The Farm Report: Fulfilling Promise
Meaningful MMA exists beyond the confines of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Bellator MMA and World Series of Fighting. In this monthly series, Sherdog.com recaps the month that was on the regional circuit in mixed martial arts:
Perhaps Freddy Assuncao has begun to live up to the expectations that once surrounded him as a fighter some viewed as the gold standard among MMA prospects.
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The 32-year-old Assuncao has won nine consecutive bouts dating back to his November 2009 submission loss to Jim Alers. The younger brother of Ultimate Fighting Championship veterans Junior Assuncao and Raphael Assuncao, he has finished each of his last two opponents with chokes.
Meanwhile, Jose Torres
stopped Abdiel
Velazquez with a knee strike and follow-up punches 3:52 into
the second round of their co-main event, as he seized the interim
Titan flyweight title. Torres, 23, closed the deal with a knee and
follow-up punches, moving his record to 3-0. He was regarded as the
top amateur fighter in the sport before turning pro in March.
Desmond Green, D.J. Linderman, Sabah Homasi and 1996 Olympic bronze medalist Alexis Vila were also victorious at the event. Vila, 45, secured a unanimous decision over Jorge Calvo to halt a three-fight losing streak.
Familiar Haunts
Jonavin Webb made a triumphant return to the Cage Fury Fighting Championships organization on Aug. 6, as he submitted Isaac Steele with a first-round rear-naked choke in the CFFC 60 main event at the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Steele conceded defeat 4:59 into round one.
A former CFFC welterweight champion, Webb has never lost in 10 appearances -- he is 9-0, with one no-contest -- inside the promotion. The victory over Steele soothed the wounds from a failed two-fight stint in the UFC that saw the 27-year-old drop back-to-back bouts against Kyle Noke and Nathan Coy.
Other victors at CFFC 60 included “The Ultimate Fighter 19” winner Eddie Gordon, who eked out a split decision over Chris Lozano in the co-headliner. Meanwhile, lightweight prospect Jared Gordon improved to 11-1 by submitting Dawond Pickney with a second-round rear-naked choke, and former Ring of Combat bantamweight champion Julio Arce tapped Francisco Isata with a rear-naked choke in the second round of his organizational debut.
Around the Horn: Khamanaev Ups Mark to 17-4
Musa Khamanaev improved to 17-4 with a unanimous decision over Bruce Boyington in the Absolute Championship Berkut 43 main event on Aug. 20 in Penza, Russia ... Vagner Rocha retained the Fight Time lightweight championship, as he stopped Rafael da Silva Alves with leg kicks 2:36 into the third round of their Fight Time 32 headliner on Aug. 12 at the War Memorial Auditorium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida ... Viviane Pereira kept her perfect professional record intact, as the Brazilian prospect captured a three-round unanimous decision over Carolina Karasek in the Aspera Fighting Championship main event on Aug. 6 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The 22-year-old Pereira now owns a 12-0 mark ... Ricardo Lucas Ramos rebounded from his first pro defeat to submit Alfred Khashakyan with a rear-naked choke 2:10 into the second round of their New England Fights “Lookin’ for a Fight” headliner on Aug. 5 in Bangor, Maine ... Millennia MMA’s Danny Navarro got his hands on Tachi Palace Fights gold, as he submitted Brian Cobb with a guillotine choke 4:22 into the second round of their Tachi 28 headliner on Aug. 4 at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in Lemoore, California. The victory brought with it the promotion’s vacant lightweight championship.
More Regional Coverage »
• Soukhamthath Knee Strike Short Circuits Moy
• Giagos Keeps Eye on UFC Return
• Moraes Seizes Interim One Championship Belt
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