Grant Impressive on Short Notice
Andy Cotterill Apr 27, 2008
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, April 26 -- The last thing that Cole Harbour,
Nova Scotia's TJ Grant
(Pictures) expected to hear on the
phone Thursday morning was an offer to fight two days later against
Montana's Mike Gates
(Pictures).
Grant accepted the offer to replace Joe Riggs (Pictures), who was not medically cleared to fight, and he made the most of his opportunity Saturday at the Halifax Forum by submitting Gates via armbar in the second round.
Round one of the Phoenix Fight Promotions main event was as
entertaining a period as you will see. Gates started the action
with a nice right kick followed immediately by a spinning left
backfist that Grant was able to slip under and use to pressure the
American into the cage. A throw by Gates put the pair down, and the
submission savvy Grant immediately started looking for an omoplata
from the bottom.
Gates pulled away, though. Back on the feet and against the cage, Grant bent down to grab a leg and followed through by scooping Gates up for a huge slam that probably broke his nose.
Things were looking good for Grant until Gates stood up inside the loose triangle and slammed Grant down, breaking the choke. Gates was briefly on top of the Canadian, but Grant swept nicely to reverse their positions, only to have Gates try for a guillotine from the bottom.
That didn't sink, however, and Grant started dropping some nice elbows from full mount. Gates wrapped him up, prompting Grant to execute five or six body drops like Georges St. Pierre (Pictures) had used on Matt Hughes (Pictures) in their last fight.
The second round started with a big swing by Gates that Grant ducked under for a takedown against the cage. There, Grant immobilized his foe's right arm with his left leg, allowing him to drop some more right elbows from side control. Grant then crawled up to put his knee on Gates' belly, and immediately he grabbed the near arm for an armbar. Gates tried to stand and pull out of the lock, but Grant held tight, forcing him to verbally submit.
Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace Rowan Cunningham (Pictures) needed just more than a minute to submit Stephan Lamarche (Pictures). After a few awkward opening moments, Lamarche pushed the Nova Scotian against the cage. Cunningham then calmly slipped in a standing guillotine choke, and the fighters fell to the floor. Lamarche held out for as long as he could, but he finally tapped to the pressure.
Syd Barnier garnered the Phoenix Fight "Stoppage of the Night" with a vicious flying knee on tough Peter McGrath (Pictures). After a minute and a half of trading punches and kicks equally, Barnier connected with a left high kick that caused McGrath to cover his face and retreat. Smelling blood, Barnier leapt in with a devastating flying knee that opened up a Marvin Eastman (Pictures)-esque gash over McGrath's left eye. Barnier stood over his foe and dropped blows until the referee halted the onslaught.
Craig Skinner (Pictures) handily won his rubber match against Tim Skidmore (Pictures) with yet another standing guillotine choke early in the first round.
Jason Rorison (Pictures) and Richard Arsenault (Pictures) took matching 2-0 records into what would be the fight of the night. Although Rorison seemed to have the better hands, Arsenault awed the crowd with his incredibly loud and powerful kicks to Rorison's legs.
Still, Rorison won the first two rounds by virtue of superior inside work in the clinch and groundwork that included a close guillotine attempt. By the third round, however, Rorison was in bad shape, hardly seeming able to move on his feet.
After the fight he revealed that he could barely lift his arms due to his exertion while attempting the guillotine. Arsenault won round three due to his mobility and kicks, but it was too little too late, and all three judges scored the fight 29-27 for Rorison.
Devin Henry escaped with a win in his MMA debut against Vartan Pour Nick. For three rounds the pair went up and down, fairly equal on their feet, but with Pour Nick having the edge on the ground. Fortunately for Henry, who was down in rounds 2-0, in the third Pour Nick made a big error.
With Henry's back against the cage, Pour Nick was on his knees trying to pull Henry's legs out from under him but succeeded only in pulling Henry on top in full mount. Henry didn't ignore the gift and started dropping punches. Pour Nick started to roll and give up his back just as the referee stopped the fight, perhaps a little early.
John Hachey took the brunt force of the massive Jeff Lundberg bulling him into the cage by calmly wrapping his arm around Lundberg's neck and applying a tap-inducing standing guillotine choke for the win 57 seconds into the first.
In a battle of MMA first-timers, Scott Levesque and Francis Thibault put on a spirited and exciting first bout of the evening. Levesque emerged with the win by submission due to guillotine choke in the second round.
Grant accepted the offer to replace Joe Riggs (Pictures), who was not medically cleared to fight, and he made the most of his opportunity Saturday at the Halifax Forum by submitting Gates via armbar in the second round.
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Gates pulled away, though. Back on the feet and against the cage, Grant bent down to grab a leg and followed through by scooping Gates up for a huge slam that probably broke his nose.
Grant quickly moved from side control, where he kneed to the body,
to knee-on-belly and back to side control before settling inside
Gates' guard. Grant then started looking for an ankle lock, but
Gates escaped and moved up the body of Grant, whose legs were in
perfect position to start a triangle choke.
Things were looking good for Grant until Gates stood up inside the loose triangle and slammed Grant down, breaking the choke. Gates was briefly on top of the Canadian, but Grant swept nicely to reverse their positions, only to have Gates try for a guillotine from the bottom.
That didn't sink, however, and Grant started dropping some nice elbows from full mount. Gates wrapped him up, prompting Grant to execute five or six body drops like Georges St. Pierre (Pictures) had used on Matt Hughes (Pictures) in their last fight.
The second round started with a big swing by Gates that Grant ducked under for a takedown against the cage. There, Grant immobilized his foe's right arm with his left leg, allowing him to drop some more right elbows from side control. Grant then crawled up to put his knee on Gates' belly, and immediately he grabbed the near arm for an armbar. Gates tried to stand and pull out of the lock, but Grant held tight, forcing him to verbally submit.
Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace Rowan Cunningham (Pictures) needed just more than a minute to submit Stephan Lamarche (Pictures). After a few awkward opening moments, Lamarche pushed the Nova Scotian against the cage. Cunningham then calmly slipped in a standing guillotine choke, and the fighters fell to the floor. Lamarche held out for as long as he could, but he finally tapped to the pressure.
Syd Barnier garnered the Phoenix Fight "Stoppage of the Night" with a vicious flying knee on tough Peter McGrath (Pictures). After a minute and a half of trading punches and kicks equally, Barnier connected with a left high kick that caused McGrath to cover his face and retreat. Smelling blood, Barnier leapt in with a devastating flying knee that opened up a Marvin Eastman (Pictures)-esque gash over McGrath's left eye. Barnier stood over his foe and dropped blows until the referee halted the onslaught.
Craig Skinner (Pictures) handily won his rubber match against Tim Skidmore (Pictures) with yet another standing guillotine choke early in the first round.
Jason Rorison (Pictures) and Richard Arsenault (Pictures) took matching 2-0 records into what would be the fight of the night. Although Rorison seemed to have the better hands, Arsenault awed the crowd with his incredibly loud and powerful kicks to Rorison's legs.
Still, Rorison won the first two rounds by virtue of superior inside work in the clinch and groundwork that included a close guillotine attempt. By the third round, however, Rorison was in bad shape, hardly seeming able to move on his feet.
After the fight he revealed that he could barely lift his arms due to his exertion while attempting the guillotine. Arsenault won round three due to his mobility and kicks, but it was too little too late, and all three judges scored the fight 29-27 for Rorison.
Devin Henry escaped with a win in his MMA debut against Vartan Pour Nick. For three rounds the pair went up and down, fairly equal on their feet, but with Pour Nick having the edge on the ground. Fortunately for Henry, who was down in rounds 2-0, in the third Pour Nick made a big error.
With Henry's back against the cage, Pour Nick was on his knees trying to pull Henry's legs out from under him but succeeded only in pulling Henry on top in full mount. Henry didn't ignore the gift and started dropping punches. Pour Nick started to roll and give up his back just as the referee stopped the fight, perhaps a little early.
John Hachey took the brunt force of the massive Jeff Lundberg bulling him into the cage by calmly wrapping his arm around Lundberg's neck and applying a tap-inducing standing guillotine choke for the win 57 seconds into the first.
In a battle of MMA first-timers, Scott Levesque and Francis Thibault put on a spirited and exciting first bout of the evening. Levesque emerged with the win by submission due to guillotine choke in the second round.
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