Saturday, April 18, 2009

Liveblog: ROC 24 Part 7

Charles Oliveira de Silva of Gold Team Fighters makes his way to the cage to some soft-rock Brazilian tune that old people in Sao Paulo must play in their Lincoln Continentals as they drive to and from the early-bird special at their local rodizio. Dom Stanco of Bellmore Kickboxing comes out to rap, which is a pleasant contrast. Wow. Okay, I didn't see this one coming. The fight opens with Oliveira de Silva getting Stanco down and controlling him, very nearly sinking the rear naked choke. Stanco reverses to drop some leather, but the Brazilian sweeps him, takes his back, and this time the rear naked choke is successful. Stanco taps at 3:33 of the first round in what is definitely an upset. Props to Oliveira de Silva, as he's now the USKBA East Coast Lightweight Champ. James McSweeney of Greg Jackson's School of Nipple Tweaking is up and facing Advanced Martial Arts' Ricardo Romero in a heavyweight bout. Romero is one of the best in the Northeast so hopefully he reps us well. And... he does, dominating the Brit with his wrestling and tapping him out with a rear naked choke at 2:27 of Round 1. Last bout of the night is Team Renzo's Rafael Sapo against Gold Team Fighters' Plinio Cruz - a match-up that pits Brazilian against Brazilian. Somewhere back in their homeland, two rival Sao Paulo gangs have gathered around a laptop with an Internet connection, awaiting the result of this one like old 1920s boxing fans gathered around a radio. Anyway, Round 1 sees Sapo stuck on Cruz's back working for the choke and Cruz escaping late and swinging for the fences. Round 2 has more grappling dominance by Sapo, as evidenced by his rear naked choke victory at 3:13. And I'm out.

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