Sahak Parparyan vs. Toni Milanovic 3R. Parparyan was the bigger, stronger fighter, and he dominated the fight, walking Milanovic down and backing him with his combos. Parparyan landed more and harder. Milanovic may have been more accurate, but he was way too patient and passive, usually content to land a single shot when he did throw. Though Parparyan was in control 75% of the fight, it was Milanovic who came closer to finishing, coming to life midway through the second when he landed a spinning backfist out of nowhere to the side of the head then truly surprised Sahak with a backfist to the chin that did much more damage despite being a short blow without much windup. Milanovic was finally coming forward and throwing combinations, even connecting with a jumping knee, but he couldn't put Sahak down and Sahak restored order before the end of the round. The second round was very good, and the Croatian crowd was really into their fighter Milanovic going after the finish, but Parparyan dominated the 3rd exactly as he did the first, with Milanovic having a few moments but not doing near the damage with his second spinning backfist/backfist combo. Sahak won a unanimous decision. Good match.
Mladen Kujundzic vs. Marin Dosen 4R. In the Shamrock/Severn 2 of kickboxing matches, Dosen held the center of the ring without attacking and Kunundzic just circled around him for 3 rounds without ever angling or closing the distance in any way. The judges rightfully called it a draw because neither did anything to warrant a win, but that sucked because that meant we were forced to endure a 4th round of no contact torture! Kujundzic finally woke up enough to land a high kick and a jumping knee/high kick combo to take the a unanimous decision. Poor match.
Igor Jurkovic vs. Freddy Kemayo 4R. In a furiously paced hard hitting war that more than made up for the previous dance, these two just stayed in the pocket and exchanged. Jurkovic was the better puncher, but Kemayo had the knees and ultra flexible kicks. Jurkovic was best in R1 when he came forward because his closing the distance limited Kemayo's ability to kick, and Jurkovic won the boxing exchanges. Kemayo landed a good high kick late in the 1st when Jurkovic was backing out of the corner after a punch combo, and pressured most of the fight after that even though he got the worst of the opening flurry when both came out swinging in the 2nd. Kemayo got his clinch knee and middle kick going in the 2nd, and was getting the high kicks up from the shortest of range the way only he can. It was a close fight that I was glad to see go an extra round, though I'd have given it to Kemayo in 3 if I had to choose. Round 4 wasn't as furiously paced as the 2nd or 3rd, but given how much effort they expended in those rounds trying to get the win, it was amazing it was as high paced as it was. These guys just had no quit in them. Again, Kemayo got the better of the 4th round, but Jurkovic was the hometown fighter and Kemayo found himself on his butt a few times, which looked bad even though they weren't technically knockdowns. Jurkovic won a majority decision. Good match.
Daniel Ghita vs. Sergei Lascenko R3 0:49. Lascenko tried to box, but was never in range because Ghita kept him off him with his kicks. Ghita did a beautiful job with the body kick, not only quickly knocking Lascenko down with a left middle kick, but reddening both sides and the entire rib cage to the point it appeared Lascenko fell asleep on the beach. As Lascenko worried about protecting the body, Ghita began looking for the high kick, and eventually knocked Lascenko down with a right high kick counter to a right cross. Lascenko got up and said he wanted to continue, but the ref stopped it, which was probably a bad decision in terms of whether or not Lascenko could have continued, but a mercy stoppage given how one-sided the fight was. Ghita was extremely impressive, but Lascenko not only offered no resistance, but never changed the losing pattern. Average match.
Mirko Cro Cop vs. Ray Sefo 3R. Cro Cop returned to kickboxing after 9 years, but fought a rough, brawling style that looked more like MMA minus the takedowns, backing Sefo by pushing him into the ropes and then leaning on him. Cro Cop won every round, but more because he manhandled Sefo, who did absolutely nothing, than because he landed even semi-often. Sefo was very slow, and showed no footwork, allowing Cro Cop to smother him and land some punch combos when he was on the ropes. Sefo's nose was bloodied from these short punches, but although the fight got better with each round, it was mostly just ugly and repetitive. Cro Cop won a unanimous decision. Below average match.
Ivan Gluhak vs. Dejan Milosevic 2R
Toni Milanovic vs. Ibrahim El Bouni 3R unanimous decision
Matej Batinic vs. Teo Radnic R1 1:47
Mladen Kujundzic vs. Rok Strucl 3R unanimous decision
Zlatko Bajic vs. Petros Vardakas 3R unanimous decision
Tomislav Spahovic vs. Christian Golcic R1 0:40
Ante Delija vs. Michail Lamprakis R1 1:27
Pavel Zhuravlev vs. Luca Panto R1 1:28
Igor Jurkovic vs. Raul Catinas 3R unanimous decision
TG: Sarah George vs. Sarah Rankin 3R. George just had too much cardio and punching power for Rankin. Rankin had the reach, but George was able to pressure her consistently for the entire fight, hitting her with solid punches coming in, so it never mattered. Even on the inside, George was able to hold her own in the clinch game, not allowing Rankin to get the leverage to throw her knees, and instead getting a few throws off. Just a really good performance by George never allowing Rankin to find any sort of a comfort zone. Average match.
MMA: Antonio Mijatovic vs. Marko Lukacic 3R unanimous decision
MMA: Luka Jelcic vs. David Vasic R1 1:18
MMA: Antun Racic vs. Bojan Kosednar 3R unanimous decision
KB: Emil Zoraj vs. Zlatko Bajic 3R unanimous decision
KB: Jason Wilnis vs. Zoran Majkic R1 2:59
MMA: Maciej Browarski vs. Jason Jones R2 4:30
MMA: Ivica Truscek vs. Vaso Bakocevic R2 1:28
KB: Mladen Brestovac vs. Sergei Lascenko 3R unanimous decision
MMA: Maro Perak vs. Tibor Joni R1 1:28
MMA: Matej Batinic vs. Attila Petrovszki R1 3:25
KB: Igor Emkic vs. Ivan Stanic R3 1:25
KB: Igor Mihaljevic vs. Uros Velicevic 3R
MMA: Antun Racic vs. Artak Nazaryan 3R
MMA: Ante Delija vs. Gzim Selmani R1 3:09
KB: Pavel Zhuravlev vs. Vinchenzo Renfurm R2 2:44
MMA: Ricco Rodriguez vs. Tomaz Simonjic R1 3:49
Enf 12/2/12: Chajmaa Bellakhal vs Lucy Payne
MMA:
Teo Mikelic vs. Samo Petje 3R
Matija Blazicevic vs. Phillip Saric R2 2:31
Stefan Traunmuller vs. Ivan Vitasovic R1
Kickboxing:
Mladen Kujundzic vs. Nikola Dimkovski 3R
Ibrahim El Bouni vs. Igor Emkic R1 0:29
Miran Fabjan vs. Ivan Bilic 3R
MMA:
Dorijan Ilic vs. Emil Poljak R1 2:10
Laszlo Senyei vs. Ivica Truscek 3R
Kickboxing:
Hesdy Gerges vs. Pavel Zhuravlev 3R
Igor Jurkovic vs. Dzevad Poturak 3R
MMA:
Primo Vrbinc vs. Dusan Dzakic R1 1:19
Francisco Albano Barrio vs. Darko Banovic 3R unanimous decision
Laszlo Senyei vs. Luka Jelcic R2 0:30
Ivica Truscek vs. Gojko Vukovic R1 2:13
Dion Staring vs. Ante Delija R2 2:42
Ricco Rodriguez vs. Zelg Galesic R1 3:50
Kickboxing
Stevan Zivkovic vs. Miran Fabjan 3R split decision
Mladen Kujundzic vs. Senid Imamovic R1 1:19
Tomas Hron vs. Jahfarr Wilnis 3R unanimous decision
Mladen Brestovac vs. Ali Cenik 3R unanimous decision
MMA
Mattia Schiavolin vs. Josip Artukovic R1 2:24. Schiavolin grinded in the corner until he got the takedown then stood over Artukovic seemingly looking to guard pass punch, but ultimately dropping into an achilles tendon hold then shifting to the heel hook for the win.
Lemmy Krusic vs. Vaso Bakocevic 3R. These two were pretty evenly matched bith Bakocevic being the stronger, but Krusic having more skill, and getting going once he was able to slow Bakocevic down a little. Bakocevic dominated round 1 landing a few big right hands, but mostly just being too strong for Krusic and outgrappling him. Krusic has a good BJJ game and is very comfortable on his back, but was still mostly taking punishment while thinking about trying a sweep. Krusic finally got going in R2 when Bakocevic wanted to rear mount, but just had a high bodylock that Krusic reversed. Bakocevic's ground defense was rather ineffective, so even when he had full or half guard, which wasn't for long, he was rarely able to prevent Krusic from posturing up and pounding him hard. Krusic really put a beating on Bakocevic for the duration of round 2, evening the fight at a round a piece. Krusic landed a left high kick to start the 3rd, but Bakocevic caught the leg on the rebound and slammed him. The third round was pretty even in terms of control, but Krusic was so active on the bottom, constantly moving until he got back up and got a takedown of his own, that Bakocevic wasn't able to do anything with the top position. Meanwhile, put a hurting on Bakocevic anytime he was on top. Krusic also had a couple good soccer kicks; I particularly liked the 1st one where he was transitioning after stuffing a single leg. Krusic won a unanimous decision. Above average match.
Ivica Truscek vs. Leonardo Zecchi R1 0:18. Truscek put out an inside leg kick and Zecchi probably thought he was going to do it again, but instead he went high for the KO.
Primoz Vrbinc vs. Joseph Leitner R3 4:03. Vrbinc had the reach and the power, but Leitner did a nice job of sliding just out of range then gliding in and out when the opportunities presented themselves. Both men knew their strengths, and were able to make good on them. Leitner was clearly the more well rounded fighter, wanting the ground game because that was his big advantage. However, Leitner didn't force it, standing for 4 minutes before finally using a 3 punch combo to get inside and drop down for the takedown. Joseph worked from rear mount, and eventually had a rear naked choke attempt just before the round ended. Leitner wasn't quite as fast in round 2, so Vrbinc was able to walk him down a bit better and land some big punches. Vrbinc dropped Leitner with a left hook late in round 2 and tried to pound him out with hammerfists, but Leitner's superior wrestling allowed him to regain control, even if he was still really just holding and taking sitting strikes. Leitner was defending better again in the 3rd, and they were mainly negating each other, but Vrbinc was definitely throwing and landing more as Leitner was just too hesitant to go on the offensive. Leitner finally went for a takedown with a little more than a minute left hoping to steal the round, and thus the fight, but Vrbinc defended with a standing guillotine that he was able to win with. Good match.
James McSweeney vs. Stefan Traunmuller R1 0:35. Traunmuller was easily able to take the kickboxer out of his element with a quick takedown, except McSweeney is an MMA fighter by now and had no problem hitting an armbar from the bottom for the win.
Kickboxing
Tadej Toplak vs. Mesud Selimovic 3R. Kickboxer Selimovic was the better boxer, scoring with the overhand right and left hook, but Muay Thai stylist Toplak was doing his best to keep him out of punching range with powerful right middle kicks. It was more of a muay thai style fight, rough exchanges without a lot of defensive movement. Toplak wobbled Selimovic midway through the second with a right down the middle and stepped up the pressure, hurting Mesud with a left hook that led to him spitting his mouth piece out for a cheap break that allowed him to stabilize. Toplak was more concerned with controlling the center of the ring and keeping Selimovic on his back foot in the 3rd than going for the finish, adopting a safer but still effective style. Selimovic got a big right high kick in, but Toplak didn't allow him to follow it up. Toplak made a push to finish in the last minute after a heavy low kick backed Mesud into the corner, working him over with knees to the body and hooks to the head. Toplak won a unanimous decision. Above average match.
Ivan Stanic vs. Strahinja Ivanovic R2 2:30. A very competitive fight where they essentially took turns pressing forward with a combo. They fight was essentially even in this regard, but in between the combos, muay thai stylistic Stanic was better than kickboxer Ivanovic because he used his background to control distance with his strikes to the body or legs while Ivanovic didn't use his background to move to avoid then angle in. Stanic hurt Ivanovic with a right straight 2 minutes into the 2nd to gain the first advantage then landed a powerful kick to the lead leg he'd been knotting up for a standing 8 count. Ivanovic still couldn't stand up straight and put any weight on the leg, so the fight was stopped. Above average match.
Samo Petje vs. Mario Katic R2 1:35. A truly satisfying back and forth fight. Round 1 was one of the best of the year. Just outstanding action throughout with Katic coming out bombing away with his hands, but Petje firing himself up by trying some spectacular shots, going for a spinning backfist, jumping knee, and high kick almost in succession. Petje soon landed a good left hook and wobbled Katic with a right straight, and just when it seemed Katic had recovered, Petje dropped him with a step knee. Samo knew the round was almost over, so he did some serious headhunting in the final seconds pushing for the KO. Round 2 was fairly similar in that Katic came out strong, and was quite simply outboxing Petje for the first half. I don't know where he got the energy after the beating he took late in the 2nd, but it was impressive to see. Again though, once Petje got going he hurt Katic really quickly. The step knee continued to kill Katic, as Petje hurt Katic with the first then landed a second step knee that didn't do huge damage, immediately following with a right cross for the KO. Excellent match.
Stevan Zivkovic vs. Grega Smole 3R. Although by no means a blowout, Zivkovic controlled this match from start to finish with his ring generalship. Zivkovic had Smole backed into the ropes or corner the entire fight, so although Smole was accurate when he threw, he just didn't have the space to defend, so Zivkovic was able to pick him apart, particularly beating his body up with both punches and kicks. Average match.
Ibrahim El Bouni vs. Miran Fabjan R2 2:17. A qualtiy fight where both fought their style well. El Bouni had a huge reach advantage, but Fabjan was moving so well in the 1st you couldn't tell. Fabjan's footwork was excellent, and initially he was able to angle in and land single shots or combinations without getting hit. If anything, Fabjan could have been more daring in the 1st, but it was clearly his round. In round 2, El Bouni made some adjustments and began to show his skill. Suddenly, El Bouni was intercepting Fabjan's approach with teeps and generally use some jabs and middle kicks to keep Fabjan away. El Bouni hadn't done any major damage, but got a knockdown out of nowhere with a left hook after both missed rights, and Fabjan was still wobbly when he got up so the ref stopped it. Above average match.
Mirko Vorkapic vs. Chris Ngimbi 3R. A toe-to-toe muay thai style fight where neither were willing to take a step back. It wasn't amazing, but it was extremely close for 2 1/2 rounds. Vorkapic woke Ngimbi up by headbutting him and throwing him to the canvas midway through the 3rd, leading to an energized Ngimbi firing back with jumping knees. However, Vorkapic quickly went back to clinching to keep Ngimbi from working on the inside. I gave Ngimbi the 3rd, but the first two were pick ems, so I thought it should go to the extra round. instead, Vorkapic got the nod. Average match.