Zazulak Conquers Carter in Canada
Rob King Nov 24, 2007
EDMONTON, Alberta, Nov. 23 -- The stakes were high for undefeated
Brad Zazulak as he took a
huge step up in competition against UFC veteran Shonie Carter (Pictures) on Friday in the main event of
Maximum Fighting Championships 14: High Rollers.
Sometimes when you play high stakes, you win big.
Coming into this fight, there was a lot of discussion on whether
the matchup should even be made due to the vast differences in ring
experience. Zazulak was entering the cage with only two
professional fights under his belt compared to more than 60 for
Carter.
On paper, it was a mismatch in Carter's favor. In the ring, it was a mismatch in Zazulak's.
Carter's right arm was injured sometime in the initial exchange, and after a break in the action, he was hesitant to resume but eventually did so. Again, Zazulak took top position and picked his shots, which were accurate, albeit not very powerful.
After a second rope break, Carter kneeled on the mat and had referee Herb Dean (Pictures) stop the fight as a result of his arm injury. The sold-out crowd at the River Cree Resort and Casino exploded as Zazulak raised his arms in victory at the 2:09 mark of round one.
"I didn't have a game plan going in," said Zazulak, who moved to 3-0 with the victory. "He's so unorthodox he's hard to train for. I figured I'd touch gloves and go from there. I quickly realized I was stronger than him in the clinch and that gave me more mental confidence early in the fight. From there, I just pounded on him."
The exact injury to Carter, 38-18-7-1, and when it happened is unclear. Even Zazulak was not sure when or how the injury happened. Initially it looked as if Carter was favoring his shoulder. His arm hung limply at his side after the fight, but additional reports suggested he might have broken a bone in his arm.
Carter was quickly hustled out of the ring after the fight by the doctors and taken for treatment without speaking to the media.
"I hope people think differently of me now," said Zazulak, a full-time ironworker. "People will probably say he's older and past his prime, but no he's not. He's Shonie Carter (Pictures). He has experience. The better man won tonight."
Ryan Ford added to his impressive resume with a second round TKO victory over Mike Sorensen.
Ford exploded out of the blocks and connected on three big slams in the first round. While on top, he controlled his opponent nicely. After returning to their feet each time, he also connected with a nice array of punches and strikes, especially knees in the clinch.
In the second round, Ford scored with a big uppercut to open the round and followed with a trip takedown. From there, he moved to mount and rained down punches until Herb Dean (Pictures) stopped the fight 51 seconds into round two. The victory earned Ford knockout of the night honors for the second consecutive MFC event.
"He was lucky to get out of the first," said Ford, who moved his record to 4-0. "I knew he wanted to stand. I can stand too, but he was too easy to take down. So I threw a left and a right and then took him down."
Ford is one of the rising stars of the MFC and has been compared to a young Quinton Jackson (Pictures). His explosive standup and big slams are eerily similar to that of the current UFC light heavyweight champion.
"Everybody knows I am the real deal," he said. "Everybody. All I got to say is, Who's next?"
Ford danced down the aisle during his entrance, and in the near future he will be watching his new fiancée walk down the aisle at their wedding. He popped the question to his girlfriend, Nina, at the post-fight news conference and was ecstatic to receive a yes.
Edmonton-based prospect Ryan Heck kept his undefeated record intact against Albuquerque's Donald Sanchez (Pictures).
Heck won a unanimous decision to run his record to 5-0. He opened the fight strong by taking Sanchez to the mat and patiently picking his shots. Most of the round was spent with Heck on top, choosing his strikes. Sanchez tried an array of flying knees and superman punches, but none landed effectively in the first.
The second round began the same way with Heck getting the takedown after a Sanchez flying knee attempt. On top of throwing shots, Heck slapped on a deep armbar that Sanchez had to work hard to escape.
The last minute of the round, however, was the turning point. After being stood, Sanchez landed as the round came to a close and as Heck began to show signs of fatigue.
The third round was all Sanchez, who took advantage of a tiring Heck. Heck shot in but left his neck exposed and got caught in a deep guillotine that had him gasping for air. Sanchez controlled the remainder of the round, landing strikes on the ground from back control.
When the bell rang, an exhausted Heck had his hand raised after all three judges had turned in 29-28 scorecards. Sherdog.com scored the bout 28-28, giving Sanchez a 10-8 third round.
With the victory, Heck apparently has booked his place for a title shot at MFC 15 in February.
Stjepan Vujnovic (Pictures) made the trek across the country to face MFC young gun Ryan McGillivray. The first round was a blood bath as McGillivray suffered multiple cuts that soaked both fighters in blood.
Vujnovic used his huge reach advantage to land first in the exchanges, and on the ground he used superior control to constantly improve position and land blows to the already damaged face of McGillivray. McGillivray, to his credit, survived the round despite being put in many compromising positions both on the feet and on the ground.
The second stanza saw McGillivray attempt a reverse triangle choke, but that was the only offense he could muster. Eventually Vujnovic, 5-0, wrapped his long legs around McGillivray, 5-2, in a triangle that choked him out cold.
"I like to strike, but submissions happen," said Vujnovic after the fight. "I'm glad I have a good ground game. He saw my armbar attempt coming and blocked it, so I had to switch to the triangle choke."
The victory earned Vujnovic the submission of the night.
In other action, Ryan Jimmo (Pictures) defeated first-timer Nick Goetz in just 44 seconds. Jimmo latched on a rear-naked choke while on the feet, and Goetz tapped when he went to the ground.
Ray Penny got off to a slow start, but he eventually turned it on and defeated Dwayne Lewis via unanimous decision. Lewis won the first round on the ground but started to fade in the second. Penny then controlled the ground game for rounds two and three.
For the second MFC show in a row, Jason Kuchera needed less than 30 seconds to defeat his opponent. This time it took him just 23 seconds to beat David Lainoff via TKO.
Featherweights Dan Ferguson and Josh Kyretjo had a very entertaining fight that ended with Ferguson catching Kyretjo in a guillotine choke 2:51 into the first. Ferguson looked very smooth in both the clinch and on the ground.
Sean Wright defeated Dave Logan in impressive fashion. Landing big knees and kicks right off the start, Wright then sunk in a guillotine choke that put Logan to sleep and forced the referee to stop the bout in 42 seconds.
Gavin Neal, in his professional debut, defeated Jason Zorthian by holding onto a triangle choke despite Zorthian's attempts at slamming his way out of it. Zorthian eventually tapped to the hold 2:20 into the first.
Jason Biggeman and Kevin Dolan had the most entertaining fight of the night in a wild slugfest that left Dolan's blood all over this reporter's pants. Both guys were swinging for the fences, and in the end Biggeman landed the final blow at 4:21 of the first.
Opening the evening, Tory Sorenson defeated Randy Valette via armbar at 2:33 of the second round.
Sometimes when you play high stakes, you win big.
Advertisement
On paper, it was a mismatch in Carter's favor. In the ring, it was a mismatch in Zazulak's.
Right from the start, Zazulak took the fight to the more
experienced Carter. Getting top position early, he controlled
Carter while methodically placing his shots.
Carter's right arm was injured sometime in the initial exchange, and after a break in the action, he was hesitant to resume but eventually did so. Again, Zazulak took top position and picked his shots, which were accurate, albeit not very powerful.
After a second rope break, Carter kneeled on the mat and had referee Herb Dean (Pictures) stop the fight as a result of his arm injury. The sold-out crowd at the River Cree Resort and Casino exploded as Zazulak raised his arms in victory at the 2:09 mark of round one.
"I didn't have a game plan going in," said Zazulak, who moved to 3-0 with the victory. "He's so unorthodox he's hard to train for. I figured I'd touch gloves and go from there. I quickly realized I was stronger than him in the clinch and that gave me more mental confidence early in the fight. From there, I just pounded on him."
The exact injury to Carter, 38-18-7-1, and when it happened is unclear. Even Zazulak was not sure when or how the injury happened. Initially it looked as if Carter was favoring his shoulder. His arm hung limply at his side after the fight, but additional reports suggested he might have broken a bone in his arm.
Carter was quickly hustled out of the ring after the fight by the doctors and taken for treatment without speaking to the media.
"I hope people think differently of me now," said Zazulak, a full-time ironworker. "People will probably say he's older and past his prime, but no he's not. He's Shonie Carter (Pictures). He has experience. The better man won tonight."
Ryan Ford added to his impressive resume with a second round TKO victory over Mike Sorensen.
Ford exploded out of the blocks and connected on three big slams in the first round. While on top, he controlled his opponent nicely. After returning to their feet each time, he also connected with a nice array of punches and strikes, especially knees in the clinch.
In the second round, Ford scored with a big uppercut to open the round and followed with a trip takedown. From there, he moved to mount and rained down punches until Herb Dean (Pictures) stopped the fight 51 seconds into round two. The victory earned Ford knockout of the night honors for the second consecutive MFC event.
"He was lucky to get out of the first," said Ford, who moved his record to 4-0. "I knew he wanted to stand. I can stand too, but he was too easy to take down. So I threw a left and a right and then took him down."
Ford is one of the rising stars of the MFC and has been compared to a young Quinton Jackson (Pictures). His explosive standup and big slams are eerily similar to that of the current UFC light heavyweight champion.
"Everybody knows I am the real deal," he said. "Everybody. All I got to say is, Who's next?"
Ford danced down the aisle during his entrance, and in the near future he will be watching his new fiancée walk down the aisle at their wedding. He popped the question to his girlfriend, Nina, at the post-fight news conference and was ecstatic to receive a yes.
Edmonton-based prospect Ryan Heck kept his undefeated record intact against Albuquerque's Donald Sanchez (Pictures).
Heck won a unanimous decision to run his record to 5-0. He opened the fight strong by taking Sanchez to the mat and patiently picking his shots. Most of the round was spent with Heck on top, choosing his strikes. Sanchez tried an array of flying knees and superman punches, but none landed effectively in the first.
The second round began the same way with Heck getting the takedown after a Sanchez flying knee attempt. On top of throwing shots, Heck slapped on a deep armbar that Sanchez had to work hard to escape.
The last minute of the round, however, was the turning point. After being stood, Sanchez landed as the round came to a close and as Heck began to show signs of fatigue.
The third round was all Sanchez, who took advantage of a tiring Heck. Heck shot in but left his neck exposed and got caught in a deep guillotine that had him gasping for air. Sanchez controlled the remainder of the round, landing strikes on the ground from back control.
When the bell rang, an exhausted Heck had his hand raised after all three judges had turned in 29-28 scorecards. Sherdog.com scored the bout 28-28, giving Sanchez a 10-8 third round.
With the victory, Heck apparently has booked his place for a title shot at MFC 15 in February.
Stjepan Vujnovic (Pictures) made the trek across the country to face MFC young gun Ryan McGillivray. The first round was a blood bath as McGillivray suffered multiple cuts that soaked both fighters in blood.
Vujnovic used his huge reach advantage to land first in the exchanges, and on the ground he used superior control to constantly improve position and land blows to the already damaged face of McGillivray. McGillivray, to his credit, survived the round despite being put in many compromising positions both on the feet and on the ground.
The second stanza saw McGillivray attempt a reverse triangle choke, but that was the only offense he could muster. Eventually Vujnovic, 5-0, wrapped his long legs around McGillivray, 5-2, in a triangle that choked him out cold.
"I like to strike, but submissions happen," said Vujnovic after the fight. "I'm glad I have a good ground game. He saw my armbar attempt coming and blocked it, so I had to switch to the triangle choke."
The victory earned Vujnovic the submission of the night.
In other action, Ryan Jimmo (Pictures) defeated first-timer Nick Goetz in just 44 seconds. Jimmo latched on a rear-naked choke while on the feet, and Goetz tapped when he went to the ground.
Ray Penny got off to a slow start, but he eventually turned it on and defeated Dwayne Lewis via unanimous decision. Lewis won the first round on the ground but started to fade in the second. Penny then controlled the ground game for rounds two and three.
For the second MFC show in a row, Jason Kuchera needed less than 30 seconds to defeat his opponent. This time it took him just 23 seconds to beat David Lainoff via TKO.
Featherweights Dan Ferguson and Josh Kyretjo had a very entertaining fight that ended with Ferguson catching Kyretjo in a guillotine choke 2:51 into the first. Ferguson looked very smooth in both the clinch and on the ground.
Sean Wright defeated Dave Logan in impressive fashion. Landing big knees and kicks right off the start, Wright then sunk in a guillotine choke that put Logan to sleep and forced the referee to stop the bout in 42 seconds.
Gavin Neal, in his professional debut, defeated Jason Zorthian by holding onto a triangle choke despite Zorthian's attempts at slamming his way out of it. Zorthian eventually tapped to the hold 2:20 into the first.
Jason Biggeman and Kevin Dolan had the most entertaining fight of the night in a wild slugfest that left Dolan's blood all over this reporter's pants. Both guys were swinging for the fences, and in the end Biggeman landed the final blow at 4:21 of the first.
Opening the evening, Tory Sorenson defeated Randy Valette via armbar at 2:33 of the second round.
Related Articles
