WGC inaugural event – Recap

On Friday night in Pasadena, TX the Worldwide Gladiator Championships held their debut event to mixed reviews. While some complained about the matchups not many complained about the action once the event started.

Miguel Guerra and Larry Crowe got the night started off with a bang as both of these HWY’s came out swinging hard. Crowe seemed to have just a little more power as he opened up Guerra early and would finish him with some vicious ground and pound.

Humberto DeLeon and Nate Garza went three rounds in a very close fight that stayed on the feet for the majority of the fight. Garza repeatedly kept Humberto from taking the fight to the ground, and he pulled out a spilt decision victory.

Jon Kirk showed why he is one of Houston’s best with a quick submission win over Larry Hopkins.

Josh Foster and Jonathan Mack were up next and even though Mack is the hometown guy he was jeered by the pro Foster crowd. Mack controlled the first few minutes of the fight with some big hooks. Not sure how Foster stayed up, but he fought through the hooks, and he finished the round in the mount landing big blows on Mack who did very little from the ground. Mack came out for the second round for a second and after a few leg kicks Mack took a knee, and he gave the fight to Foster via ref stoppage.

Artenas Young made a triumphant return to the cage with a quick TKO victory over James Hall. Artenas showed the power and aggression that was missing in his debut.

Kierre Gooch and Kenny Burke put on a show of skill and heart on their three round battle. Gooch locked on various armbar attempts that Burke battled out of. Burke controlled the standup while Gooch controlled the ground. The third round saw Gooch on Burke’s back the entire round dropping shots. The fight was originally ruled a decision win for Burke, but after the judges scorecards were re-checked it was ruled a win for Gooch. Fair or not, the crowd boo’d the reversal.

Josh Lee and Ken Battle were up next, and it did not take long for Lee to earn the submission of the night with a quick guillotine that put Battle to sleep.

Nick Mitchell and Derek Lewis garnered the fight of the night award with a back and forth slugfest that had both fighters with the advantage at different points of the fight. In the 2nd round, Derek’s power shined through, and he finished Mitchell with some brutal ground and pound. Derek is going to be a tuff guy for any one to handle in Houston.

Sam Hoger and Patrick Miller finished out the night as the main event. Sam showed his deadly striking with a jab/ headkick combo that sent Miller crashing to the mat where Sam finished him with some brutal strikes till the ref stopped it.

This event had some of the issues that many first time events run in to. Late start, uneven matchmaking, not so hot ring girls and a small crowd. Time will tell if this event can compete with Legacy or a Saul Solis run pro show. WGC has some good guys running it and hopefully they can step it up a notch for the second show.