The first notable fights of the MMA week took place on Thursday when Tachi Palace Fights returned with it’s eighteenth show in Lemoore, California.
In the night’s main event, Poppies Martinez submitted Chris Culley with an anaconda choke in the first round to win the Tachi Palace Featherweight Championship.
Martinez was able to get the submission after taking Culley down, scoring with ground and pound, and transitioning to superior positions with little difficulty.
Poppies Martinez (28-9, 1 NC) has now won nine of his last ten bouts and submitted an opponent for the seventeenth time in his career. A streak of five consecutive victories that Chris Culley (17-11) had assembled heading into this bout was snapped with the loss.
Soto wins title in the third round
Former Bellator Featherweight Champion Joe Soto won the Tachi Palace Bantamweight strap when the doctor stopped his fight with Jeremiah Labiano in the third round.
It was a bizarre stoppage as the doctor ended the fight from outside the cage, while the action was still taking place. The conclusion of the fight took place with Soto attempting a rear-naked choke after raining down ground and pound onto the bloodied Labiano. Earlier in the third frame, Soto was able to find a home for his left, and eventually knock Labiano down.
Although he was a rocked a couple of times by Labiano, Joe Soto was able to use his wrestling to take the fight to the ground and outpoint his opponent in the first two periods.
Joe Soto (13-2) has not suffered a defeat since he lost to Eddie Yagin on Aug. 5th, 2011. For the first time in his career, Jeremiah Labiano (7-2) was finished.
Wallace submits opponent in the first
In a middleweight bout, Randall “Buddy” Wallace made short work of Joey Cabezas, submitting him in the first round with a well-executed triangle choke.
After a failed a suplex attempt by Cabezas, Wallace used his hips to obtain dominant positioning on Cabezas. From that point forward, Wallace continued to pressure his opponent and work for transitions, until he was in full mount. From there, Wallace locked on the fight-concluding triangle choke.
The winning streak of Randall Wallace (9-1) has been extended to four, with three of those victories coming by way of submission. The rough patch that Joey Cabezas (5-7) has recently found himself just got more difficult as this loss is his fifth in his last six bouts.
Carrizosa scores a brutal knockout
Just thirty seconds into the ligthweight fight, Cain Carrizosa remained unbeaten by knocking Chris Quitiquit out in devastating fashion.
Carrizosa landed a huge right that knocked Quitiquit unconscious and then followed up with two additional punches as referee Mark Lawley was slow to stop the fight. There was a sense of nervousness after the bout as Quitiquit remained on his back for a significant period of time after the fight concluded, and he was stretchered out. As of press time, there has been no update on his condition.
The thirty second victory was the quickest thus far in the six fight career of Cain Carrizosa (6-0). Since 2009, Chris Quitiquit (5-4) has lost four of five.
May impresses with head kick knockout
If you’re looking for an intriguing, fresh name in the heavyweight division, look no further than 32 year-old, six foot eight inch, Jack May. The Californian continued to look great when he knocked Carl Seumanutafa out in the first round of their fight.
After a little bit of a clinch battle, May landed a powerful left head kick that knocked Seumanutafa down. May followed the kick up with punches until referee Jason McCoy ended the fight.
Jack May (7-0) has now finished six fights in his career with strikes in the first round, while Carl Seumanutafa (8-5) was finished by strikes for the fourth time.
Tachi Palace Fights 18 Results
Poppies Martinez def. Chris Culley via submission (anaconda choke) – Round 1, 3:31
Joe Soto def. Jeremiah Labiano via TKO (doctor stoppage) – Round 3, 4:16
Randall Wallace def. Joey Cabezas via submission (triangle choke) – Round 1, 4:33
Cain Carrizosa def. Chris Quitiquit via KO (punches) – Round 1, :30
Jack May def. Carl Seumanutafa via TKO (head kick) – Round 1, 2:57
Luis Gonzalez def. Damen Wood via KO (punches) – Round 1, 1:39
Andrew Martinez def. William Johnson via submission (neck crank) – Round 1, 2:13
Hector Sandoval def. Benny Vinson via unanimous decision
Alex Perez def. Eloy Garza via unanimous decision
Thomas Vazquez def. Alex Rojas via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:23