Adrenaline MMA athlete Mat Myers silenced the crowd on Saturday night as he captured the Coastal Combat welterweight strap with a stoppage of hometown fighter Ty Duncan at Coastal Combat 9.
Myers made his opponent know early that he wouldn’t be touching gloves after the initial pre-fight referee talk. As the fight started, the Victorian came in with a step-in elbow however Duncan worked in and took the fight to the ground. There he attacked with a pair of tight guillotines, which Myers did well to squeeze out of including getting a takedown of his own from the second guillotine. There he landed some short strikes from inside the guard before Duncan escaped to his feet.
Myers lands another step-in elbow, right cross that rocked Duncan. The barrage quickly came in and Myers landed heavy knees and a left dropped Duncan.
The referee immediately halted the fight to give Myers the win.
“His guillotine was wicked. He really cranked it on,” Myers said in his post-fight speech.
“I said from the start, that ‘Ty was a very opportunistic grappler.’ He is a tough opponent but I would say his guillotines were very close.
“He [Ty Duncan] is a hard opponent to figure out. His Jiu-Jitsu is very dangerous. My game plan is definitely to stand and strike with these guys. I want to knock people out.
“I want to be known as putting tough guys like Ty away.”
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The 25-year-old moves his record to 3-1 while Duncan drops to 5-3.
The semi-main event had two experienced interstate grapplers compete in a lightweight bout as newly awarded BJJ Black Belt, Aidan Aguilera went down the returning Jack Becker.
Becker made his intentions known early, pressing the action against the cage where he looked for a takedown. It wasn’t until the final 45-second when Becker successfully got his hands around Aguilera’s back, picked him up and slammed him into the centre of the cage however finished the round defending an omoplata from Aguilera.
Becker, fighting out of Western Australia, got the fight to the ground early in the second round but with the experience between the two on the ground, neither fighter gave the other, much of an opportunity to be active, throwing the occasional elbows while trying to transition. Aguilera got opened up with an elbow inside the guard and finished the round throwing heavy up-kicks that found their mark.
Aguilera needed a stoppage or a very dominant round to stand a chance in taking the contest as we entered the third round. An early low kick from Becker hit between the legs as the bout paused momentarily to allow Aguilera to recover. Once it recommenced, Becker closed the distance and straight away took the fight to the ground. Aguilera worked some space to escape, transitioned to a takedown of his own as he picked Becker up, scrambled across the cage to slam his opponent on the other side of the contest area. Becker immediately stood back to his feet and press against the cage, with the double under-hooks making it hard for Aguilera to defend. Aguilera attacked with a guillotine late in the fight but Becker was having none of it and passed to side control just before the buzzer ended the contest.
The decision was unanimous as Beckers returned from a nearly three-year hiatus, to claim the unanimous decision nod.
In the first pro-fight on the night, Gregory Hearne from Cardio Flex scored what too many was a bit upset, as he stopped Wade Sclater in the second round. Sclater, returning to the cage after a long near decade-long lay-off, started aggressively and had Hearne rocked in the opening seconds. Hearne, who was coming down from heavyweight to light-heavyweight for this contest, took the barrage and managed to turn the tide by the midway portion of the first round. He pressed Sclater against the cage and landed short knees for the remainder of the round
In the second round, the two both threw a leg-kick which tripped Sclater to the canvas. Hearne followed with heavy strikes from above and with Sclater not looking to improve his position, the referee stepped in to halt the contest.
The official time came 39-seconds into the second round.
The event took place at the Nambour Showgrounds on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
