The MMA Clinic trained Mitch Martin kept his unblemished record intact with a first round submission over title challenger Kairin Moses, in the process defending his bantamweight title for a fourth time.
The bout, which Moses came into heavy after missing the bantamweight limit, headlined Eternal 41 which took place at the HBF Stadium in Perth last night.
Fighting in front of his home-crowd, Martin pressured early as the two traded punches in the centre of the cage. Martin looked for a takedown but it was defended well by Moses who momentarily ended up on the canvas before popping straight back up. Martin flurried with punches which put his opponent on the back foot. Moses tried to counter back and connected a solid left hook. Martin shot in for a takedown successfully and ended in Moses’ guard. The Queensland based fighter found space to kick off and the two ended up standing again. Martin again secured a single leg takedown and this time he was able transition to mount. He unloaded with strikes from the top and when Moses turned, he was able to take the back and secure the arm under the neck to force the tap.
The end came 4:48 into the contest as Martin moved his professional record to 7-0. Moses drops to 5-3 as a pro. While Moses was unable to capture the title due to missing weight, Martin was credited with a title defence for winning and making the contracted weight.
In the co-main event, Daniel Jones moved to 7-0 as a pro with the biggest win of his career, edging Brazilian MMA veteran Rodolfo Marques via majority decision.
The bout started slowly as both calculated their next move as they eased into the fight. With just over a minute remaining in the opening round, Marques missed with a jumping knee before following up with a smashing right that dropped Jones. The Southcity Combat Sports Academy trained fighter looked all but gone but came immediately to attempting to roll out. Marques took the back but was unable to finish the fight as Jones escaped and saw out the round.
Dan Jones survived this knockdown, had his back taken by a BJJ Black Belt, only to come back an edge a majority decision victory at #Eternal41.
Event recap: https://t.co/yw2JYhUYxM pic.twitter.com/SEbBvqoPaK
— Fight News Australia (@fightnewsaus) March 3, 2019
The second round again started slow tempo with both cautiously throwing singular strikes from the outside. Midway through the round, Marques signaled an eye poke following an exchange and the Australian based Brazilian immediately shot in for a single leg takedown as Jones looked to punish his opponent with short strikes while trying to avoid being taken down at the same time. They separated and started to throw heavy punches as Marques again shot in for a takedown. Jones sprawled and made his opponent pay with heavy punches before getting rocked by a counter from Marques. In the final seconds of the round, Jones again successfully defended a takedown.
The Brazilian came very close with a takedown in the opening part of the last round with Jones impressively sprawling and using his hips not to get take down. Jones connected with a left as the disengaged and the undefeated fighter immediately pressured, unloading punches. Marques shot in before pulling guard. Jones continued to flurry which forced Marques to stand. Marques attacked with a standing kimura and Jones slammed his opponent to the ground and landed further shots as Marques hung on to a singe leg. It was all Jones by this stage as he became the aggressor and getting a late takedown to secure the round.
A close technical fight with both fighters raising their hands when the final bell went. Ultimately the judges awarded Jones the win, 30-26, 28-29 and 29-28.
Earlier on the card, Stephen Erceg earned a first round submission over Mark Familari securing a rear-naked choke submission while Blake Sheppeard earned a TKO stoppage early in the second round against Dishon Ravnindran.
Results (Pro):
- Mitch Martin def. Kairin Moses via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 1, 4:48
- Daniel Jones def. Rodolfo Marques via Decision (Majority)
- Stephen Erceg def. Mark Familari via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 1, 4:15
- Blake Sheppeard def. Dishon Ravindran via TKO, Rd 2, 0:19
Results (Amateur):
- Tala Peau def. Marcus Carney via TKO, Rd 1, 1:01
- Frank Jankowski def. Harv Mohar via Decision (Unanimous)
- Cody Haddon def. Nav Hassanzada via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 3, 1:53
- Ryan Witherington def. Quilland Salkid via Decision (Unanimous)
- Liam Hoskins def. Gabe Wong via Submission (D’Arce Choke), Rd 2, 0:17
- Pablo Torrealba def. Ernest Minas via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 1, 1:37
- Abdallah Eltigani def. Shannon Staples via Decision (Unanimous)
- Darcy Edmeades def. Stefan Pietropaolo via Submission (Armbar), Rd 1, 2:18
- Zach Platt def. Cody Fitzgerald via TKO (Strikes), Rd 1, 2:28
- Ryan Brennan def. Kees Voerhuis via Decision (Unanimous)
- Tom Funke def. Corey Amato via TKO (Punches), Rd 3, 1:42
- Brian McGrath def. Richard Eichorn via TKO (Injury), Rd 1, 1:50
- Bev Chia def. Sean Boyd via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) Rd 3, 2:14
- Courtney Martin def. Rhiannon Rhymer via Decision (Unanimous)
- Charlie Macgleave def. Jordan Christie via TKO (Punches), Rd 2, 0:42
- Stefan Licastro def. Mark Kong via Decision (Unanimous)
Eternal MMA 39: Brentin Mumford stops Rob Hill in second; Tobin & Wall victorious
