4th of July came back around as Placer County Fair grounds
and Rebel fighters' Enrique Perez hosted " Domination" Which was
a fitting name for what many fans were ranting and raving that
this was one of the most competitive MMA shows they had
witnessed in years. Explosive from top to bottom from
firecrackers, bottle rockets to M80's, that is how the show can
be best described as from the very first Amateur fight on
through the main event, fighter after fighter put on an
outstanding display of Mixed martial arts skill.
"Each fight was exciting to watch" says Rebel fighter promoter/
match maker Enrique Perez, "Every amateur fight could of easily
passed for a professional fight, I am a fan first, I want to see
the best possible fights I can and the best thing about this is
I get a front row seat".
Enrique Perez is getting a reputation for being a fighters
promoter, he treats everyone with respect, integrity and is well
liked amongst not only the fighters but everyone he deals with,
if nothing else he wants to make sure the fighters walk away
happy. Enrique is starting to get recognized not only in
Northern Ca but he has managers/fighters/schools from as far out
as The bay area, and southern ca knocking on his door to jump on
board. "I want to give everyone an opportunity, its always nice
to give the local fighters a venue to display their skills but I
am also wanting to help as many fighters as I can with-in my
means, so I am always open to bringing in fighters from out of
the area".
A who's who of MMA superstars were on hand with the likes of
former WEC Champion Uriah Faber, UFC vets Scott Smith and Tim
McKenzie to witness James "The Sand Man" Irvin (14-6) Battle
Last stand fight teams very own Angel " Of Death" De Anda (8-2)
for Rebel Fighters Heavyweight Championship.
DeAnda defiantly proved he belonged atop of the Heavyweight
division and very well should be in every discussion when it
comes to debating who is not only the most exciting but who is
the best Heavyweight that has come out of Central/Northern
California in recent years. DeAnda was all smiles as he is most
known for from the moment he entered the arena. DeAnda who had
just recently vacated the Gladiator Challenge Heavyweight title
to take this fight with Irvin was looking to add another belt to
his trophy case. DeAnda came out with his hands high looking for
only one thing , " A knockout" It was surprising to see Irvin
come out reserved, most anticipated a fast pace from Irvin with
spinning back fist's, flying knees and superman punches. The
fans did get to see a superman punch within the first two
minutes of the fight that momentarily dropped DeAnda, Irvin
tried to attack but DeAnda jumped to his feet and turned the
tied with a flurry of punches and eventually had Irvin
retreating. DeAnda landed a right hand that sent Irvin to the
canvas with DeAnda pouncing on him with a barrage of punches,
referee Josh Rosenthal looked as if he was stopping the fight as
soon as Irvin fell to the canvas, causing DeAnda to hesitate for
a split second, that split second cost DeAnda the fight as Irvin
slowly got to his feet still fighting off a flurry from DeAnda.
The two separated with DeAnda still looking to finish Irvin.
Irvin saw a small opening and landed a devastating right hand
that sent DeAnda to the canvas for good. The crowd roared in
disbelief with most everyone thinking the fight was over only 30
seconds earlier.
The fight of the night came from (3-2)Daniel Romero and
(5-2)Mike Bravo with Romero getting the split decision, It was
exciting from the opening bell with both fighters giving and
taking the entire fight, What had cost Bravo the fight was being
penalized for holding the fence avoiding being taken down as the
first round was coming to a close. From that point on Bravo
dominated the fight leaving Romero exhausted hanging on to
survive in the third and final round. Bravo found his groove and
was in a zone landing a flying knee which could of easily ended
the fight if only more time was left to finish Romero. The crowd
booed the decision and chanted rematch as both fighters exited
the cage. It was refreshing to watch Bravo make his way through
the crowd after the fight greeting all those that came out to
support him.
Submission of the night came from the hands of Gracie fighter
Robert Ballard (6-1), Ballard wasted no time in taking
journeyman Marcus Gaines (6-11) down and securing a rear naked
choke within the first minute of the fight. This was a huge win
for Ballard a great confidence booster having come off a tough
loss from Victor Moreno (3-2) only a few months ago. " It feels
good to get back in the win column, I took my loss pretty hard,
I don’t like losing, I will continue and work to get better each
and day. My family were huge supporters, I could not have done
it without them. Nick and Nate Diaz push me to get better and to
be the best I can be, I could never thank them enough.
What could of easily been the submission of the night came from
Chris Sheridan (2-2) who submitted Victor Moreno (3-2) via
Triangle in the first minute of Round 1
Newly crowned Rebel fighter Interim lightweight Champion Derrick
Burnsed (6-1) took on a very tough and highly explosive opponent
in Andre Fili (4-1) these two did not disappoint, these two were
different in every which way but the combination of the two
ignited the crowd for all 4 1/2 rounds, this was a back ands
forth battle with Burnsed finally settling in to his own over
the last two rounds, as the 5th round was under way Burnsed
ended up in Fili's guard landing some heavy shots, for some
reason Burnsed stopped throwing and stood up, it turned out
looking over to Fili his knee cap had popped out of place having
to be carried out of the cage, Burnsed acknowledged to the crowd
that Fili was the toughest he had ever faced and would love to
run it back one more time.
It had been rumored that the WEC brass was in attendance
scouting Andre Fili, well it looks like they walked away with
much more on their minds having watched a great night of action
packed fights.
"Move over Central Cali, Nor cal is hot on your tail" that was
the buzz around the parking lot as everyone were exiting,
Central California has been tagged the hot bed of MMA, well
Rebel fighter might have just put themselves on the map.
Fights HITBOYMMA staff would like to see.
