Karl Roche became the BattleZone FC heavyweight champion after claiming victory by keylock in the first round of his much-anticipated clash with Johnny ‘The Dragon’ Dargan.
Roche managed to get Dargan to the ground after ‘The Dragon’ showcased his usual elusive footwork in the early exchanges. Roche stayed in the pocket with the SBG man and timed his takedown perfectly, before a sublime guard pass saw him establish a dominant side control.
Elbows to the body and head left Dargan struggling to get up, and when the opportunity presented itself, Roche moved into the crucifix position. Dargan stayed active despite the Ryano man’s grounded blows, but when the jiu jitsu ace locked up an arm from that position, ‘The Dragon’ had no choice but to tap.
The crowd was immense during the bout with Dargan’s usual army of support rocking the Regency along with Roche’s fans who were every bit as equal to the Tallaght man’s support in volume and numbers.
Trials MMA’s Darren O’Gorman nearly incited a riot with his spectacular flying triangle finish of Next Generation veteran Gavin Kelly in the co-main event to become Ireland’s new pro bantamweight champion. O’Gorman leaped into the submission very early on and despite a thunderous slam by Kelly, the Corkman kept the choke locked in as he teed away with elbows to the head of Kelly.
There was a big contingent up from Cork and when the first round victory was secured they barreled towards the cage. Although there was a little back and forth with event security, it took no more than an appearance from Team Ryano boss Andy Ryan to stop the incident dead in its tracks.
Paul Lawrence recorded a dominant round two TKO win over Viktor Kontrimas as the Rush Fighting Academy charge made his professional debut at Battle Zone 13. Lawrence brought a strong crowd from the North County who roared as his right hand rattled Kontrimas early on.
After a few stuffed takedowns it seemed Kontrimas ran out of ideas. Some argued that he may have tapped to the RFA man’s late onslaught when Kontrimas was rocked off his feet and ate some big grounded punches before the sound of the bell stopped Lawrence’s attack.
Lawrence’s powerful left hand came into play in the second round. A bloodied Kontrimas showed great heart to stay in the fight throughout the second stanza, but there was no surprise when he didn’t appear for the third, such was Lawrence’s dominance throughout the bout.
Rhys McKee became the amateur featherweight champion after seeing off Malahide’s Eoghan Drumgoole in the final of a tournament that took place on the night. McKee and Drumgoole saw off two of the most talented prospects on the island in Valdrim Lubushtani and Alex O’Sullivan to claim their places in the final, earlier in the day.
After a dominant first round from Drumgoole whose Greco Roman skills helped him control McKee for the guts of the opening five minutes, the Next Generation man caught him in a guillotine in the second round to secure the title and the tournament.
Dylan ‘The Nuke’ Tuke became the BattleZone amateur bantamweight champion after a very impressive striking display won him a unanimous decision over BJJ Cork’s Aaron Maguire. Tuke used his rangy physique to his advantage as he moved in and out of the pocket throughout the three round contest.
His left hand kept the Corkman on the back foot throughout the affair, and SBG man constantly looked for an adapted guillotine when the bout hit the ground. Having success with head kicks as well as with his powerful left hand throughout the fight, Maguire’s face wore the brunt of the damage when the fight reached the third round.
It was more of the same from Tuke in the final round, and the SBG man looked close to finishing the bout with a rear naked choke in the dying seconds of the contest. Given the showings of Maguire throughout his amateur career, Tuke’s performance may be his most impressive to date. The young ‘Team Midget’ man has a huge future and there is no doubt that we’ll see an even stronger Maguire returning to action in the future.
Fabio Viti unleashed some vicious ground and pound to become BattleZone’s inaugural amateur flyweight champion after a two round firefight with Daryl Clarke. Viti and Clarke threw caution to the wind in round one, but Viti managed to establish mount in the second where he landed consecutive blows that saw the bout stopped.
The Ryoshin man made it 3-0 for the all new Ryoshin Fight Academy on the night, with Ron Butler and Devan Robertson taking wins for the Tony Carrick club earlier in at the Regency hotel.
Sean Paul Power took a unanimous decision win over Gerry Smyth after back and forth contest over three rounds that opened the main card. Power scored an important single leg takedown in round one and despite Smyth showing an active guard, the Ryano man probably did enough to take the round.
Power rocked Smyth with left right combination in round two and dominated from top position. Despite Smyth taking the back of the Ryano man for the guts of the entire last round, Power did enough to get the nod from the judges after a very strong finish.
Undercard results
Eoghan Drumgoole (Malahide MMA) def. Alex O’Sullivan (C-MAC) by split decision
Rhys McKee (Next Generation NI) def. Valdrim Lubushtani (Kildare MMA) by TKO (grounded strikes) in Round 2
Dean Scott (Team Ryano) def. Darian Devlin (Evolve) by submission (Rear Naked Choke) in Round 1
Devan Robertson (Ryoshin MMA) def. James Allen (Next Generation NI) by submission (Armbar) in Round 1
Dean Waters (Rillion Gracie Ireland) def. Ritchie Stack (Spirit MMA) by submission (Armbar) in Round 1
Matis Zarov (Kildare MMA) def. Barry Hanna (Malahide Martial Arts) by submission (Triangle) in Round 2
Eric Nolan (Team Ryano) def. Scott Harvey (Primal MMA) by submission (Triangle) in Round 3
Ron Butler (Ryoshin MMA) def. Alex Yankov (DCU MMA) by submission (Armbar) in Round 1
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