did not show up to the fight and Hartwig won by default.
The first professional fight of the night saw Carson Beebe take on Joe Voitik. Voitik tried to grapple with Beebe but Beebe was the better grappler. After a some punches both fighters stood and clinched. Voitik worked some good knees, but Beebe responded with knees of his own forcing Voitik to shoot for a takedown. Beebe sprawled and then spun to Voitik’s back and secured both hooks. After about twenty punches, Voitik gave up his neck and Beebe locked in the fight ending rear naked choke.
Bill Hill defeated Dan Bolden in a controversial fashion. In the first round, Hill controlled most of the action defending Bolden’s takedowns. Bolden was able to reverse position a couple of times, but would not be able to capitalize on it. In the second round both fighters clinched and Bolden had a failed hip toss takedown which look like it hurt him. Hill ran in for an attack and the ref stopped it shortly after saying Bolden tapped out.
Ryan Bixler took on Jonatas Novaes in a catch-weight bout. Novaes shot for a takedown but Bixler defended well. Novaes was able to secure double undercooks and then completed the takedown. Bixler was able to get to his feet and Novaes took him down again. Bixler defended well as there was little action. The crowd kept calling for a stand up, but the ref kept them on the ground. Novaes was able to move from side control to mount to Bixler’s back. Unable to secure a rear naked choke, Novaes transitioned to a slick armbar and forced the tap out.
In a very exciting fight Mike Santiago took on Jake Murphy. Both fighters came out with large entourages who were very vocal through out the fight. Murphy quickly took the fight to the ground and pressed Santiago up against the cage. From there he worked a good ground and pound. But Santiago wasn’t without his own tricks as he was able to reverse position more than once and almost had a reverse triangle choke. The end of the first round saw Santiago work elbows from the bottom. Round two Santiago rocked Murphy with a big right hand before Murphy went for the takedown again. For the first minute or so Santiago controlled the action but Murphy was able to reverse and controlled the rest of the round from within Santiago’s guard landing multiple shots that were not very damaging. The final round saw the crowd go wild for both fighters and Murphy again looked to his wrestling to control the action. After a lull in the action, the ref stood both fighters up and Santiago caught Murphy with a fantastic knee that crumpled Murphy. Unfortunately Santiago wasn’t able to capitalize on it and Murphy recovered quickly . MMA Recap scored the fight 29-28 for Murphy but the judges were split and awarded the victory to Santiago.
Peter Grimes took on Bobby Reardanz in the next bout of the night. The first round saw Grimes take Reardanz down early and worked a good ground a pound from within Reardanz’s guard. Reardanz would use the cage to try to get his legs up and lock in an armbar, but Grimes would just punch his way out each time. The second round both fighters looked to stay on their feet for a bit as they were both landing big kicks. Grimes was getting the better kicks in and then easily took the fight to the ground. After a lull in action, the ref stood both fighters up. Grimes came in with a fancy spinning kick, followed it up with some punches and ended the combo with a knee. Reardanz would retaliate with a knee of his own, but then Grimes dropped him with a big right hand. Grimes quickly got Reardanz’s back landed three powerful shots before the ref halted the action.
In what was sure to become the fight of the night Matt Tobie and Kevin Nowacyzyk went the distance. The three round war saw both fighters throwing big punches and landing several kicks. Tobie was able to open up a cut under the right eye of Nowacyzyk in the second and bust open his ear in the third. In the end the three judges scored it for Kevin Nowacyzyk in a split decision.
The heavyweights were the co-main event and featured Boban Simic taking on Rashad Brooks. The two fighters exchanged heavy bombs in the first round with neither fighter being able to land that power shot to finish it. In the second round, Simic was the fresher of the two fighters and punished Brooks’s body with multiple punches. In the third round, Simic took the fight to the ground, passed to mount, and unloaded punches until the referee stopped the action.
The main event kicked off just after 11:30pm and saw Ted Worthington taking on Keith Wisniewski. In the first round Wisniewski used takedowns to control the action. Once on the ground he would use short punches and elbows to maintain his position over Worthington. In the second round Wisniewski again took the fight to the ground but this time Worthington had an answer as he tried to lock in a heel hook submission. Unfortunately for Worthington when he rolled to apply more pressure to Wisniewski’s leg, Wisniewski applied a heel hook of his own and forced Worthington to tap out.
Quick Results
Amateur Bouts
Mike Ryan defeated Billy Blackwell via armbar :20 of round 1
Chris Hartwig defeated Sean Martin by no show
Professional Bouts
Carson Beebe defeated Joe Voitik by rear naked choke 1:49 of round 1
Bill Hill defeated Dan Bolden by tap out 1:06 of round 2
Jonatas Novaes defeated Ryan Bixler via armbar 3:25 of round 1
Mike Santiago defeated Jake Murphy by split decision 29-28, 28-29, 29-28
Peter Grimes defeated Bobby Reardanz by technical knockout 4:07 of round 2
Kevin Nowacyzyk defeated Matt Tobie by split decision 30-27, 28-29, 30-27
Boban Simic defeated Rashad Brooks by technical knockout 1:30 of round 3
Keith Wisniewski defeated Ted Worthington by heel hook 3:56 of round 2
