On Saturday October 6th the stage was set for the Cage Combat Fighting Championships at the San Mateo Fairgrounds. On Saturday October 6th the stage was set for the Cage Combat Fighting Championships at the San Mateo Fairgrounds. The event was dubbed “Undefeated” and featured two title fights. The first between grappling superstar Darren “BC” Uyenoyama (2-0) and Rolando Velasco (3-0), both vying for the CCFC bantamweight title. The co-main event pitted unbeaten welterweight James Terry against a scrappy Josh Hinkle. This was also for the CCFC belt. The night kicked off with the fast moving Evan Esguerra facing off against Jeremy Travers in the 145-pound weight class. Evan, representing Fight and Fitness, controlled the pace of the fight with a slick ground control game and a bunch of vicious knees from the clinch. This was an impressive unanimous decision victory for Evan Esguerra. Next up was Rickey Almondia, who was cornered by MMA star Cung Le, facing off against Kyle Rideau from FSA. This one didn’t last long. Rickey showed some powerful strikes but got caught in a RNC by Rideau early in the first. The action continued in the welterweight division with a devastating performance by Ky Hollenbeck. Ky is a Muay Thai stylist out of World Team USA. However it wasn’t his striking that stole the show, it was his Jiu Jitsu. Ky applied one of the most brutal armlocks I have ever seen. He basically took his opponent John Prestons elbow home in a doggie bag. “Uhh.. so elbows aren’t meant to bend that way Huh ?! “Nice work Ky. In another quick finish Damien Douglas out of Cesar Gracie easily dispatched of Juan Alcain from Shamrock Submission fighting via armbar from the guard. Next up was a sweet 155 pound bout in which Dominique Robinson opened up a gaping hole in the head of opponent Zach “the Iron Monkey” Yngojo. This prompted a doctor stoppage midway through the first round. Dominique “the Fallen Angel” has nasty clinchwork and is working with the Diaz brothers at Cesar Gracie Jiu Jitsu. So watch for the guy to open up more heads for money in the future. After two dominant performances by Cesar Gracie’s camp it was time for one of Ralph Gracie’s pits to be let out the cage. His name is Joey Armstrong, and to be honest he scares me. If I could use one word to describe Joey that word would have to be BEAST! Don’t get it twisted Joey’s hella cool and a mild mannered gent off the mat. Thing is, if you get into physical combat with the guy he’ll make it so that your life sucks. Joey finished Cisco Soto with some GNP from the back that made my neck hurt. Cisco has a lot of skills and should come back strong after this loss. But in the meantime look for big thangs from Joey Armstrong whether it’s in the cage or on the mat. Next up we got to see another dog in the form of Bobby Stack. This guy is a phenomenal wrestler and a violent striker out of team USA. He dropped his opponent or should I say his victim, Frank Demartini with a knee that looked like something out of friggin “ONG BAK!” DIRTY and when I say dirty I mean the good kind of dirty. World Team USA is good at hurting other humans. OK ! So now its time for the title fights. In one corner stood Rolando Velasco. I didn’t know much about him except that he was 3-0 and out of Oakdale MMA. I did however know something about his opponent Darren “Bone crusher” Uyenoyama. Darren is an extraordinary grappler (I mean they don’t call a 135 pound man bone crusher for nothing). This guy twists dudes in bows and will smoke your joints like he was trying to get high. He also is just coming off taking gold in the FILA world grappling championships in Turkey.
So when Velasco snatched up the title with a wicked sprawl and brawl strategy that was fueled by some energizer bunny type shit, it’s safe to say that it was a major upset. The last fight of the night was for the 170-pound belt and it pitted James Terry versus Josh Hinkle. James Terry trains under Cung Le and also has some dope wrestling skills. His training with Cung has got him throwing duckets so hard he broke his right hand in the second. He had to utilize his left hook and takedown game to gut out the win. It was ruled a split decision in his favor but in my opinion he won every round decisively. And there you have it, a great night of hurting friends, NorCal Style. With no fighters over 170 pounds the action was non-stop and the pace made for beautiful violence. Thanks CCFC for putting together a top quality show for us hardcore fight fans.