(PHOTO: Serati on top)
Panama Fight League (PFL) became the first pro MMA show in that country with
their October 16th show at Roberto Duran Coliseum. Headlining the show UFC vet Ivan Serati
successfully started his climb back to the UFC with an impressive win over
Mario Trujillo while several other fighters stood out for international
attention.
At least fourteen amateur shows have taken place in the past however those
shows ended roughly four years ago and only featured one to two international
fighters per card. For PFL 1 five
American MMA fighters (not counting one American expatriate) and one American
Muay Thai fighter joined three Italian MMA fighters and one Italian Muay Thai
fighter on this card otherwise made up of fighters from Panama and Costa Rica. From that international perspective the
Americans went 3-2 in MMA, 4-2 including Muay Thai while the Italians went 3-0
in MMA, 3-1 including Muay Thai.
In the main event itself it has to be noted Mario Trujillo started the fight
with a one point deduction when experienced MMA referee Troy Waugh noticed he
was greased, particularly on the legs.
That cheating didn’t do Trujillo a lot of good as Serati recovered from
an early jab that seemed to buckle his legs to go on and dominate the ground
game en route to a TKO.
Italian MMA is not well known outside that country and therefore fans tend to
speculate the fighters fight like Europe in general but that myth was dispelled
this night with the diversity of the team.
Mateo Piran for instance had a tight jiu-jitsu game reminiscent of
American BJJ fighters like Jake Shields more than Brazilian guard players as he
methodically advanced position and worked the rear naked choke on Alberto
Garcia. Cristian Binda also from Italy
seemed in trouble early in his fight against American Elton Chavez, using good
defense but doing little scoring until one punch knocked Chavez down for a TKO.
For the Americans Caleb Ball was the shortest and most dramatic fight. Ball, a welterweight from DC, has been fighting
as an amateur and said he thought this fight would be an amateur fight, coming
off at the weigh-ins as nervous the rounds would be five minutes instead of
three and fighting a local favorite.
Ball couldn’t even catch a break at the beginning of the fight as he
took a kick directly to his cup from Napoleon Vasquez but Ball earned the
crowd’s respect as he caught the kick, picked Vasquez up over his head, and
slammed him to the mat. Ball followed up
with a couple punches but Vasquez appeared to already be out, reportedly
needing eighteen stitches to close a gash in his lip from Ball’s
onslaught. Ball’s post-fight celebration
took roughly four times as long as the fight itself as the worries of making
his pro debut flooded from his frame in one of the most memorable “touchdown
dances” in recent memory.
Not all the Americans were so successful.
Luis Gomez from Massachusetts was controlling Marcos Perez for much of
their short fight until Perez went for an armbar. One referee and one judge attest they saw
Gomez tap however the Americans say Gomez didn’t tap and wasn’t in
trouble. No matter which side one
believes both fighters deserve a closer look for their next fights.
Both Ever Nunez and Jaral Bowman to nobody’s surprise used predominantly
wrestling tactics to dominate their opponents and emerge with third round
wins. Bowman, known for his shidokan
background, threw punches from de la Pena’s open guard but seemed to have more
success with his kimura, heel hook, and fight-ending guillotine choke. Nunez on the other hand scored more on the
feet and with punches from Carlos Frey’s open guard for a TKO win.
The fight that seemed to electrify the crowd the most was Frankie Bloise’s KO
over Rudier Fuentes. Originally from New
Jersey and now living in Panama Bloise’s physique and method of winning have
drawn comparisons to Brad Kohler’s UFC 22 win.
Putting this event in perspective is difficult considering it was the first pro
MMA show in Panama. What PFL did they do
very well, as in bringing in a mix if styles and international fighters to hold
a landmark show. Just look at flying in
Troy Waugh as one referee as an example.
Being a first-time show it is understandable there were “missing pieces”
in the production, such as a time keeper who would record official times or ringside
security to clear the area between fights so one fighter wouldn’t enter the
ring by passing around the previous fighter doing a TV interview ringside. Every fighter and official queried agreed the
show they were treated well and the show was better than anticipated. With more experience this promotion would be
put in context with shows in Costa Rica and Brazil while this one overall was a
good start.
A photo gallery from this show is posted at http://malarky.udel.edu/~keith/2009/PFL/PFL101709.htm.
MMA results:
Andres Valverde def. Daniel Vargas by split decision
Tomas Gomez def Juan HarrisR1 by KO
Ever Nuñez def. Carlos Frey 1:30 R3 by TKO
Caleb Ball def. Napoleon Vasquez 0:14 R1 by TKO
Frankie Bloise def. Rudier Fuentes 0:24 R1 by KO
Jaral Bowman def. Marvin de la Peña 0:27 R13 by guillotine choke
Cristian Binda def. Elton Chavez 1:33 R1 by TKO
Marcos Perez def. Luis Gomez by armbar
Mateo Piran def. Alberto Garcia 2:00 R1 by rear naked choke
Leonardo Gonzalez def. Wad Salgado by unanimous decision
Ivan Serati def. Mario Trujillo 3:15 R1 by TKO
