· “BAMMA USA: Badbeat” Recap And Results
The Commerce Casino in Los Angeles, Calif. was packed last night as BAMMA USA successfully kicked off their first fight night "Badbeat," a well-anticipated event in California’s MMA community for over a year. With a talented fight card, a great venue and a VIP atmosphere, the successful evening was well worth the wait.
Jared “The Jackhammer” Papazian took on one of his toughest opponents so far in his career as he went head-to-head with Kana Hyatt. Hyatt, hailing from Hawaii, wasted no time to accept the fight against Papazian, after a few opponents had backed down.
Papazian and Hyatt lasted all three rounds before the fight went to the judges’ decision, which was a unanimous decision in favor of Jared Papazian. All judges scored this bout 29-28.
In the main event, the undefeated Brandon Bender, who trains out of Millennia MMA in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., fought Isaac Gutierrez, who trains out of Subfighter in Lakewood, Calif.
Out of Bender’s previous five victories, four of those have been due to submissions in the first round. Once again, Bender, who is 23 years old, had the crowd to their feet as he submitted Gutierrez via guillotine choke at 1:50 into the first round.
“The win felt great being around everyone who helped me to prepare for this fight. I felt honored to be the main event,” Bender said after his victory. “To prepare I went back to my roots and my old wrestling training. I lifted lots of weights and focused on my takedowns.”
Bender started training martial arts at the age of seven and has been training jiu-jitsu and boxing since he was 13.
“I want to make it in the big show but I am in no rush, I know I keep getting better each day. My plan is to start doing pro boxing and Muay Thai fights. I want to fight as much as possible. And I believe I have developed a style to compete often. I'll take any fight just to compete and to be on the next level,” he said.
Now with the record of 6-0, Bender has built a name for himself that goes beyond local recognition. With his natural talent and his unique abilities, he brings a lot to the cage other than first round submissions.
Full Results:
- Diego Bautista defeated Tony Dalton via guillotine choke at 23 seconds in round 1.
- Mark Vorgeas defeated Bobby Sanchez via rear naked choke at 2:20 in round 1.
- Ozzy Avalos defeated Daniel Mancha via rear naked choke at 2:23 in round 1.
- Dion Ramirez defeated Joshua Aveles via split decision
- Steve Swanson defeated Jose Morales via unanimous decision
- Fernando Bettega defeated Craig Wilkerson via unanimous decision
- Jared Papazian defeated Kana Hyatt via unanimous decision
- Brandon Bender defeated Isaac Gutierrez via guillotine at 1:50 in round 1
Photos: Willie Romero/WillieRomero.com
