NEWSWIRE

NO MERCY AT URBAN CONFLICT CHAMPIONSHIP 1
Saturday, March 20, 2010 - by Jim Genia for MMAWeekly.com

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – There was no mercy shown at the inaugural Urban Conflict Championship Friday night, a pro event at the Armory in Jersey City featuring a select group of Northeast up-and-comers.

Dubbed “Merciless,” the UCC saw Team Renzo Gracie middleweight Dave Branch play the role of butcher, employing a wealth of sharp and calculated strikes against John Troyer and carving his foe up as if he were an errant side of beef. For a round and a half the Louisville MMA rep winged bolos, only to be met by a high-kick and a right hand that soon had him bloody. The end came with Troyer fetal, Branch raining down fists, and the referee stepping in to halt the carnage.

Lightweight hand grenade Kenny Foster and featherweight buzzsaw Jimmie Rivera both impressed as well, taking out Marcos Rodrigues and Claudio Ledesman respectively. For Foster it was all about dodging his Brazilian opponent’s flying knee and punches and exploding with a crushing knuckle-bomb to the chops. Rivera, too, was dominant, cutting through every takedown attempt with an impenetrable sprawl and slicing up Ledesma’s ground game with positional dominance and more than a few choke attempts. Rivera took the unanimous decision after three rounds.

In other action, Hitalo Machado earned a controversial referee stoppage against a tough Josh Key with a leglock that had Key in pain, but not quite at the point of tapping out. Team Renzo’s John Cholish controlled Matt Troyer in their brief affair, and Freestyle Fighting Academy’s Robert Rodriguez survived Glen Sandull’s ground and pound assault to snag a guillotine choke in the final round.

Urban Conflict Championship I: “Merciless” Results:

-Ryan Contaldi def. Lamont Lister by Submission (Arm-Triangle Choke) at 1:30, R2
-Dave Branch def. John Troyer by TKO (Punches) at 4:26, R2
-Hitalo Machado def. Josh Key by Submission (Leglock) at 4:36, R1
-Kenny Foster def. Marcos Rodrigues by TKO (Punches) at 2:39, R1
-John Cholish def. Matt Troyer by Submission (Arm-Triangle Choke) at 1:16, R2
-Robert Rodriquez def. Glen Sandull by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 1:11, R3
-Jimmie Rivera def. Claudio Ledesma by Unanimous Decision
-Sean Soriano def. Denis Hernandez by TKO (Cut) at 5:00, R2
-Doug Miller def. Timm Kitts by TKO (Cut) at 1:06, R2