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Total Combat Invades America: Hops North of Border for Tenth Event By Loretta Hunt Total Combat Promotions made its U.S. debut Saturday night at the Golden Acorn Casino in Campo, California, over an hour east of San Diego and just minutes from the Mexican border where the promotion had held nine previous events in Tijuana since February 2004.
Among an assemblage of local fighters that attracted some 2,931 spectators to the small casino situated on a very desolate Interstate 8, Total Combat's tenth effort featured the return of Jeremy Jackson to the ring following a two-year absence from competition. It took Jackson a moment or two to get his bearings against a very game Christian Vargas, but once the UFC veteran found his rhythm, he thoroughly controlled the action by scoring a takedown and moving from side control to mount where Vargas gave his back to escape Jackson's elbow onslaught. Panicked as his more experienced foe crowded him with head punches from behind, Vargas attempted to stand and Jackson latched on the rear naked choke for the tap out.
In the sole heavyweight offering of the night, bruiser Julian Rush connected with some crushing hooks and jabs on opponent Eddie Sanchez, then bobbed and weaved most of Sanchez's earlier return fire in this 5-minute slugout. Fatigue was Rush's biggest enemy though, as the seconds ticked on and he couldn't find that knockout punch he so diligently hunted for. Sanchez took advantage of Rush's deterioration and began to land uppercuts and short punches in their clinches while the pair swapped leather. By round's end both were exhausted, but it was Rush who opted not to continue on to the second round that fans were simply salivating for.
In a tense middleweight melee, San Diego Fight Club's Brandon Magna scored early on with multiple takedowns of No Limit's Jared Rollins before getting cut perpendicular to his left eye with an upwards elbow Rollins threw from his back halfway through the first round. Rollins' pawing at the cut before the two could be separated after the first round bell was all but ignored, but an illegal knee he threw to Magna's head in round two put his fate in the referee's hands. When an attending physician ruled Magna could not continue from the fouling knee and not the cut, Rollins was disqualified. After a successful title defense over Lion's Den veteran Joe Hurley at TC 9, lightweight champion Alex Garcia used his solid wrestling to throw Jeff Harwell to the mat and secure a stoppage when a dazed Harwell could not defend Garcia's follow-up.
Also on the card, charismatic 145-pounder Chris Davis survived a potentially fight-ending overhead suplex to come back with an impressive armbar victory just as quickly over Daniel Vasquez; while SDFC welterweight Patrick Speight had a well-rounded repertoire for overwhelmed opponent Brandon Adams in a match-up that should have really been finished in the first round if not for a stop/restart to replace Adam's mouthpiece, which allowed him to survive till the bell.
Total Combat 10 Results
Heavyweight Eddie Sanchez (Team Magnitude, Vista, CA) def. Julian Rush (Fight Science L.A, CA) – TKO (Referee stoppage - Rush could not answer 2nd round bell) 5:00 R1 Total Combat Lightweight Championship (160 lbs.) Alex Garcia (City Boxing, San Diego, CA) def. Jeff Harwell (KO Fitness, San Diego, CA) - TKO (Referee stoppage) 1:30 R1 170 lbs. Toby Imada (228 Gym, LA, CA) def. Tim Carey (Lake Havasu, AZ) – Rear-naked Choke 2:25 R1 185 lbs. Brandon Magna (SDFC, El Cajon, CA) def. Jared Rollins (No Limits, Irvine, CA) – Disqualification (knee) 2:57 R2 3-Minute Rounds 205 lbs. Josh Griggs (Team Quam, Oceanside, CA) def. Ulysses Cortez (IV Combat Grappling, Brawley) – Rear-naked Choke 1:49 R1 145 lbs. Chris Davis (Black Tiger, San Diego, CA) def. Daniel Vasquez (5150 Fight Club, El Centro, CA) – Armbar 1:00 R1 170 lbs. Patrick Speight (SDFC, El Cajon, CA) def. Brandon Adams (Team Magnitude, Simi Valley, CA) – TKO (Referee stoppage - strikes) 1:24 R2 195 lbs. Brent Stuchlick (Lister Training Center, San Diego, CA) def. Eber Saulido (Murrieta, CA) - TKO (Referee stoppage - strikes) 1:30 R1 210 lbs. Corn Zwicker (Team Magnitude, San Pasqual, CA) def. Tom Hubert – TKO (Referee stoppage) 1:54 R2 175 lbs. Brett Cooper (Sub-Fighter, Bellflower, CA) def. Cody Culkin (Pro-Pain, Imperial Beach, CA) – TKO (Referee stoppage - strikes) 1:38 R1 145 lbs. Ruben Vera (MA DU Ent, Westminister, CA) def. Daniel Torres (IV Combat Grappling, Calexico, CA) - Rear-naked Choke 0:59 R1 185 lbs. Grant Winstorm (Lister Training Center, San Diego, CA) def. Ryan Burwick (SDFC, El Cajon, CA) - Unanimous decision (3 rounds)
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