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Is Jake Morris the Next Urijah Faber – Rumble at The Roseland
Is Jake Morris the Next Urijah Faber? photo: David Lawrence
Of course it's way too early in Jake Morris' career to start calling him the next Urijah Faber. Jake Morris turned eighteen three days before the fortieth installment of the Rumble at the Roseland and his fight against Brandon Alderman was his first amateur MMA bout. But as Morris leaps to his feet after pounding Alderman to a stoppage the resemblance was there.
Morris is a two time high school collegiate wrestling state champion, but on Saturday night it was clear he was out to prove in his debut that he was an extremely strong stand up fighter. Exploding at the start Morris rained down punches on Alderman, so many that the action was stopped for a wild head shot blow that drew a warning for Morris. The stoppage did little to slow the tempo of the match with Morris dominating Alderman before quickly finishing him off in the first round.
Time will tell if Jake Morris has what it takes to follow in the footsteps of a MMA giant like Urijah Faber, but under the careful eye of Chael Sonnen the potential is there. Watch video of the finish from the Jake Morris v. Brandon Alderman bout.
Jody De Simone Takes Down Christa Shaffer photo: David Lawrence
Morris wasn't the only stand out at The Rumble at The Roseland. Female fighter Jody De Simone made an explosive debut against Christa Shaffer. Outweighed, out reached and far less experienced De Simone proved just how dangerous it is to underestimate her. Within moments of the start Jody De Simone was all over Christa Shaffer quickly taking her down to a choke that ended the match a mere forty seconds after it began and leaving Shaffer blacked out on the canvas.
De Simone's performance was a perfect example of just how exciting women's MMA can be as this fight proved to be one of the 2 fights of the night (and far surpassed many of the men's bouts).
Other notable fights included:
Justin Mark v Travis Sue – Travis Sue is an older fighter who fights out of Team Quest. Justin Martin didn't seem to take Sue seriously enough and paid dearly when Sue took the bout by a dominating choke.
John Bartlett v Ben Egli – Two younger undefeated fighters out on a solid fight with good exchanges with their stand up game in the first round, but Bartlett ended the round on top with a commanding ground and pound. The fight didn't go much further with Bartlett working Egli to the ground and defeating the 3-0 Engli with a monster choke.
Dan Gordon v Tony Sandbothe – Dyanmic punching by Dan Gordon almost puts Tony Sandboothe out on his feet, instead Sandboothe holds it together only to get a blood bath with power punches from Gordon. Gordon ends the extremely bloody match with a TKO that leaves Sandboothe bloody and on his back on the canvas.
One of the fights I was really looking forward to Janna Piper v. Jessica Porter got scratched because of weight issues. This was going to be Jessica's last fight before turning pro. Jessica faced Kim Coutoure in her MMA debut and looks to be an extremely promising professional fighter.
Of fourteen fights at least ten of the fights at the Rumble at The Roseland were really good (a fantastic ratio for a MMA event). The only two really disappointing fights of the night were: Ryan Cribba v. Jake Richmon, with the two heavyweights looking gassed out after the first half of the first round and Tom Matijac v Pro Escobedo, while Tom Matijac literally looks like Superman he did nothing but tie up Pro Escobedo in a 3 round holding match that never got off the ground.
But overall you really couldn't ask for a better evening of Mixed Martial Arts.
More Ruble at The Roseland Info:
Rumble at The Roseland Portland MMA Action on Twitter
Full Contact Fighting Federation Ring Girl
At the Rumble at The Roseland 40, On Portland 'broadcast' the Mixed Martial Arts action live on Twitter. Here's a recap of that broadcast:
- Doors open now at the roseland. A good number of people already here for rumble at the roseland!
- http://twitpic.com/qtji – Back stage at the rumble at the roseland
- http://twitpic.com/qtlb – Fighters getting prepped at rumble at the roseland
- http://twitpic.com/qty1 – Fights about to start at rumble at the roseland
- http://twitpic.com/qtze – The fights are on!
- Great first bout. Mike Lister catches Johnny Puppy with a wicked arm bar. Explosive fight with the crowd on their feet!
- http://twitpic.com/qu4i – 2nd bout looks like it is going to be a good one
- Jesse flying Filan wins his debut. Survives a rain of punches by Frankie Mendez to win by rear naked choke in bout 2
- http://twitpic.com/qu6w – Time for the women to fight at the rumble at the Roseland
- http://twitpic.com/qu9n – Holy shit Jody De Simone explodes and takes out christa shaffer in 40 seconds in her first mma bout. Chokes he ……
- http://twitpic.com/qubj – The 4th bout has cristo vanna from team quest. My pick for R 4
- Joaquin Rodriguez wins by decision in a tough match. He has a super hard punch but Cristo Vanna could take them and stay on his feet.
- http://twitpic.com/quhs – Round 5 has a boy named sue – travis sue. But he could easily kick my ass, so I won't point that fact out if I ……
- http://twitpic.com/qukf – Travis Sue wins by choke in a dominating fight.
- John bartlett wins bout 6 by choke out. The kid looked good and focused in his 3rd fight against an undefeated ben egli. 6/6 solid fights
- Title bout goes full 3 rounds with andy Pickett pushing strong to beat hamilton ash by decision in a good fight.
- Dan Gorton destroys Tony Sandbothe in the most convincing win of the night. TKO with a lot of blood. A Lot of blood.
- High school wrestler wins his mms debut in the first round as Jake Morris pounds brandon alderman to a stoppage. Crowd was deafening.
- Chris Nelson wins the 10th bout in the first round quickly through ground and pound. A fast win in a good fight. Next up another title 185lb
- Quick title bout kress matijacic slips and crae bassett takes his back and chokes him to tap out to win the super fight.
- http://twitpic.com/qv8l – Jason Sharp defeats Nate Miller in 2 min of the first round with a choke and a tap out. The crowd went wild. E ……
- http://twitpic.com/qv9p – The ref at the rumble at the Roseland looks like Vic Mackey
- 14th bout heavyweights duke it out for the full 3 both exhausted. Ryan Cribba ultimately wins over jake Richmond in a split descision.
- http://twitpic.com/qvdm – Ring girls dancing before the final title bout at the rumble at the roseland
- http://twitpic.com/qvfa – The BIG Title fight at Rumble at the Roseland looks like a big one.
- Tom Matijac neutralizes Pro Escobedo but doesn't do enough to defeat him and Pro retains his belt in a yawner of a finale.
- Thanks to everyone who followed along with the twitter coverage of Rumble at The Roseland, it was fun to do and I hope you enjoyed it.
Follow On Portland on Twitter for more Twittercasts.
Mixed Martial Arts Tonight in Portland at Rumble at the Roseland
High School Wrestler Jake Morris in his Debut
Portland is a huge city for Mixed Martial Arts, with Team Quest in town, some of the best world class fighters fight out of Portland. One of those great fighters Chael Sonnen, gives back to the Mixed Martial Arts community in Portland by putting on Rumble at The Roseland (along with Kevin Keeney). This regular showcase of up and coming fighters gives local fighters a chance to start their careers and make a run at professional careers in MMA.
Tonight's rumble proves to be an exciting night of fights with two significant title bouts: Kress Matijacic vs. Crae Basset and Tom Matijacic vs. Pro Escobedo, the second of which matches up two undefeated fighters.
Perhaps the most compelling story of tonight is the debut of Jake Morris, a highly ranked state wrestler…in high school at Oregon City. Morris turned eighteen just three days ago and has his MMA debut at Rumble at the Roseland.
Morris a two time state collegiate wrestling champion is planning to show off his stand up game in his MMA debut, "I want to keep the fight on my feet as much as I can, I have the wrestling background but I only want to use that if I have to. I want to make a show on my feet, see what I can do." Morris will take on Brandon Alderman who is 23 and is also making his MMA debut.
Rumble at the Roseland 40 starts tonight (12/6) at the Roseland Theater (8 NW Sixth Ave). Doors open at 6pm and Fights start at 7. The Rumble is offten packed to capacity, often with standing room only for latecomers.
On Portland plans to twitter live from tonight's Rumble at the Roseland. Follow us on Twitter.
Sportfight 24 – Blood on the Canvas
It's beyond me why the Rose Garden Arena isn't completely packed for SportFight 24. For four and a half hours fighters pounded it out in an evening filled with action, sport and blood. What more could you ask for from a Friday night out!? It's hard to imagine what kept the Rose Garden from being as full as a match up between the Winterhawks and The Seattle Thunderbirds. Is it the expensive $8 a cup Rose Garden beer that kept people away? The 7pm Friday night early start time? Or the fact that it was broadcast live on HDNet? Whatever the reason, many Portlanders missed out on a fantastic, unmediated top class sporting event that can be experienced by watching it on TV. Fans who opted to watch the matches at home on HDNet missed some of the best action of the night as the untelevised under card fights proved to be stronger and more exciting than some of the main bouts.
Sportfight 24 started with a bang with two extremely strong under card fights. Marques Daniels made quick work out of Joshuah Lagrange with a rain of punches that caused the ref to jump in and stop the fight (one of the few fights of the night stopped this way). That fight was followed by the much hyped Colt Toombs and Colin Porter bout. Toombs is "Rowdy" Roddy Piper's son and he clearly had the support of the crowd (who chanted "Piper, Piper"). Early on in the fight Toombs got into trouble, taking a number of hard shots, his face began to well early. Toombs then got caught in a rear naked choke that looked it was going to end the match and put a damper on some of the the hype surrounding Toombs. Choke well set Toombs gave the ref a thumbs up and then proceeded to find his way out of the choke, he then reverse it into a dramatic choke of his own to win the fight. It was one of the more explosive moments of the evening and it kept the buzz turned way up for Toombs.
After the first two solid fights things stayed on the ground for several of the middle matches. After an arm bar win by crowd favorite Tyson Jeffries, four of the next bouts went the full three rounds and almost all of them ended by decision. It wasn't until the fight between DJ Linderman and Mychael Clark that things started to heat up. Clark displayed flamboyant martial arts styling with spin kicks, supermans and other 'showy' moves, but it was Linderman's consistent strength both on his feet and on the ground that made him a clear contender for the win. Linderman looks pudgy, but after three rounds he barley seemed winded. Taking a solid unanimous decision Linderman showed he's a fighter not to be underestimated.
My favorite fight of the evening was the Mark Miller, Mike Pierce bout. Mike Pierce, who fights out of the Braveheart Gym didn't find much support in the pro Team Quest crowd, but even his harshest critics couldn't help but notice the absolute precision in Pierce's fight. I saw Pierce fight in a previous Sportfight and it's clear he's put his time in training and refining his skills. Like a surgeon Pierce took Miller apart. One blow opened a huge cut on the top of Miller's head and blood streamed out in a flow that made Miller look like something out of a Rob Zombie movie. The fight was stopped so that they could assess Miller's injury and much to the surprise and delight of the crowd they let the fight continue. Step by step Pierce pushed the fight in the direction he wanted it to go, with control of almost every position on the mat Pierce showed that he was clearly the better trained fighter. In the end Pierce won by TKO and Miller's cuts became too severe for him to continue. Of all the fighters who fought at SportFight 24, it's Pierce who showed the most promise and his fight was worth the price of admission.
The feature title bout between Enoch Wilson and Brian Gearahty wasn't as exciting as the Pierce/Miller bout. Gearahty gave Wilson a lot to handle for four rounds, locking him up and pressing submission attempt after submission attempt. Four rounds into the fight it was clear that Gearahty had done just enough to win a few rounds but not enough to take Wilson's title away from him. Ultimately Wilson prevailed with an earth shattering, late fourth round, punch that left Wilson dazed in the corner. Wilson gave a gladiator roar as he pounced around the ring, sticking around long after the bout was finished to celebrate.
It's exceptional to live in an area with such easy access to high quality Mixed Martial Arts and a shame more people aren't taking advantage of it. The athletes fighting out of Team Quest and Braveheart gyms have the foundation to carry them to national attention, and for just a few bucks you can catch them live and in person.
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