Hi this is Jon Kirschner and I’m live from Atlantic City, NJ, as the World Series of Fighting holds their second event. Stay tuned for the live play by play of the main card, broadcast live on NBC Sports.
You can catch up on our live PBP of the undercard here.
(Heavyweight) Andrei Arlovski vs. Anthony Johnson
Round One: They touch gloves. Both men are not afraid to throw punches. Rumble is having more success connecting, but barely. Nothing significant has landed quite yet. Johnson is throwing dynamite in every punch. Arlovski comes out on top in an exchange. Johnson misses two head kicks in a row. Arlovski misses a right cross. Johnson connects with a good body kick. Arlovski misses another overhand right. Johnson presses Arlovski against the cage and is looking for a takedown. After a lull in action, referee splits them up. Arlovksi connects with a punch to the back of the head it looked like, and connects with a couple more shots before pressing Rumble against the cage. The referee splits them up again. Rumble staggers Arlovski with a hook, rocks him again and Arlovski is on the ground. Johnson follows and goes for the kill but the bell sounds, saved by the bell! 10-9 Johnson
Round Two: Both men are connecting now. Arlovski is landing some good shots of his own, even a knee while Johnson was trying to take him down! Way to make a comeback. Literally two minutes ago, the fight could have been stopped if it went on for two more seconds. Johnson is pressing Arlovski against the cage, trying to wear him out. The referee splits them up. Johnson connects with a hook and Arlovski doesn’t budge. Arlovski hits Johnson with a left straight. They collide heads but it goes unnoticed. Johnson presses Arlovski against the cage again. Arlovski turns the tables and now is on the offensive side of the cage dance. Arlovski knees Johnson in the balls and the fight is paused. Fight resumes. Johnson is ANGRY. He’s throwing haymakers, and connected with a left and a right hook. Oddly enough, he followed them up with a shoot and a takedown. Arlovski wall walks and is back on his feet. Johnson battles for a takedown until the bell sounds. Very close round. 10-9 Arlovski (19-19)
Round Three: Arlovski’s mouth is open. Arlovski gets clipped with a right. Once again, Johnson nails Arlovski with a combination but follows it up with a takedown. Maybe he’s tired as well? Arlovski still has good speed with his punches but his pop is gone. They trade blows but Arlovski get’s the worse end as he got rocked with a right hook. Vicious. They clinch and dance around on the cage a bit, trading spots before Arlovski pushes off and lands a combo. Johnson hits a nice straight while Arlovski counters with a brilliant straight of his own, and Johnson didn’t like that. He shoots for a takedon and fails. Arlovski hits a body shot. Arlovski nails him with a quick 1-2 and Johnson shoots for another takedown. He’s gassing badly. Arlovski looks fine. I’d give this round to him. 10-9 Arlovski
Anthony Johnson defeated Andrei Arlovski by way of unanimous decision. (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
(Bantamweight) Marlon Moraes vs. Tyson Nam
Round One: Moraes lands the first strike of the fight, and it’s a leg kick. Moraes lands another DEEP leg kick. That one had to hurt. Moraes hits a good hook. Nam hasn’t really landed anything besides a teep kick to the shin of Moraes. Moraes trips Nam to the ground but he gets back up. Everything that Nam throws is getting blocked. Moraes connects with a HUGE head kick and follows up with more punches. It isn’t long before the referee pulls him off and cals the fight. Knockout.
Marlon Moraes defeated Tyson Nam by way of Knockout (Head Kick, Punches) 2:55 in Round 1
(Middleweight) Dave Branch vs. Paulo Filho
Round One: Nobody wants a piece of Filho’s tattoo. Both guys have their hands cocked ready to knock each others heads off. Ironically, after I type that, Branch lands a takedown. Branch is in Filho’s half guard. Branch is contempt with throwing strikes rather than trying to advance to a better position. Branch is pounding Filho’s body with punches. Half the fight is gone and they’re in the same position they were two minutes ago. Branch finally advances to full mount, only to lose it and go back in Filho’s open guard. More body shots from Branch. The crowd is dead silent except for a gentleman who keeps screaming “HE AIN’T BUILT LIKE US D!”. With 30 seconds left, here comes the boos. Round over. 10-9 Branch.
Round Two: Filho gets knocked down but gets right back up. He’s throwing haymakers and is a bit loopy. Branch smells the blood and is on the attack. He lands a takedown. Filho wall walks and is back to his feet, which is a good sign because he spent the better part of the last round on his back. Branch lands another takedown and has a mounted crucifix. He isn’t working, though. Now he’s throwing punches, but Filho bucks his hips and almost escapes. He’s out of the crucifix but still on bottom as Branch has side control. 40 seconds later and they’re in the same position. Branch works the body until the end of the round. 10-9 Branch. (20-18 Branch)
Round Three: Filho is gassed, hard. He needs a knockout or submission to win this fight. Or he needs to get kicked in the balls really hard so the fight stops. Branch punches Filho and sends him on his bum, and Branch dives on top of him and throws a few strikes. A lot of them were blocked. Branch is back on top of Filho and it looks like we are in for another long round. Branch occasionally peppers Filho with punches but it’s more of the same from the last two rounds. The referee stands them back up. Filho throws a head kick but misses. Branch lands a nice body shot. Branch hits an uppercut. Then lands another takedown. This one is in the books. 10-9 Branch (30-27 Branch)
Dave Branch defeated Paulo Filho by way of unanimous decision. (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
(Welterweight) Josh Burkman vs. Aaron Simpson
Round One: Gloves touch and we are underway. Simpson grabs Burkman and presses him against the cage. Burkman lands a couple good high-knees and turns the tables on Simpson. As they break the clinch, Burkman hits a hook. Simpson nails a body kick. Burkman landed a nice shot on Simpson’s nose as it’s bleeding a bit. Burkman nails a counter that stuns Simpson for a second but he regains his composure and they’re both circling each other again. Burkman lands a loud leg kick. Burkman lands a few shots that makes Simpson double-think about engaging in strikes and he backs away. Unfortunatly for him, Burkman chases him and lands several more shots. An uppercut and a knee. Simpson falls on his back and Burkman follows up with a couple more punches. The referee peels him off and Burkman is the winner.
Josh Burkman defeated Aaron Simpson by way of Knockout (Knee and Punches) 3:04 in Round 1
(Lightweight) Gesias Cavalcante vs. Justin Gaethje
Round One: JZ is aggressive to open the bout. He ducks an uppercut from Gaethje. Gaethje grabs the clinch and lands a knee. JZ is pressed against the cage and Gaethje is landing knees to the body. Looks like JZ is cut on the top of his forehead. JZ lands a nice leg kick. Gaethje hits a nice right straight that staggers JZ. Gaethje has JZ against the cage and is staying very active. JZ is busted open badly. They pause the fight and a doctor is coming in to look at the cut. The cut is deep. Fight is stopped. Gaethje wins.
Justin Gaethje defeated Gesias Cavalcante by way of TKO (Doctor Stoppage) 2:27 in Round 1
