November 4, 2016
Dereck Gauthier defeats Chris Horodecki by knock out at TKO 36
An exciting night of fights concluded with local favorite Dereck Gauthier knocking out Chris Holodecki just thirty-five seconds into the fight.
Back for its second night of fights since the return of the famed TKO mixed martial arts events, and what an absolutely entertaining evening it was. Named “Rivals” due to the bad blood that developed between Jonathan Vallee and Stranhinja Gavrilovic, where Gavrilovic appeared to bite Vallee on the nose during the fight announcements, and living up to the moniker every bit. In fact, the drama that unfolded at the conclusion of the evening, couldn’t have defined the words “bad blood” any better.
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Lasting just fifty-nine seconds, due to Gavrilovic finding flaw in Vallee’s defense, and slamming him with a viscous right hand that sent him sprawling to the canvas where Vallee was obviously unconscious, Gravrilovic continued to strike despite verbal instruction to stop from referee Phillippe Chartier. With four violent blows to the knocked out Vallee’s head, Chartier dove in, grappling Gravrilovic around the neck, pulling the fighters apart just in time to prevent a fifth blow from landing.
Amidst a sea of booing, a visibly emotional Gravrilovic was kept in the corner, where several people came to speak to him. As Vallee recovered, Gravrilovic continued to pace the cage like a prowling lion, and then it was announced that Vallee had emerged the victor of the bout to disqualification due to unsportsmanlike conduct. What should have been a clear cut, beautiful knockout win, wound up being one of the more oddball outcomes imaginable.
The entire night was a thing of beauty. While most bouts where entertaining, several stuck out. Such as Charles Jourdain’s second round submission victory over Marc-Antoine Lidji. This, too, was a fight that began with words and a shove from Lidji dating back to a previous Jourdain fight. In the first round, Jourdain looked to be slightly ahead, from a flurry of fists and a good guillotine choke attempt. Round two began with an impressive spinning kick, followed by a spectacular jumping kick, then several good punches and a take down. Once on the ground, Jourdain attempted to end the fight with a triangle choke before setting in a deep rear naked choke, causing Lidji to tape out.
Fan favorite Lindsay Garbatt, who fight of the night honors at TKO 36, took on Belgium’s Griet Eeckhout. Garbatt started strong, earning a take down. Eeckhout in turn attempted a guillotine choke, before Garbatt found her way back on top, landing viscous elbows. It looked as if Lindsay Garbatt was beginning to take control of the fight when she slipped, giving Eeckhout the chance to take her back and slip in a choke. Refusing to tap, Garbatt’s arms went limp and slipped into unconsciousness, giving Eeckhout the victory and possibly the upset of the night.
A little more drama came at the climax of the TJ Laramie versus Damien Peltier fight. In quite a scrappy match up, where both men seemed content to stand and strike, it seemed to be Laramie that took control in the early going. Laramie took local lad Peltier to the ground, trying a foiled guillotine attempt, but landing several good blows via some nice ground and pound. Round two began match in the same way as the first ended, with Laramie again scoring a take down and delivering some ground and pound and attempting a choke, but Peltier defended well, and gets back to his feet despite being cut. With blood dripping from the face of Peltier, Laramie lands a vicious knee to the head, that may or not have been an illegal knee due to Peltier being a downed opponent. The outcome would be a TKO victory for Laramie, who was dominant throughout the bout.
The outcome of the Vallee versus Gravrilovic main event, could very well lead to a rematch and further bad blood for a TKO event to come. Before that though, will be TKO 38 on April 7th, featuring former UFC pugilist Jesse Ronson squaring off against Derek Gauthier, as well as a co-main event that was originally scheduled for TKO 37, with Brazil’s Maiquel Falcao, formerly a UFC and Bellator fighter, facing off against Todd Stoute. Most definitely a card that is not to be missed, and a career highlight for Gauthier.
