Photo by Jeff Sherwood (Jeff@sherdog.com)
Local fan favorite and veteran Steve Heath (Pictures) walked into the Pure Combat cage Friday to a huge ovation while Jaime "El Cucui" Jara calmly waited for him.
Jara stayed cool throughout the middleweight title fight, waiting for the right moment to open up. Heath, on the other hand, spent much of the bout in the turtle position working for takedowns, illustrating why knees on the ground should perhaps be allowed.
At times Jara was not able to fend off the savvy Cesar Gracie (Pictures) brown belt, who played it smart while working for the takedowns. Even when Jara was in Heath's guard, he could not inflict much damage until round three.
In that round, though, Jara finally took side control. He then created some space and turned up the heat, landing some blows to the side of Heath's head. Battered, Heath could not escape the position and had to take the punishment until 4:39 into the round, when referee Josh Rosenthal ended the fight.
Heath had never reached a position to use his jiu-jitsu, as Jara pressured him the entire fight. Afterward, the tattooed Jara looked as if he had just had another day at the office while the middleweight strap was wrapped around his waist.
In the co-main event, UFC veteran Kelly Dullanty made his return to the cage after a six-year layoff. He did not fair too well.
As he moved forward on the attack, Lance Wipf (Pictures) caught Dullanty with an incredible superman punch that landed right on the chin. The fight, which will surely be shown on future Pure Combat highlight reels, lasted a mere nine seconds.
Dullanty battled several times to return to his feet after the fight was over. He was barely able to take a seat on the stool, then stood up completely dazed and took his spot back in his corner as if he were ready to start the fight again.
In another bout that had a fighter making a return to the cage after a six-year layoff, Pit Fight Team's Cruz Gomez found himself battling off guillotine chokes against the explosive Isaac De Jesus. However, De Jesus did not do much else beyond his choke attempts, yet he did win a split decision.
Gomez's cornerman, Chuck Liddell (Pictures), was visibly upset with the call. He was seen stating a very good case to judge Dan Stell, who judged the fight 30-27 for De Jesus.
Michael Brown forced Rolando Torres (Pictures) into a bad position against the fence early in their bout and pounded away on him. The referee gave Torres time to escape before he stepped in at 2:37.
Richard Chavez, of Greg Jackson's school in New Mexico, fought as if he were still a bit upset about his loss at the previous Pure Combat event, which was taped for the "Tapout" TV show. He defeated Eric Jacob by rear-naked choke in round one.
Travis Bennett submitted Yonas Gegreegziahbheo with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their 145-pound bout.
Juan Orsua defeated Derrick Easterling via TKO at 1:15 of the third.
In the first two fights of the night, Joe Vea stopped Arby Magtibay at 47 seconds of round two, and Brandon Cash defeated Anthony Von Rekowski via arm triangle at 55 seconds of round two.
1 Brandon Cash def. Anthony Vonrekowski Submission (Arm Triangle Choke) 2 0:55
2 Joe Vea def. Arby Magtibay TKO 2 0:47
3 Juan Orsua def. Derrick Easterling TKO 3 1:15
4 Travis Bennett def. Yonas Gegreegziahbheo Submission (Rear Naked Choke) 1
5 Richard Chavez def. Eric Jacob Submission (Rear Naked Choke) 1
6 Michael Brown def. Rolando Torres TKO 1 2:37
7 Issac de Jesus def. Cruz Gomez Decision (Split) 3
8 Lance Wipf def. Kelly Dullanty KO 1 0:09
9 Jaime Jara def. Steve Heath TKO 3 4:39
