247FC BitB20

This past weekend 247 FC staged BitB20 at the Murraysville Sportszone Arena.  I think it was safe to say that the crowd for this one was a tad bit too big for this particular venue.  Everything can't be perfect, a good problem to have really.  Having said that let's seek shelter elsewhere moving forward lol.  Looking forward to "The Venue" being finished, consistency is nice.

The commission "suggested" to be there for 4:30, I promptly arrived at 5:10ish #boxingtime.  I had a total of 4 fighters competing on the card and would be cornering 3.  I wrapped all 4 pretty quickly and had everyone wrapped by about 7:30ish.  Having several fighters on a card has become pretty customary now, the process is 2nd nature at this point.

First fight was Paul Dotson and Tyler Diebert.  This fight went pretty much as I expected.  I figured Paul would dart him out of there with strikes or spend the majority of the round on his back and that's exactly what happened.  Round one Paul landed some solid shots which hurt Tyler but Paul made some mistakes that allowed Tyler to secure a takedown and control the round via wrestling and ammy G&P.  Both the second and third rounds followed suit although I don't know that Tyler was ever hurt again after the first.  Paul's striking stood out but the fight was completely controlled by Tyler's wrestling for a convincing win.  We knew Tyler would be tough, and he was, as all Gorilla House fighters are.  Paul has gotten significantly better in the short period of time we've worked together.  I think it was maybe 5-6 sessions prior to the fight.  I was a backup plan to corner as Ethan Hayes had prior boxing obligations to corner another fighter.  Paul learns very fast and 100% has a fighters mental.  You'd be surprised how calm he is in the corner for such a young buck.  I think both Paul and Tyler have solid futures in this game.

Fight two which I did not corner was Edwin Vera and Jameson Murray.  I was able to watch some of the first round and Edwin controlled the striking the entire round with some strong leg kicks, lateral movement, and in and out boxing.  The second round I didn't see but when I heard the announcement of "arm triangle" from backstage I knew Edwin got the finish as that is the Mat Factory bread and butter.  Edwin is someone that everyone has grown to love and admire.  A street kid with a big heart that no matter what lifes throws at him he's stays smiling.  Edwin's had some shit luck recently so I know this one feels good.  Now let's stay in the gym and keep the ball rolling because Edwin is one of those late bloomers.  Juuuuuuuuuuu Heard.

Speaking of late bloomers.  Remember when I was on the 247 podcast and said Craig Perry was one of my next stars??  At that time Craig was 0-3.  Today he's 3-3.  Anybody wanna fight him???...........yep, I know.  After the fight Richie Cantolina said he thinks that Craig is the best amateur striker this area has ever had.  That got me thinking, if not Craig, then who?  Hard to argue Richie's opinion isn't valid and Richie has seen this areas game from the very start.  As for the fight Craig showed who he is.  Craig walked with a confidence he hasn't had before after the fight.  Rightfully so.  He showed he's more than just some pretty boy from the suburbs that's a good athlete.  He showed heart that very few have.  Craig is a prime example of fighters come from all different walks of life.  This is hands down one of my proudest moments as a coach.  Words can't do it justice so head over to the 247 app and download the fight.  Easily fight of the night and both Craig and Chance deserve those meat bucks.  Craig is a white belt that subbed a brown belt is the talk of this fight after fighting off an RNC and several other submission attempts by Chance who is as tough as they come.  However this is mma, Chance was on queer street due to Craig's striking for almost the entirety of the fight.  Like Carlton Gracie said many moons ago "You know how you turn a black belt into a brown belt? PUNCH THEM IN THE FACE.  You know how you turn a black belt into a purple belt?  PUNCH THEM IN THE FACE TWICE".  It's hard to think through your sub flows when your brain has been dislodged 17 times in the past 5 minutes.  I've stated in the past if you can't take Craig Perry down that you can't win.  Well Somebody learned how to grapple/wrestle.   Uh ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Fight four was the one everyone was waiting for; Cowboy Eddie and Hoot Lee.  The energy for this fight was like that of a major promotion.  The crowds were rowdy and the fight delivered.  The grappling exchanges were controlled by Hoot.  The striking exchanges by Eddie.  Quickly into the first round Hoot backpacked Eddie and spent majority of the round there.  Eddie got out towards the end of the round, landed some shots and secured a takedown of his own but the round was clearly a Hoot Lee round.  At the start of the second round Hoot darted across the ring to strike with Eddie.  Eddie landed some big shots that wobbled Hoot and knocked his mouth piece out.  As Eddie stepped in the ref for some reason made the mistake of stepping in between them to give Hoot time to get his mouth piece back in.  We all make mistakes but this mistake by the ref possibly cost Eddie the fight.  Having said that we can't complain because Eddie made some technical mistakes that Hoot was able to capitalize on to ultimatley get the fight to the ground when needed and then the win.  Hats off to Danillo and the team.  We knew it would be a tough fight and it was.  

I try and catch other fights as I can.  I was able to watch the co-main and main event as after Cowboy Eddie our night was complete.  Sucas Siebert put on about as good of a pro debut performance as you could ask for.  He showed a little bit of this and that from stand up to grappling until the highlight reel knee which lead to the finish.  "Showtime" Siebert showed up again.  He told you so.  

After that was the main event.  I don't know either fighter very well but it was good to see Bronco get the monkey off of his back like he stated in his post fight speech.  The mental side of this game can be very unforgiving.  Bronco is always over the top nice and polite to anyone around him.  Mateo Garner suffers his first setback but he has a great team around him and they'll fix whats needed and and he'll be back stronger.  

The two under the radar fights I was interested in were Max Jarrell/Val Caruso and Timbo Slice/Drew Landycandy.  I was able to watch the replay of Jarrell and Caruso and it delivered.  Max is a young buck with some ahead of the curve striking for his current amateur level and I knew Caruso from the old Fight Club.  Val is stupid tough.  I knew it'd be a fun fight and it was.  I didn't get a chance to watch Timbo and Drew yet but judging by Drews face and the submission win it delivered as well.  All in all, another great show by 247FC.