Battlefield MMA was back in a big way this Thursday with BFL 76, giving UFC Fight Pass subscribers an incredible show of 9 fights including no less than THREE BFL title fights.
There were many finishes during BFL 76, but none more shocking than the 11 second TKO from Ash Mashreghi that ended the undefeated streak of Dario Sinagoga. Two of the belts were won with finishes, giving both Mateo Vogel and Jared Revel a title defence in the books. In the other belt, it was as close as a fight could be. The judges ultimately gave it, by split decision, to Xavier Nash over the formerly undefeated phenom, Navid Zanganeh.
All the BFL 76 fights, along with the BLÜ BONUSES for the night, are described below.
Fight #1
Raphael Ouellet def. Ian Masloff by Submission in the 1st Round
Ouellet had a CLEAR size and reach advantage coming in and was using it early with his striking. Masloff was taking advantage of some early showboating from Ouellet, but then found himself in a pretty rough spot along the fence. Ouellet was riding his back, really attacking a rear naked choke. After a couple minutes, with some slick work from Ouellet, he locked it in and ended up putting Masloff to sleep.
Fight #2
Jackie MacLean def. Alana Cook by Unanimous Decision
MacLean looked slick early, landing a nice clean combo right away. Cook turned straight to the grappling after that, pinning MacLean along the fence. She was briefly reversed and seemed to be in a tough spot, but she quickly turned it around and regained control. It was looking good for her until was then taken down and found MacLean on her back. The round ended with MacLean raining down punches and elbows on Cook, solidifying the round on the cards.
The second round opened with a lot more back-and-forth grappling along the fence. It seemed as though Cook was edging ahead in the grappling and MacLean was landing some decent shots in between the exchanges along the fence. With a dead-even wild flurry of striking after that and some more tight grappling, this round really could have gone either way. That being said, MacLean was showing some pretty nasty damage to one of her eyes.
Cook came out hard, landing some pretty heavy combos, stumbling MacLean back. Unfortunately, that led to her running into some hard shots herself, getting her knocked down to the canvas. From there, MacLean was in complete control. She landed some HEAVY ground and pound and kept that position for almost the rest of the fight. Cook got up and was fired up, looking for a finish. She was starting to land well, but MacLean managed to shut it down and finish the fight. With that, it seemed like a pretty clear MacLean win. The judges agreed, unanimously scoring it 30-27 for Jackie.
Fight #3
Josh Kwiatkowski def. JT Donaldson by Split Decision
Kwiatkowski was walking forward, pressuring hard as always. Both men were doing well early though, trading combos back and forth. It was looking close, but it seemed as though Kwiatkowski was landing a bit more, busting up the face and legs of Donaldson. That extra damage and output may have won him the round, but it could’ve gone either way.
The second round opened just as even. As the round went on though, it seemed as though Donaldson was the one stealing the momentum. He stumbled Kwiatkowski a couple of times and led the clinch exchnages on the fence. By the end of the round, both guys were bleeding a bit, but still looked to be fairly fresh. It was impossible to tell which way the judges were leaning at this point with so much output from both men.
They wasted absolutely no time at the start of the round, letting it loose right away. It was Donaldson taking the lead this time, landing a couple of good shots and pushing Kwiatkowski into the fence. Unlike the other rounds, it was Donaldson pressuring forward for most of the round. Just like the rest of the fight, the rest of the round was pretty even, That meant this incredible fight could have gone in either direction. The judges were clearly just as indecisive, eventually giving it 29-28, 27-30 and 29-28 for Kwiatkowski in a split decision.
Fight #4
Ali Wasuk def. Mitch Strazzella by Submission in the 2nd Round
Strazzella came in looking to bang early, but as expected, Wasuk turned to his grappling, controlling the action along the fence. Strazzella already had an open cut, forcing the doctor to come in. Thankfully, the doctor left quickly, letting them get back to the action. The next couple minutes were very close with both men grabbing some control time and landing combos. With a bit of extra output and cleaner shots from Wasuk, plus that cut on Mitch, this round likely went to Wasuk.
Wasuk switched straight into grappling mode this time, taking control immediately and controlling Strazzella fairly easily. He used his insane jiu-jitsu skills from there to go upside down, lock in an inverted triangle choke and make Strazzella tap. Wasuk is definitely one to look out for at this point; that was a pretty incredible submission.
Fight #5
Ash Mashreghi def. Dario Sinagoga by TKO in the 1st Round
Sinagoga came in hard with his grappling… but was then dropped on his back by a couple bombs from Mashreghi. Sadly, the ref stopped it immediately, 11 seconds into the fight in a criminally early stoppage, handing Dario his FIRST pro loss.
Fight #6
Rodrigo Sezinando def. Saeid Mirzaei by TKO in the 2nd Round
Mirzaei came in like a cannonball, running straight at Sezinando and landing a bomb. From there though, Sezinando recovered nicely and started to push the grappling pace. After a couple of BIG shots from Sezinando, Mirzaei was thrown to the ground and was getting dominated. Rodrigo was all over him, peppering him with ground and pound and controlling his every move.
Mirzaei was showing some good movement, but was clipped with a heavy shot while moving backwards. He was landing a couple here and there, but Sezinando was in clear control, walking him down and picking him apart. Sezinando landed a couple more BRUTAL shots, including a NASTY knee to then finish Saeid Mirzaei. A very impressive performance against a promising prospect like Mirzaei.
Fight #7 (Interim Lightweight Title Fight)
Xavier Nash def. Navid Zanganeh by Split Decision
Nash was looking slick on the feet early, landing some quick, clean combos and keeping Zanganeh back. Zanganeh wouldn’t stop walking forward though, always looking for the takedown. After a couple minutes, Zanganeh finally found his opening and pushed Nash into the cage. Annoyingly, the ref moved them away from the fence, but Navid quickly got Nash back there. After a second separation along the fence, Zanganeh came back in HARD, getting his first takedown of the fight. Nash got back up, but was controlled for the rest of the round, dropping the round on the cards.
The second round started much slower, then moving towards Zanganeh again with clinch control and a brief takedown. Nash just never really got a chance to get any offence going, losing a second round on the cards. The third round opened with a blitz from Zanganeh, shooting in for a quick takedown. Nash was able to shut it down again though and they went back to striking. Xavier was doing well with his leg kicks, but ended up getting pushed into the fence and was finally taken down by Zanganeh. After a lengthy break from a groin kick, Zanganeh ran in with a HUGE slam takedown. Amazingly, Nash was able to get back up and even threw a takedown attempt himself. Still, another clear round for Zanganeh.
Zanganeh looked like he was about to slow down a bit… but then walked in with a WILD combo, then transitioning into another couple takedowns. They went back to striking for a bit, but the round ultimately ended with Zanganeh grabbing his biggest takedown yet. At this point it still seemed like a fairly clear shutout for Zanganeh.
Nash came in with a new plan in the final round, shooting for a takedown and nailing it. From there he took Zanganeh’s back and worked HARD for a rear naked choke. It looked BAD for Navid, stuck deep in the choke. Incredibly, he got out of it, But Nash was then on his back, raining down ground and pound with two minutes left. The ref was VERY close to stopping it with Zanganeh barely staying active enough to stay alive. Unbelievably, Zanganeh made it to the final bell, but likely lost the final round 10-8. In an absolutely baffling turn of events, the winner was announced 48-47, 46-49 and 48-46 as Xavier Nash. Nash looked good, but had almost no offence the entire fight. This was BFL 76’s most bizarre result.
Co-Main Event (Featherweight Title Fight)
Mateo Vogel def. Drew Brokenshire by Submission in the 3rd Round
Vogel looked clean early, walking forward and landing some slick combos to stumble Brokenshire. From there he switched over to some grappling, taking Brokenshire down and snagging his back. After some heavy ground and pound, Vogel locked in a DEEP rear naked choke. Somehow the bell rang and Brokenshire was safe. Vogel got another takedown fairly early in the second round, taking Brokenshire’s back for a second time. Drew got back up but was clearly struggling with the pace of Vogel at this point. With another takedown after that, the defending champ, Vogel, was clearly up 2-0.
Less than a minute into the third, Vogel was already on top of Brokenshire. Drew was defending very well from the submissions, but Vogel was always one step ahead of him, just dominating him on the ground. It seemed like Brokenshire was fine and defending well… until the ref noticed that he was asleep! A simply beautiful, perfect title defence for Mateo Vogel.
Main Event (Middleweight Title Fight)
Jared Revel def. Jesse Taylor by Submission in the 1st Round
Taylor wasted no time, running in and pushing Revel into the fence. He was all over him, dragging him down, briefly taking his back but ultimately throwing him into the centre of the cage. The round was just slipping away from Revel and nearing a pretty clear 10-9 for Taylor. Then, out of absolutely nowhere, so quickly that it was tough to see what happened, Revel locked in a triangle choke and Taylor tapped.
BLÜ BONUSES
KO of the Night: Ash Mashreghi
Sub. of the Night: Ali Wasuk
Brawl of the Night: Josh Kwiatkowski vs. JT Donaldson
Most Valuable Fighter
Mateo Vogel
With another title win at BFL 76, Vogel is looking like an extremely well-rounded fighter. He could very easily be looking at an appearance on the Contender Series or a UFC debut later this year. Canadian MMA is on the rise!