Locked In The Cage 3 Review part two — The Pros

Photo courtesy of Pinball

With all the bitching about shortfalls and praising of good amateur match-making (see LC3 review part one) out of the way, we can review the pro-fights. Although the local contingent eked out a slim majority of victors on the night — 3 winners, 2 losers — it was still a good night for MMA in Northeast Philly.

Two fights from the card never materialized. According to Promoter Fran Evans, Tuam Pham’s opponent Levi Howe failed to board his flight (Pham was also left out of LC1 due to a no show opponent) and Todd Solek had to abandon his bout due to the blood work complications of his opponent John Swangler .

Things kicked off with Scott Heckman making his pro debut for Revolution Academy at 155 pounds against Blackman MMA’s Mike Diggs. Diggs came out looking very calculated on the feet and appeared to have the poise and purposefulness to his movement of a skilled striker. While this may be the case, he ended up just looking like a hesitant fighter and was never able to string anything together. Heckman was able to pull off takedown after takedown and wear Diggs out, ending the fight beating on a turtled-up Diggs (now 1-1) for the unanimous decision.

Jamall Johnson (now 1-1), fighting out of Advantage MMA in NJ, and looking big at 205, got his first victory over Eric Purcell (now 1-2) out of Ricardo Almeida’s PA affiliate. They locked up and jockeyed for position off the bat — looking like two offensive lineman run-blocking each other (aside from the occasional faint of a takedown). Purcell was able to hold his own and when it went to the floor he got the better of the striking exchange; however, the whole affair seemed to cost him some juice and shortly after it went back to the feet he hit the deck hard via a Johnson hip toss. Johnson rode it into a mean shoulder lock and forced a verbal tap from Purcell. Johnson definitely demonstrated he has the strength to manhandle, but he still looks unsure of himself. I can’t help referencing whoever Johnny Cash ripped off John Henry from: He is ‘high and mighty with all them muscles’ but I’m still waiting to see him ‘pick up the hammer and show what he can do.’

Jeff Cressman, who trains out of Daddis Fight Camps, took a loss to Knoxville Tennessee product Chris Wright (now 3-0) via a first round standing guillotine choke that shocked everyone. After Cressman's spirited performance at LC2, it was an unpleasant surprise to see the fight end with out really getting a chance to heat up; but this is of course the nature of the sport. You are just as likely to see a quick devastating submission as you are to see a marathon bloodfest. Regardless, this ending didn’t have a good feel to it, Cressman spent a good deal of time in Wright’s guillotine prior to the choke and didn’t seemed concerned, which made it all the less climatic when Wright was able to force a tap while still on the feet. Hopefully this will prove to be an anomaly in Cressman’s career. Smart money is on his return with renewed determination to regain his popularity. In the mean time, he hovers at 2-2.

Much more entertaining (and disappointing for a huge chunk of the crowd) was Irish Mikey Groves falling to Bo Coleman, a (now) 2-1 fighter from Ohio. Groves, coming in 0-2, had the support of the whole crowd, about a quarter of which had shown up just to see him in the first place. Fronting his precession with an authentic bagpiper won him the rest of the Irish-centric Northeast Philly crowd.

Coleman was moving well off the jump and threw out some fast kicks to zap any aggressive thoughts the bigger Groves had of rushing in. He then, strangely enough, called in Groves who, relatively stationary to this point, got up on the balls of his feet and began looking very deliberate about getting into his smaller opponent’s range to do some heavy swinging. They ended up down fast and Coleman whipped up a quick triangle. While trapped, Groves threw some heavy knees to his opponent’s back before reining strikes to the face. He didn’t emerge from the the triangle until Coleman switched to the guard in desperation. Absorbing more punches, Coleman went for an armbar; when Groves pulled out, Coleman reached for a knee bar and somehow ended up back in the closed guard. Having run though a fluid range of attempts while absorbing constant strikes, the only question was who would win the race. Would Groves knock out or bust open Coleman before he could make a submission stick? The first round ended just in time for Groves to avoid another deep armbar.

Groves came out firing in the second round but when he went to the floor with Coleman, he couldn’t help getting sucked back into his black hole of a guard where another fluid armbar sank deep into Groves. Groves tried to roll but Coleman followed and extended the armbar into a mean belly-down finisher that left Groves (now 0-3) slow to get off the mat. The crowd was pissed and booed Coleman who ate it up until the ref had to restrain him from egging on the displeased fans. One distinguished gentleman was heard to yell out “show some humility,” topping my list of strange raps to come out of MMA crowds.

Coleman has a checkered amateur record but, at only 21 years old, he could be an exciting prospect to watch. Fran Evans is saying his next fight will be against Julio Rosario at LC4 (more to come on that). Rosario, from Semper Fi MMA, put on a great show at Matrix 1 and would make a great opponent for Coleman. Lets hope it goes down.

Groves, who was looking for his first win, was a big draw for this card — the crowd literally surged (one fan needed to be restrained by athletic commission workers) and receded with his fight. About a third of the audience left, dejected, not bothering to stick around for the headline fight.

Tim Williams, from Team Balance, took another step to becoming the face of Philly MMA with his win over Joey Kirwan (now 4-4). Williams came out aggressive and almost got lit up when Kirwan sunk in a deep double leg takedown. Williams got heaved into the air but managed to secure Kirwan’s neck, robbing him of downward momentum. Instead of being slammed, Williams landed with a guillotine established and Kirwan in his guard. Kirwan was able to pull his head out and worked Williams with strikes to his side while within the closed guard. The crowd-lobby got vocal for a standup and the ref obliged only to have Kirwan return right to William’s guard. After another failed guillotine and ensuing exchange inside the guard, Williams surged to take Kirwan’s back. He worked him over to get hooks and sink in a rear naked choke for the win- taking him to 3-0. Williams remains undefeated in his career (including an amateur record of 6-0) and has the LC middleweight belt to show for it.

Williams rolls along. He looked surprised, no one else did. Photo from Matcombatsports.com

For another perspective on the show here is the Mid-Atlantic Combat Sports write-up

Check back soon for the inside look at the upcoming LC4 and LC5 and Matrix 2.