King of the Cage Double Cross, 8/2/02King of the Cage is a promotion that seems to be getting better and better, and for their second PPV event they loaded the deck by holding four (4!) title bouts at their home base at Soboba Casino. Probably about 5,000 fans filed into the arena for this on, including numerous celebrities (fighters, actors, porn stars) such as Royce Gracie and Charles Gracie, Ken Shamrock, Don Frye, Tito Ortiz, Ricco Rodriguez, Quentin Jackson Joe Rogan (Fear Factor), Alfonso Ribeiro (Fresh Prince of Bel Air), Stephanie Swift (umm….). Heck Scotty even returned from Brazil for this one! Plus that one really drunk guy that shows up to every show yelling “Hit em in the face!”
As with any event however, the real stars are On the Mat (or in the cage, as the case may be) and as we stated previously, this card was absolutely stacked with four title bouts. Unfortunately, because of insane amounts of traffic in between Los Angles and Palm Springs, we wound up missing the first three preliminary bouts. However, when we settled into our seats for the main broadcast, we were definitely not disappointed as every bout was extremely exciting.
David Johnson defeats Kelly Johnson via Strikes in 1`10“.
Brian Warren defeats LouieVaith by Judge`s Decision (2nd round)
Thomas Denny over Jeff Lindsay by Judges Decision (2nd Round)
Brian Hawkins beats Todd Medina by TKO (cut). (Doctor Stoppage after 1st round)
Todd Medina was game but obviously outsized by Hawkins who managed to secure a mount and began pounding away towards the end of the round. This opened up a nasty cut over Medina`s forehead, which caused the doctor to stop the match after the first round.
Shonie Carter defeats Randy Velarde by Rear Naked Choke in 4`53 1st round
Mr International is back (although he forsook his trademark flag shorts for a sponsorship for a drink which makes me puke). Starting the match Velarde came out strong and took Carter to the mat. Carter reversed the position and eventually regained his feet. Carter gave hope to near sighted fighters everywhere as he then executed a suplex which brought the crowd to their collective feat. From there, Velarde turtled up as Carter worked for, and secured the rear naked choke in the final seconds for the victory.
Christian Wellisch beats Sam Sotello via Read Naked Choke in 4`20 of the 1st round.
Christian Wellish was corned by “Crazy” Bob Cook and Team American Kick Boxing, where as Sam Sotello was accompanied to the ring by Don Frye. This match went back and forth but when Sotello began to show signs of fatigue Wellisch took over and locked on a sloppy (but effective) rear naked choke for the W.Dean Lister defeats Brenden Sequin by Triangle Choke in 4`37 of the 3rd round to win the vacant King of the Cage Middleweight Title.
Dean Lister at 185 is a scary thought. Long time visitors of OTM have no doubt seen countless matches from Dean in submission grappling at around the200 mark, but Dean came in shredded and ready. Furthermore, Dean had Ultimate fighting legend Royce Gracie in his corner! Although Dean was the oddsmakers (and crowd`s) favorite, no one seemed to tell Brenden Sequin who fought an incredible fight. Perhaps knowing Dean`s reputation, Sequin proved extremely difficult to take down, and was intent on punishing Dean each time he attempted a tacke down or a submission. At the end of the second round Dean locked on an Arm bar that would have ended the match had time not expired. In the third round Sequin regrouped and fought hard, sticking to his game plan, however one mistake against someone as crafty as Dean was all it took and Dean locked on a beautiful Triangle Choke for the finish in the final seconds. True to Dean`s sense of sportsmanship, he quickly congratulated Sequin`s corner before accepting his prize, the KOTC middleweight crown.
Watch Dean prepare for this bout and his comments afterward!
Javier Vasquez beats David Gardner by kneebar in 4`31 of the 1st round to unify the King of the Cage and Gladiator`s Challenge Lightweight Title.
Lot of attention was being paid to this match up by insiders as their stories circulating of some trash talk by the respective camps hyping up their fighters. (Those who know Javi can vouch he`s actually a soft-spoken, modest guy who leaves his talking On the Mat, and no doubt after watching this bout Gardner is a warrior as well). Javier scored the takedown early in the bout and was looking to a quick win when an illegal (and inaderdant) strike to the back to Gardner`s head halted the match. Despite bleeding profusely, when the match was restarted Gardner attacked with renewed vigor, scoring a takedown and pounding Javier from inside the guard. Javier defended well however, and rolled into a kneebar that forced the tapout at 4`31. Javi unites the titles (although he was only half jokingly looking for his other belt after the event) and proves himself a definite force in very stacked 155 division.
See Javi`s ring entrance and post fight comments here!
Vernon White beats Mike Rogers by Split Judge`s Decision after Three rounds to retain the King of The Cage Light HeavyWeight Title
This was Vernon White`s first fight since a car accident sidelined him nearly a year ago. Rough welcome back, as his opponent was Mike Rogers, an undefeated fighter from St. Louis being trained by Rodrigo Vahgi! From the feet Rogers would press the action jabbing to takedown, but once on the ground White would defend well and initiate some striking of his own. Rogers showed good control, White showed the poise of a veteran fighter, however neither fighter was in danger of being finished. The decision was a split one, tough one for Rogers, but you have to beat the man to be the man. Afterwards White tossed his rashguard to the crowd, which landed in Tito Ortiz`s lap! Rogers for his part was disappointed ion his performance, but will definitely be back.
Jimmy Ambriz defeats Daniel Bobish by submission (strikes from mount) in 46 seconds into the 1st round to claim the KOTC Heavyweight Title
This looked more like something from Animal Planet as two of the largest fighters in the game (that`s nearly a combined 700 pounds there) smacked headlong into each and began duking it out. The flurry dazed Bobish, he fell to the ground and Ambriz quickly established a mount. From there Ambriz pounded at will until the referee stopped the bout. Ambiz claims the King of the Cage Heavyweight Title.