Shane Johnson bowed to acknowledge Wanganui's Brian Alderston after the popular fighter knocked him out in the second round of their modified rules Muay Thai fight at the War Memorial Hall. Photo/Bevan Conley
Shane Johnson bowed to acknowledge Wanganui's Brian Alderston after the popular fighter knocked him out in the second round of their modified rules Muay Thai fight at the War Memorial Hall. Photo/Bevan Conley
There were mixed results for Wanganui's fighters at Saturday night's River City Rumble as one Mixed Martial Arts practitioner got some well-deserved payback while others were left wondering what might have been.
Matt Gibson showed his loss last year to Kapiti Coast's Steve McKenna when he was sick with theflu was an aberration as he quickly submitted his rival in the first round of their MMA A-Class match.
Gibson looked to be in trouble after he missed with a big right hand and let McKenna grab his back, however the former national judo champion calmly defended the takedown and reversed it on the ground to get McKenna into a head lock.
Moments later, Gibson secured a judo-style submission, which he later described as basically being an "armbar off the leg" to make McKenna tap out.
Gibson said his original thought was to keep the fight standing in a strikers match, but when they went to the mat his instincts took over.
"It was just no plan, really, take any opportunity that arises.
"The opportunity arose and I'm not going to muck around."
Craig Mercer was not as fortunate in his clash with the larger Tenali Iosefa, becoming trapped underneath the hammer fists of the Palmerston North fighter, who got through his defences to strike the head and exposed ribs enough times for the referee to step in.
In a battle of technique vs brawn, Mercer trapped Iosefa after he muscled him into the ropes and took him down in a front facelock, before seamlessly transitioning over into a rear naked choke.
Iosefa looked close to submitting, but calmly worked his way free and reversed into the top position, with Mercer holding him outside the mount.
In Round 2, the bigger Iosefa took Mercer down in the ropes, eventually sitting on top of his legs as tried to hammer both Mercer's face and midsection, while the Assassins Guild grappling coach looked to grab his ankle to attempt a submission.
Mercer would later say Iosefa was able to hold the ropes illegally to balance himself on top, which the referee did not pick up on.
Iosefa started the final round with a big right and took Mercer's back as he turtled up, before turning the Wanganui fighter onto his back and holding his arm to begin picking his shots before the referee waved it off.
Mercer was disappointed he could not finish the fight when he had the submission locked in, as he got worn down over the next two rounds.
"It's a good lesson on preparing for fights better it's my fault."
Despite loud support from the 500-strong collection of supporters in the War Memorial Hall, heavyweight Kamipeli Latu got caught by Palmerston North's Bishop Poi Poi late in the first round of their MMA war.
Bloodied early in the nose by a hard Poi Poi punch, Latu tried to close the gap but slipped head first into the ropes of his corner.
Poi Poi swarmed in with a half dozen unanswered uppercut shots to the stunned Wanganui fighter, prompting the referee to step in.
In the Modified Muay Thai fights, Assassins Guild fighter Jono Anderson claimed a unanimous decision over Upper Hutt's Shane Wallace. After a cautious start by both fighters, Anderson was able to push the pace, circling in to land a couple of combinations, then leaning back into the ropes to avoid Wallace's counter-punches.
He appeared the stronger of the two, although Wallace landed a good shot near the bell of Round 2.
Anderson needed a breather after catching an inadvertent low blow, then came back with hooks after Wallace tried to muscle him, with both fighters just about tumbling out of the ring trying to land the finishing blow.
RTF's Shaun O'Connor was not as fortunate against Napier's Logan Smith in the first counting fight of the night, taking a heavy blow to the ribs and then being dropped twice before the referee called it off.
Results of counting fights:
Modified Muay Thai: Logan Smith (Zero Tolerance Napier) bt Shaun O'Connor (RTF Wanganui) by TKO; Jono Anderson (Assassins Guild MMA Wanganui) bt Shane Wallace (Four Dragons Upper Hutt) by unanimous points; Brian Alderton (Wanganui Warriors) bt Shane Johnson (Four Dragons Upper Hutt) by TKO; Pete Parson (Wanganui Kyokushin) bt Moe Hussain (Dannevirke Bulldogs) by unanimous points.
