Maximum Fighting Championship welterweight champion Douglas “The Phenom” Lima showcased brilliant striking to match his impressive jiu-jitsu pedigree in retaining his world title Friday night as the MFC made a triumphant debut in Ontario with the S.L. Feldman’s presents – MFC 29: Conquer card.
A capacity crowd of 5,000 fans packed The Colosseum at Caesars Windsor for what was the first-ever sporting event in the state-of-the-art facility, and the first mixed martial arts event televised live in the province of Ontario. The HDNet broadcast reached more than nine million homes throughout North America.
Lima (18-4) needed only 1:14 to retain his title as he stunned Terry Martin (21-9) with a vicious overhand right than dropped the challenger. Lima, who fights out of Atlanta, Georgia, banged Martin twice more as referee Yves Lavigne jumped in to stop the bout. The victory also earned Lima the Knockout of the Night award – his third straight bonus following up on a pair of Submission of the Night awards in his two previous MFC outings.
“Everybody said I was a one-dimensional fighter, that all I had was jiu-jitsu. I showed them I’m a true mixed martial artist,” said Lima.
The night was particularly sweet for the entire Lima clan as Douglas’s younger brother, Dhiego (5-0), put a bow on the undercard with a third-round submission via rear-naked choke against local product Josh Taveirne (2-2). The Limas are now collectively 5-0 under the MFC banner.
It was much better news for a different Windsor, Ontario, product as hulking middleweight Ali “The Monster” Mokdad kicked off the HDNet Fights broadcast in spectacular fashion. Mokdad (4-0) blasted through highly touted prospect Andreas Spang (5-1), needing only 1:35 to earn his fourth straight win by rear-naked choke finish.
The victory, which brought a huge eruption from the home-town crowd, earned Mokdad the Submission of the Night honor.
“I think the whole crowd was there for me,” laughed Mokdad. “It was unbelievable, and then to get the Submission of the Night, that was something I never expected, but it is awesome.”
While Lima looked terrific in defending his title, it was a sluggish yet successful outing for the other defending champion on the card. Ryan “The Big Deal” Jimmo (15-1), just six weeks off scoring the MFC light-heavyweight title at MFC 28, defended the belt with a unanimous decision win over Zak Cummings (13-3).
Though the win wasn’t stylish, it still did extend Jimmo’s winning streak to 15, putting him right at the top of the longest current streaks in all of MMA.
Following Mokdad’s successful launch to the televised card, a pair of veterans turned in solid performance though not nearly in the manner expected considering their impressive career resumes.
Pete “The Secret Weapon” Spratt surprised many when he suddenly got the advantage against Demi Deeds and wound up taking the win via submission. A much more renowned striker, Spratt (22-19) did start to get the edge on Deeds (15-9) with a barrage of punches, but with Deeds down on the mat and in obvious trouble Spratt then snatched the victory with a shocking armbar at the 4:19 mark of Round 2.
On the flipside, jiu-jitsu wizard Hermes Franca (21-11), who was making his MFC debut, didn’t even attempt a submission finish. Egging on opponent Robert Washington (9-3) throughout the first round, Franca then brought a wickedly sudden end to the fight with a one-punch knockout just 26 seconds into Round 2.
In one of the more hotly anticipated fights of the MFC 29 card, the debut of “The Irish Hand Grenade” Marcus Davis went much longer than most insiders predicted as Curtis “The Demon” Demarce showed his stubbornly aggressive side once again.
However, Davis (18-8) got the nod in a narrow split decision, foiling another hard-fought effort from Demarce (10-9) who many felt got the raw end of a decision loss to Richie Whitson at MFC 28. Both fighters came away bruised and bloodied from the affair – Davis getting the edge with more damage done in Round 3.
Other results:
David Bo Harris def. Chuck Mady – 3:07, Round 1, submission via rear-naked choke
Matt Spisak def. Pete Brown – unanimous decision, Round 3
