World Fighting Alliance 4: King of the Streets

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World Fighting Alliance 4: King of the Streets

Event Title: World Fighting Alliance 4: King of the Streets
Event Date: 22 July 2006
Event Venue: The Forum
Event Location: Los Angeles

Date submitted: 24 July 2006

Submitted by: Tommy Messano

After a four year hiatus the World Fighting Alliance returned to the United States with a successful pay per view debut.

The night’s action began with two under card bouts.

Danish striker Martin Kampmann a late replacement was victorious in his WFA debut over Edwin Aguilar. Kampmann landed a stiff knee strike that stunned Aguilar mid way through round number one. Kampmann did not hesitate to pounce on his wounded opponent and he was able to finish Aguilar via strikes at the 2:43 mark of round one.

The WFA’s former 205 lb champion Marvin Eastman fought young Brazilian Jorge Oliveira to a three round draw. Both fighters were unable to stand out during this match each man clearly won a round apiece and both ended up being cut. All three judges disagreed and scored the bout three different ways resulting in a draw. 30-27 for Eastman, 29-28 for Oliveira, 29-29 draw.

The pay per view portion of the fight card open with light weight Rob McCullough looking for revenge against the man he lost to two years ago Harris Sarmiento.

McCullough was riding a six fight winning streak going into the match while Sarmiento was trying to halt a four fight losing streak. Round one opened with McCullough quickly establishing his game plan of working low kicks to the left leg of Sarmiento. McCullough a Muay Thai fighter never allowed Sarmiento within his reach for the duration of the three round fight.

With Sarmiento’s lead leg bruised and battered the judges awarded this bout at 155 to McCullough who was declared the winner via a unanimous decision with each judge scoring the fight 30-27.

In the heavyweight battle between Ricco Rodriguez and Ron Waterman, Rodriguez showed brief flashes of why he once was a UFC heavyweight champion while Waterman showed why he is now a part time fighter and a full time high school art teacher.

The struggle in the fight came down to whether Rodriguez could keep the fight on the feet or if Waterman could takedown his bigger opponent. Rodriguez came out throwing punches an overhand right would graze Waterman enough that the “H-2O” man would attempt to shoot on Rodriguez and take him down. After a couple failed takedown attempts Rodriguez would land two right hands that would put Waterman out of it for a good couple of seconds. Though Rodriguez would not be able to capitalize and put Waterman away in round one, he did do enough damage that referee Nelson Hamilton would stop the fight before the start of round two and declared Rodriguez the winner.

Ivan Salaverry made his return to the ring in impressive fashion after nearly a year removed from action. Salaverry finished an game Art Santore in round number two with a series of strikes that included a high leg kick to Santore’s chin and a left hook from Salaverry that would put Santore on the canvas for good. Salaverry would deliver a few more strikes from the top before the referee stepped in at the 4:18 mark of round two.

Jason Miller made his mark quickly on the WFA stage. His entrance was classic Mayhem and his performance in the ring was typical of Miller’s superior submission skills. Lodune Sincaid did not have a second to get his bearings before Miller had him wrapped in the clinch and was delivering a sequence of knees to the body that would allow Miller to take Sincaid to the mat.

Once on the ground Mayhem quickly gained back control and showed that he still possessed quickness on the ground even when fighting at 205lbs. Miller eventually out manoeuvred Sincaid and slapped on the rear naked choke for the tap out victory at 4:29 of round one.

The most disappointing debut in recent memory has to go to Ryoto Machida. The Brazilian star is still undefeated after a unanimous decision win over Vernon White but his first WFA win left something to the imagination. The fight was marred by little action on the feet or on the ground by both fighters and an overall lack of aggressiveness shown by Machida. The crowd’s excitement quickly turned to boos and neither fighter did anything to change that for the duration of the three rounds.

The feeling out process for the fight seemed to last the entire 15 minutes and despite his impressive resume of wins Machida may still have something left to prove to the American MMA fan base.

The highly anticipated return of Bas Rutten was finally over after seven long years. Though not the man Rutten was originally slated to face Ruben Villareal] was as ready as any fighter could possible be on such short notice. Filling in for the suspended Kimo on late Friday afternoon Villareal was looking to trade blows with the legend from the opening bell.

Bas would not disappoint as he came out throwing punches with out missing a beat or showing any sign of ring rust. Rutten showcased his hands early but finished the fight with his equally dangerous leg kicks. Villareal stood toe to toe with Bas taking punishment from Rutten before succumbing to a succession of legs kicks that dropped him at 3:24 of round one. Though the final kick that dropped Villareal appeared to be glancing the three solid kicks prior forced the big man to a limp. After the fight Rutten stated that he would like to compete again.

In the co-main event of the evening Quinton Jackson showed that he still possessed a “never say die” attitude while Matt Lindland illustrated why that any weight he is the type of fighter that will give all competition problems.

Round one saw a slam from Jackson and not to be out done a takedown slam by Lindland. The fight appeared headed for a early ending as Lindland took Jackson’s back and applied a rear naked choke. Jackson was able to power out of it to finish round one.

Jackson looked frustrated to start off round two but he would land yet another slam that dropped Lindland on his head. Lindland would show off his well rounded skills as he was able to escape and stand up with Jackson riding on top of him. Rampage would end the round with some punches including a uppercut that connected.

Going into the final round both men had a chance to establish themselves and walk away with the win.

In the middle of the third round Lindland would catch Jackson sleeping again as he applied a guillotine choke that nearly forced Jackson to tap. Jackson once again powered out of a submission attempt and Rampage closed out the round with a flurry of elbows and punches that Lindland survived until the final bell was sounded.

The judges awarded a spilt decision win to Quinton Jackson over Matt Lindland.

The WFA’s King of the Streets show was tailored made for Quinton Jackson to make a impressive U.S return. Matt Lindland was the uncalculated variable that nearly stole the show. No matter how you scored the fight, in the end both fighters came off looking impressive, Jackson for his heart and Lindland for stepping his game up in a new weight division.

Source: MaxFighting.com