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Eleven fights cap a solid amateur mma card at Born to Fight 8 Sunday in Fremont

Amateur fightsports can feature wildy different skill levels. Two takeaways from the Born to Fight 8 amateur MMA event this Sunday in Fremont was how equally matched the competition was, and how polished several of the individual competitors were. Several hundred fans who packed the Saddlerack western bar saw decisive wins by a trio of undefeated fighters. American Kickboxing Academy’s John ‘Cali’ Davis (2-0) and Combat Sports Academy’s Idres Rahminai (3-0) earned a knockout and submission wins respectively, and World Team USA’s Vince Bordi upped his record to 4-0 with a dominant three round unanimous decision win over a very physical Brandon Hester.

Originally created as an amateur kickboxing and grappling tournament by former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Cung Le, now the Born to Fight series is presented by Le and American Kickboxing Academy founder Javier Mendez to feature several of the top amateur athletes from local MMA gyms. According to Vincit Magazine, 11 total gyms were represented from across the Bay Area. The event began with an in-ring performance by local Polynesian dance troupe Te Mau Tamari’i a Tiare.

The headliner was popular AKA light heavyweight John ‘Cali’ Davis. After bull rushing Felix Guel into the ropes hard enough to collapse the ring at the previous event in August, several fans ringside dove for cover when Davis drove Carlos Bosquez into the ropes early in the first round. ‘Cali’ does not just throw punches with bad intentions, he has power to end fights with either hand.

Davis wore down Bosquez in the corner and on the ground in the first two rounds, but the NorCal Fight Factor fighter used his size and leverage in spurts. After Davis scored a takedown early in the third round, he passed guard trapping both of Bosquez’s arms. Picking his spot, he rained down a series of heavy punches that quickly stopped the fight. He celebrated holding up a blue “Don’t Piss Me Off” shirt, one worn by several fans and pros seated rinkside including Herschel Walker. Also in attendance were UFC welterweight Jon Fitch, former Strikeforce lightweight champ Josh Thomson, Strikeforce heavyweight competitor and current KOTC/XMMA heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, Strikeforce welterweight James Terry and Santa Cruz’s Luke Rockhold among others.

The co-main event featured controversy as Marco Del Real landed an illegal knee to the head to USH team member Justin Roman in the second round. Instead of disqualifying Del Real, Roman was allowed time to recover and the fight continued. Both traded on the feet at the start of the third, and Marco Del Real connected with a quick, in-tight two punch combination that dropped Roman. Del Real earned a KO 14 seconds in.

One complement for an mma athlete is to say that you do not want to go to the ground with him. With Combat Sports Academy’s Idres Rahminai, you do not want to be on the bottom, you do not want to be on top, and you do not want the fight to remain standing on the feet. Rahminai has the killer instinct needed to be successful in the sport. Taking down Alex Katrib at will in the first round, Rahminai expertly controlled shoulder and wrist position before trying a knee bar, and then doing a 360 into full mount.

Katrib whethered the storm as much as possible, but he ate a number of punches and elbows in the process. At the end of the first he showed good flexibilty defending another knee bar. In the second round Katrib started off with a kick to the midsection in part out of frustration, but Rahminai scored a powerful takedown that bounced Katrib’s head off the canvas. Alex Katrib made it back to his feet briefly, but Rahminai landed a kick of his own that folded Katrib and drew an ‘ooohh’ from the crowd. The east bay fighter quickly sunk in a rear naked choke and earned a submission win at 1:47 of the second round.

World Team USA light heavyweight Vince Bordi, also a standout on the previous BTF card in August, was featured in the toughest match of the night against powerful Tribull MMA fighter Brandon Hester. Against Jonathan Chaplain in August Bordi displayed solid wrestling throws and pinpoint striking, but Sunday night against Hester his grappling would earn him dominant position in all three rounds.

Hester torqued Bordi to the mat three times in the first two rounds with heavy throws. The first time the San Francisco fighter re-gained his feet. On the next two, as both went to the ground Bordi kept moving in the scramble until he was on top. Bordi wore down Hester with blows, but he could not flatten him out enough to sink in a submission. Brandon Hester fought off kimura and RNC attempts at the end of the second.

Assuming he was down 2-0 on the scorecards, Hester came out trying to throw bombs to start the third round. Bordi used good head movement to duck the punches, and then used a waist lock to drive him down to the mat. Bordi worked into full mount, then back control, and slammed Hester with a partial souflex when he tried to get to his feet. The Tribull fighter eventually got the fight back to standing, and landed several heavy shots at the end of the round, but it was too little, too late. The refs called for a unanimous decision for Bordi, 30-27, 30-27, 29-28.

There were several highlights on the undercard. A flamboyant swan dancing Radames Garcia came into the ring against Anthony Darino, who was beat himself wildly prior to the start of the fight. Darino tried a spectacular standing guillotine choke, and nearly finished Garcia in the first with a front choke. Orland ‘juicebox’ Cantbagan had a loud cheering section with Team OJ signs. Juicebox and Khashayar Erfanian tried to slug it out on their feet from the very start of the first round, before Cantbagan squeezed the juice out of Erfanian with a deep triangle choke 1:36 into the second round. It was the submission of the night. Tony “the Monster” Lawrence defeated Marc Talledo, Doyle Childs earned a unanimous decision win over Felix Guel, and AKA San Jose’s Zachary Parish defeated heavy handed Benji Silva in a controversial split decision. In earlier action, Paul Rice also scored a RNC submission over Martin Delanve and Ashley Smith earned a technical knockout due to strikes over Ashley Florence in the only women’s fight of the night.

Saturday November 13th, the United States Muaythai Federation and Fairtex will feature the War of the Heroes 8 Muaythai/MMA championships live from the Santa Clara Convention Center. Tickets are available via VBOtickets.com or at any Fairtex location (650) 938-8588. BTF8 announcer Jose Palacios will be featured in the main event against Phanuwat “Coke” Chunhawat. Massive Brazilian Gilmar China Sales, a USMF title fight between Bryan Petro and Corona Roy, Chris Moore, Tristen Arenal, and pro kickboxer Brandon Banda will also be on the card.

The inaugural California State Amateur MMA Championships started this summer with 8 regions each seeding 8 different weight classes. After regional quarterfinals, the Northern California edition of which were held on the undercard of Strikeforce Diaz-Noons II in San Jose, the state semifinals are scheduled for this weekend. The Southern California finals will be held November 12th in El Monte at the Florentine Gardens. The Northern California finals will be held November 12th at the Stockton Civic Auditorium. Date and location unknown as of yet for the overall state final. Visit camomma.org for more information.

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