In a busy weekend for mixed martial arts the combat sports world turned to the World Series of Fighting for Saturday’s entertainment. The main event was the welterweight clash between Jake Shields and Brian Foster, which brought with it title shot implications. No matter if Shields saw this as a warm up fight or not, Foster pressed fast and early. Shields came away with the victory and made quick mention of what he had in store for the current welterweight champion. It was a two finish main card but still a full night of overall excitement for the World Series of Fighting promotion.
Brian Foster (22-7) showed no shame at coming right at Jake Shields (31-7-1) in tonights number one contender bout. From the moment the fight started Foster landed a few powerful shots that stunned Shields but he regrouped in the clinch. Foster eventually landed a takedown, and from there it became a cat and mouse submission game on the ground. Deep in the first round, Shields was able to climb the back of Foster and grab a hold of the chin to turn the neck and crank out the submission. It was business as usual for Shields as we now look towards a submission specialist welterweight showdown between Saturday's victor and the champion Rousimar Palhares.
Following that bout, Joe Condon (12-7) stepped in to take on one of the most dangerous fighters on the WSOF roster in Johnny Nunez (5-1). The first minutes of round one went dramatically in Nunez's favor. Condon was able to avoid some danger and possibly being finished and survive the round. Nunez proceeded to come out confident in the second round, but the smooth work of Condon was finding its mark. A frustrated Nunez went to the ground again, but Condon was still able to get up. The fight still showed in Johnny's favor but we would love to see the strikes landed as they evened up during the second round scrap. The third round would have been unique scoring-wise, as it seemed Joe was busier with the striking. Nunez seemed to be in cruise control and that could be what cost him as Joe was able to grab the neck of Nunes and drop down into a neck crank guillotine submission for the finish. It was unbelievable.
The middle weights of Krasimir Mladenov (12-0) and Brenden Kornberger (5-1) were next. There were a few moments where we thought a finish could come but it never surfaced. We did see a wonderful mix of takedowns and grappling from Mladenov, but he was unable to find any offense when those would happen. Mladenov’s wrestling made the difference as he was able to pull off the mauling victory.
Following that, Bryson Hansen (8-2) came out as the aggressor throwing a great leg kick to the inside leg of Rudy Morales (2-2). Hansen also scored a huge takedown and landed a sharp elbow that cut open Rudy. Referee Kim Winslow made the good call of stopping the action to make sure Morales was in no real danger. The round ended with Hansen in complete control. The second round didn't go in Morales favor as he really was unable to mount any offense. Hansen seemed gassed as well, and he did nothing more than hold Morales against the cage. By the end of the second round the blood was still pouring from Rudy's eye. With Rudy Morales unable to do anything due to an injured knee, Hansen landed two more takedowns and stayed in control for the remainder of the fight.
The night ended with the bout between Adam Cella (6-3) and Danny Davis Jr. (11-8-1), and it began with a good first round for Davis. He landed a shot on Cella that left him on the mat. Adam scrambled in time and regrouped beautifully to keep off the assault. The striking favored Davis which gave him the first round. A horrible illegal kick to Cella caused Davis to lose a point but he still did enough to draw even on the second round. The third round continued with more of the same. Davis landed on takedown then was able to grind out the win.
Two exciting finishes complete another solid card for WSOF 17. Next up for the promotion is WSOF Morales - Hill on February 12th on a rare Thursday night for mixed martial arts.