Ring of Fire 37 results and recap for 'Warlords'

When you hear the words "Ring of Fire," your first association may be with a particularly potent brand of hot sauce. Fight fans in the know, however, will recognize it as the name of a regional mixed martial arts promotion whose latest undertaking, Ring of Fire 37: "Warlords", rocked the Omaha Civic Auditorium in Nebraska this evening (March 5).

The Internet pay-per-view (PPV) card featured a smattering of former UFC talent, with a showcased main event attraction that pitted veteran lightweight kickboxer Alonzo Martinez against stand-up-turned-submission fighter Demi Deeds.

UFC veterans John "The Natural" Alessio, Justin Wren, Chad Reiner and Luke Caudillo were also in action.

The Ring of Fire (ROF) promotion is your typical small-time fight show. The cage is smaller than what you'd expect from the UFC and Strikeforce and fans were sprawled around fold-up tables replete with beer buckets and plenty of tight shirts.

One unexpected bonus: Abnormally hot ring girls. Nice work, ROF.

As for the broadcasters calling the fights ... well, did I mention that Go Fight Live (GFL) offers these kinds of events for only $9.95? Right. Now let's get to the action.

The main event features Alonzo Martinez versus Demi Deeds. Alonzo is a flamboyant fighter and for reasons known only to him he opted to be accompanied to the cage by one of the worst rappers in the history of the world. I grit my teeth, turn down the volume, and soldier on.

Alonzo is wearing pink trunks and has a matching mohawk, while Deeds is a monstrous 155'er who usually fights at welterweight. Alonzo has some serious hometown backing from the by now seriously intoxicated mob. The fighters exchange crisply on their feet until Alonzo wins a scramble and pins the stockier Deeds against the cage.

He starts dropping elbows and Deeds attempts to roll out from bottom position. He can't shake Alonzo, who takes his back and secures a pretty slick rear naked choke. Deeds valiantly attempts to twist out of it but is forced to tap.

The hometown favorite Alonzo is cheered lustily, and the crowd are permitted to take pictures with the victorious fighter as the event concludes.I now recognize the sheepish play-by-play broadcaster as the lad who got choked out by Cristiane Cyborg last year.

Small world.

Canadian John Alessio has aspirations of returning to the UFC, hopefully for the Vancouver card. He'll have to defeat Matt Delanoit in impressive fashion to do so, and that is our co-main event this evening. They have a nice standing exchange before Delanoit slips and Alessio jumps on him.

"The Natural" almost instantaneously sinks in the rear naked choke and Delanoit taps. That didn't take long. Someone might want to inform Alessio that his nickname is already taken and by a guy that's kind of a big deal in the sport.

UFC vet and hometown boy Chad Reiner comes out aggressively against Brian Green, but Green catches him coming in repeatedly with left hooks and jabs. Reiner wisely takes it to the mat, and he controls Green for the remainder of the round while inflicting zero damage from the top position.

Blonde ring girl Theresa gets a bigger ovation than either fighter so far.

Reiner explodes early in the second and hurts Green with a flurry that is punctuated by a knee to the forehead. Reiner slams Green and resumes his ground and pound for the duration of the second round. Green attempts a kimura but can't secure it, and we're on to the third.

Reiner achieves top position immediately, then proceeds to transition to north-south, side-control, and back to half-guard -- all while doing absolutely nothing in terms of damage or submission attempts. Chad "the Grinder" Reiner is true to his moniker in this one. He lands a nice standing elbow and gets a big slam to finish the fight.

The ring announcer, whom I've now surmised may be handicapped in some fashion, announces that all three rounds were "incredible." He's said the same thing about every fight.

TUF heavyweight alumni Justin Wren looks right pissed off as he stalks to the center of the cage to take on local boy Josh Henry. The unfortunate Henry is clinched, slammed and pummeled almost immediately. Wren swiftly takes his back and proceeds to serve up a healthy dose of ground and pound with a side order of simultaneous smack talk.

The fight is halted a couple of minutes into the first round. In the post-fight interview, Wren explains that he was angered by spending the previous evening in the hospital due to dehydration. Um, okay....

Local fighter Sean Wilson uses a nice lunging left hook over the top to take advantage of UFC washout Luke Caudillo's lowered hands, and finishes him with ground strikes in the second round. A somewhat premature stoppage in this observer's opinion.

Below are the results from the entire fight card. As you can see, there were plenty of finishes. It was a good night of fights -- and I laughed out loud at amateur competitor Jason Prorok's nickname: "The Polish Pounder."

Well played, sir.

Here are the Ring of Fire 37: "Warlords" complete results:

Alonzo Martinez defeats Demi Deeds by submission (rear naked choke) in Round 1
John Alessio defeats Matt Delanoit by submission (rear naked choke) in Round 1
Chad Reiner defeats Brian Green via unanimous decision
Sean Wilson defeats Luke Caudillo via TKO in Round 2
Justin Wren defeats Josh Henry via TKO in Round 1
Pete Grimes defeats Donavon Winters via unanimous decision
Vinny Lopez defeats Andy Smith via unanimous decision
Enrique Thomas defeats Steve Luccino by submission (rear naked choke) in Round 3
Justin Linner defeats Brett Hodgen by submission (rear naked choke) in Round 1
Roberto Rojas Jr. defeats Jason Prorok by TKO in Round 1
Joel Frandsen defeats Matt Williams by TKO in Round 2
Johnny Nunez defeats Jeremy Harper by submission (armbar) in Round 2
John Devall defeats Justin Seffron via submission (rear naked choke) in Round 1

Well, that's how ROF 37 went down from Omaha, Nebraska. This is Jeremy Jackson saying peace out for now, Maniacs.