SportfightX Presents: Beatdown at the Ballroom Recap And Results

William "SoCo" McAllister and SportfightX put together an amazing night of fights on Friday. The venue was at the World Congress Center in downtown Atlanta, inside the Thomas Murphy Ballroom. Fans were treated to 9 exciting fights, with the main event featuring Douglas Lima vs Cortez Coleman in the Redline Grand Prix Finale. As you can see from the picture above the Ballroom was filled with lovely ladies so I was very comfortable. HD Net will broadcast the fights on the next edition of Inside MMA and Gofightlive.tv had the fights streaming live. Now onto the fights!

Hamza Mutelib def. Jeremy Wallace Rd. 1 Armbar

Jeremy Wallace (4-2) is well known aroundAtlanta, he likes to stand up and beat the hell out of his opponents. Hamza (6-0) was a bit late showing up at fight to the Ballroom for his fight, he had limited time to stretch and prepare since he was first up. Humza didn't miss a beat though, he quickly took down Wallace and held good top control. Wallace was trying to sweep and bucked furiously, but Humza's top control was to good. Humza eventually got mount and sunk in an armbar in the 1st.  This was the only amateur fight on the card. Going forward I would like to see Hamza cut down to 170, he is a bit undersized for 185.

Dhiego Lima def. Kenny Moss Rd. 1 Triangle Choke 

This was hands down fight of the night. From the moment both fighters touched gloves they set a frenetic pace. Early on Dhiego (1-0) was finding range with his jab and was peppering Moss (3-1). Moss eventually got inside on Lima and was smashing Dhiego with hooks. For like 6 long seconds both fighters were just toe to toe swinging bombs at each other. Moss must have been hurt because he took Dhiego down slowing the pace of the fight. Moss could not pass Lima's guard and soon Lima secured a tight triangle choke. Great fight, I hope to see both fighters again in the near future.

Byron Bloodworth def. Jarall Bowman Rd. 1 Triangle Choke

I have never seen Bowman (1-1) fight before, but he has that same facial expression throughout the whole fight. Both fighters came out and were a bit tentative on the feet. Bloodworth (4-1) looked for the early takedown and got it. Bowman had on a nasty guillotine choke on, but somehow Byron got out of it and got swept to his back. Eventually Byron worked Bowman to guard and Blooworth put on a slick triangle choke on Bowman. Good fight, congrats to Byron. I talked to him after the fight and he said his next fight is against North Carolina's own Brandon Garner. Look out for that fight when it is announced.

Frank Millsap def. Matt Covan Rd. 1 TKO

 
The only thing bad about this fight was me not getting good angles to take good photos. Frank (4-2) pressed the fight early and often. Milsap's left hook was a dominating force in this fight. I don't think Covan (4-2) avoided one of Milsap's powerful left hooks. Frank has got a fight coming up in April, so the 39 year old will not get much time off. Milsap told me after his fight he is ready for more of Cornbread's guys. Maybe a match-up between Joe Carroll and Frank Milsap is on the horizon?

David Vitkay def. Warren Thompson Rd. 2 Rear Naked Choke

This was a close 2nd for fight of the night. Thompson (6-0) was on this seasons Ultimate Fighter and this was supposed to be a tune up fight for him. In the cage Thompson seemed much larger than Vitkay (8-10). Vitkay did not want any of Thmpson's stand-up and swiftly got Thompson to the mat. I was surprised how easily Vitkay took down Thomspon. From guard Vitkay was offering very little ground and pound while Thompson at one point was close in ensnaring Vitkay in a triangle. Vitkay got out of the triangle andin half guard started landing effective ground and pound. Thompson was unable to buck or sweep Vitkay and got peppered for trying to escape. Thompson then tries to work a Kimura on Vitkay. It looked tight put Vitkay did not tap. Round 1 ends with Vitkay on top. Round 2 starts and Thomson seems visibly gassed. Vitkay again easily takes down Thompson and starts where he left off. Thomson was throwing up triangles, but Vitkay easily srugs them off. Vitkay is able to pass Thompson's guard and eventually get mount. Thompson gives up his back and Vitkay sinks in the RNC. 

Diego Saraiva def. Dee Jay Fuentes via Unanimous Decision

I want to get this out of the way right now, Dee Jay Fuentes (5-3) is one tough dude. I apologize for not remembering the entire fight, I was a little sleep deprived and was focusing on 10 different things at the same time. So if I missed anything I am sorry. In the first round Saraiva(18-8) looked like he wanted to stand with Fuentes. Neither fighter had an edge in the striking and with about 2 minutes left in the round Saraiva kicked Fuentes right on his athletic cup. Fuentes took about 3 minutes to recover. After the Fuentes recovered, Saraiva took him down to end the round. In the next round it seemed Fuentes was pressing the action on the feet, but Saravia quickly changed levels and took him down. Saravia seemed to have trouble passing Fuentes' guard. For most of the round Saravia was in guard laying some ground and pound on Fuentes. With like a minute left Saravia went for a Kimura, but he couldn't get enough leverage to force Fuentes to tap. In between rounds Matt Fiore was yelling encouraging words to Fuentes, which was quite entertaining to me. For the first two minutes Fuentes was doing a good job pressing the action and finding good range unleashing some punches on Saravia. Again Saravia took down Fuentes and started displaying rapid fire ground and pound. With Fuentes a bit gassed Saravia was able to pass to mount and unleash some impressive ground and pound. Saravia was trying to finish the fight, but Fuentes was just too tough. Really good fight, I enjoyed it. 

Douglas Lima def. Cortez Coleman via Split Decision

 
This fight lived up to all expectations. At the time they were announcing the judges decision, everyone and I mean everyone at the Ballroom was out of their seats standing with baited breath waiting to hear the result. Live I scored the fight a 29-29 draw with a must going to Lima. As I am replaying the fight in my head though I would have scored it a 30-29 decision for Coleman. I need to get my hands on the fight footage so I determine who won that fight. It was that close. In the first round Coleman (5-2) quickly comes out and pushes Lima (18-4) up against the fence. Lima reverses and takes down Coleman. Coleman quickly cage walks and they are back on their feet. Coleman again comes inside and presses Lima up against the cage. Coleman eventually takes Lima down and starts working some ground and pound. Lima reverses and takes Coleman's back! Lima rides to high and ison his back. Coleman laying some ground and pound on and the round ends. Coleman looks a bit gasses, he cut down from 230 to 185 for this fight. Early in the round Lima takes down Coleman and works to pass his guard. Coleman reveres and is on top of Lima in half-guard. Most of the round is Coleman on top of Lima doing enough to not get the fight stood up. Lima looks much fresher than Coleman to start the third. Coleman pushes Lima against the fence and looks for a takedown. Coleman can't get it as Lima displays good defensive wrestling. Lima now has Coleman pressed up against the cage. Lima gets a takedown but Coleman quickly stands back up. The round ends as Coleman is pressing Lima against the cage. This one should have been 5 rounds. I think we could have saw a decisive winner.

Great night of fight overall, really liked the venue hope another event is held at the World Congress Center. Big thanks to SoCo and the SportfightX team. They treated me really well. Thanks again to Matt Fiore, Sponsored Fan, the GA commission and officials and of course Kelvin Hunt.