Written By: AJ Hoffman
IMKF drew a strong crowd and had a strong showing in their first event, despite some serious controversy surrounding the main event.
Rocky Long and Gilbert Jimenez fought a long 25 minutes that left both guys exhausted. The fight was back and forth and really saw no one clearly taking control of the fight. Personally, if I had to score it, I would have gone with Jimenez 48-47. What I would NEVER do is go 48-48 and turn the fight into a draw. That is what went down on Saturday though, and Long retained the Texas title.
(Writer’s Note: I understand the rounds were close. That is your job as a judge, to decide who won the round. Sometimes this means choosing who wins a close round. SMH.)
Derrick Lewis was dominant in the brief moment we saw him. Jay Peche came out and instantly grabbed for a takedown on “The Black Beast”, which he eventually finished. Unfortunately for him after the scramble, Lewis was in position to hit him in the face. He did, repeatedly, until the ref stopped the fight, earning Lewis the Made To Win Knockout of the Night.
Matt Thompson was impressive, making quick work of wily veteran Jon Kirk. Thompson was on his back 30 seconds into the fight, but he used an active guard to secure a triangle that put Kirk to sleep in the first round, earning him the Made To Win Submission of the Night.
The rest of the night’s winners were:
KYLE SIMPSON DEF. CARL PERRY BY UNANIMOUS DECISION
NOEL LIGON DEF. EDGAR VERDIN BY SPLIT DECISION (Made To Win Fight of the Night)
DALE MITCHELL DEF. COREY SALTER BY TKO (DOCTOR STOPPAGE) RD 2
DANIEL MILLER DEF. JASON SULLIVAN BY SUBMISSION (RD 1)
SAM MOHAMED DEF. RICKY COMPALA BY SUBMISSION (RD 1)
MARCUS DUPAR DEF. CHRIS SMITH BY SPLIT DECISION
Be on the look-out for our pictures and videos that we’ll be posting over the next couple of days.
This is just one reason, but a BIG one, that the TDLR is continually complained about. What group of idiots score a damn title fight as a “draw”??? Like they say above, it is your JOB to pick a winner of each round, not “I dunno, 10-10″. That is completely unacceptable and yet another disgrace for TDLR. Score the damn fight one way or the other, but have the testicular fortitude to do so…or don’t be a judge.
SMFH yet again…
All respect to both fighters however Jimenez dominated. Jimenez was robbed! Also Rocky was in his home so there you go.Great fight though I would like to see a rematch.
Mvs I have to disagree he controlled jimeniz on the ground every time it went to the ground an the stand up could of went either way but rock definitly won that fight on the ground, good fight overall
The Legend Sports Complex was an impressive venue considering it was just that, a sports complex which converted its courts to hold their first IMKF MMA card in the heart of Texas. The atmosphere was very nice, facility was cool, hired staff was cordial, however, their card was nothing but average. Unfortunately, for Gilbert “Pitbull” Jimenez, his second main event in a row, a robbery occurred in Texas for the 145lb Texas Title due to poor judging from two of the three judges at cage side.
Let me preface the following comments by stating the obvious. Rocky Long is not afraid to fight. His experience expands over 10 years and holds a record consisting of 47 fights. Although his record indicates he‘s very resilient with 18 of his 27 losses coming by way of decision. I should also mention that he has only been TKO’d twice in those losses with the remaining seven coming via submission. Gilbert “Pitbull” Jimenez had five wins against three losses going into the match which was a step up in competition and against a very experienced fighter.
Now let’s get to the meat of the bones. There are several general criteria’s that everyone should judge a fight on and they are as follow: Ring Generalship, Defense, Offense, Effective Aggression, Submission-Attempts, Take-Downs, Control, and finally the final stats in a match. Now let’s add that with any given championship fight involving the process in taking away a title, criteria should also include examples of hurting the champ, cutting the champ, injuring the champ, or marking up the champ… Also you may include crowd reaction, the fighter’s reaction, and behind the scenes reaction in determining who ultimately won the fight in its complete assessment of the match.
Now let’s discuss the main event in particular. Let’s answer a few questions first… Was the Champ fighting to win the fight or was he fighting to keep from losing? In all fairness to Rocky Long, I do believe he was in the best shape of his life and although having to lose three pounds at the weigh-in may have affected his conditioning in the match. Ultimately a moot point, considering what Gilbert “Pitbull” Jimenez was able to do to the champ during their match. Both fighters were no doubt exhausted but for different reasons. This was the “Pitbull’s” first match at 145lbs on four days notice and the championship fight which entailed five 5 minute rounds. Yet the “Pitbull” in my opinion rose to this occasion and showed tremendous heart in trying to stop the Champ, Rocky Long.
I will not use the infamous cliché “Hometown Favorite” when it came to the decision, but instead I’ll address more to the inability of these judges to intelligently and intellectually judge a fight that was obvious it its outcome. The feeling inside the Legend Sports Complex was not “Who won the fight?” – Instead it felt more like “This is the end of Rock Long’s hold of the Texas Title.” When the scores were read a decent amount of boos took place in the facility. Fighters attending the fight, fighters from the card, cage side officials, and hired parties/staff for the event not to mention many fans that immediately went back to the dressing room echoed the same theme across the board. “That was one hell of a fight!” – “You were robbed!” – “You are the true champ.” – This carried over outside the facility grounds as well.
Now let’s touch on the fight itself. Did the challenger hurt the champ? Answer: Yes, at least on three occasions. Two of which left his legs wobbly for several seconds. Let me also add from my speculation on Long’s demeanor throughout the fight, in his speech after the fight in the cage, and in the dressing room, it seemed he was still feeling the effects of the fight… I would not be surprised if he truly does not remember from the third round on. Although Long put up a valiant effort, he seemed too hurt and exhausted to mount any real threat against the challenger. Did the challenger cut or mark up the champ? Answer: Yes, “Pitbull” busted Long’s bottom lip, red markings, bumps across his face, and head. Most as a result of punches, primarily elbows, and forearms which the “Pitbull” landed in excess of twenty before I stopped counting. He landed elbows to the body, head, legs, face, or any where he could strike. He landed a handful of uppercuts that buckled the legs of the champ. The “Pitbull’s” low leg attack did a tremendous amount of damage to the point it affected Rocky Long’s aggression and produced pain and limping during and after the fight. The fight went back and forth with both fighter landing strikes or controlling action against the cage and ground, however, the more effective punching, kicking, and aggression had to go to the challenger, hands down.
It is in the opinion of this writer’s judging the “Pitbull” earned a score of 48-46. He took the title and rightfully deserves a rematch. The rumor has it that Rocky Long has since declined a rematch. Regardless, this poor judging is a common thread in all of MMA. Judges should be very knowledgeable on the ins and outs of fighting including the internal makeup of each fighter fighting as to gauge whether or not a round should be scored in favor of one over the other. Judging a fight should not be taken lightly. A wrong decision can affect a fighter’s marketability and purse. Not to mention, a title which can provide more attention, draw, and leverage for a fighter.
In the end, it was just another two out of three blind mice that affected a great fight.
Until next time, may the truth set you free!
i felt like rocky controlled the fight. it was not the most entertaining fight i have ever seen but rocky took him down i think 11 times in the fight (jiminez had 2) and was able to secure and hold top position more often than not, peppering jiminez with small strikes. yes i would say gilbert won the standup portion of the fight but he only had rocky dazed twice in five rounds and rocky had gilbert hurt with knees in the 2nd. so without a clear cut victor in the standup department each round, you must turn to some other things, 1 of which being agression and even though gilbert was landing good kicks and a few punches rocky coninuesly pushed forward and stalked. 2nd when their is no clear cut winner on striking you must take all of the takedowns into consideration and rocky dominated this part of the fight from begining to end. one must also remeber that judges have to judge round by round and someone from the comission comes by and picks up your card every round and it must be completed. yes it was a very close fight and when you take all these factors into consideration i felt that rocky had won 3 rounds to gilberts 2, (5th round was very very close and could have gone either way).
i do not think that it should have been a draw and yes i think that makes the judges here in texas look silly and amature when something like this happens. 3 judges and 5 rounds= no way yopu should get a draw!
* on a side note i was in locker room when gilbert asked rocky about a rematch and rocky said ” i am a fighter, i fight, i will fight whoever the promoter pays me to fight” so if somebody said no to a rematch was probably matchmaker.
Well said 4ozfighter exactly what I saw