Thanks to UFC Fight Pass and Unified MMA we saw another classic night of Canadian MMA.
The card was a bit unusual, with some strange fights, a bad eye poke and some technical malfunctions with the canvas, but it still produced some magic. UFC alum. Brandon Jenkins and PFL alum. Jamelle Jones both snagged incredible 1st Round finishes. Stephen Beaumont also grabbed a WILD 1st Round finish after returning from an extended layoff. Sean Michael Nawash also grabbed a finish, grabbing his in the 2nd Round after a rough opening round.
All the unified MMA fights, along with the BLÜ BONUSES for the night, are described below.
Fight #1
Sean Michael Nawash def. Tyrell Giselbrecht by Submission in the 2nd Round
Giselbrecht was the aggressor early, throwing out some decent kicks and WILD shots. His shots started to land clean, backing Michael up and busting up his face. After a couple minutes, Michael decided to switch it up with a takedown attempt. Amazingly, Giselbrecht was the one that found himself on top and ended up locking in a NASTY armbar. Michael slipped out of it, but found himself on the bottom of a much larger, more skilled Giselbrecht. He threatened a heel hook, but was mostly shutout the rest of the round.
Michael turned up the pace at the start of the second round and landed a couple of heavy takedowns. Giselbrecht was in a real bad spot after the second one, with Michael riding his back, deep into a rear naked choke. He fought it off well, but, ultimately, Michael sunk it in and grabbed the come-from-behind submission win.
Fight #2
Alex O’Neil def. Jett Grande by Unanimous Decision
Grande made the first big move, launching himself into O’Neil with a powerful takedown. He struggled to keep the bigger man down, but had him pinned along the fence for quite a while. It wasn’t an exciting round of MMA by any means, but with about 4 minutes in control time along the fence, you’d imagine that Grande was ahead on the cards.
Grande opened the 2nd Round exactly the same, pinning O’Neil into the fence. He was bleeding quite a bit from the clinchwork of O’Neil, but that control time was adding up. As they separated, the damage really start to show for Grande. He was backing up and was covered in blood, while O’Neil was picking him apart with jabs. With all that damage, it seemed to be tied 1-1.
O’Neil kept his pressure going into the final round, picking Grande apart once again. Grande responded with another pin along the fence, but it was starting to become a questionable strategy due to the size of O’Neil. He grabbed a couple minutes of control time, but was really getting beat up by the chippy shots of O’Neil along the fence. There were a couple of brief moments of success for O’Neil, but with another round spent along the fence, it seemed likely that, based on control alone, Grande could have won. Interestingly, the judges ended up scoring it 30-26, 30-26 and 30-27 for Alex O’Neil.
Fight #3
Brandon Jenkins def. Neal Anderson by KO in the 1st Round
Jenkins ran in hard with some combos, but was quickly met with adversity, getting ROCKED by the crisp shots of Anderson. It took him a minute to recover, but Jenkins started to put it together with some HUGE shots. Anderson weathered the storm as long as he could, but was then put to sleep by a BOMB. With that insane finish, Jenkins is now one step closer to returning to the UFC.
Fight #4
Stephen Beaumont def. Michael Hill by TKO in the 1st Round
Both men were throwing BOMBS early and both men were landing. It took a while to see who was edging ahead, then it was all over. Beaumont started to land the heavier shots, dropped Hill and finished him with some sledgehammers. He was out of the sport for a while, but returned with a MASSIVE 1st Round TKO.
Co-Main Event
KB Bhullar vs. Curtis Millender Ended in a No Contest
Millender was the one pressuring early, walking Bhullar down. Bhullar was standing his ground though, countering well. Sadly, Bhullar hen jammed his finger straight into the eye of Millender. After a couple minutes of sitting there on the ground, talking to the doctor, the fight was called to a close. Due to the fact that it was so early in the fight, it was ruled a “No Contest”.
Main Event (Heavyweight Title Fight)
Jamelle Jones def. Chris Larsen by Submission in the 1st Round
Larsen was the MUCH larger man in there and used his size early, dropping Jones with a MASSIVE shot. Jones recovered though, somehow dragging Larsen down to the canvas. That size helped Larsen though, allowing him to get up without much adversity. Jones kept up his grappling, driving Larsen down, once again, straight into the mat. Larsen got back up, but not before he was SMOKED by a couple of hammers from Jones. From there, Jones used his wrestling to take Larsen’s back. A few seconds later and the fight was over as Jones locked in the rear naked choke.
BLÜ BONUSES
KO of the Night: Brandon Jenkins
Sub. of the Night: Jamelle Jones
Brawl of the Night: Stephen Beaumont vs. Michael Hill
Most Valuable Fighter
Brandon Jenkins AND Jamelle Jones
They both did the exact same thing tonight. They’ve fallen out of the top MMA promotions, came in here, got hit BAD, but then rallied back for a win. This shows resilience, not just in the fight, but in their careers. With more performances like these, they’ll quickly make their way back to the big leagues.