It took John Kuhne only 13-seconds to dispatch of Jordan Rolender in the main event of Eternal 55 on Saturday night.
The CMBT gym trained fighter went on the front foot from the outset and landed with a pair of strikes that sent Rolender against the cage. The strikes continued from Kuhne as Rolender fell and covered up on the canvas. Kuhne landed three further strikes called an end to the contest.
A quick night in the office for Kuhne in his professional debut.
“It wasn’t the gameplan,” Kuhne told the crowd in his post-fight speech.
“I wanted to get a bit of fight time together. A bit more experience for when I’m moving up the ranks but I beat my record.”
Kuhne had competed in the Eternal amateur ranks previously where he secured a pair of first-round stoppages at 32-seconds and 38-seconds.
BJJ Black Belt Rod Costa stepped up on less than 48-hours notice, which included a five-hour flight across the country. The gamble paid off as Costa walked away with a heel-hook submission victory against Rafael Vilches.
Costa stayed composed in the opening period of the bout as he waited for the takedown to open up. That came two-minutes in as he immediately went to work, attacking with leg submissions. Costa moved it to the outside where he locked up the heel-hook, forcing Vilches to tap in frustration 2:45 into the bout.
Costa moves his professional record to 2-2 while Vilches drops to 1-1.
Also on the main card, 21-year-old youngster Colby Thicknesse, who trains under the Freestyle Fight Gym, dropped his opponent Shaun Johnson with a big overhand right before securing the rear-naked choke submission while Toby Meech bounced back from his loss at Eternal 54, to drop back to his normal weight of bantamweight and he overcame a tough first round to stop James Sargison in the second stanza.
Results (Pro):
- Josh Kuhne def. Jordan Rolender via TKO (Punches), Rd 1, 0:13
- Rod Costa def. Rafael Vilches via Submission (Heel-Hook), Rd 1, 2:45
- Colby Thicknesse def. Shaun Johnson via Technical Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 1, 4:54
- Toby Meech def. James Sargison via TKO (Punches), Rd 2, 1:40
Results (Amateur):
- Corey Lynch def. Boston Caines via KO (Punches), Rd 1, 0:23
- Nelson Ampuero def. Jonathan Diaz via Decision (Unanimous)
- Laurence Whitesmith def. Keelan Biltoft via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 2, 2:50
Eternal MMA 54: Dimps Gillies KO’s Blake Donnelly in 47-seconds
Eternal 53: Jack Della retains title in brutal knockout victory over Aldin Bates
