“Diesel” Victorious in Edmonton

EDMONTON, Alberta, July 21 -- The River Cree Resort and Casino played host to the Hardcore Championship Fighting. The 1,560 patrons were treated to 10 mixed martial arts bouts including an appearance by UFC veteran Joe Riggs (Pictures).

Ricco Rodriguez (Pictures) and Ron Waterman (Pictures) were originally scheduled to headline the event but that bout was scrapped when Rodriguez was denied entry into Canada.

The main event did not loose much star-power as UFC veteran Joe Riggs (Pictures) squared off with local favorite Dan Chambers (Pictures). The hearty crowd cheered their hometown hero before filling the arena with a deafening crescendo, equal parts positive and negative, when Riggs made his way to the cage.

After a quick exchange on the feet, the American brought Chambers down hard on his back with a double leg before proceeding with a heavy-handed ground-and-pound barrage. Chambers skillfully secured Riggs' left arm in a tight Kimura from his back, but with only half guard, Riggs was able to maneuver his way out of danger.

Once free, the well-traveled Riggs resumed dropping the devastating bombs from the guard that have become his trademark. Riggs then passed Chambers guard, and in the scramble that followed, in doing so, he secured a triangle choke from the top position. Shifting to his back, Riggs began to tighten the noose before eventually locking it in deep enough to elicit the tap from Chambers midway through the first round.

After the fight, Riggs informed Sherdog.com that he chose to take a fight outside of a Zuffa promotion as a tune up and that he would be returning to the big stage with this win.

The Ultimate Fighter vet Solomon Hutcherson and Nabil Khatib (Pictures)l looked to unload early in their scheduled three-round contest, but before Khatib could find his range Solomon was able to scoop and drop him down forcefully, shaking the cage and awing the audience.

With the monstrous slam he managed to steel the momentum of the fight. The first round continued with Solomon on top. Khatib stayed busy, attempting submissions and fighting to get back to his feet. Although, on the several occasions he was successful regaining his feet, he was quickly taken back down again.

The second frame started off with a smashing left kick from Hutcherson that found its mark. He followed the kick with yet another bone-cracking takedown. Solomon continued to pound from the top with Khatib attempting submissions.

The Canadian locked on an armbar; but while working to sink it in, Solomon stood up, reached for the sky and brought him down with thundering force. Khatib was unable to lift his right arm to defend himself after the debilitating slam, and after a couple more hard lefts he verbally submitted at 4:34 of the second round.

Khatib, a veteran of BTT Canada, was in a sling after the fight but maintained his good spirits. Solomon did not walk away unscathed either. He suffered a broken left hand towards the end of the duel.

Jesse Bongfeldt and Sean Pierson received the fight-of-the-night award for the back-and-forth war they waged. Both fighters inflicted serious damage but it would be Bongfeldt that would walk away with the victory.

The combatants started the first round clinching and striking aggressively on the feet, Bongfeldt, hoping to finish early, hammered Pierson furiously after taking the fight to the mat. Pierson was battered, but managed to survive the round.

As the second stanza got underway, Bongfeldt looked tired after his offensive outburst in the first. Pierson, hoping to seize the opportunity, found himself in top position after a scramble brought them to the ground. He then exacted a measure of revenge, opening a gushing cut on Bongfeldt's forehead.

Unfortunately for him it was Bongfeldt's night, and there was nothing that could stop this juggernaut. After regaining the top position, Bongfeldt then dropped a slew piercing elbows to the skull before following up with a seemingly endless series of punches. Pierson was unable to defend himself and the referee stepped in at 4:41 of the second period.

Picking up the fighter-of-the-night award was Brazilian Capoeira stylist Marcus Vinicios, who thrilled the audience with his unorthodox kicking game before finishing Mike Yackulic with a devastating right from top position. After notching the knockout win at 1:51 of the first, Vinicios impressed the crowd with a flashy victory flip kick that would have put Chuck Norris to shame.

In other action: Dave Scholtan submitted Ryan Machan (Pictures) by rear naked choke in the first round; Danny Valimaki stopped Chester Post (Pictures) via technical knockout at 5:00 of the opening period; Andrew Buckland defeated Chris Vorano by TKO at 2:30 of the opening frame; Len Tam picked up a win over Tim Tamaki via technical knockout at 2:05 of the second stage; Brad Cardinal knocked out Ryan Polutnik at 3:27 of the first round and Adam Farr claimed victory over Calgary's Vedran Ristic by TKO at the 1:25 mark of round two.