Last night, Ray Sefo hit the MMA world with the first ever World Series of Fighting event. To make sure the card got attention, the K1 legend brought in former UFC stars like Andrei Arlovski, Anthony Johnson, and Miguel Torres to be featured on the main card. On top of that, he secured the MMA debut of kickboxing star Tyrone Spong.
Despite some criticism about the competitiveness of the matches, the action definitely delivered. Arlovski, Johnson, and Spong all secured impressive first round knock outs. The Belarusian countered Devin Cole with a straight right hand that sent Cole to the mat. He followed up with some perfunctory ground and pound to extend his unbeaten streak to 4 fights.
Late in the first round, Rumble found himself in an all too familiar position. After brutalizing D.J. Linderman on the ground, he took a finger to the eye coming out a scramble. Johnson appealed to referee Herb Dean for a time out, but Dean told him to continue. Linderman tried to take advantage and advanced on his opponent. Rumble loaded up on a single punch that sent D.J. to the floor.
Miguel Torres was the only one of the featured fighters not to impressive. He took some early damage from Marlon Moraes and struggled to find his rhythm for the rest of the bout. After the final bell, Moraes was the one to pick up a big victory via split decision.
Despite an MMA experience handicap, Tyrone Spong managed to make Travis Bartlett look like an amateur. It didn’t take long for Bartlett to taste the power in Spong’s kicks and once he did he wanted no part of it. It took only a little over 3 minutes for Tyrone to land the fight ending punch and hilariously walk off expecting the referee to give Bartlett an 8 count. Many are already wanting him to face a wrestler to test his takedown defense. Personally, I don’t see any need to rush a prospect so quickly.
Check out the photos from last night’s main card, all from Lucas Noonan.