FFC 39: Vegas Locals Dominate at the Fight Dome!

July 14th, 2019

FFC 39: Vegas Locals Dominate at the Fight Dome!

The fifth instalment of the Final Fight Championship calendar for 2019 rocked the Fight Dome on Thursday evening, with Boxing, Kickboxing and Mixed Martial Arts on display to the sold out capacity crowd in the fight capital of the world, Las Vegas.

Six fights, in a unique format that always delivers for fans in attendance continued to live up to its unmissable nature, with the best in local and international combat sports stars clashing across a variety of rulesets.

Heavyweights took centre stage in the main event, with Jamelle Jones outwrestling and outpointing Jordan Powell over an exhausting fifteen minutes. Jones almost finished his opponent in the opening round, landing a variety of slams as well as some heavy ground and pound in the corner of the FFC ring, leaving referee Chris Tognoni on the verge of stopping the bout.

Powell survived the opening round and left sporting a huge welt under his right eye, leaving much work to be done by the cut man in between rounds. After a tough opening five minutes, fatigue began to set in for both men, with Jones appearing to land the heavier blows and still looking to dominate the wrestling exchanges. Powell weighed in at just under fourteen pounds less than his opponent, and Jones utilised that throughout the contest, looking more suited to the comfort of heavyweight life, compared to his former exploits in the light heavyweight division.

Jordan Powell certainly looked to take advantage of an increasingly tired Jamelle Jones in the third round, but it proved to be too little too late, with Jones having already led on the scorecards after a dominant first round. Jones walked away with the victory with the judges’ scoring the contest 29-27 across the books.

In the co-main event, Gabriel Checco outclassed Angel De Anda in the little over three minutes in front of a local-centric crowd.

The Brazilian-born, Vegas-based jiu-jitsu practicioner quickly took the fight to the floor and went through the motions. De Anda was wise to prevent being submitted by the BJJ black belt, but Checco decided to pursue the striking options, and quickly began landing some brutal elbows, forcing referee Mark Smith to call an end to proceedings.

Checco moves to an impressive 11-4 record on his FFC debut, and will look towards the summit of the middleweight division.

The sole kickboxing bout pitting Argentina against Brazil saw a technical exchange between Wallace Lopes and Alan Scheinson in a close-knit affair. Lopes adopted a more aggressive approach, constantly pushing his counterpart on the back foot and the judges recognised his style on the scorecards, scoring the bout unanimously in the Brazilian’s favour, at the disgust of Alan Scheinson.

It marks a big scalp for Lopes, with Scheinson being vastly more experienced and holding a seasoned record across the globe in the kickboxing ranks. Scheinson was previously scheduled to face champion Shkodran Veseli for the welterweight crown, and now it appears that Lopes may have jumped the queue on his FFC debut.

Lou Radecki earned victory in a hard-fought match up with fellow prospect Justin Vazquez in a featherweight mixed martial arts contest.

It wasn’t all plain sailing for the man from Michigan early on, with Vazquez dropping him in the opening moments of the fight, but the Scorpion Fighting System featherweight claimed his third professional submission victory midway through the second round. Radecki sunk in a rear-naked choke and moves to 4-1 and the tender age of twenty-four.

Highly-touted local boxing talent Daquan Mays continued his journey on the professional scene, outpointing Jose Ceja over a hard-fought four rounds in the lightweight division.

The Mayweather Boxing Club prospect moved to 3-0 in a tough, competitive four rounder with his boxing technique scoring well with the judges. The twenty-six year old, who acted as a sparring partner for Floyd Mayweather ahead of Conor McGregor, as well as the likes of Jorge Linares, Jessie Vargas and Zab Judah, is now focusing on his own professional journey and continues to receive the endorsements of the likes of Mayweather and FFC’s own Stitch Duran.

Opening the evening with a loud following saw local bantamweight Jerry Shapiro pick up a big victory in his hometown over Josh Wright in the closing moments of the very first round.

With a following of nearly one hundred fans, Shapiro remained cool under the pressure and demonstrated his reputable jiu-jitsu background, taking Wright down in the opening exchanges. Wright held his own on the canvas, reversing Shapiro on a number of occasions but the pressure built and with just seconds remaining, the Vegas man stopped pursuing a submission and began raining down with strikes, forcing Chris Tognoni to call an end to proceedings.

FFC 40 returns to the Fight Dome on September 5th!

FFC 39 Results

Heavyweight MMA: Jamelle Jones def. Jordan Powell via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27).

Middleweight MMA: Gabriel Checco def. Angel De Anda via TKO (strikes) after 3:08 of Round 1.

Welterweight Kickboxing: Wallace Lopes def. Alan Scheinson via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27).

Featherweight MMA: Lou Radecki def. Justin Vazquez via submission (rear-naked choke) after 3:08 of Round 2.

Lightweight Boxing: Daquan Mays def. Jose Ceja via unanimous decision (40-36, 40-36, 40-36).

Bantamweight MMA: Jerry Shapiro def. Josh Wright via TKO (strikes) after 4:56 of Round 1.