John 'Doomsday' Howard Wins CES MMA Title

[keithlewis]

John 'Doomsday' Howard Wins CES MMA Title


The cool, confident Howard (15-7, 5 KOs) ended Chattelle’s title reign abruptly Friday night, stopping “The Hulk” with a barrage of unanswered blows at the 4-minute, 48-second mark of the second round to capture the Classic Entertainment & Sports’ middleweight championship in the main event of CES’ “Never Surrender” mixed martial arts show at the Twin River Event Center.

Fighting for just the second time since his release from the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) in July, Howard – a Boston native – spoiled Chattelle’s first title defense in front a sold-out, standing-room-only crowd at Twin River following a late takedown in the second round. Howard quickly switched to the mount position and, with time running out, unleashed a barrage of unanswered punches while Chattelle covered up hoping the round would end before the referee had a chance to stop the fight.

“I went in for the kill,” Howard said. “When I heard there were only 22 seconds left, I thought, ‘Oh, really?’ and so I went for it. That’s what you do – you just go for it.

“[Chattelle’s] corner should’ve said something. They should’ve said something else.”

“Someone yelled, ‘10 seconds!’ so I said to myself, ‘I’m fine. He mounted me. Why am I going to work to get out of this mount when I have three rounds to go?” Chattelle said. “He was smarter than me. He started going off because he heard ‘10 seconds!’ I figured I’d cover up and the bell wound ring, but it just didn’t work out that way.”

A welterweight (170 pounds) during his UFC tenure, Howard bulked up to 185 pounds for Friday’s fight and anticipated having to rely on his endurance and elusiveness against the much stronger Chattelle. In the end, Howard’s own power – and ability to take one on the chin – turned out to be the difference.

From the opening bell, Chattelle fought with his typical relentless aggression while Howard calmly waited for his opportunity to turn the tables, figuring Chattelle couldn’t maintain that pace over the course of five rounds.

“He was way bigger than we expected,” Howard said. “First round, I figured he was too strong to finish, so I was thinking, ‘In the second round, let me get him a little bit tired and then I’ll come in and do my thing.’

“I think what shocked him was I was able to take his punch. When he first threw his hardest punch, I ate it and looked at him like, ‘Oh, okay.’ What he didn’t know was that’s old-school Thai training. We didn’t go in there as boxers. We went in there with old-school Muay Thai. All my blocking was Thai, Thai, Thai, and it worked.”

Chattelle traded blows with Howard in the opening round, holding a significant edge when the two fought at a distance due to Chattelle’s superior height and reach. Once the two got close, Howard’s shorter, more concise blows began to chip away at Chattelle’s defense. Howard thwarted Chattelle’s attempt to deliver a knee to the face early in the second round and then caught an ill-timed kick toward the end that led to a single-leg takedown. From there, Howard successfully mounted his opponent and finished the fight.

“He’s got a lot of experience fighting in front of big, big crowds,” Chattelle said. “I think, this time, I got a little crazy because I had to prepare for five rounds. He was really calm in there; I could tell. I was trying to push the pace and, hopefully, land a big shot.

“His calmness was mentally messing with me because he so calm. I was trying to push him, push him, push him to get him to come at me and make a mistake, but he stayed too calm and I think I was a little overaggressive. As soon as I threw a kick, he’d take me down. That’s where he got me.”

Chattelle, who entered the fight ranked No. 1 among middleweights in the northeast, may have to wait for his chance to fight on the sports’ biggest stage following Friday’s loss, whereas Howard might find himself back in the fold relatively soon.

“I’m happy to be back where ‘Doomsday’ should be. I’m happy to be back in UFC contention,” Howard said. “I feel great, man. I hadn’t finished in a long time, so it was great to finish a fight, especially at 185. I’m ready to bang and ready to go back to what I do.”

Friday’s undercard also featured a light heavyweight showdown between two of the Top 3 fighters in the northeast, as top-ranked Mike Stewart (7-3) of White Plains, N.Y., stopped No. 3-ranked Cody Lightfoot (6-3) of Somersworth, N.H., via rear-naked choke at the 3:10 mark of the opening round. Stewart caught Lightfoot on the chin with a sneaky 1-2 combination and then applied the choke after a series of rights and lefts left Lightfoot dazed.

Dedham, Mass., native Brett Oteri (9-3), who lost to Chattelle for the CES MMA title in November, bounced back with a first-round submission win over Abe Pitrowski (5-2) of Pawtucket via a guillotine choke at the 4:06 mark.

No. 10-ranked lightweight Lucas Cruz (4-0) of Boston kept his perfect record intact with an impressive win over Pete Jeffrey (5-5) of Pawtucket, stopping Jeffrey with 1:49 to go in the first with a rear-naked choke. In what may have been the upset of the night, middleweight Brennan Ward (2-0) dominated veteran Harley Beekman (4-1) of Amsterdam, N.Y., via unanimous decision, 30-27, 30-27, 29-28, while Pawtucket’s Keith Jeffrey (7-2-1) escaped a hard-fought battle against the northeast’s No. 8-ranked welterweight and Plymouth, Mass., native Chip Moraza-Pollard (6-4) with a 30-27, 28-29, 30-27 split-decision victory.

Lightweight Dominic Warr (2-2) of Maynard, Mass., beat Pawtucket’s Tom Evans (2-1) by split decision, 28-29, 29-28, 30-27 and welterweight Zach Costello (2-0) of Scituate, Mass., dominated Leon Davis (1-1) of Springfield, Mass., via a 30-27, 30-27, 30-27 unanimous decision. Dinis Paiva Jr. (1-3) of East Providence, R.I., suffered his third consecutive loss by unanimous decision, 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 against bantamweight Sergio Cabrara (1-0) of Boston. Bob Burton (2-1) of Brockton, Mass., defeated Carlos Rivera (1-4) of Meriden, Conn., with an arm triangle at the 3:02 mark of the opening round. That fight took place at a catch weight of 195 pounds.