January 3, 2017 10:42 am

WSOF NYC Recap

World Series of Fighting closed out the year at Madison Square Garden this past Saturday with their first-ever card held in New York City, (#WSOFNYC). Legends of MMA were in attendance, including Randy “The Natural” Couture and Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell. Renzo Gracie and Bas Rutten color-commentated the event, alongside NBC commentator Todd Harris and host Joey Varner. Newly-signed to WSOF and gold medalist Olympian Kayla Harrison and WSOF president Ray Sefo could be seen ringside, as they both spoke about the fights and gave their predictions. New York Fighting was on hand, with reporter Pari Aryafar (@pariunderthesea) live-tweeting all the action at @newyorkfighting and photographers Joshua Brandenburg (@drinkandsmilenow) and You Bin (@youbinphotography) capturing every punch thrown.

Ray Sefo, Randy Couture, Kayla Harrison, and Chuck Liddell – Photo : Josh Brandenburg

THE PRELIMS

It was an afternoon filled with action, as competitors fought for glory in the decagon. Welterweight Tom “Tommy Gunnz” Marcellino didn’t give Matt “Ken Doll” Denning a standing chance as he quickly went for a takedown and worked into a guillotine submission with time to spare in the first round. Hometown favorite Andre “Dre the Bull” Harrison did not disappoint, as he submitted opponent Bruce “Pretty Boy” Boyington with a rear-naked choke in the first two minutes of round one. After winning his WSOF debut, Dre’s outstanding record is now 15-0. Bruno “Carioca” Santos and Vagab Vagabov alternated between striking and attempting submissions. Santos ultimately took the W, via split decision. A Catchweight bout of “Who’s The Toughest?” between two Marine Corp veterans rounded out the prelims, Shane “The War Rhino” Kruchten defeated Jeremy Mahon by unanimous decision after a series of back-and-forth striking. Kruchten improves his standing to 12-3 after not fighting for nearly 3 years.

Andre Harrison lands a heavy right hand – Photo: Josh Brandenburg

Winner Dre the Bull – Photo: Josh Brandenburg

NBCSN CARD

Caio “Caião” Alencar stayed true to his previous performances and gave Jared “The Big Show” Rosholt a KO in the first round. He now has nine first-round victories out of a total of twelve wins. New York’s very own David Branch retained one of his two belts this weekend, by submitting #1 Middleweight contender Louis “Put the Guns Down” Taylor in the second minute of the final round by way of rear-naked choke. Light heavyweights Smealinho “The Prince” Rama defeated Jake “The Honey Bear” Heun towards the end of round 2 via TKO. Heun was face-forward on the ground as Rama essentially made him defenseless with a flurries of strikes leading to referee Dan Miragliotta to end the fight.

The Champ on top with some ground and pound – Photo You Bin

Dave Branch with back control – Photo: Josh Brandenburg

Caio Alencar crushing Jared Rosholt – Photo: You Bin

MAIN CARD

Including David Branch’s defense, it was a 4-title fight showdown. Marlon Morares made quick work of #1 Bantamweight contender, Josenaldo “Naldo” Silva, as a devastating injury in the second minute of the first round took Naldo out. The Welterweight title was on the line, with Jon Fitch and Jake Shields fighting all five rounds to declare a winner. While relatively friendly towards one another during the WSOF press conference and weigh-ins, it was apparent during the bout that they both wanted to take the belt home with them. However, Fitch kept his title by unanimous decision and mentioned afterwards the possibility of retirement. Justin “The Highlight” Gaethje, originally slated to fight Joao “The Brazilian Samurai” Zeferino, took on Luiz “Buscape” Firmino in a brutal back-and-forth that left Firmino’s eyes nearly swollen shut. The bout was stopped in the 4th round, leaving Gaethje to bring his Lightweight title with him into 2017. The final fight of the year went to Welterweights Yushin Okami and Paul “The Gentleman” Bradley. Former Bellator fighter Bradley was not able to keep up with Okami’s sheer force from his striking, and Okami was declared winner by split decision.