Ross Pointon is a submission master!
Cage Rage 26: "Extreme" came and went Saturday night from the NEC Arena in Birmingham, England, with Ian Freeman toppling Paul Calhoun via unanimous decision for the light heavyweight title in the main event of the evening.
The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) alum, Ross Pointon, also came away with a win thanks to a nifty fight-ending heel hook against Ross Mason. In addition, Paul "Semtex" Daley was in the house and revealed that he was not going to retire. In fact, he has a future opponent in mind.
If you missed the action -- and apparently the LIVE online feed was canceled -- we've got the results and some quick commentary below.
Ian Freeman vs. Paul Cahoon for light heavyweight title
Challenger Ian Freeman captured the Cage Rage light heavyweight belt by defeating Paul Cahoon with a unanimous decision. It was a back and forth battle, but Freeman inflicted more damage and scored more takedowns.
Here's a snip from the post fight interview with the new champ:
"I feel 10 years younger, not 10 years older. If it wasn't for Daniel Buzzorta, I don't think I could have won it. He put me through my paces; I cried everyday in the gym. This was easy compared to a training session."
Matt Ewin vs. Mark Epstein for middleweight title
Ewin reclaimed his Cage Rage middleweight belt with a unanimous decision victory. Ewin had a slow start, getting taken down early and controlled for some of the first round, but battled back and dominated the later rounds with takedowns of his own and punishing strikes. It was a very decisive decision.
Ch’e Mills vs. Marios Zaromskis at welterweight
Mills was victorious with a first round doctor stoppage because of a cut Zamomskis sustained over his eye very early on in the fight. It was a good first round with a lot of action, both on the feet and on the mat. It's too bad the fight had to be stopped -- it could have possibly been the fight of the night.
Rodney Favorus vs. James Zikic at light heavyweight
Zikic wins via armbar in the third round. He maintained top position for most of the fight while on the mat and stayed away from Favorus's power in the stand up game. Zikic looked much improved in his ground game and slipped in a very impressive armbar 25 seconds into the last round.
Ross Mason vs. Ross Pointon at welterweight
Pointon defeated Mason via submission (heel hook) first round. Pointon was actually quite impressive. His gameplan was to take Mason down and submit him and he executed to perfection with a heel hook 1 minute and 26 seconds into the first round.
Henrique Nogueira vs. Marc Goddard at light heavyweight
These two fought to a draw after three rounds. This fight was already the second time the two men have fought, there will almost surely be a third now. Neither fighter could capitalize when their opportunities presented themselves and neither was really that impressive.
Paul Reed vs. Brad Pickett at featherweight
Pickett won via majority decision in a very close fight. Some of the fans felt Reed won the match by out boxing Pickett and being more consistant throughout the fight, but Pickett landed more power shots, including a huge flying knee late in the fight and looked to inflict more damage.
Kev Sims vs. Popek Rak at heavyweight
Rak defeats Sims with a technical knockout 1 minute and 12 seconds into the first round. Rak landed a huge right hand that floored Sims and from there Rak finished him off with a couple left hands before the ref could intervene.
Chris Rice vs. Edegelson Lue at middleweight
Rice won with a late third round technical knockout, dominating early on with his fists and just kept plugging away. He eventually pounded out Lue from the top position on the ground in the final frame.
Havey Harra vs. Gary Kelly at lightweight
Harra was victorious with a first round triangle submission. Harra was pretty dominating in all areas of this fight.
There were some really good fights on this card, and the British fans always make it more enjoyable with their cheering and chanting.
But the highlight of the night was when Paul "Semtex" Daley, who was there doing some commentating, announced that he was no longer retired and wanted to fight Che' Mills. There was a few words spoken and a staredown.
It's good to know we'll be seeing Daley again, he was way too young and talented to retire so soon.
It was a pretty solid event overall.
Cage Rage is obviously not where the best fighters in the world fight, but some of these guys have some real potential and come to fight. That was evident on Saturday.
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