MMA At The Max 2 Recap and Results
Oliver Vazquez with Belt - photo by Brent Todd
MMA at The Max 2 took place on Saturday March 3rd at The Max Convention Center in McCook, Illinois. The night of action saw twenty amateur fights with six title fights. Read on for the full recap and results.
Kicking off the night of action was a super heavyweight bout between Sergei Grytsaienko and Kelan Moore. Moore opened the round with three kicks to set up a big takedown. He worked the entire round from side control trying to find a submission or a chance to posture up and punch his way to victory but Grytsaienko defended well. In the second round Moore again took the fight to the ground but Grytsaienko reversed and stood up. As Moore was getting up Grytsaienko landed a kick to the head of Moore and timeout was called for the illegal strike. Grytsaienko knew immediately that he was in the wrong and apologized before a point was deducted. After the restart Grytsaienko came out swinging hard and bloodied up Moore’s face even more. The start of the third Grytsaienko knew he needed a finish and nearly did as he connected with several punches. But Moore was able to survive and then returned fire of his own. The fight was a great start to the night of action.
Alex Fontanez came out strong against Jeremy Rone. He scored a quick takedown and tried to escape Rone’s guard and land his attacks. Rone was able to get up and both fighters clinched against the cage. Both threw knees and Rone looked for a guillotine choke. Fontanez fell back to escape and Rone capitalized landing in full mount. From there it was just a matter of time as he was teeing off Fontanez at will.
Ezykelo Sidney dropped Mike Hassett at the start of the fight. He nearly finished with a big right hand as Hassett was getting back up. Hassett composed himself and took Sidney down and ended up on top. He worked his forearm across the throat of Sidney and put enough pressure to force Sidney to tap.
The next fight featured Dennis Sherman and Sam Cruz. Sherman attempted a takedown immediately and was successful though Cruz just got back up. Sherman again worked for a takedown but fell back under the weight of Cruz. Cruz then in mount threw punch after punch. Sherman tried to escape by giving up his back and he was able to reverse and end up on top of Cruz. Sherman stood and pounded the legs of Cruz with big kicks. He then dove in for a big punch but fell into a triangle. Cruz adjusted the choke and Sherman fought it off as best he could. Cruz rolled and had a top mounted triangle. He rained down punch after punch until Sherman was forced to tap before the choke rendered him unconscious.
Fernando Fuentes made quick work of Dylan Wright. Fuentes immediately took the fight to the ground and got the mount. From there he started to throw small punches and Wright gave up his back. Fuentes quickly looked for the choke and after an adjustment had his arm under the neck of Wright. It was just a few seconds later that Wright was forced to tap.
Brittney Updike and Danika Thibault competed in a mixed rules bout. The first round was a kickboxing bout and Thibault controlled the action with punch combos followed by kicks and knees. Updike landed a good kick on Thibault but was unable to follow it up. As the round ended Thibault continued her assault of punches to the crowd’s delight. In between rounds the girls changed gloves and fought in a modified rules mma bout. The modified rule was no strikes to the head due to the fact that they were under the age of eighteen. Both girls threw body punches before Thibault took Updike down. She quickly worked a guillotine choke and after an adjustment got the tap.
In a confusing scorecard, Jan Manos defeated Stephan Vonaulock by split decision. The first two rounds Vonaulock wanted to trade kicks and punches, but Manos countered nearly every strike with either a hook or a takedown. Vonaulock tried to secure a guillotine choke on Manos to counter but could not lock it in. The third round Vonaulock was able to connect with his strikes, but it was too little too late. MMA Recap scored it 29-28 for Manos but the judges scored it 30-27, 28-29, 30-27.
Up next was an exciting striking battle between Brad Stanton and Darrell Edmonson. Both fighters immidately took to the center of the cage and looked to throw heavy bombs. Both were able to land a big punch that hurt the other. Edmonson started to find his range and Stanton couldn’t recover. The second round Edmonson took Stanton down and rained down punch after punch. After getting the mount, Stanton alternated giving up his back and being mounted. Edmonson started to connect on Stanton’s head and he was in trouble. The ref warned and the stopped the fight.
If you blinked you might have missed the action between Anthony Gasso and James Yarborough. Gasso came out from the gun just fired up and connected. Yarborough was on the defense and visibly hurt. Gasso continued to throw big right hands buckling Yarborough’s legs. Yarborough was nearly out on his feet and the ref stopped the action.
Josh Polk and John Box came to throw down. Both tried a body kick to start the round and both connected. Polk rushed Box with a series of punches and Box countered with a takedown. Polk worked a guillotine but Box was able to escape while passing to side control. He stood up briefly only to work a guillotine choke of his own, but that was a feint as he quickly passed to mount. Once on top, Box unloaded massive rights and lefts. Polk tried to escape, but Box continued his assault and the ref had no choice but to call the fight.
Another fast technical knockout came from Robbie Draski against Anthony Milton. Both fighters went for a high kick and both fell to the ground. Draski however continued to press forward and landed punch after punch. Milton was on the run and Draski kept chase. Both fighters fell again but this time Draski unloaded and Milton had no answer.
Emilis Jaskevicius came out with a big kick to James Brown. Brown worked for a takedown but it was Jaskevicius who scored it instead. Unfortunately for him Brown reversed and wound up on top. Brown worked punches but fell into a triangle choke after over extending his punch. Brown tried to slam his way out but it just sunk the choke in deeper and he tapped.
Dustin Stusse wanted to get the fight against Otis Brumfield down to the ground as quick as possible and he did. Brumfield tried to secure a guillotine choke, but was unsuccessful as Stusse moved to side control to escape. Once he escaped, Brumfield gave up his back. Stusse tried to get the guillotine choke and when it wasn’t there, transitioned to an armbar. The submission was in deep and Brumfield appeared to tap and the fight was over. After Brumfield shouted that he didn’t tap, but regardless the fight was over.
The first of six title fights was up next as Fallen Fox took on Scottie Fortner for her lightweight title. Fortner quickly kicked Fox, but she scooped the leg and took Fortner down. Fox was able to pass to mount and then worked an armbar. Fortner tried to escape and rolled correctly, but Fox was on top and continued the submission forcing the tap.
The vacant middleweight title was on the line between Luis Arriaga and Jonathon James. Arriaga came out strong with a leg kick and another but was quickly taken down. Arriaga reversed and wound up in mount on top of James. He worked several punches and nearly finished, but James was able to escape. James was trapped in a kimura, but once he worked his way out of that he started to throw big right hands. Arriaga worked to escape but James sunk in a guillotine choke. Arriaga tapped as he was going unconscious.
Sean Gee and Robert Lee put on one of the bloodiest fights ever. Gee landed several punches in the first round to open up Lee’s face. Gee wanted to stand and throw massive punches and it was working for him. He consistently landed his punches more and easily won the round. The second round Gee hurt Lee with a big right hand. Lee fought through it and in the last minute worked a submission. He had a top mounted triangle and worked both punches and an armbar from the position. It was a close round and could have gone either way. The third round Gee played a waiting game with Lee. Lee worked a takedown and got it. He passed to mount and looked for a guillotine, but Gee was able to escape. Gee swung wild punches and Lee returned as time ran out in the round. The round was clearly for Lee but the judges didn’t agree as two thought it was for Gee as well.
Superheavyweights were up next as Rick Farbo took on Tyler Reece for the APFC belt. Reece’s gameplan was to try and take Farbo down and work a ground game. Unfortunately he was never able to take Farbo down and ate multiple punches. When Reece wasn’t working for a takedown, the two fighters were either clinched against the cage or were in a brutal dirty boxing bout. The second round Reece didn’t land much and could have been scored a 10-8 for Farbo. In the end, one judge did score it that way.
The APFC bantamweight title was on the line as Mike Ryan took on Chris Conway. After a touch of gloves both fighters came out swinging and Ryan was the one who connected. Ryan buckled and Conway ended up in mount. The ref nearly stopped it but Ryan tried to buck. He couldn’t escape, ate five more punches and the fight was called off.
The main event featured Oliver Vazquez taking on the lightweight champion Sam Augshi. The fight was one of the hardest to score as Vazquez was able to take Augshi down with ease, but then Augshi threatened with armbar after armbar. The question was asked do you score the fight for the guy with thirty submission attempts that were able to be escaped or the guy who landed thirty punches? Both fighters were in danger a bit, but Vazquez was close to being finished. At least one round was scored for Augshi but it was a very difficult fight to figure out who won. In the end the judges scored the bout 29-28 across the board.
Quick Results
Kelan Moore defeated Grytsaienko by unanimous decision 30-26, 30-26, 29-27
Jeremy Rone defeated Alex Fontanez by TKO at 2:42 of round 1
Mike Hassett defeated Ezykelo Sidney by forearm choke at 1:05 of round 1
Sam Cruz defeated Dennis Sherman by triangle choke at 2:48 of round 1
Fernando Fuentes defeated Dylan Wright by rear naked choke at 0:53 of round 1
Danika Thibault defeated Brittney Updike by guillotine choke at 0:25 of round 2
Jan Manos defeated Stephan Vonaulock by split decision 30-27, 39-28, 30-27
Darrell Edmonson defeated Brad Stanton via TKO at 1:46 of round 2
Anthony Gasso defeated James Yarborough by TKO at 0:21 of round 1
John Box defeated Josh Polk by TKO at 1:41 of round 1
Robbie Draski defeated Anthony Milton by TKO at 0:46 of round 1
Emilis Jaskevicius defeated James Brown by triangle choke at 0:46 of round 1
Dustin Stusse defeated Otis Brumfield by armbar at 1:14 of round 1
Jonathon James defeated Luis Arriaga by guillotine choke at 2:03 of round 1
Sean Gee defeated Robert Lee by unanimous decision 30-27, 30-27, 29-28
Rick Farbo defeated Tyler Reece by unanimous decision 30-27, 30-26, 30-27
Mike Ryan defeated Chris Conway by TKO at 0:17 of round 1
Oliver Vazquez defated Sam Augshi by unanimous decision 29-28, 29-28, 29-28
Fans who are wanting to get their money’s worth of fights should be checking out this weekend’s amateur mixed martial arts event MMA At The Max 2. The night of action is currently scheduled to have twenty-one fights with six being for championship belts. 