The Superfight Series fights at GLORY 24 DENVER went with a bang, with three finishes from five fights.
A heavyweight encounter between Jason Lee and Steve Paprocki opened proceedings. Bombs were traded back and forth before Lee began edging ahead via repeated brutal low kicks. Paprocki’s front leg took heavy damage and reduced his mobility, allowing Lee to land some big hooks and overhands.
The finish was a classic setup from the kickboxing textbook. Lee attacked the lead leg a few times, prompting Paprocki to raise the leg in defense. Then he faked a low kick and instead went high with a two-punch combo. The knockdown - which followed another knockdown moments earlier - was final. The referee waved the fight off with 30 seconds of the second round left to go.
Zack Wells attracted some interest as he made his debut here tonight under the BANG Muay Thai banner, with esteemed trainer Duane ‘Bang’ Ludwig, coach to UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw, in his corner. This was something of a local derby as opponent Chris Tramell also trains and fights out of Denver.
Immediately it became clear that the reach advantage Wells enjoyed would be a problem for Tramell. He had to get on the inside to get his shots off but Wells had solid composure and when he wasn’t able to stop the attack in its tracks would cover up and wait for his counter-attack opportunity.
Tramell kept pressing forwards looking for the big power-shot but Wells was too clever to be caught out like that, hitting a counter to stop the forward momentum and then circling off before coming back in with his own attack.
A knee to body late in the first round hurt Tramell and trapped him near a corner, whereupon Wells duly stepped in and landed a right cross which ended the fight with 1:12 left on the round. Wells now rises to 3-0 with three finishes and looks like an interesting prospect. Certainly he will get another call-up in the near future.
In the middle of the card, Justin ‘J-Ho’ Houghton met late replacement Kevin van Nostrand in a featherweight fight. Van Nostrand’s karate background was evident in his sideways stance and erratic movement. Houghton, the hot favorite and local hero, struggled to figure him out.
Van Nostrand didn’t hit Houghton with anything particularly damaging on its own in the fight - aside from two groin shots - but did land tricky shots repeatedly. Houghton walked him down and did well when he was able to close him off, but towards the end of the fight his frustration was evident.
Commentators and fans online made reference to Raymond Daniels as they watched Van Nostrand do his thing, echoes of the welterweight contender coming through in unorthodox moves and strange timing.
Houghton did not get the kind of fight he had prepared for - he was originally set to face Shane Oblonsky - and he never quite got Van Nostrand figured out. They went the distance and the judges came back, surprisingly, with a split-decision, two scores of 30-27 for Van Nostrand and the dissenting judge having it 29-28 for Houghton.
Casey ‘Go’ Greene came runner-up in the GLORY 23 LAS VEGAS Middleweight Qualification Tournament in August but then elected to drop to welterweight, which is the same weight he fights at in MMA. Francois Ambang is already established in the division and holds something of a gatekeeper status in the mid-table of the rankings.
Tension was evident at the start as they circled each other warily, picking off single shots and testing defense. Greene was the fighter who settled into his groove first and seemed the more relaxed, switch-hitting and starting to work his combinations.
Greene pressed forwards constantly, forcing Ambang to fight off the back foot. Some shots came in from Ambang but mostly it was Greene who was dictating the pace and towards the end of the first round he was taking control of the fight. His efforts resulted in a knockdown right on the bell which ended the round, so Ambang escaped a count.
On the restart Greene clicked things up a gear and piled the pressure on. Ambang looked to counter as he moved backwards but in the mid-round found himself on the ropes. Greene stepped in with a big right knee to the jaw, rocking Ambang, and followed it with a barrage of more punches and knees that sent Ambang staggering backwards to fall against the ropes on the other side of the ring.
The Virginia-based fighter regained his feet but looked unsteady and the referee was unwilling to let him continue, waving the fight off and awarding Greene the win by way of knockout at 1:38 in the second round, setting him up to climb the ladder for his next welterweight outing.
In the final fight of the Superfight Series card, Robert ‘White Dragon’ Thomas met newcomer David Radeff, a Frenchman who, despite being a GLORY debutant, brought a lot of experience to the ring with him.
Thomas has had a Murderer’s Row of opposition in GLORY; he had Artem Levin for his first fight and Joe Schilling for his third, losing both of those and taking a win over Mike Lemaire in his second appearance. The young Canadian is a good prospect but had been overmatched to date; Radeff represented a more appropriate level.
Things were fairly close to start with but Thomas soon found his range and rhythm. He is particularly good with the right-knee to the body, landing it over and over to sap the opponent’s energy and hurt his core. Radeff felt it repeatedly during the course of a fight which was notable for the referee’s willingness to let things flow in clinch situations.
There was occasional success for Radeff but Thomas was the clear winner in each round. Two judges saw it that way, giving scores of 30-27 his way as they went the distance, but one judge had it 29-28 for Radeff.
Quite how that score was arrived at is not obvious, but sometimes judges see a fight differently to their peers, hence fighters often being reminded never to leave their fights in the hands of the judges. Nevertheless, Thomas now climbs to 2-2 in the middleweight division.
Superfight Series: Quick Results
Robert Thomas def. David Radeff, Split Decision R3 (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Casey Greene def. Francois Ambang, KO, punches, 1:38 R2
Kevin van Nostrand def. Justin ‘J-Ho’ Houghton, Split Decision R3 (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Zack Wells def. Chris Tramell, KO, 1:48 R1
Jason Lee def. Steve Paprocki, KO, 2:30 R2
