HOUSTON, TX, February 3, 2012 – It was a great night of MMA for fans in North Houston this past Friday night as Garcia Promotions put on their latest event, Cage Combat 8. The night started off early with a moderate crowd of die-hard fans showing up early to cheer on Houston MMA’s own Andrew Craig and Daniel Pineda as they fought on the UFC on FX 2 Prelims. The crowd would cheer loudly as both hometown heroes did work on the world’s biggest stage. Momentum would only grow from there as the crowd filled out close to the scheduled start time. From this writer’s perspective, it might have actually been Eric Garcia and Jace Pitre’s biggest crowd yet this time, a testament to their own growing momentum as an established Houston-based promotion.
With an impetus on exciting fights, the crowd was treated to a stacked card filled to the brim with fourteen bouts on the night. It’s easy for everything to blend together on a card filled with so many fights but fortunately for those in attendance, it was far from that as the majority of the fights stood out on their own merit. Simply put, these fighters fought their butts off last night.
Cage Combat 8 – Quick Results
Jason Friedman over Brandon Hanna by submission (strikes), RD1
Eric Thompson over Joel Rivera by unanimous decision, (30×27)
Carlos Jimenez over Leroy Shafer by split decision, (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
Jose Angel Llanas over Carver Bennett by TKO, RD2
Kody Williams over Brian Murphy by split decision, (30-27, 28-29,30-27)
AJ Hoffman over Gary Bolton by submission (guillotine choke), RD1
Ryan Hollis over Matt Thompson by submission (armbar), RD1
Nico Echeverry over Tony Biernesser by submission (armbar), RD2
James Deherrera over Cesar Del Angel by unanimous decision, (29-28×3)
Lucas Orosco over Kolton Englund by KO, RD1
Mike Jackson over Frank Salinas by split decision, (28-29, 29-28,30-27)
Levi West over Jeremy Lieder by unanimous decision, (30×27 X3)
Geoffrey Neal over Guilherme Moreira by unanimous decision (170 title)
TXMMA Fight Night Awards
Fight of the Night – James Deherrera vs. Cesar Del Angel
Knockout of the Night – Lucas Orosco vs. Kolton Englund
Submission of the Night – Ryan Hollis vs. Matt Thompson
Cage Combat 8 – Highlights and Photo Gallery
Ending off the evening in the main event was an impressive victory by NEW Garcia Promotions 170 lbs. champion Geoffrey Neal. The Twin Wolves pro prospect moved to an incredulous 9-1 record at the amateur level with his decision victory over a visibly-fatigued Guilherme Moreira. It was a close fight early as the two jockeyed for advantage early on. G hit a beautiful helicopter sweep into an armbar in the first but was unable to finish. From there Geoff wore on the former champion, using his strength and athleticism to fight off his opponent’ submission attempts while giving back some punishment from the top position in order to gain his latest (and biggest) win at the amateur level. Time will now tell whether he (and/or his opponent) move on to the pro leagues after this tough fight.
Levi West secured a workman-like decision victory over Jeremy Lieder in the co-main event fight. He was all over his opponent from the beginning – working a mix of boxing and clinch work along with some timely takedowns to take control early. He would never relinquish the lad on the way to the win. Next up for “2 Fly” is a highly-anticipated showdown with Charlie Ontiveros for the Legacy Amateur 170 title next month at Legacy Amateur Series.
A ton of other fighters impressed on the 12 fight undercard.
Winning knockout of the night honors, Lucas Orosco put the exclamation point on his short but exciting bout with Kolton Englund with a thundering hook that floored the Silverback fighter right as the first round bell signaled the close of the round. It was very reminiscent of Steve Garcia vs. Tim Snyder at Renegades Extreme Fighting way back in October 2007. Like that bout, I’m sure many people wouldn’t mind seeing this one again.
Ryan Hollis also impressed by making quick work of Matt Thompson with a triangle choke in the first round to continue his ascent up the regional flyweight division. With this win, he gained our submission of the night award.
As for the rest, a ton of other fighters impressed. Rather than name then all, just click through the entire photo gallery here or by clicking on the picture below.
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