Duarte Shows Off Striking, Wins Again at Primal MMA
Caesar Garcia Nov 4, 2007
TIJUANA, Mexico, Nov. 3 -- The pride of Tijuana, Antonio Duarte, passed another
test Saturday in his climb up the featherweight rankings when he
submitted Seth Dukin with a rear-naked choke to highlight Primal
MMA's Noche de Los Muertos (Night of the Dead) at El Foro Jai
Alai.
Duarte entertained his hometown crowd with a solid display of standup striking mixed in with some timely grappling to best Team Wildman's Dukin at 2:23 of the second round. Not surprisingly Duarte finished the fight by submission, but what was surprising was Duarte's improved standup game.
"I've been working on it, so I've been more confident," said the
jiu-jitsu specialist.
The training showed as Duarte landed some good left hooks that forced Dukin to try and take the fight to the ground, which he managed to do in the first stanza. But the ground game is where Duarte excels, and he sank in an armbar that probably would have finished Dukin if the bell had not saved him.
After Dukin recovered, he shot once again. The takedown failed, and this time Dukin gave up his back. Duarte wasted no time sinking in his hooks and grabbing Dukin's neck for the rear-naked choke.
Dukin tapped out, but Duarte held on to the choke a la Royce Gracie (Pictures), prompting referee Herb Dean (Pictures) to tackle Duarte off of his opponent. There was no word afterward from Primal MMA officials whether Duarte would be punished for the maneuver. Zebulon Beatty won his debut in controversial fashion when Brad Peterson landed a knee that knocked him out just as the third round ended. The blow seemed to be legal, and Peterson believed he would be awarded the win, but Dean ruled the knee strike an unintentional late hit.
Because Beatty was unable to continue, the fight went to the cards. The judges gave Beatty the unanimous nod by scores of 29-28 twice and 30-27.
Peterson was visibly upset with the decision, especially since he seemed to have the fight finished in the first when he had Beatty in a guillotine choke -- that is, until Beatty purposely pushed himself out of the ring and onto the floor, then got away with only a warning.
"He was gasping for air on that choke," said a disappointed Peterson. "He was choked out and knocked out, and I still lost the fight."
Dave Gardner used his 17-fight experience to propel him to victory over Bryan Joplin (Pictures) by unanimous decision. Joplin, who came in to the contest a perfect 5-0, fought tough but was put through an MMA clinic by Gardner.
The only knock against Gardner was the fact that he was not able to finish his game opponent despite almost sinking in various submissions, including choke attempts, an armbar, a kneebar and a can opener.
Denis Grachev pounded out a victory over Chris Reedy at 2:55 of the first round. Grachev dropped Reedy with a right uppercut, then immediately pounced, landing various shots to Reedy's head that prompted Dean to halt the contest.
Landon Piercy ended his fight against Edgar Osorio by armbar with 54 seconds expired in the second round.
Vince Parra made an MMA debut from heaven when he landed a looping right hand to the chin of Chris Solomon (Pictures), putting him out cold at 1:25 of the second round.
Jason Wessling scored a hard slam on Jordan Clissold to begin their light heavyweight scrap. The slam set up a rear-naked choke that Wessling was finally able to seal the deal on at 2:33 of the first round.
Mickey Martinez put constant pressure on Tony Llamas (Pictures). It paid off as he hurt Llamas with a right that caused him to shoot for the takedown. Instead Martinez caught him in a guillotine choke for the tapout at 1:24 of the second round.
Tijuana native Kisack Monroy earned a TKO victory over Jay Bolos when he landed a knee to the ribs of the Hawaiian, causing him to curl into the fetal position and stopping the contest at 2:39 of the third round.
Bolos had defended various submissions before trying a kneebar. Monroy defended the attempt and found himself in position to land the deciding strike to the body of Bolos.
Duarte entertained his hometown crowd with a solid display of standup striking mixed in with some timely grappling to best Team Wildman's Dukin at 2:23 of the second round. Not surprisingly Duarte finished the fight by submission, but what was surprising was Duarte's improved standup game.
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The training showed as Duarte landed some good left hooks that forced Dukin to try and take the fight to the ground, which he managed to do in the first stanza. But the ground game is where Duarte excels, and he sank in an armbar that probably would have finished Dukin if the bell had not saved him.
The second round saw Duarte land another solid left hook that again
forced Dukin to shoot for the takedown. However, Duarte stuffed the
attempt and picked up Dukin before body-slamming him down to the
canvas.
After Dukin recovered, he shot once again. The takedown failed, and this time Dukin gave up his back. Duarte wasted no time sinking in his hooks and grabbing Dukin's neck for the rear-naked choke.
Dukin tapped out, but Duarte held on to the choke a la Royce Gracie (Pictures), prompting referee Herb Dean (Pictures) to tackle Duarte off of his opponent. There was no word afterward from Primal MMA officials whether Duarte would be punished for the maneuver. Zebulon Beatty won his debut in controversial fashion when Brad Peterson landed a knee that knocked him out just as the third round ended. The blow seemed to be legal, and Peterson believed he would be awarded the win, but Dean ruled the knee strike an unintentional late hit.
Because Beatty was unable to continue, the fight went to the cards. The judges gave Beatty the unanimous nod by scores of 29-28 twice and 30-27.
Peterson was visibly upset with the decision, especially since he seemed to have the fight finished in the first when he had Beatty in a guillotine choke -- that is, until Beatty purposely pushed himself out of the ring and onto the floor, then got away with only a warning.
"He was gasping for air on that choke," said a disappointed Peterson. "He was choked out and knocked out, and I still lost the fight."
Dave Gardner used his 17-fight experience to propel him to victory over Bryan Joplin (Pictures) by unanimous decision. Joplin, who came in to the contest a perfect 5-0, fought tough but was put through an MMA clinic by Gardner.
The only knock against Gardner was the fact that he was not able to finish his game opponent despite almost sinking in various submissions, including choke attempts, an armbar, a kneebar and a can opener.
Denis Grachev pounded out a victory over Chris Reedy at 2:55 of the first round. Grachev dropped Reedy with a right uppercut, then immediately pounced, landing various shots to Reedy's head that prompted Dean to halt the contest.
Landon Piercy ended his fight against Edgar Osorio by armbar with 54 seconds expired in the second round.
Vince Parra made an MMA debut from heaven when he landed a looping right hand to the chin of Chris Solomon (Pictures), putting him out cold at 1:25 of the second round.
Jason Wessling scored a hard slam on Jordan Clissold to begin their light heavyweight scrap. The slam set up a rear-naked choke that Wessling was finally able to seal the deal on at 2:33 of the first round.
Mickey Martinez put constant pressure on Tony Llamas (Pictures). It paid off as he hurt Llamas with a right that caused him to shoot for the takedown. Instead Martinez caught him in a guillotine choke for the tapout at 1:24 of the second round.
Tijuana native Kisack Monroy earned a TKO victory over Jay Bolos when he landed a knee to the ribs of the Hawaiian, causing him to curl into the fetal position and stopping the contest at 2:39 of the third round.
Bolos had defended various submissions before trying a kneebar. Monroy defended the attempt and found himself in position to land the deciding strike to the body of Bolos.
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