‘Season’s Beatings’ From an Action Packed Vigilant MMA Sunday Matinee Card

12DEC2021

Dallas Bull Tampa, FL

Sunday events can be difficult to get people out for. Especially when the Bucs are hosting the Bills shorty after you’re starting your show. Yet for Vigilant MMA and their fighters, that was a challenge they were ready to face, and did they ever rise to the challenge!! With a jam packed Dallas Bull ready for action, the fighters were chomping at the big and get down to it!!!

Opening the preliminary card was Dinel Cherry and Shane Carpenter. While Carpenter’s msuci was entertaining the crowd and even had his opponent dancing, once the bell rang it was all work. Carpenter charged Cherry getting him almost immediately against the cage. He pinned him against the cage with such force that Cherry took the advertising sign with him!!

While Cherry wrestled him off, they both crashed to the mat. Cherry for himself in a dominant position and able to find his feet. Once standing he lifted and slammed Carpenter onto his back and secure in a rear naked choke for the quick victory. Winner: Cherry by Rear Naked Choke in

Round 1

Up second was some NOGI with Ross Parker rolling with Jayden Morrison. Upon the start of the contest Morrison dove for the ground and dragged Parker down with him. With Morrison wrapping and constricting Parker, it looked like he was ready to tap out at any moment on more than one occasion.

Parker was able to free himself and flip the script; holding Morrison down to the mat this time. Unfortunately for Parker, Morrison was about to wrestle away and get to the top again. As these two battled for the top position, they rolled around the ring using most of the cage. Eventually Morrison was able to get him in for a leg lock. While both these men scrambled to make the other tap, Morrison was able to make him tap. Winner: Morrison by Leg Lock Submission

Kickboxing was the featured style for the third bout with Andrea D’Angelo facing off against Chris Johnson. With Johnson leaving his helmet back in the locker room, D’Angelo’s corner quickly agreed to drop the helmet for this bout. With both fighters exiting their corner with kicks on the ready, it was a fiery start to the fight. As the round closed Johnson appeared to get a bit winded and left himself open for some firm midsection and head shots. D’Angelo took advantage of this dropped guard and lit him up, but achieved little damage.

Round two started off with some checked kicks, but with Johnson timing D’Angelos attack quickly and unloading a fury of strikes to his face and head. Unfortunately these kinds of attacks tend to leave the recipient open to getting struck in the midsection, and Johnson was getting tagged frequently in the ribs and stomach. As the round ended Johnson found himself in trouble again as D’Angelo was able to pivot his way out, and start on the offensive again.

Round three was just as exciting as one would hope for. They both came out full of life, and ready to end this fight. D’Angelo kept his offensive attack up and was targeting the back and sides of Johnson’s legs as he was pivoting to strike th head with his fists. As Johnson kept trying to avoid getting tagged, he found a way loose for a few moments only to get put back into D’Angelo’s clutches once again. With the bell ringing these two had a quick bro hug and the massive respect from one other was clear. With little doubt about who won, the unanimous decision D’Angelo earned was not a shocker at all. Winner: D’Angelo by Unanimous Decision

The fourth fight on any card can be one of the most difficult, and in the prelims it is no different. Yet Brandon Roat and Alec Garza found a way to keep things interesting for their kickboxing contest. With both of these young men donning the headgear, and Roat with a massive family presence it was sure to be one hell of a contest. As both fighters came out trading blows quickly, Roat found himself in a unique position of falling down after a missed kick and missing his kick up to his feet. Despite this he continues his offensive and had Garza leaking a bit of blood to end the round.

Round two saw Roat returning to the spinning back kicks and flying kicks. Tjhis time with much more precision and power. While Garza was able to land some amazing midsection strikes, this round largely was dominated by Roat and his jumping kicks. Garza did his best to stage an intelligent defense and was largely successful in doing so. This kept him from being busted open further and kept Roat using his energy to keep the striking volume up. Unfortunately, at the 10 second mark it seemed like Garza thought he heard the bell and dropped his guard for a moment. This gave Roat a chance to attack, and thankfully for Garza the bell rang just in time.

The final round saw Garza reenergized by the short break. Coming out of the corner with a fire he didn’t possess in the previous 2 rounds, Garza had Roat on full defense. Unfortunately for him, this defense allowed Garza to pivot and get out so Roat could pin him against the cage and keep him pinned there until Ref Padrino was able to get them separated. Upon the break Garza set his sights on Roat’s abs and was nailing them with back kicks. Garza was abkle to get free but got caught at the 10 second mark, and Roat was able to tee off on him for the final 10 seconds. With a strike advantage, Roat took the contest by majority decision. Winner: Roat by Majority Decision.

Returning to NOGI, Caleb Ahmad and Ryan Stolberg took to the cage to roll around. As soon as the bell rang Stolberg took to the ground and invited Ahmad to take him on in the spot he feels most comfortable. While Ahmad tried to get the pin and domination, Stolberg was reversing everything put against him. Stolberg took advantage of a slipped leg and got to his feet immediately. While he arose, Ahmad stayed on the ground and locked his legs up. Crashing back to the ground, Stolberg had enough and took Ahmad into a rear naked choke and quickly ended the boud. Winner: Stolberg by Rear Naked Choke

Ending the prelim car for kickboxing, Chuck Watts took on the newcomer Bryant Peschel. Within 5 seconds of the bell Watts landed a head kick that said ‘welcome to the cage kid’ and set the tone for the rest of the round. While Peschel tried to stay as effective as he could, the experience of Watts made him very dangerous in the fight. Keeping Peschel pressed against the cage a lot of the round, Watts was able to keep the opening hand the entire round.

The second round opened up with Peschel rocking Watts and then driving him to the cage. Watts was able to regain his composure and get some offense going again. With a devastating toss, Peschel lost his balance and kissed the mat. Despite being tossed like a ragdoll, Peschel continued and finished the round strong.

Final rounds in kickboxing can be tricky, especially when it’s been a close fight. You don’t want to be too aggressive and leave yourself open, but you don’t want to play chicken and not get your points. Both fighters took an aggressive strategy and were each looking to score the knockout. The exhaustion was on their faces and their strikes not as pin-point accurate as before. As they traded strikes, Peschel got Watts against the cage once more. While he showed tremendous ability to change up his game plan as needed, it wasn’t quite enough to sell the judges. This match would be a majority draw. No Winner; Majority Draw

As a finale for the prelim card, Blake Torchon and Brelin Carroll stepped in to square up in NOGI. With both fighters already having a very well-respected ground game reputation, this promised to be a great match. Both fighters moved for the mat as soon as the match started. While Torchon attempted to gain a mount early, Carroll was able to reverse the hold and keep Torchon pinned down for a brief bit. As they struggled across the cage, Torchon used the cage wall to his advantage to take the top position once again. As these two tussled around, they found themselves getting worn out and Torchon kept much of the dominance as the 10 minute round ended.

In the second round Torchon started out with Carroll in front of him with the hooks in. This only lasted a short time until they were forced to restart in reversed positions. This time Torchon could not do enough to defend against the rar naked choke of Carroll, and he was forced to tap. Winner: Carroll by Rear Naked Choke

Opening the main card is a difficult position to be in, especially after following a hard battled draw. Yet Colton Loud and Vigilant MMA veteran Markevian Williams were more than up to the challenge. Opening the fight with lower leg kicks these two came out looking to size one another up early. With experienced targeting Williams shot a takedown and got Loud down with minimal effort. Unfortunately for him the height difference gave Loud a distinct submission advantage on the way down as he attempted to lock in a guillotine choke. This proved unsuccessful and they quickly found themselves in a north/south position. While Williams worked his way towards his feet, the triangle submission was too much and he was forced to tap. Winner: Loud by triangle choke in Round 1

Samontha Stevenson and Daniela Escolar faced off second in the only women’s match of the card. Given the excitement and determination on both of their faces entering the cage, this looked to be the most exciting match of the day so far. Stevenson opened the fight with high kicks that forced Escolar into the cage. This left Escolar stuck in defense for most of the round. Escolar was able to get Stevenson slipped up and on the mat at one point, but she was able to make a quick recovery and continue the onslaught.

Typically, you expect a refined or a refreshed second round when someone gets dominated out of the game. Escolar looked to make that happen as she came out looking to take the round. This was a false hope, as everything changed when Stevenson got her pressed into the cage and dropped her to the floor. At the 7 mark she was back on her feet and ready to go. While the heart was willing, the body was obviously hurting from being dropped like that. While she was now looking to inflict serious damage upon Stevenson, her aim kept missing the mark ever so slightly. This more aggressive strategy left her a bit gassed, and gave Stevenson a chance to finish it, but the bell prevented that from happening.

With both corners looking a touch concerned about how the scorecards could be tallied, it seemed like both were on a ‘knock out or lose’ mindset. Stevenson used this aggression to push Escolar right into the cage and tag her up without fail. The only real breaks from trying to hold out defense for Escolar was when ref Padrino called for a break. As soon as he signaled for the action to resume Stevenson lunged back in there and quickly dropped Escolar. This time the fight was waved off. Stevenson’s stoppage was not unexpected given the volume of strikes she was delivering unanswered. Winner: Stevenson by TKO in Round 3

Ralph Hernandez and Tre Alvarado were up next in MMA. As the fighters sized one another up, Hernandez decided he had seen enough and launched himself into Alvarado and pinned him to the side of the cage. As both fighters struggled to keep the other from landing a big strike or tossing the other to the ground Hernandez threw Alvarado across the cage as he drove both into the cage wall. As they fumbled for position, Hernandez found a great hold on the top of Alvarado’s upper thigh area. While looking for what to do with it, these two battled for a move, but eventually ended up separating andf Alvarado scoring a takedown that Hernandez was able to battle away from. As they ended the round Alvarado was looking a bit worse for the wear as his right eyebrown. Had been split open.

As round two started it was clear how much the first round had tested the endurance of both fighters. Despite the wear the came out firing on all cylinders. While this round was more about the ground game, they ended up working back to their feet. Hernandez was able to score a devastating slam that looked to have completely winded Alvarado. While he kept him pinned, Hernandez wasn’t doing a lot to completely wear down Alvarado despite staying in firm control of the fight.

The final round started off with both fighters being more gun shy than they were in the previous two round. Alvarado was able to capitalize on this and score a takedown on Hernandez. As he struggled to get out of his hold, Hernandez was visibly gassing himself. Alvarado used this time and his height advantage to rain down strikes while keeping Hernandez’s legs pinned down. Despite having his legs pinned down, Hernandez kept fighting to get free, and moved all over the cage. As they moved Alvarado set his sights on Hernandez’s rib cage and tuned them up nicely as they battled it out. As they hit the 10 second mark Alvarado was able to get Hernandez up and suspend him while delivering strikes to the chest and midsection. Hernandez on the other hand threw unrelenting but poorly targeted shots that kept landing. As the round ended they fighters exchanged hugs and had raising. When the judges scored the contest Hernandez was able to land a unanimous decision. Winner: Hernandez by Unanimous Decision

K.J. Malone and Dontay Friga were up next in the youth kickboxing match of the night. These two locked horns as soon as the fight began and Friga quickly established his dominance in the match. Malone was doing well with his defense until Friga found a small opening to slip in a head kick that seemed to leave Malone dazed and not fully in the fight. In turn, Malone could not keep up and kept getting tagged, and could only defend as best as he could.

The second round brought out more of the same; Friga firmly on offense and Malone struggling to defend himself. With the quick movement of Friga, Malone was often confused and at one point seemed to stop defending himself. After this moment to recover and confirm he wanted to keep going, Friga just capitalized on this and pinned Malone against the cage for the remainder of the cage.

Round three showed a different Malone at the start of the fight. He came off the stool looking ready to fight; and he was looking to find that knock out. Unfortunately for him, Friga was still too much and Malone was left with just a slightly more intelligent defense to rely on. At the 10 second mark both fighters unloaded, looking for that punchers chance for a knock out. As the final bell rang Malone’s nose was leaking blood pretty solidly, and Friga gave him a big hug and both fighters exchanged pleasantries and respect. Friga unsurprisingly got the unanimous decision. Winner: Friga by Unanimous Decision

Following that contest it was time to slow things down a bit. Taylor Alfaro and Matt Alison hit the cage, bringing things back to NOGI for this contest. Allison got Alfaro shoved against the cage right as the bell rung, and Allison got Alfaro down the to mat relatively quickly. Alfaro had a nasty guillotine locked in, but after a few minutes of not getting the tap, they were stood up. Alfaro took them both down, and both were looking for various leg locks. Alfaro was able to get the win via a quick ankle lock. Winner: Alfaro by Leg Lock

In the featured bout of the evening, Hunter Vaughn came to the cage to face off with Marcellus Wallace. Coming out with high front kicks, Wallace quickly established fierce dominance. Vaughn was able to use some slick defense to get away from Vaughn and get him against the cage. This gave Vaughn a tremendous take down, and Marcellus was able to get on the offensive quickly as both fighters locked each other up on the ground. Wallace was able to find a great escape route, and get back to his feet just before the round ended.

Round two had Wallace flying out of his corner as the bell rang. As he launched a high kick at Vaughn, he had his leg caught and held. This led to Vaughn trying to trip him up, and he instead found himself falling to the canvas. This gave Wallace a huge advantage where he was able to drop bombs on Vaughn’s face, and forcing the ref to call for a KO for Wallace. Winner: Wallace by Knock Out in Round 2

The Co-Main event pinned Jonah Andrews against Ethan Goff. Goff came out of his corner at the opening bell like a man possessed. Andrews took a few glancing blows and got Goff up against the cage quickly. Goff got Andrews into a suspended choke, and fdropped him back against the cage and then to the floor. Goff then launched into a side choke and quickly Andrews was knocked completely out. Winner: Goff by side choke in Round 1

The Main event of the night was Brayan Mendoza taking on Norman Gallon. Mendoza came out throwing quick kicks on Gallon, one of which he was able to grab ahold of, and force Mendoza against the fence. As they hit the fence, they crashed to the mat with Gallon getting into the mount. Mendoza in turn moved around and was able to lock on the Gallon’s leg and hold on tight. As they kept jockeying around Mendoza was able to nail Gallon on the face with numerous shots and get things going. Hitting the 10 second clacks, Gallon worked his way up and fired off shots at Mendoza that were easily deflected.

Round two began with both fighters feeling eachother out more; almost as if they both got the usual starts backwards. However, Mendoza threw a sharp leg kick that Gallon caught to take the fight down to the mat. As they fumbled around, Gallon kept Mendoza locked down to the mat, with Gallon using his body weight to keep Mendoza pinned down and to wear him out. As the two looked for better striking positions Gallon got himself up and seemed to challenge Mendoza to stand it up as the 10 second mark hit. By the time Mendoza got up and advanced the round ended.

The final round of the fight found Gallon trying to bulldoze Mendoza as Mendoza instead literally dragged him across the cage. While they both struggled for dominance, Mendoza was able to get himself free and take them back up to their feet. While on their feet Gallon kept Mendoza in the clinch and they kept sending shots at one another. Gallon took the fight back to the mat and launched an aggressive ground and pound attack. As Mendoza tried to shrimp out and work his way around the cage, Gallon let him up one more time. At the 10 second mark Gallon challenged Mendoza to charge him, and he complied. This unfortunately allowed Gallon to serve him up with a flying knee to the face, and as the bell rang Gallon showcasing how confident he was that he won. Going to the score cards the judges saw it the same way too. Winner: Gallon by Unanimous Decision

Vigilant MMA will be back at the Dallas Bull in Tampa, FL to kick of the 2022 season with CQ17 ‘Super Brawl II’. If you can’t be there Fite TV has you covered. The promotion brings in some of the best in amateur MMA and kickboxing from across the US. Many of these fighters take their opportunities in Vigilant and use them to push themselves into a pro spot, and this is your best challenge to see the names of tomorrow today!!!

More Photos by Jordan Raiff:

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