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Former Olympian Hawne grabs hard-fought win at WCF 9
 World
Championship Fighting action drew another packed house at the
Shriner's Auditorium in Wilmington, Massachusetts Friday night
(February 26th). Promoter Joe Cavallaro once again proved why his
event is consider among the best on the east coast, putting on a
show free from controversy in front of a well-behaved and excited
crowd. There were a lot of twists and turns on the night, but little
that affected the quality of the event.
Longtime KISS 108 Morning guy Billy Costa subbed-in, taking on the
ring announcing duties. Seeming like a veteran of the MMA scene,
Costa pulled it off in stellar fashion keeping the fights moving and
the crowd energized. Several Boston Celtics were also in-attendance
including Glenn Davis and Rajon Rondo. UFC Veteran's Marcus Davis
and Dany Lauzon were also on hand.
With the State of Massachusetts preparing to begin overseeing mixed
martial arts as of Monday under the new Massachusetts Athletic
Commission, longtime WCF independent official Joe Esposito was also
in attendance working his final fight for the organization. Esposito
was named as a Commissioner (starting on the 1st), and is expected
to fight to carry on the high integrity of the sport. Esposito is a
very-well respected martial artist and the announcement of his
appointment is being scene as a big win for Mixed Martial Arts.
One change on the night was the last minute canceling of the co-main
event involving WEC Veteran Mike Campbell taking on Marc Stevens.
Campbell was forced to withdraw with a knee.
The Main Event lived up to the hype, as former Olympian Rick Hawn
took on Team Bombsquad's Tom Gallicchio in a battle that went the
distance. Hawn, who trains with Olympic Judo Gold Medallist Jimmy
Pedro and famed UFC coach Mark Dellagrotte of Sityodtong, came ready
for a war and that what he got. Gallicchio and Hawn had some heavy
first round exchanges of punches and kicks before Hawn got it to the
ground with a classic one-arm judo throw. He followed it up with a
little ground-and-pound that opened a cut on the top of Gallicchio's
forehead. In round two, a heel trip by Hawn put the action back on
the mat, where position transitions along with strikes and a couple
attempted submissions highlighted the round. The third round saw an
early period of a return of the stand-up battle, before a missed
head-kick attempt by Gallicchio allowed Hawn to bring the action
back to the ground, where it stayed for the remainder of the fight.
Hawn took a unanimous the decision.
The scheduled fight between Renzo Gracie's John Benoit and Noah
Weisman of BJJ Revolution stepped up to the Co-Main Event chair, and
delivered the next best action of the night. Benoit, a veteran of
the WCF, avoided a near-triangle choke in the first round and
maintained top position to control the round. Benoit used a standing
kimura in the 2nd to drag the fight back to the ground, cranking
hard enough to come close to either a submission or a dislocation of
Weisman's arm. A scramble by Weisman freed the lock, but Benoit
maintain top control, on route to a 2nd round unanimous decision
win.
WCF 'forever-fan-favorite' Dan Bonnell took on Dragon Lair's Cesario
de Souza. An opening accidental headbutt seemed to cause a small cut
on Souza and held up the two fighters from engaging for a few
seconds. When the action restarted a hard overhand by Bonnell
dropped Souza flat on his back. A couple follow-up shots by Benoit
was all the ref needed to see to call an end to the fight at just 32
seconds in to round one.
In the rest of the fast moving action; Nelson Gaipou is victorious
over Matt Johnson at 35sec in Round 1 via triangle choke
With both fighters looking for their first win, Joel Ly defeated
Steve at 3:19 in Round 1 via triangle choke
Carlos Lovato overpowered Jerry Spiegel to take TKO win at 3:15 in
Round 1
Stephen Stengel took the win over Mike Zichelle at 1:09 in Round 1
via triangle choke
Matt Martin defeated. Peter Colge at 1:40 in Round 1 via triangle
choke
Robby Roberts topped Buster Crandell at 2:08 in Round 1 via armbar
submission
Another crowd favorite, Jamie Campbell took a fast-moving TKO win
over Andrew Nelson at 1:21 Round 1
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