MMA Big Show: Rumble at the Wyndham
July 9, 2011 – Wyndham Resorts
Indianapolis, Indiana
The MMA Big Show finally made their way to Indianapolis for their invasion and they had some damn good intentions in mind. I feel like this individual show was cursed however as a lot of things seemed to go wrong. Now, let me start off by saying that none of what went wrong was the promoters or match makers of the MMA Big Show's error. Jason Appleton and JL Barger worked their asses off to make this card work here in Indianapolis, but it was Indianapolis as a city and some of these fighters which made this show a disappointment both to the MMA Big Show and myself as a journalist and fan of this business.
First off, let me say that this event was special for me because it was my son, Daniel's first MMA event that he ever got the chance to go to. He had a ball and that is all that really matters to me. With him having a good time, I had a good time. I drank beer and watched some pretty good fights in front of an almost empty crowd.
As I said before, the fault in terms of the crowd lays on my city of Indianapolis! This city just doesn't seem to appreciate the fact that we have MMA here. Ask New York how bad they would kill to have a MMA Big Show or LFC event there! Seriously, this city basically stiffed the MMA Big Show and the city of Cincinnati by no-showing this event. I do NOT know what the actual attendance was, but I've had more people at a BBQ before and that's the truth! There is NO EXCUSE for the horrible turn out and we will be lucky if the MMA Big Show ever shows up to our unappreciative city ever again. They are scheduled to come in August, but something tells me that they will not be returning.
I say this because they had to have barely broken even or even lost money on this show. There is no way that ticket sales justified anything here. Yes, it was an all ammy show, but to be honest, they probably made back barely their gas money to get back to Ohio. I am ashamed for the city of Indianapolis for that horrible turnout. I wish that we would have represented this sport a little better last night, but obviously we do not get all of our wishes.
Next problem was the sorry ass unprofessional fighters that I have been bitching about for weeks. These son of a bitches do the same thing week in and week out. I am so tired of these fucking keyboard warriors that wanna be fighters until its time to fight. A card that was supposed to have 15-20 fights ended up with 7 fights and its all because of these sorry ass fighters. Listen, even if you are an AMATEUR, you should still act PROFESSIONAL. This is your way to get to the pros and most of you people are RUINING it and burning all of your bridges. If you agree to a fight, you MUST have your blood work and be ready to fight. I think that the mid west and Indiana in particular needs a BLACK LIST right now for these fake fighters.
Now before I get into the action, I wanna say that JL Barger was working his ass off last night and running all over the place. It was also nice to see Matt Gunning, Scott McCorkle, Don Clift, and many others in attendance last night along with Cage Craze, Dan Stevens, and everyone over at the MMA Fit Club! The funny conversations of the night outside all seemed to surround Donnie “Born Again” Bishop backing out and not fighting in yet another scheduled fight. There were also plenty of rumblings about a man that has fallen from MMA grace here in Indiana, Donald Hoover. Hell, there was even someone complaining that he wanted her to make a porno with her. I do NOT know how much I believe that one, but all in all, it was some funny shit the entire night. I just sat back, slammed home some beers, and laughed my ass off.
Fight #1: Amateur Fight - Kevin Groff (23-16) def. Jonny Neville (1-4) via submission (rear naked choke) (1-2:10)
I was actually pretty excited about this fight going into it. I honestly did not know who to pick in this fight as both seem to have close to the same ability. Neville was coming off a win from LFC 47 and Groff was coming off a loss on the same night. Judging off their win-loss records, Groff would definitely be considered the favorite going into the fight due to experience alone. However, Neville comes from a long lineage of fighters in his family from his father to his brothers. If there is one thing that this family does, its fight. I did meet Mr. Neville, the father of Jonny and trust me when I tell you, he is one hell of a fun character to talk to. I definitely enjoy talking to the Neville family as a whole. Now onto the fight...I honestly expected more out of this fight and figured it would go at least into the second round or a decision. However, Kevin Groff was able to secure a rear naked choke pretty early in the first round and pulled it off via submission at the 2:10 mark in the first. On the way out, Jonny said that it was bullshit, which his brother Bryan immediately told him that it wasn't bullshit. Later on, you couldn't seperate Kevin and Jonny as it seemed that they hung out the rest of the night. I like to see good sportsmanship in this business like that. I think both of these fighters next fight will be another decent one. I love seeing them fight. Jonny obviously needs to get a solid win in his next performance. He is 1-4 as an amateur and we all know that in the state of Indiana, you must have 5 sanctioned fights and a winning record. He is going to have to win four in a row if he wants to move on to pro as soon as possible. With Kevin, my question is why the hell he hasn't jumped pro his damn self? He has 39 amateur fights and that might honestly be the most Ive ever seen in the history of this business!
Fight #2: Amateur Bantamweight Fight - D’Marcus Spencer def. Vincent Hines via Unanimous Decision (30-27/30-27/30-27)
This fight was a pretty great fight in terms of D'Marcus Spencer. He truly showed how much talent he had as he dominated this matchup. He showed that he is improving on that already great wrestling each and every day. I had this fight scored EASILY for Spencer 30-27. He just looked dominate in there to me. This fight had some very slow moments, but overall it was because Mr. Spencer was grinding his way to another victory. Hines had a huge team behind him though and they stood in front of me for almost all of the fight. I had to climb up on shit like a damn chimp in order to see the action. I did NOT like that. D'Marcus said in a post-fight interview with the King that he was on his way to TENNESSEE to pursue his college degree and to tighten up his wrestling pedigree. I think he is gonna be a beast in this sport for a long time and I got his back all the way. Truly one of the best fighters on the card. Hines was good too, but he was just over matched. Spencer had a game plan and he worked it to perfection. This fight hit the judges and all three gave him the same score I did.
Fight #3: Amateur Heavyweight Fight - Cornelius George def. KeAndre Howard via submission (strikes) (1-1:56)
This was one of the fights that I was MOST looking forward to. KeAndre Howard was supposed to be my opponent in December, but now as of this week, we are TEAMMATES at the MMA Fit Club. I had to root for my boy KeAndre on a personal note due to George's previous statements to me on facebook that showed his true character. As much as I wanted KeAndre to win, the truth is that he didn't. George was afraid to stand and strike with Howard. He got stuck once in the face and then he said “Fuck that” and took Howard down. The ground and pound was ferocious as George pounded with these odd looking punches that he was raising extremely high before swinging. His entire style looked odd as hell and someone will eventually take care of his unconventional style. George got the win via submission at 1:56 into the first round. KeAndre tapped due to the strikes for the submission win. KeAndre has since told me that he didn't wanna get cut before his fight with Chad Eaton in August and that's why he tapped. George left the cage and was dancing after his win, which was disrepectful in my opinion considering he hadn't even really checked on the condition of Howard. George ran around the cage before this fight with a GAS MASK on his face. He was also wearing these little ass GSP or Shogun Rua shorts, which was disgusting because his fat came down over the front of the shorts. It seriously looked like he didn't have any shorts in the front because the fat was there! Yea, I said it! Because it is TRUE. Yes, he got the win here and it was a big win because KeAndre is no joke. Cornelius has been a dick since I began writing this and bitched out on a fight. His new name is Curious George.
Fight #4: Amateur Welterweight Fight - Jameson Sharp def. Daniel Sansone via TKO (Injury-2-:500)
Jameson Sharp was just as aggressive as it gets. He came out and was determined to win this fight. The fight looked pretty even to me however going into the third round with one round each. However, Daniel Sansone could not come out for the round as he had an injured shoulder. I still am not sure of what exactly caused the injury, but he definitely could not come back into the fight. In my opinion, this fight was a great fight up until this moment. I want to wish Mr. Sansone the best on his recovery.
Fight #5: Amateur Fight - John Helton def. Ronez McGrady via Unanimous Decision (29-28) (30-27) ( 30-27)
I have to admit that I was pretty bored with this fight. I got me a few beers during this fight as it seemed to be total dominance by Mr. Helton. He looked really good in this fight as I scored it for him 30-27. It seems as if two of the judges agreed with me. I am curious as to which jerk off judge scored this 29-28? No offense to Mr. McGrady, but this was just a dominant win for John Helton.
Fight #6: Amateur Fight - David Bernas def. Chris Dunn via Split Decision 29-28(B) 29-28(D) 29-28(B)
I had this pegged going in as my fight of the night and it indeed went to the controversial decision. Everyone, including myself, thought that this was going to be a standup battle, but David Bernas came in with an amazing gameplan and it paid off as he got the split decision. There were a lot of people pissed off about the decision and Bernas's decision to take this fight down despite asking for a striking opponent. Bernas is a great boxer, so it even surprised me when he started this fight immediately with a takedown. Everyone from Ohio was pretty pissed as I was right next to them and able to hear their reactions. Chris Dunn fought a VERY hard fight and actually won this fight on MY CARD as I gave it to him 29-28, but I can see why the judges gave it to Bernas. Great job by both men in this fight that ended up being all about grappling.
Fight #7: Amateur Heavyweight Fight - Jason Appleton def. Kirk Miller via TKO (strikes-1-0:35)
All I can say here is WOW! Jason Appleton broke Kirk Miller's nose 35 seconds into the fight with an amazing uppercut. Most people were shocked that the giant won so easily in only his first fight. This was the battle of the Giants as Appleton, the owner of the MMA Big Show, was 7'0 and Miller was 6'6. I spoke to Miller prior to the fight and he is one of the nicest guys in the business despite being named the Cincy psycho. Big ups to both fighters and Jason Appleton for such an impressive performance in his debut.
All in All, this was a pretty good show and their next show is in CINCINNATI on July 30, 2011. I am excited about that show and I will be going to cover the event. Tickets are available now!
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