Another UFC-heavy weekend yields light action from name fighters on the regional circuit. Is this an actual strategy on the part of smaller promoters--avoiding spending the money on name fighters during a weekend that most people will be occupied by the UFC--or is it merely a coincidence? The July 4th holiday may have also played a factor. Insight/ideas into this are, of course, appreciated.
On to the action...
With smaller shows, results sometimes need to be inferred and cobbled together through event photos, Facebook posts, and so on. Such is the case with June 27's MCC 54 out of Des Moines, Iowa.
In the night's main event, surging local talent Rob Morrow (15-16-0) finished Chuck Grigsby (20-10-0, 0-1 WEC) with ground-and-pound in the second. Grigsby appeared once in the WEC, where he served as Mark Munoz's first opponent under a Zuffa organization. Grigsby is 1-5 in his last six, while Morrow is 5-1.
In the evening's co-main event, Josh Neer made it two in a row since his release from the UFC last year. Neer, who went 2-3 in this latest UFC campaign, has had four tours with the organization, managing a total promotional record of 6-9, which includes upset victories over Melvin Guillard and Joe Stevenson and losses to both Nick and Nate Diaz. His latest win came against the overmatched Ron Jackson (5-9-0). Neer's record improves to 35-13-1.
Photos of that event, including a rather beefy-looking Josh Neer, can be found at the promoter's Facebook page here.
And in the main event of Croatia's House of Gladiators 9 this weekend, Valetijn Overeem (30-32-0, 1-0 Sengoku, 0-1 Strikeforce, 0-4 PRIDE) squared off with 23-year-old local product Ante Delija. After a brief feeling-out process, Delija shot in for the single-leg. An ill-advised guillotine counter from Overeem allowed Delija to slam him to the mat and land in side control. Light punches and elbows followed as Overeem struggled for control. Things took a turn for the worse (or better, depending on who you were rooting for) once Delija opted to stand in Overeem's guard--emphatic punches put Overeem in a defensive shell and prompted the referee to call off the fight. Delija, who started his career winning eight in a row, successfully rebounds from a pair of TKO losses. Overeem, meanwhile, has lost six in a row, five of which have come either by KO, TKO, or submission due to strikes.
Delija vs. Overeem can be seen here. Action starts at 1:35.
That's all for this week. To quote a sixth-grader circa 1998, "TTFN."