June 27th, 2009 by TammyTV

Fight Junky and Tammy TV are down at Horseshoe Casino on the Ohio River to cover Revolution Fight League. Jens Pulver, Junie Browning, and others will be on hand to watch ten exciting MMA fights, which are being aired on HD Net, headlined by a heavyweight clash between Ron Sparks and Johnathan Ivey. Fight Junky will be posting LIVE RESULTS here all night, and the crew of Tammy TV will be doing post-fight interviews and hopefully sitting down to chat with Jens Pulver and Junie Browning.

Check back here often for live results of the night’s fights!!!

Update at 7:20 — Correction… 9 fights tonight, not 10. Fight order lists the billed headliner, Sparks vs. Ivey, as the 7th fight. We are at the outdoor pavilion and it feels like about 120 degrees in the shade right now. Action will be sweaty and slippery… probably not too many submissions tonight. Junie Browning has arrived, and Tammy TV is chasing down an interview…
Update 7:50 – Pics and chatting with Junie cageside… on camera interview with Tammy soon to follow. Got a guy trying to track down Jens Pulver…

Update 8:15 – Announcer is in the cage and HD Net cameras are running… show is about to start.

Fight 1 – Landon Hembree (4-1, Team Atchison) vs. Mike Fleniken (2-0, Louisville MMA)

Round 1 – Both guys look ready to bang. Fleniken comes in swinging. Hembree lands a good knee. Fleniken takedown to full mlount along the cage. Trying to get separation but Hembree holding him close. 2 good strikes by Fleniken. More solid strikes. Hembree escapes and fight goes to standup. Fleniken drops him with a solid punch and takes side control. Fleniken working him over from side control. Hembree works out but eats an elbow and a punch. Back to the ground with Fleniken looking for back control. Stand-up, and Hembree lands huge knee, then eats a counterpunch as round ends. Fight Junky scores it (unofficially) 10-9 Fleniken.

Round 2 – Hembree shoots, but Fleniken stuffs it to north-south. Fleniken takes back control and looks for a rear naked choke. Hembree trying to turn into it but can’t, and taps to the rear naked choke at 1:44. Impressive performance by Fleniken.

Fight 2 – J.R. Hines (18-5, Extreme Force) vs. John Troyer (14-4, Louisville MMA)

Round 1 – Troyer takedown to full mount. Hines rolls out of it into guard. After a scramble, Troyer is in Hines’ half-guard, then to side control. Takes a crucifix position and lands elbows to Hines’ head. More strikes, and Hines taps quickly due to the helpless position.

Fight 3 – Matt McIntyre (15-4, Team Wildside) vs. Brandon Bishop (7-3, Louisville MMA)

Round 1 – Fighters feeling each other out. Tentative exchanges with no major damage. Clinch on the cage, and Bishop slips behind McIntyre’s back and looks to sink the rear naked choke.

Fight 3 Cont. McIntyre vs Bishop - He’s got the body triangle hooks, and McIntyre’s fending off the second arm. Bishop softens him up with a couple of short punches. McIntyre turned into it and does some damage in Bishop’s loose guard. Bishop is bleeding very badly, and McIntyre swarms with punches for the kill. Bishop rolls, and McIntyre sinks in the rear naked choke for the win at 4:20. Incredible comeback.

Fight 4 – Josh Ball (7-1, independent) vs. Jason Jones (10-4, 4 Seasons)

Round 1 – Jones stuffs a takedown. Jones landing strikes from within Ball’s guard. Jones works out to full mount, Ball rolls, and Jones locks in a tight rear naked choke for a very quick victory at 1:13.

Fight 5 – Erik Florez (15-3, Highlander Fight Team) vs. Tim Cook (7-5, Team Full Force)

Round 1 – Great takedown by Cook to side control. Florez works out to standup and looks for a guillotine. Cook powers him down to side control and quickly works for kimura, but loses it. Cook still in side control, and his corner is shouting for knees to the liver. Florez reverses and takes full mount. BEAUTIFUL reversal by Cook. Cook works to full mount, and lands elbows. Florez rolls and pulls guard. More scrambling, and Florez now in side control. Florez looks to his corner for instruction, takes full mount, but Cook rolls into Florez’s guard. BIG shot by Cook, and Florez pulls him close. Cook working close elbows. End round one. LOTS of back-and-forth, and this one is very difficult to score. Fight Junky says 10-9 Cook.

Round 2 – Florez shoots. Cook stuffs it and lands a good knee. Down to the ground, Florez looks for leglock but misses, and Cook takes advantage to crucifix position, then back control when Florez rolls. Cook now in full mount and raining elbows, and Florez gives up his back. Cook softening him up and looking for leg hooks. Florez turns into Cook’s guard. Cook isolates an arm and takes full mount. Florez turns, but Cook can’t sink hooks. More scrambling on the ground. Florez in side control. More reversals. Cook landing better strikes on the ground during the scrambles. Florez takes full mount and landed a great right that hurt Cook. Cook reverses into Florez’s guard. End round two. Another wild round on the ground that is tough to score. I’m guessing the fighters are slick, because no one seems able to hold a dominant position. 10-9 Cook.

Round 3 – Cook stuffs a shoot and lands a knee to the head, then pulls guard. Cook in full mount and lands a left elbow. Florez is now bleeding above his right eye. Cook pummeling him now. Florez gives up his back. Cook punches away, and the ref steps in. Florez’s face is an absolute mess. Most exciting fight of the night so far ends in a TKO victory for Tim Cook at 3:24.

Fight 6 – Josh “Taz” Ferguson (6-2, Louisville Martial Arts Academy) vs. Matt Troyer (4-1, Louisville MMA)

Round 1 – Taz comes in swinging. Clinch on cage and Taz looks for a guillotine but doesn’t have it. Inside right punches by Taz, and Troyer answers with a knee. Down to the ground and Troyer looking for a triangle. Taz works out and is landing strikes from a loose guard. Taz moves to side control but Troyer locks in a reverse triangle. Troyer can’t cinch it, and Taz slips out to side control and lands elbows. Taz tries an armbar. Troyer slips it, but Taz switches to a reverse armbar. Troyer is in visible pain and taps frantically. The end comes at 3:47.

Fight 7 – Johnathan Ivey (48-21, Team Ivey) vs. Ron Sparks (6-0, Louisville MMA)

Round 1 – The big boys. Ivey missed a low leg kick badly. Ivey comes in swinging but Sparks defends. Sparks looks confident. Nice knee by Sparks. Ivey again misses a right cross very badly. Sparks looks in a different class altogether right now. Huge right cross by Sparks. Fighters circling; Ivey looks lost and Sparks looks patient. Great one-two combination by Sparks. Ivey waves it off but he clearly got tagged. Superman punch by Sparks, who seems in no hurry to end this. Ivey’s hands are down, but Sparks is taking his time. Huge combination by Sparks as the round ends. The crowd is booing – probably at Ivey’s poor performance, but maybe at Sparks for not finishing him when he clearly could. 10-9 Sparks.

Round 2 – Inactivity to open the round. Sparks tags Ivey and a waterfall of sweat sprays off him. Combo by Sparks. Another combo by Sparks, who inexplicably backs off. Crowd is booing. More inactivity. All of a sudden Ivey comes to life with a flurry of punches. Sparks tattoos him with a right cross, then a left. Brutal combination of punches and knees by Sparks to finish an otherwise lackluster round. 10-9 Sparks.

Round 3 – Sparks slips in a stiff left jab. The pace has slowed, with Sparks picking his shots. Brief stoppage while Sparks gets his glove re-taped. The restart sees more of the same deliberate pace. Crowd is booing again at the inactivity. Sparks lands a combo of several punches. I’ll say this about Ivey, the guy’s got a chin. Ivey lands a weak left cross that Sparks answers with two jabs. Ivey is bleeding as the round ends. 10-9 Sparks.

Round 4 – Ivey misses terribly with a punch and falls to the ground. Sparks tags him but then just stands over him. Crowd booing. Ivey lays there like a corpse, Sparks does nothing, and the ref restarts them. Ivey again falls to his back, and Sparks just circles him. Ref restarts. Punching combo by Sparks that Ivey just eats. Ivey’s left leg has at least three big knots on it. Ivey again falls to his back, and Sparks circles. Crowd really letting the fighters have it now. Ref restarts. Sparks still picking shots deliberately. Another vicious combo by Sparks at the 10-second warning, and the round ends. Ivey is built like a cement truck and can take a punch about as well, but he is clearly losing this lackluster affair. 10-9 Sparks.

The fight is over. Ivey apparently is declining to continue. Correction – the fight is only 4 rounds??? Unanimous decision to Ron “the Monster” Sparks.

Fight 8 – Nick Albin (7-0-1, Derby City MMA) vs. Marcus Kaiser (10-2, Knockout Knights)

Round 1 – Kaiser is announced as a Georgia-based fighter, which explains why I haven’t heard of his camp before. Fighters circle, and Chewy shoots for a takedown and takes full mount. Chewy has separation and is landing head and body shots. Kaiser rolls, and Chewy quickly finishes him with a tight rear naked choke at the 1:18 mark.

Fight 9 – Brandon Pinkston (11-2, Big Bully Fight Team) vs. Chris Curtis (18-2, Team Vision)

Round 1 – Clinch on the cage. Pinkston forces Curtis down and takes mount. Curtis gives up his back. Pinkston sinks leg hooks, lands a few punches, and looks for a rear naked choke. Curtis fending it off so far. Curtis escapes as Pinkston loses his leg hooks to the sweat. Pinkston now in mount, and Curtis rolls over. Scramble on the ground, and Pinkston is in Curtis’s guard. Pinkston goes high for a trangle, but Curtis power slams out of it. Pinkston now in full mount, but Curtis reverses as the round ends. More wild ground action due to slick fighters. Close round, 10-9 Pinkston.

Round 2 — Good low leg kick by Curtis. Pinkston answers with a great combo. Greco clinch on cage. Curtis lands an inside knee. Another one drops Pinkston. Curtis landing solid body shots. Pinkston gets a single leg but Curtis postures for a triangle. Low guard again as both fighters are still working. High guard again, but way too slippery for a triangle. Big shots by Pinkston, but Curtis gets a double-leg. Struggle for position against the cage. Curtis hits a low blow knee on the ground that the ref misses. Curtis now with Pinkston’s back and landing strikes. End of round. Probably 10-9 Curtis, but could go either way.

Round 3 – Pinkston misses with a flying knee and Curtis makes him pay with a vicious combo. Clinch on the cage. Pinkston tries for an arm triangle but it slips. Curtis spins out of a single-leg attempt and makes Pinkston pay. Pinkston answers with a low blow, and the action pauses briefly. On the restart, Pinkston lands a right cross and gets a takedown. Curtis works a loose guard. Pinkston is able to land some punches from inside guard. Pinkston now with Curtis’s back but no leg hooks, and Curtis stands. Takedown by Pinkston into Curtis’s closed guard. More reversals and scrambling on the ground. Back to standing, and Pinkston lands a giant suplex. Back to their feet and Curtis is landing monster knees as the round ends. This blogger with no official vote says 10-9 Curtis.
The decision is announced. Split decision. 29-28, 28-29, 29-28, in favor of Brandon Pinkston.

Well folks, it’s 11:15, and that finishes a hell of a night. This crew is off to wrap up and then head to the after-party. Tammy TV and Company… out.

cage fighting, Horse Shoe Casino, MMA, Revolution Fight League, RFL, TammyTV