Shindo New Breed trained Darcy Vendy submitted Jacob Holyman-Tague to claim the vacant Reign middleweight title on Saturday night.
The event took place at the Mansfield Tavern in Queensland, Australia
The fighters immediately clinched and a large portion of the first round was spent with the fighters battling for under-hooks against the cage in between quick flurries from both.
Holyman-Tague landed a strong left to start the second and he followed that up with a takedown which Vendy was able to almost immediately get back to his feet from. Standing, Vendy persisted and secured a takedown before transitioning to the back of his opponent half-way through the round. Vendy attempted to wrap his arms under his opponent’s neck and when that didn’t work, looked to open him with punches and elbows. Holyman-Tague freed himself however Vendy stayed in side-control.
Holyman-Tague got the early takedown in the third round but Vendy immediately countered with a kimura to reverse. Vendy passed to side-control where he again looked to lock up the kimura. This forced Holyman-Tague to give up his back, allowing Vendy to lock up the rear-naked choke submission for the win.
Vendy takes his professional record to 2-1, while Holyman-Tague drops his first professional bout.
In a lightweight battle between two fighters who were in need of a win, youngster Taela Kelly defeated David Butt via unanimous decision.
Training out of Southside MMA, Butt came out hard as Kelly looked to counter. The fighters spent a large part of the round battling against the cage with Kelly marginally getting the better of the wrestling exchange before an inadvertent low-blow halted the contest. Butt finished the round strong with punches and knees against the cage.
The grueling pace continued in the second round as Butt started on the front foot chasing his opponent around the cage, as Kelly looked to counter off the back foot. Butt landed a big right and finished the round off with a successful single leg takedown.
The pair acknowledged each other before the start of the third and final round where Butt again came out strong, looking to land with punches. With his veteran MMA father Sean Kelly in his corner, Taela caught a kick and took the fight to the ground. He went to work with ground-and-pound against the cage before giving space for Butt to get back up. Another ill-timed kick gave Kelly a big takedown and he quickly went to work inside side-control in the final seconds.
The three judges scored the bout to Kelly, 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27.
In amateur fights earlier in the night, Taela’s younger brother Quinlan Kelly was on the other side of a decision, losing to fellow 16-year-old Tye Wall while Corbin Robertson submitted Junior Mo via a rear-naked choke submission in the first round.
Fight Card (Pro):
- Darcy Vendy def. Jacob Holyman-Tague via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 3, 1:37 – Reign middleweight title
- Taela Kelly def. David Butt via Decision (Unanimous)
Fight Card (Amateur):
- Corbin Robertson def. Junior Mo via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 1, 2:37
- Tye Wall def. Quinlan Kelly via Decision (Unanimous)
- Marcus Galloway def. Sani Laititi via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 1, 1:26
- David Russell def. Matthew Yung Lee-Manwar via Submission (Head-Arm Triangle Choke), Rd 3, 0:42
- James Stroud def. Kieran Cronin via Decision (Unanimous)
- Hoani Selwin def. Hayder Khudhair via KO, Rd 3, 1:29
Reign Fighting 2: Vendy takes on Holyman-Tague in title fight
