Several thousand people packed into the Trump Taj Mahal Arena in Atlantic City, NJ for thirteen exciting matches that had a little bit of everything for the fans. Kurt Pellegrino and Eddie Alvarez showed that a call up to one of the big two organizations (Pride or UFC) should be in their future, and Carlo Prater may not be far behind. Pride and UFC veterans were on display, and American Top Team stole the show picking up four wins on the night (Steve Bruno, Bristol Marunde, Pellegrino and Wilson Gouveia).

The USA won the evening’s challenge against Japan, winning six of the eight feature matches. And if you like celebrities, top lightweights Yves Edwards and Hermes Franca were in attendance. All of the details on how the action unfolded are below.

USA VS. JAPAN BOUTS

Eddie Alvarez defeats Daisuke Hanazawa (Rd 1 TKO)

In the night’s main event, Alvarez lived up to his hype by overwhelming Hanazawa with his vicious boxing skills.

Hanazawa did score a takedown after feeling a combination that confirmed the power in Alvarez’ hands. Alvarez defended well on the ground, forcing a lull in the action that got the fight restarted. After that, Alvarez began picking apart Hanazawa, with his right uppercut the most effective weapon.

Hanazawa could no longer get in past Alvarez’ sprawl and Alvarez landed a crushing knee to the head from the Thai-clinch that knocked down his Japanese opponent. He followed up with a ground-and-pound flurry that forced an end to the match. All of Alvarez’ wins have come via striking, with four KOs and one submission.

Wilson Gouveia defeats Kazuhiro Hamanaka (Rd 1 TKO)

Gouviea is known for his heavy hands, and Hamanaka can now attest to that with first-hand experience. Gouviea started the action with punishing leg kicks, forcing Hamanaka to attempt a single-leg takedown.

Gouviea easily fought off the takedown and began landing a powerful series of punches to Hamanaka’s head. Hamanaka fell to his stomach and covered his head, leaving Gouviea to take his back and continue raining down shots. The referee was forced to step in and rescue the dazed Hamanaka less than 45 seconds into the bout.

Hiroyuki Abe defeats Joey Brown (Rd 1 submission - heel hook)

On paper, Brown vs. Abe had the makings of a memorable slugfest. However, soon after the action started, Abe pulled an unorthodox move that caught Brown by surprise, rolling into Brown’s legs and going straight for the heel hook.

Abe had the hold on tight as soon as he secured it. Brown held off valiantly, trying to spin and punch his way out of the submission. Brown finally did break free at one point, but Abe kept control of the leg, and as soon as the heel hook was put back in place Brown had to tap from the pain. Abe had the heel hook for virtually the entire minute-and-a-half the fight lasted.

Though a stand up battle was expected, after the fight Brown admitted, "Before the fight I told me trainer, ‘I have a feeling this guy isn’t going to want to stand with me.’ I caught him with one shot and after that he just rolled in and took it to the ground."

"I think I heard it pop maybe ten times," Brown said when asked about the pain in his foot.

Chris Liguori defeats Toraji (Decision)

Ligouri, a participant in UFC 45, battled Japan’s Toraji in a methodical and tough three round chess match. Toraji looked uninterested in standing and exchanging with Ligouri, who appeared to have the better hands of the two; Ligouri dominated the stand up action the fight did have.

Toraji showed better takedown work and was on top for slightly longer portions of the fight, but Ligouri showed great defense from his guard, avoiding any serious punishment and working for submissions. Ligouri spent a fair amount of time in the top position as well, and his punches in Toraji’s guard proved to be the difference.

Kurt Pelligrino defeats Kazuki Okubo (Rd 1 TKO)

As he promised in a pre-fight interview with maxfighting, Kurt Pellegrino came out to the ring dancing, with a smile on his face and "Living in America" blasting in the background. But as soon as the action started, it was all business for the newly-anointed Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt (awarded by Hermes Franca).

Pellegrino landed multiple power shots to the head of Pride-veteran Kazuki Okubo that backed up the Japanese fighter into the ropes. Pellegrino quickly clinched Okubo, lifted him off of his feet and slammed him to the mat in one of the night’s several highlight-reel moments. Pellegrino began his ground-and-pound attack, in made short work of Okubo with a TKO win in under a minute.

Jose Rodriguez defeats Yusuke Tuschida (Rd 1 TKO)

Rodriguez wasted no time with Tuschida, as he came out of his corner with a barrage of punches. Several head shots landed that backed Tuschida into the ropes, where Rodriguez landed more strikes with his boxing and knee work.

Tuschida crumbled to the ground, covering his head in desperation. Rodriguez got on Tuschida’s back and continued the onslaught until the referee called a halt to the fight just 30 seconds into the action.

After the fight Rodriguez said, "I knew as soon that first punch landed that I had him."

Asked if he expected the fight to end so quickly once his punches landed, he replied, "Usually that’s how it works for me; that’s definitely my strength."

Shinichi Kojima defeats Chris MacGrath (Rd 1 Submission - rear-naked-choke)

Kojima wanted no part of the stand up game of Burmese boxing-expert MacGrath, and immediately scored a takedown to begin the fight. MacGrath attempted an armbar that Kojima easily countered and used to pass MacGrath’s guard and get the mount.

From the mount, after landing a few solid punches, Kojima secured a fully-extended armbar, which MacGrath tried to defend by pushing off of Kojima with his leg. In a strange string of events, Kojima looked at the referee and pointed to MacGrath’s arm, indicating it might be broken.

After a few seconds, the referee broke them up and examined MacGrath’s arm. The arm appeared fine, and the fight was re-started with both fighters on their feet. Despite the reprieve, Kojima again took MacGrath to the mat, this time quickly getting his back and sinking in a choke that MacGrath could not escape from.

Stephen Haigh defeats Yuji Miyazaki (Rd 1 Submission - armbar)

Fight Factory product Stephen Haigh got the featured portion of the show off to a lightning fast start, as both he and Yuji Miyazaki worked into a clinch and circled the ring. As an added bonus, the loser would be forced to shave their head.

With the fight restarted in the middle after a slow interval, Haigh lunged in with a powerful flying-knee that connected right to the head of Miyazaki. Miyazaki desperately tried for a takedown but was clearly dazed. Haigh pulled Miyazaki into his guard and quickly secured an armbar that had Miyazaki tapping less than two minutes into the fight.

Questioned whether the audacious knee was planned or spur-of-the-moment, Haigh stated, "A little bit of both. It just kind of happened, but it’s something I work on."

As far as getting to keep his hair, he said, "I’m definitely happy about that. I actually offered to let him shave mine to, but he didn’t want to."

While he kept his hair, the powerful knee landed with such an impact that it left Haigh with a bandage around his leg for his efforts.

OTHER FEATURE BOUT

Carlo Prater defeats Pat Healy (Rd 2 Submission - guillotine choke)

MFC put together an additional, impressive feature bout on very short notice that pitted Yves Edwards-fighter Carlo Prater (18-4; wins over UFC fighter Spencer Fisher and Ultimate Fighter TV show star Melvin Guillard) against well-traveled veteran Pat Healy (who’s been in with the likes of Chris Lytle, Jay Hieron and Dave Strasser).

Perhaps weary of Prater’s strong stand-up game, Healy immediately looked to take the match to the ground. With Edwards in his corner providing instructions, Prater held his own in the grappling that ensued, locking up a front head lock that slowed Healy down in the first round. Both fighters had their share of success landing shots from the top and fighting for position, but Prater sunk in a tight guillotine choke that forced Healy to tap with one minute remaining in round two.

After the match, Prater agreed that he had little time to prepare for Healy and determine a game plan.

"I didn’t have tape on him, so I didn’t know what to expect," he said.

Asked if he would prefer utilizing his polished striking more, Prater replied, "I just tried to go by what Yves was saying [while I was working on the ground]. I’d like to show my stand up more. Sometimes I’m too timid, and I’m going to work on that."

PRELIMINARY BOUTS

Steve Bruno defeats Jay Jack (Rd 1 TKO)

Jay Jack entered the bout coming looking to rebound from a loss to UFC-vet Josh Neer. Bruno, meanwhile, was in search of a big win against a tough veteran and a step up in competition.

Both Jack and Bruno scored points throughout the first round, with each fighter landing inside knees, but Bruno’s boxing took control late in the round. Bruno landed a strong right hand that began an impressive flurry, with a combination of punches and knees to the head that forced Jack into the corner. The referee was forced to stop the match with just under a minute left in the opening round.

Jason Guida defeats Pat Stano (Rd 1 TKO)

Jason Guida (who holds a win over UFC 55 combatant Ron Faircloth) was in desperate need of a win against MFC-vet Pat Stano, sporting back-to-back losses on his resume.

The match-up of 235-pound fighters began slowly, with each fighter working from the clinch in a drawn out feeling-out period. Guida eventually established his dominance with a heavy-handed assault, landing a looping power shot that connected directly on Stano’s chin, and sent the stunned fighter to the mat. Guida would score a second knockdown before it was all said and done, this time leaving Stano unable to continue.

Bristol Marunde defeats Rich Attonito (Rd 3 TKO)

Marunde and Attonito battled back and forth for nearly two-and-a-half rounds in a display of wills between Marunde’s leg kicks and takedowns, and Attonito’s boxing and sprawling. With the fight fairly even going into the final period, Marunde’s leg kicks clearly took a toll as he scored a takedown that the sore-legged Attonito was unable to defend. Marunde finished the fight with some devastating punches from Attonito’s guard for the TKO win.

Mark Burch defeats Jay White (Rd 1 TKO)

It took just over one minute for Burch to dispatch of Team Quest fighter Jay White. Burch connected with a right-left hook combination that floored White. White recovered, but a devastating left hook ended the heavyweight contest and gave Burch the win. Burch kept his record perfect and improved to 4-0.