BFL 79 took place on Thursday, February 8th at the Harbour Convention Center in beautiful downtown Vancouver, BC. Battlefield Fight League promotes itself as Canada’s number one MMA developmental organization. Seattle Fights went to check out the main card which was streamed live on UFC Fight Pass. Three title fights were contested. Read on for a recap of all of the main card fights.
The event was well attended with a near capacity crowd that was lively and engaged. The quality of fights was at a high level overall and featured a mix of Canadian, French, Brazilian, Iranian and Mexican fighters.
Radley Da Silva wins featherweight title tilt by unanimous decision over Maxime Soucy
Radley Da Silva used dominant grappling control to secure a unanimous decision victor over Maxime Soucy to take home the BFL featherweight title.
In round one Da Silva controlled Soucy in the clinch for a period of time before picking him up and slamming hi to the mat. Da Silva spent a significant amount of time in side control but did very limited damage as Soucy defended well. Da Silva landed a very limited number of strikes as he appeared content to control from top position.
Other than a large amount of top control time in round two there wasn’t much action. Da Silva landed maybe four or five right hands to the body but not much else. In round three it was more Da Silva clinch control and top control. However, the fight briefly got somewhat interesting when Da Silva took backpack position on Soucy. From the position Da Silva landed a nice backfist strike. In round four, Soucy looked for a guillotine after pulling guard but Da Silva defended and added more top control.
In the final round it was more of the same as Da Silva cruised to a 49-46, 50-45, 50-45 win. The matchmaking was generally very good for the entire night and perhaps it was simply a bad style matchup, but the main event was the least entertaining fight of the night. The main event would have benefitted from a referee willing to stand up fighters engaged in long grappling battles with little positional advancement or damage done.
Rodrigo Sezinando submits Scottie Stockman with first round RNC to secure super lightweight championship
Rodrigo Sezinando claimed the inaugural BFL super lightweight championship with an outstanding display of grappling as he secured the first round rear naked choke of Scottie Stockman.
The fighters started the bout throwing heavy strikes in a wild exchange. Sezinando, a BJJ black belt, worked his way to Stockman’s back early in the round and immediately jumped into backpack position. Sezinando rode the position for over a minute as he attacked with some nifty right hands that landed from over the top of Stockman’s head. As soon as Sezinando saw an opening he liked he quickly sunk in the RNC. The choke immediately appeared tight as Stockman was forced to drop to the mat. Sezinando applied the squeeze to secure the quick tap at 3:04 of round one.
Sezinando, the #1 ranked BFL welterweight, called for a big fight next as he stated his goal to fight soon in the UFC. The Brazilian improved to 6-1 while Stockman dropped to 10-3.
Ali “Bomaye” Wasuk claims bantamweight title with third round rear naked choke of Ty Wilson
Ali “Bomaye” Wasuk (outstanding fight name!) put on a dominant performance to claim the BFL bantamweight title. Wilson never seemed to get any offense going as Wasuk took little damage and had success with right hands and outside low leg kicks as he steadily wore down Wilson.
The first round, devoid of action for stretches, saw Wilson have his best moment of the fight when he caught a Wasuk kick to convert a takedown into top half guard position. But Wasuk defended well and with Wilson unable to advance or do damage the referee reset the fight to standing. Wasuk later landed a nice right hand counter off of a Wilson leg kick. Wasuk also had success with front kicks in the opening frame.
Round two also featured some uneventful stretches. Wasuk had striking success with some 1-2 combinations and continued to score with his low and front kicks. Late in the round Wasuk converted a takedown but was unable to control Wilson for much time as he was able to turn and stand up.
Wasuk ended the fight at 2:10 of round three with an excellent display of grappling. Wasuk landed an early takedown and looked to take Wilson’s back immediately and was able to secure it in short order. From there it didn’t take long for Wasuk to secure the rear naked choke finish. The end came at 2:10 of round three.
After the fight Wasuk called for an ex-UFC or ex-Bellator fighter after stating his desire to avoid fighting up and coming fighters. After claiming the BFL bantamweight strap “Bomaye” is looking for a name to add to his resume. Wasuk improved to 9-3 while Wilson dropped to 9-6.
Navid Zanganeh completes incredible comeback with first round arm triangle submission of Javier Cintora
Javier Cintora blasted Navid Zanganeh with an early head kick that dropped the seven-time Iranian national wrestling champion. Cintora looked for the early finish by taking top position and attacking with strikes. But Zanganeh used his elite grappling skills to quickly work his way to top position. Zanganeh secured the tap at 2:16 of the first round to complete the incredible comeback.
Zanganeh now has three consecutive first round finishes in the BFL cage since suffering a split decision loss to Xavier Nash at BFL 76. Zanganeh moves to 4-1 as Cintora dropped to 3-1.
Caleb Moctezuma knocks out Gagan Gill in first round
Caleb Moctezuma and Gagan Gill put on an entertaining fight while it lasted as both fighters showed solid striking acumen and landed heavy shots. Moctezuma brought pressure early as he landed a nice left hand as he put Gill up against the cage. From there Moctezuma landed some shots before a nice check left hook for Gill landed.
Moments later Gill landed a solid jab that snapped Moctezuma’s head back. The fighters then traded solid left hooks as both fighters started to throw power and land. Gill continued to have success with the jab.
A beautiful counter left hook right on the chin was the blow that Moctezuma landed to put Gill out cold. Both fighters displayed solid striking skills in this hard-fought contest. Moctezuma improved to 11-4 while Gill dropped to 5-3.
Dominant first round for Gio Platon leads to TKO corner stoppage of Arturo Castaneda
Moments after the start of the fight Arturo Castaneda charged forward and threw a big right hand that connected. From there it was one-way traffic in favor of Gio Platon. Platon responded with heavy shots, landing an uppercut that hurt Castaneda badly and left him stumbling. Platon then landed a big overhand right before taking down Castaneda. Platon immediately landed some nasty elbows as he worked ground and pound. Castaneda started to wear the damage and was bleeding. Platon landed more big right hands, one particularly nasty one while standing over the grounded Castaneda.
The blood was streaming rather profusely as Platon showed beautiful technique with his elbows from top position as he would post on the face and immediately drop the elbow down. Platon appeared to do the majority of damage with this devasting strike.
Castaneda survived the onslaught until the bell to end the third round but his corner wisely called off the fight after assessing their fighter in the corner.
With the TKO victory Platon improves to 4-1 as Castaneda dropped to 3-2.
Nic Ouellet sleeps Luis Banuelos with first round guillotine
Nic Ouellet had an impressive night as he put Luis Banuelos to sleep with a slick guillotine. Ouellet, a BBJ black belt, opened with a front kick which drew a big overhand right from Banuelos. Ouellet ducked under and looked for a takedown but Banuelos collapsed and appeared to be in prime position to take top control but Ouellet quickly reversed position and went on the attack with two right hands. Ouellet had Banuelos in position for the guillotine for a good period of time and Banuelos at one point defended by lifting Ouellet in an attempt to slam out of the position. But Ouellet’s choke appeared to tighten and it wasn’t long before Banuelos went unconscious.
Nic Ouellet improved to 3-2 and maintained his 100% finishing, all three wins by first round submission. Banuelos dropped to 2-2.
Mitch Strazzella takes unanimous decision against Victor Bordage
The main card kicked off with Mitch Strazzella defeating Victor Bordage by unanimous decision with judges scores of 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28. There was a slow feeling out process at the start of round one. The first round was close, with a lot of time in the clinch. Each fighter scored takedowns but couldn’t maintain any control time. Strazzella landed two takedowns early but both times Bordage immediately worked to the feet.
From the clinch, Bordage briefly tripped Strazzella and landed a couple left hands before Strazzella worked back to standing. Bordage once more dragged Strazzella to the mat and landed a few knees before Strazzella quickly worked back up. After breaking from the clinch Strazzella landed two 1-2 combinations before Bordage stymied the attack by engaging the muay thai clinch. Bordage threw a nice elbow over the top that appeared to land clean. Late in the round, Strazzella dragged Bordage to the mat once more and briefly looked close to taking mount but Bordage was back up quickly and went to work with strikes. Bordage landed a flurry of shots to the body late.
Early in the second round the fighters engaged in an entertaining striking exchange with both landing. From the clinch Strazzella landed a takedown and this time controlled for about fifteen seconds before Bordage worked his way up. Undeterred, Strazzella immediately landed another takedown, this time in the middle of the cage. Strazzella landed a few left hands before Bordage worked back up. Bordage landed two nice uppercuts followed by an overhand right. Strazzella then attempted a single leg but Bordage wouldn’t stay down. Bordage then went on the attack landing four elbow strikes and a right hand at the clapper to finish the round strong.
The final round got off to an entertaining start with the fighters throwing hard strikes. Both fighters landed but Strazzella appeared to get the better of the exchange. Strazzella won the final round on the strength of a couple short control takedowns and clinch control time. This was a competitive fight however, as Bordage had some nice moments late in the round with his strikes as he effectively mixed in kicks.
Strazzella improved to 4-2 while Bordage dropped his professional debut.
