Shamrock FC: 278 - Recap

Kyle Kurtz picked up his second win of the year with a quick arm bar of Jordan Dowdy in the main event of Saturday's Shamrock FC: 278 at the Lumiere Casino.

Kurtz improved to 7-3 and it was his his fifth submission victory of his career, fourth by armbar.

"That's what I'm here for," Kurtz said. "I'm here to get finishes. I'm here to show the fans what's up. I'm going to punch you in the face, knee, elbow you, I'm going to get a submission, I'll hurt something. I feel like I'm stronger than any opponent I've faced. People might size me up and think, who's that small guy, but I have natural strength and I go out there and do my thing."

Dowdy has lost three of his last four, all by submission, and evens his mark to 3-3.

The two traded kicks before Dowdy exploded in for a powerful takedown coming off the ropes of the ring. Dowdy stayed dominant in side control before Kurtz created space and scrambled back to his feet.

"I just had to stay calm," Kurtz said. "I tried to throw him off a little bit with some short elbows but I didn't want to give up any positions and I didn't want to leave too many openings and I think that may have caused him to put the pressure a little bit more and he exposed himself."

But Dowdy was quick to react and segued into a trip that sent Kurtz back to floor. It was during the transition on the mat when Kurtz snagged the arm to get the tap.

"I thought, ok, I'm going to go for a triangle and try and spin it," Kurtz said. "But he left his arm out there for an omoplata and turned out of it and he crossed his arms up and I went for the arm that was closest to me."

Three professional boxing matches made up the bulk of the main card.

You gotta give Kansas City's Johnnie Roades some credit. Roades, who took the fight with undefeated Raymond Handson earlier Saturday, is known mostly for his MMA career, which he logged six fights in this year.

For the first two rounds, it was was what you would expect. Handson was long, and skilled, peppering combinations while Roads was left to solve the range equation.

In the third round, Roads started having some fun and began connecting with his looping punches.

The two had some nice exchanges toward the end of the third round but fatigue started to set in for Roades near the round's end and Handson warmed up the combinations yet again.

In the fourth, Handson cruised and Roades finally tired in his first career boxing match. Handson went on to earn a unanimous decision win and improve to 4-0.

Handson's original opponent, Troy White, showed up for Friday's weigh-ins more than 25 pounds over weight for the middleweight bout.

Jordan Maxey, all 6-foot-5 and 392-pounds of him, proved to be an unconquerable mountain for Jacob Zogg. Maxey's big right hand sent Zogg to the canvas three times in the first round before the referee called a TKO win for the Decatur-Ill-based Maxey.

Juzzton Hill was just getting warmed up, when a freak injury waved off the fight.

Hill, a St. Louis product, was visibly quicker and more crisp than Eean Chappell. Hill was just starting to ramp up the volume when a popped blood vessel in the eye of Chappell resulted in a doctor's stoppage midway through the first round at 1:25, giving Hill the win to keep him undefeated.

To top off the all amateur kickboxing undercard and in a fight that could have gone either way, Brandon Breault, a transplant from Minnesota now at Arnold BJJ, earned a unanimous decision win over Gaston Marabotto. Marabotto was the more aggressor early and often and looked in control of the fight. Breault stuck with his basics and pressed forward, landing often and building up damage, especially in the third round.

Standout amateur prospect from Watson' Martial Arts, Colin Parr was zeroed in.

In Parr's bout with Perry Nesbitt, Parr found his offensive attack and stuck to it. A leg kick sent Nesbitt down to end the first round and another leg kick right when the bell sounded sent Nesbitt spinning to the mat. Nesbitt was putting together some nice punches early in the second round but another Parr leg kick sent him to the floor and the referee had seen enough, stopping the fight at 40 seconds of the second round. This was the second win in less than a month for Parr who won via first-round armbar on October 15th in the very same room.

Adriene Brusco got stronger as the fight wore on and she came away with an unanimous decision win over Philina Zimmerman. Brusco was both durable and effective in the clinch and built considerable momentum as the fight wore on.

In a bout between two rangy, potential-filled up-and-comers, Olly Cunningham earned a unanimous decision winner over Luis Felipe.

Ruben Sola and Steven Stevenson teamed for many wild exchanges. Sola repeatedly found a home for his teep to the midsection. In the second, Stevenson's energy dropped and offense was wild and sporadic as Sola continued to press, eventually earning a KO in the second round.

Nineteen-year-old Averon Graham was too long and his footwork too bedazzling for Shawn McConnell as Graham, an Illinois product, scored a unanimous decision win.

For the first two rounds, Lamone Davis was quick on the attack and peppered away with kicks and punches at Jordan Meister. But Meister toughed through the early onslaught and sprung back to life with power punches toward the end of the second. In the third, Meister finished the fight with a sharp hook for a KO.

Eric Schmidt started off the night with first-round finish of Jake Willyard. Schmidt landed a deep kick to the liver to notch the KO win.

That's a wrap for Shamrock at the Lumiere this calendar year. Shamrock will return to River City on December 2nd, immediately followed by a trip to Ameristar Casino in Kansas City the following night.

Photo courtesy of Jimmy Range Photography