Published by Stephen Rhodes

Knoxville, TN: In the XFC’s first-ever fight card to be broadcast live on national television, the next generation of Mixed Martial Artists hurled haymakers, swapped submission holds, and turned Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee into an all-out warzone.

The end-result was XFC 8: “Regional Conflict,” an event airing live on HDNet that showcased the top emerging talent and most promising up-and-coming fighters in the entire Southeast.

In the televised portion of the fight card, 22-year-old, 264-pound debuting heavyweight Chris “The Beast” Barnett outlasted 60+ fight veteran Johnathan Ivey via unanimous decision.  Barnett, a two-time statewide heavyweight high school wrestling champion in Georgia and a third degree Taekwondo black belt, began his MMA training just five months earlier, winning an open tryout with the XFC for a spot in the MTV reality TV series “Made.”  The young prodigy dominated the older fighter from the get-go.

“He held position well and was hard to move… he’s just better than me,” said a dejected Ivey.  The well-traveled heavyweight from Clarksville , Tennessee had previously battled the likes of Dan Severn, Gan “The Giant” McGee, Ben Rothwell, Ricco Rodriguez, Travis Wiuff, Jake O’Brien, Sam Hoger and Jeremy Horn.

“It was a great experience,” exclaimed an excited Barnett, a native of Athens , Georgia .  “I knew he’d try to confuse me with his veteran tricks, but I’m a different breed.  I can move!  Kicks, flips – I can do it all!”

Jason Wood survived a back-and-forth battle with Derek Schiffer in a 150-pound showdown between twenty-something contenders with a combined 17-3 professional and amateur record.  The first round was a close, competitive matchup with both men delivering – and receiving – colossal head-shots.  In round two, Wood rocked Schiffer with a vicious volley of cascading punches, forcing the referee to dive atop Schiffer and stop the bout at the 3:41 mark.

Schiffer needed assistance vacating the cage.

In the third fight, ex-University of Tennessee linebacker and “wedge-busting” special teams ace Ovince St. Preux won his blood-feud with light heavyweight Ombey “Kryptonite” Mobley of Tampa, Florida, twisting his ankle and winning by submission 2:36 in round one.  Mobley brought a theatrical flair to the contest, mocking St. Preux by dropkicking a Smokey hound dog doll and repeatedly making a “Gator Chomp” gesture in the cage; Smokey is the official mascot of the Tennessee Volunteers.

The highly-partisan crowd loudly booed Mobley throughout the contest, erupting into a crescendo of boisterous cheers when the hometown hero finally upended his Florida challenger.

“It was really satisfying,” said St. Preux, reflecting on his victory.  “I was really cranking hard [on the submission hold].  If he hadn’t tapped, he would’ve had a serious injury.  This was definitely the highlight of my MMA career.”

Former light heavyweight CT Turner dropped to 185-pounds to face undefeated Julio Gallegos in the fourth fight on HDNet.  Both fighters opted to grapple and strike in concussive waves in the first stanza, with neither man able to dominate the other.  Arguably, Turner won round one 10-9.  But Gallegos began to incrementally deliver the harder and more damaging shots in the second round, locking Turner into a guillotine and refusing to release until he tapped at 2:47.

“There was a little bit of déjà vu,” noted Gallegos, who also bested Turner as an amateur.  “I like CT a lot.  He’s a good person.  In a way it was hard to fight him, because we both overcame adversity – and adversity never overcame us.”

Both Gallegos and Turner experienced homelessness and other serious setbacks in life before discovering the sport of MMA and embarking upon successful professional careers.

In the co-featured bout of the night, Rafaello “Tractor” Oliveira faced XFC Lightweight World Champion John Mahlow at the catchweight of 160-pounds, with Mahlow agreeing to defend his title against Oliveira if he lost to the Brazilian-born BJJ black belt and sparring partner of UFC title-holder B.J. Penn.  From the very first round, Oliveira utilized his jujitsu prowess to stymie the XFC champion, winning a three-round unanimous decision.

“Rafaello is a good fighter,” said Mahlow afterwards.  “No excuses.  We’ll see each other again.”

Undefeated MMA heavyweight and former WWE superstar Bobby Lashley was on hand to present the XFC Featherweight World Title Belt to the winner of the Bruce “The Noose” Connors versus Jarrod “The Wild Card” Card fight in the main event.  Connors entered the fight as the favorite, boasting a 6-0 record – with all six wins coming by first round knockout or submission.  By the end of the night, Connors’ record would receive its first blemish.

Utilizing blazing foot-speed and precision punches, Card confounded Connors, peppering him with strikes from unorthodox angles, slicing his face into a gruesome mask of shredded flesh and free-flowing blood.  Connors refused to back down and twice clamped Card into a deep guillotine, but each time the young fighter wrestled free and returned to his feet.  Card won the contest – and the XFC world title – via five-round unanimous decision.

“I’m the new guy on the scene,” said an elated Card, who elevated his record to 10-2-1.  “I’m more than ready for the next level.  I’ll fight anyone.”

For his part, Bobby Lashley – who announced that he’ll finally be fighting for the XFC in September – seemed impressed with the fight card.

“I thought it was an incredible night,” gushed the former two-time ECW world champion.  “I was blown away by all the talent in the cage.  These guys now know what it’s like to fight in the big show.  As for my upcoming fight with the XFC, anyone they want me to take out, I’ll do.”

Veteran sportswriter Dave Link covered XFC 8 for the Knoxville News Sentinel newspaper, and certainly appeared to enjoy the drama and action.

“I’ve covered all kinds of sports for 25-years but I’ve never covered MMA,” said Link.  “This was just great!  The entire event was first-class.  If I wasn’t covering it, I’d be here as a fan.  I’ll definitely be back when the XFC returns.”

Undercard

Devan Plaisance defeated Paul McEntee by TKO, 3:06 in round one

Matt Traylor defeated Richard Boyd by TKO, 4:37 in round one

Corey Krebs defeated Dean Hamilton by TKO, 1:22 in round one

HDNet Fights

Chris Barnett defeated Johnathan Ivey by three-round unanimous decision

Jason Wood defeated Derek Schiffer by TKO, 3:41 in round two

Ovince St. Preux defeated Ombey Mobley by submission (ankle lock) 2:36 in round one

Julio Gallegos defeated CT Turner by submission (guillotine) 2:47 in round two

Rafaello Oliveira defeated John Mahlow by three-round unanimous decision (Oliveira wins guaranteed rematch for Mahlow’s XFC Lightweight World Title)

Jarrod Card defeated Bruce Connors by five-round unanimous decision (Card wins vacant XFC Featherweight Champion)

 

Post a comment . Apr 26, 2009
Filed under: Fight Results, Octagon Buzz Exclusive, Bruce Connors, C.T. Turner, Chris Barnett, Corey Krebs, Dean Hamilton, Derek Schiffer, Devan Plaisance, Jarrod Card, Jason Wood, John Mahlow, Johnathan Ivey, Julio Gallegos, Matt Traylor, Ombey Mobley, Ovince St. Preux, Paul McEntee, Rafaello Oliveira, Richard Boyd, XFC 8

Published by Stephen Rhodes

Scott Pinsker sent this in:

Knoxville, TN : Between 2001 and 2005, Kevin Simon trained, practiced, and competed on the gridiron against hundreds of Tennessee teammates.  Some – like Albert Haynesworth, Jason Witten and John Henderson – went on to achieve considerable NFL success.  Others are now in graduate school, pursuing various professional degrees.  But none left an impression quite like Ovince St. Preux.

“He’s a little crazy,” laughed Simon from his office in Dallas , Texas , where he works as a scout for the Dallas Cowboys.  As Tennessee ’s starting middle linebacker, Simon led the Vols in tackles in 2003 and 2005 and played five years for the Washington Redskins.  He rejoined the Volunteers in 2007 as a coach on the strength and conditioning staff, leaving at the end of the 2008 season.  “There’s a screw loose somewhere in there.  But that craziness is why Ovince was such a great special teams player – and why he’s so good in the cage.  He just loves contact.”

Ovince St. Preux will be returning to the steel cage at XFC 8: “Regional Conflict” to face Florida fighter Ombey Mobley on Saturday, April 25 in Knoxville at the 21 thousand-capacity Thompson-Boling Arena.  The MMA fight card will be broadcast live on national television, exclusively on HDNet.  This will be St. Preux’s first fight since his spectacular one-kick knockout of rising light heavyweight prospect CT Turner on February 20 at the first-ever professional MMA show in Tennessee state history, XFC 7: “School of Hard Knox.”  The kick earned St. Preux the FightTicker.com “Knockout of the Night.”

Even as a wide-eyed freshman, Simon remembers Ovince St. Preux as a fearless presence in the locker room.

“Ovince was a star wrestler in high school.  I think he went something like 30-1 as a senior and finished second in the state,” said Simon.  “So right from the beginning, he was always ready to mix it up, always ready to fight or wrestle anyone who got in his face.  And that definitely translated to the playing field because he was one of our biggest hitters and most explosive tacklers.  When Ovince hit someone, they stayed down for a very long time.”

St. Preux entered Tennessee as a 200 pound defensive end.  The coaches moved him to linebacker because of his size limitations, but he made his biggest mark – both on the field and on the other players – as the Vols’ special teams ace and “wedge-buster.”

“Linebackers rely heavily on their instincts,” explained Simon, “and because Ovince was originally a defensive end, he lacked that instinctive first step that a linebacker needs to succeed.  But he’s such an amazing natural athlete and so completely fearless, he was an absolute terror on special teams.  And keep in mind what brutally violent position a wedge-buster is!  Your job is to sprint at full speed, locate the wall of blockers trying to protect the returner, and blow-up the wall so your teammates can make the tackle.  Nobody was better at this than Ovince.”

Perhaps his most devastating hit was against his own teammate.

“Oh, man – Ovince had something like 15 tackles and was named Defensive MVP of our 2004 Spring Game,” Simon recalled.  “But he had one hit on our running back.  Maybe it was Ced [Cedric Houston] or one of the backups, but Ovince just lit him up – knocked the poor guy’s helmet clean off his head.  We must’ve watched that hit at least 20 times in the film room.  ‘Course, his hit on CT Turner was pretty sick, too!”

Originally from Louisville but training out of Gainesville , Florida , CT Turner boasted before fighting St. Preux that he was going to “destroy Ovince like Florida destroyed Tennessee in football,” and even walked to the cage while doing the “Gator Chomp.”  Turner, then 6-2, learned the hard way not to agitate the ex-Vols special teams ace: St. Preux silenced his trash-talking opponent with a jaw-busting rear leg kick to the chin that blasted Turner to the canvas.  Out cold, the referee immediately stopped the fight at 2:36 in the first round.

“That victory really changed my life,” noted St. Preux from his training camp at the Knoxville Martial Arts Academy.  “Even months afterwards, people are still congratulating me.  In fact, after beating Turner, my hand was hurting – not because of any punches I threw, but because of all the autographs I signed!  I really feel like I’m ready to make my move in MMA, and I can’t wait to fight one more time in front of the home crowd right here in Knoxville!”

St. Preux will face Ombey Mobley, a hard-nosed ex-convict and former pro boxer who trains with CT Turner in Florida . 

“Ovince landed the luckiest kick in MMA history with both his eyes closed, and now he’s running his mouth like he’s frickin’ Chuck Norris,” complained Mobley.  “And I definitely ain’t impressed by the fact that Ovince used to wear orange and white on Saturday mornings while the Vols got their skulls stomped by the Gators.  He’s a dead man walking.”  Mobley is undefeated (4-0) as an MMA amateur and will be making his pro debut.

For his part, St. Preux, 12-2 in MMA as a pro and amateur, declined to engage in a war of words.

“I’ll do my talking in the cage, but I have noticed that Mobley likes to point to his prison background a lot.  I guess he thinks that makes him look tough.  But people don’t go to jail because they’re tough; they go to jail because they got caught.  There’re different kinds of toughness, and I’m confident I’m plenty tough enough.”

Kevin Simon would certainly vouch for his former teammate’s toughness.

“You kidding me?” chortled Simon.  “Ovince never missed a single game because of injury.  You better believe he’s tough enough, strong enough, athletic enough, crazy enough, and absolutely violent enough.  Look, I scout prospects for a living now.  Morning, day and night, I’m studying tape and accumulating information.  And in the scouting world, people are always comparing prospects to someone else – that this guy has a release like Marino, or that guy can run like Deion.  I have an unfair advantage over the other scouts, because when I need to compare a kid to the personification of toughness – and an insatiable blood-lust for violence – all I have to do is think of Ovince.  He was born to be a cage fighter, and I sure wouldn’t want to be in Ombey’s shoes on April 25.”

Post a comment . Apr 16, 2009
Filed under: Octagon Buzz Exclusive, Ombey Mobley, Ovince St. Preux, XFC 8

Published by Stephen Rhodes

Scott Pinsker sent this in:

Knoxville, TN (4/6/09): The XFC announced today that lightweight world champion John “The Mulatto Mauler” Mahlow will battle fast-rising Brazilian prospect Rafaello “The Tractor” Oliveira at XFC 8: “Regional Conflict” on Saturday, April 25, at the 21 thousand-capacity Thompson-Boling Arena on the campus of the University of Tennessee.  The event will be televised live nationwide, exclusively on HDNet.

Instead of fighting at the lightweight limit of 155 pounds, the two men agreed to a “catchweight” of 160 pounds.  If Oliveira wins, he’s guaranteed an immediate rematch against Mahlow for the XFC lightweight world title.

Considered one of MMA’s most tenacious tacticians, Mahlow’s high-energy offensive assault and smothering ground game has propelled the American Top Team fighter and trainer to the cusp of stardom.  Since losing a tightly-contested split decision to WEC title contender Jeff Curran in May of 2007, Mahlow has gone 5-1, including 2-0 in the XFC.  In his last three fights, Mahlow has defeated Eben “The Big O” Oroz, stopped UFC’s “Fight Night 13” veteran Ryan Roberts, and submitted Belator’s Luis Palomino in the fifth and final round of their XFC championship bout in December.  Mahlow’s victory over Palomino attracted a particularly high level of media interest, especially after ex-UFC heavyweight champion Antonio Nogueira publicly declared Palomino to be his “personal protégé” and a future world champion.

“I might be the reigning XFC lightweight champion, but I still train every single day like I’m the underdog,” explained John Mahlow from his Ft. Lauderdale , Florida training camp.  “That’s the attitude that earned me this title – and the attitude that’ll let me keep it for a long time to come.  Both inside and outside the cage, I’ll outwork you.  I’ll train harder.  I’m willing to absorb more punishment than you.  And I understand the intricacies of the sport better than almost anyone else ‘cause I spend more time studying the sport than almost anyone else.  Oliveira is a dangerous opponent, but I’ve reached the point in my career where I’m legitimately one of the elite fighters in the game, and I can’t wait to show MMA fans from coast-to-coast what ‘The Mulatto Mauler’ is all about.”

The Brazilian-born Rafaello Oliveira (7-1) made his XFC debut at XFC 7: “ School of Hard Knox ” on February 20, submitting Robert Thompson via triangle choke 4:50 in the first round; Thompson was 5-0 at the time.  His one career loss was the byproduct of a doctor’s stoppage (cuts) on the undercard of the “ShoXC Elite Challenger Series” on Showtime in October of 2008.  A Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu [BJJ] black belt now fighting out of Premier Martial Arts in Knoxville , Tennessee , Oliveira also trains one-on-one with UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn in Hawaii , serving as Penn’s sparring partner for his past three title fights.

“John Mahlow is a great champion and a good guy,” said Oliveira.  “I respect him and thank him for this opportunity.  But as much as I respect him, I also think I’m the better fighter.  I’m faster, stronger and hungrier – and if John’s strategy is to outwork me, he’s going to be in a lot of trouble because I’m already in peak physical condition.  If his strategy is to trick me, that won’t work either – because after sparring a few thousand rounds with B.J. Penn, I’m ready for anything.  The way I see it, I’m now only two fights away from becoming the next XFC lightweight world champion.  John had a good run, but April 25 will be Rafaello Oliveira’s official coming out party.”

Mahlow sat cageside for Oliveira’s victory over Thompson, handling color commentating duties for the XFC broadcast.  He remembers being deeply impressed with Oliveira’s strength, athleticism and BJJ – but steadfastly claims that he was by no means intimidated.

“Oliveira has a lot of natural athletic gifts and an unusually high ceiling as a prospect, but he’s not a student of the game like I am,” Mahlow said.  “And I’m betting that my capacity for absorbing punishment is greater than his ability to inflict it.  Mahlow versus Oliveira is gonna be like two racecars smashing into each other at full speed.  Yeah, I’m gonna get hurt in the collision, but he’s gonna get hurt real bad, too.  And when we reach the second-half of the fight, I’m gonna take him to the deep end of the pool and drown him.”

XFC 8: “Regional Conflict” features the fastest-rising young prospects and top emerging superstars from Tennessee , Florida , Kentucky and North Carolina in a series of contender-versus-contender cage fights.  Tickets are now available at the Thompson-Boling Arena box office and Tickets Unlimited outlets, including Cat’s Music, Disc Exchange, and Fye Music.

Post a comment . Apr 06, 2009
Filed under: Octagon Buzz Exclusive, John Mahlow, Rafaello Oliviera, XFC 8

Published by Stephen Rhodes

Knoxville, TN : The XFC announced today that the highly-anticipated featherweight showdown between undefeated Bruce “The Noose” Connors (6-0) of Orlando , Florida and Jarrod “The Wild Card” Card (9-2-1) of Jacksonville , North Carolina will now be for the XFC featherweight world championship.  The two 145-pound fighters will battle in the main event of XFC 8: “Regional Conflict” on Saturday, April 25, at the 21 thousand-capacity Thompson-Boling Arena on the campus of the University of Tennessee .  The event will be televised live nationwide, exclusively on HDNet.

 

Rising heavyweight contender Bobby Lashley (2-0) will be at XFC 8 as a special guest, and the former two-time ECW world champion will present the custom-designed world title to the winner.

 

“I’ve gone on record as saying that Bruce Connors is the best featherweight I’ve ever seen outside of the WEC,” said XFC president John Prisco, “but Card is a tremendous natural athlete with a ferocious mean streak, and I’d actually give him a slight edge in power and experience.  We’ve only crowned two other world champions in the history of the XFC [lightweight champion John Mahlow and bantamweight champion Jason Goodall], and it’s because we’re fanatically protective of the sanctity of our title belts.  Whoever wins this fight will be a champion in the full sense of the word.  Connors versus Card is a matchup that industry insiders are just salivating over, and it’s one of the most compelling fights that the XFC has ever had the privilege of promoting.” 

 

XFC 8 features the fastest-rising young prospects and top emerging superstars from Tennessee , Florida , Kentucky and North Carolina in a series of contender-versus-contender cage fights.  The combined professional and amateur records of all fighters currently assigned bouts is 130-22.  “That means our fighters will enter the cage with a winning percentage of over 85 percent,” noted Prisco.  “That’s virtually unheard of in today’s MMA, but this card is just loaded with do-or-die matchups between the top young talent in the entire Southeast.  These are the champions of tomorrow – and the next generation of Mixed Martial Artists.”

 

Bruce Connors served two tours in Kosovo and Afghanistan as a sniper scout with the U.S. Marines – and later utilized his elite combat skills as an officer with the Florida police department’s SWAT [Special Weapons and Tactics] team.  Training out of Gracie Barra Orlando, Connors exploded onto the MMA scene with a 6-0 record, earning multi-fight contract offers from numerous national promotions.  All of Connors’ six wins are by first-round knockout or submission.

 

“A world title represents the ultimate achievement for anyone in the fight game,” said Connors, “because it means that you’re the absolute best at what you do.  It’s the pinnacle of a fighters’ career and the reason why we push our bodies beyond the breaking point every day in training camp.  I learned a little bit about mental toughness on the battlefields overseas, so I really hope I’ll be able to maintain focus on Jarrod Card and concentrate on executing my game plan, but I won’t lie to you: Fighting for the XFC world title on live TV is a dream come true, and I can’t help but smile from ear-to-ear when I think about what it would be like to wear that belt around my waist.  On April 25, I’ll pay any price to win that championship.”

 

His opponent, Jarrod Card, also has a strong military background: Formerly a member of the U.S. Navy, Card currently works with the Marines at Fort Lejeune as a civilian contractor and aircraft expert.  In his most recent fight, Card battled Jeff “Little Popeye” Bedard, a three-fight veteran of the WEC, where “Little Popeye” went 2-1.  Bedard entered the bout with a sterling 9-1 record, but was quickly overwhelmed by Card’s lightning-fast hands and offensive onslaught.  Card decimated Bedard, forcing the corner of “Little Popeye” to throw in the towel at the end of round one.

 

“In the eyes of the media, I was the underdog against Jeff Bedard, and according to the media I’ll be the underdog once again when I fight Bruce Connors,” said Card.  “But that’s just perception.  In reality, there are no favorites and there are no underdogs once the steel cage door swings shut and the bell chimes.  All that matters is who fights harder – and whose heart is bigger.  I’ve got nothing negative to say about Bruce.  He’s a class act and a great young fighter.  But I know me, and when we lock horns in the center of the cage – with the XFC featherweight world title on the line – I honestly don’t see how he can survive.  I want that championship belt so badly, I can taste it.  It’s the first thing I thing I think about when I wake up in the morning – and the last thing I think about when I go to sleep at night.  Maybe it’s becoming an unhealthy obsession, but I need that title.  He’ll have to break me to take it.” 

 

Johnny Najjar is the president of Masis Boxing Belts, a family-run business that’s been the preeminent designer and manufacturer of world titles for over 60 years.  His belts have been worn by every major boxing champion of the past half-century, including Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis, and now the Klitschko brothers.  Najjar is personally hand-designing the XFC featherweight world title belt, and according to Najjar, his not-yet-completed creation will symbolize the sacrifice and discipline required to become a world champion.

 

“This is more than a trophy; it’s a work of art – an 18-karat gold-plated masterpiece!” exclaimed Najjar.  “Over 200 man-hours will go into the XFC championship title.  Its magnificent design truly symbolizes the bravery and fearlessness of the modern day MMA gladiator.  Since the age of Pharaohs in ancient Egypt , championship belts have symbolized that – for just one fleeting moment in time – the title-holder has achieved true greatness and everlasting immortality.  I know that Bruce Connors and Jarrod Card will put each other through hell and back to win the XFC featherweight world championship – and whoever prevails will have a title belt worthy of the occasion, I promise you that!”

 

XFC 8: “Regional Conflict” takes place on April 25 at Knoxville ’s Thompson-Boling Arena.  Tickets are now available at the Thompson-Boling Arena box office and Tickets Unlimited outlets, including Cat’s Music, Disc Exchange, and Fye Music.

1 Comment . Mar 31, 2009
Filed under: Octagon Buzz Exclusive, XFC 8