Titles Retained; ‘Irish Hand Grenade’ Wins at HDNet Fights’ MFC 29

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Friday night, Canada's leading MMA promotion, Maximum Fighting Championship, cast its ring aside for a cage and set it up for MFC 29 at The Colosseum at Caesars in Windsor, Ontario.

On the Canadian side of the Detroit River, the evening belonged to a Brazilian prospect, as 23-year-old Douglas Lima wowed the capacity crowd of 5000 in “The City of Roses,” tearing through UFC veteran Terry Martin in a mere 74 seconds to retain the MFC welterweight title.

“I had it in the back of my mind, I'm gonna finish this fight in the first round, and I'm gonna finish it with my hands,” declared Lima following the contest.

The 6-foot-1 welterweight established his jab quickly, keeping the stocky 5-foot-7 Martin at bay. However, when Lima opted to power punch, the bout was over in an instant: a right hook caught Martin just behind the ear, dropping him to his knees. As the veteran Chicagoan tried to regain his senses, Lima wailed away on his exposed head until referee Yves Lavigne was forced to call the bout just 1:14 into the contest.

“It's something I work on every day in the gym,” said Lima in his postfight interview on HDNet. “My coaches told me to use my reach; I'm kinda tall.”

The win was the sixth straight for the blossoming Lima, who moved his MMA mark to 18-4 with the win. Martin fell to 21-9 with the defeat.

In the first defense of MFC light heavyweight crown, rising 205-pound prospect Ryan Jimmo had very little trouble with Strikeforce veteran Zak Cummings.

Jimmo, 29, was originally set to defend his title against former champion Emanuel Newton, whom he bested by unanimous decision in December 2009. However, a shoulder injury forced Newton out of the bout two weeks ago, paving the way for Cummings to step in.

Using his usual weapons -- kicks, right crosses and tough clinchwork -- Jimmo stymied the Springfield, Mo., native. Jimmo started slow, and Cummings was able to land a few strikes early, however the champion took over the bout as it rolled along, landing single shots standing and muscling Cummings to the ground where he frequently took full mount.

The New Brunswick-born, Edmonton-based Jimmo was unable to secure a finish, but there was no doubt on the scorecards: judges Jason Rodgers and Adam Cheadle saw the bout 50-45, while David Therien had it 49-46, all for the champ.

UFC Vets Davis, Spratt and Franca Notch Crucial Wins

In his first fight since being cut from the UFC, “The Irish Hand Grenade” Marcus Davis took a bloody, well-deserved split decision over Manitoba's Curtis Demarce.

The 37-year-old Davis used his superior striking skills to hammer the 22-year-old Demarce with both clean punching combinations and lead knees. Demarce was able to capitalize on the battle-worn Davis'’ scar tissue, opening up several cuts that forced Davis to wear a crimson mask for the final two thirds of their bout. However, on the feet, Davis was superior, and it was his guillotine attempts that represented the most threatening grappling tactics of the bout.

Davis sealed the fight late with a crushing lead knee that took Demarce's balance from him in the waning moments. Judge Sal Signorino saw the bout 29-28 for DeMarce, but Therien and Cheadle scored the bout 30-27 and 29-28 respectively for Davis.

“This will be number 99, that I've gone to the hospital and need sutures,” the UFC vet, still bleeding, mused. “I've had $35,000 dollars on my credit bill on stitches alone. I'm like Frankenstein.”

Pete Spratt is known as “The Secret Weapon,” and the heavy-hitting journeyman had one against Demi Deeds: some surprising ground tactics.

For the better part of two rounds, the 40-year-old Texan smacked Deeds around the cage with ambidextrous punching and kicking. However, a brutal salvo of body punches in the second frame put Deeds into retreat mode. The Iowan ended up on the canvas, eating elbows from Spratt, until the UFC veteran uncharacteristically stepped from half guard into full mount, and took Deeds arm, forcing the tap at 4:19 of the second stanza.

It was the third armbar win in the 12-plus-year career of Spratt, long-maligned for his lack of prowess on the ground.

“I'm just trying to get out of here as fast as I can,” Spratt stated. “Trying to keep it going for the 40-and-up class in the game.”

Another UFC veteran, Hermes Franca, got his third win in a row with a strong second-round stoppage of Robert Washington. After a slow first round, Franca took the initiative in the second, as he quickly launched a right cross at his prey. Franca attempted to combine it with a foot sweep, but the glancing blow did its job: Washington hit the mat in the fetal position, and Franca followed up with punches until referee Josh Rosenthal halted the action 26 seconds into the second frame.

Windsor's Ali Mokdad ran over previously unbeaten Andreas Spang with little incident in their middleweight contest, moving his record to 4-0. Mokdad quickly got a trip takedown, took full mount and locked up a rear-naked choke that forced “The Sweet Swede” to tap out just 95 seconds into the first round, giving “The Monster” the W.

21-year-old Dhiego Lima, the younger brother of victorious champion Douglas, cinched up a rear-naked choke on local Windsor native Josh Taveirne at 3:35 of the third round. The win moves the younger Lima's pro MMA mark to 5-0 with five finishes.

Detroit's David “Bo” Harris knocked off Windsorite Chucky Mady. The Motor City bantamweight put Mady on the mat, mounted, and sunk in the rear-naked choke to earn the win at 3:07 of the first round.

In the evening's lightweight opener, Matthew Spisak dominated Pete Brown for 15 minutes en route to a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).