Phil Baroni’s first match as a welterweight was a resounding success, as the New York Badass dominated Scott Jansen to a first-round knockout victory at Cage Rage 27 last night in London. Unexpectedly, Baroni quickly got the fight to the ground, scoring a smooth double-leg takedown shortly after the bell and effortlessly controlling Jansen from the top. After an armlock attempt didn’t pan out, Baroni moved to full mount, but both men were quickly ordered to their feet by the ref. Baroni then reverted back to his bread and butter, turning out Jansen’s lights with a perfect right hook; Baroni returned after the stoppage to shake the hand of his still-sleeping opponent.
About thirty seconds later, Baroni made the mistake of going back again to check on Jansen, and one of Jansen’s cornermen responded by headbutting him — or “nutting” him, as the commentators colorfully put it. (”Wot’a dizgrace.”) The headbutter conveniently disappeared after the confrontation, while Baroni scored big-time respect points for not chasing him down and tearing his dumb ass apart. Video of the fight and post-fight assault is above; the questionable ref standup is at 3:36, the knockout punch is at 3:58, and the headbutt is at 4:45. Baroni competes next at Icon Sport: Hard Times (August 2, Honolulu), where he’ll face 3-5 Jesus Is Lord jobber Ron Verdadero.
In other action at Cage Rage 27, Neil Grove defeated Robert Berry in their rematch, stopping “Buzz” via strikes in the second round, while Mustapha Al Turk scored a first-round ground-and-pound TKO over James McSweeney to win the Cage Rage British heavyweight title. Full results are after the jump.
Phil Baroni def. Scott Jansen via KO, 3:18 of round 1
Neil Grove def. Robert Buzz Berry via TKO, 1:29 of round 2
Mustapha Al Turk def. James McSweeney via TKO, 2:06 of round 1
Tom Watson def. John Phillips via unanimous decision
Stav Economou def. Piotor Kusmierz via unanimous decision
Robbie Olivier def. Ashleigh Grimshaw via submission (rear-naked choke), 4:01 of round 2
Brad Pickett def. Cristian Binda via submission (guillotine choke), 2:52 of round 2
Aisling Daley def. Eva Lisko via submission (rear-naked choke), 1:18 of round 1
Jason Young def. Francis Heagney via unanimous decision
Wesley Brown def. Mark Brown via TKO, 0:31 of round 1
Jody Cottham def. Umidjon Mavlyanov via submission (guillotine choke), 3:16 of round 2
Dave Vangasse def. James Elson via submission (rear-naked choke), 3:43 of round 3
Man, what a fucking mess. If there was any debate as to whether Ken Shamrock should retire, his Cage Rage appearance last night settled it. Check out the 3:54 mark of the video, as Ken takes a glancing jab and a right hook to his glove, then flops over sideways, Bo Cantrell-style. At this point, it’s hard to imagine any professional heavyweight that Ken has the tools to beat. At the very least, he should have to change his nickname from “The World’s Most Dangerous Man” to “The Third Most Dangerous Shamrock” (after Frank and Frank’s wife).
Even if he’s given the medical clearance to fight next month it’s doubtful that EliteXC will still want to book Ken to get eaten up by Kimbo Slice on their CBS debut. Problem is, he was the most marketable option for Kimbo’s next opponent. Will Slice vs. Berry draw the amount of eyes that Shaw & Co. need for their first network television show? Maybe, maybe not. But any hope for a blockbuster “superfight” just buckled like Ken’s ever-wobbly legs.
(Ken Shamrock getting “inspected” before Cage Rage 25.)
Sherdog has thrown up some results from Cage Rage 25 which went down today in London. Ken Shamrock - who had lost four fights in a row before today - now boasts a five fight losing streak. His son, Ryan Shamrock, didn’t fare well either in only his second pro fight. The 135 pounder lost when the doctor stopped the fight after the first round due to Ryan’s broken hand. Ryan did last longer than his pops, though - Robert “Buzz” Berry knocked Ken out at the 3:26 mark of the first round. Will this finally put Ken Shamrock into permanent retirement or will he stick around long enough to fight his brother? We’ll wait and see, but more pressing, what does this do to all the talk of Ken Shamrock fighting Kimbo? Does anybody care anymore?
Other notable matches in the event: Tom “Kong” Watson’s win over Pierre Guillet on strikes, Neil Grove losing in a majority decision to Rob Broughton, and Masakazu Imanari heel hookin’ Jean Silva into a tapout. And sadly, our new girlfriend Aysen Berik lost by TKO in the first round to Aisling Daly.
Out of the eleven fights, only two went to decision and the other nine didn’t get into the second round. The event will air via tape-delay tonight at 10:30 p.m. on Showtime. The results:
– John Phillips over Jake Bostwick via TKO (Strikes) Round 1, 4:10
– John Hathaway over Marvin Arnold via TKO (Strikes) Round 1, 1:32
– Giorgio Andrews over Ryan Shamrock via TKO (Doctor Stoppage - Broken Hand) Round 1, 5:00
– Aisling Daly over Aysen Berik via TKO (Strikes) Round 1, 1:49
– Henrique Santana over Michael Johnson via Decision (Unanimous) Round 3, 5:00
– Ivan Serati over Roman Webber via TKO (Strikes) Round 1, 0:48
– Mustapha al Turk over Gary Turner via Submission (Strikes) Round 1, 3:19
– Tom Watson over Pierre Guillet via TKO (Strikes) Round 1, 2:05
– Rob Broughton over Neil Grove via Decision (Majority) Round 3, 5:00
– Masakazu Imanari over Jean Silva via Submission (Heel Hook) Round 1, 2:30
– Robert Berry over Ken Shamrock via KO (Punches) Round 1, 3:26
It was also announced yesterday that the next big Cage Rage show is scheduled for May 10th in Birmingham. Paul Cahoon will headline, putting his Cage Rage British Light Heavyweight belt on the line against Ian Freeman.
Headlined by a heavyweight match between Ken Shamrock and Robert “Buzz” Berry — which may very well decide who gets the next shot at Kimbo Slice — Cage Rage 25 goes down tomorrow night at London’s Wembley Arena. Showtime will run a tape-delayed broadcast of the four top-billed fights at 10:30 p.m. ET. Those other three main card fights are:
Jean Silva vs. Masakazu Imanari (for the Cage Rage Featherweight World Title)
Neil Grove vs. Rob Broughton (heavyweights)
Pierre Guillet vs. Tom “Kong” Watson (middleweights)
Other matches on the 11-fight card include Ken’s son Ryan facing off against Georgio Andrews in a bantamweight match, a heavyweight throwdown between Mustapha al Turk and Gary Turner, and Cage Rage’s first female fight between Aisling Daly and the rather-fetching Aysen Berik. Some other things to be aware of:
— If you clicked that last link, you’d know that Aysen Berik is the sister of Cage Rage vet Sami Berik, who, despite his terrible 12-24 record, knocked Mark Smith out in 9 seconds in a Cage Rage Contenders fight in February.
— Betting odds have Ken Shamrock as a -240 favorite (encouraging for someone who’s won only one fight since 2001). Grove and Broughton are dead even at -115.
— Neil Grove and Rob Broughton both hold wins over Robert Berry. Illness forced Berry to throw in the towel after the first round of his fight with Grove in December. Berry’s September 2006 match against Broughton fight ended in a first-round KO.
— If you’re interested in hearing Ryan Shamrock talk, click away.
