South Australian promotion Diamondback Fighting Championships made an impactful return for its second installment, which took place at the Adelaide Oval in front of a packed and vocal crowd on Friday night.
The event was streamed live on Combat Sports Media Platform FITE.TV. You can find the full replay here.
In the main-event, hometown middleweight Shane Mitchell of Cardio-Flex was able to grind away a tough decision victory over Sydney based Australian Top Team fighter Brandon Ropati.
Ropati had some trouble finding his mark throughout most of the contest in the stand up and initially faulted in his takedowns. The Sydney based Kiwi did demonstrate powerful strikes, but was unable to connect cleanly on his counterpart for the most part. When the fight was brought down to the mat, Ropati initiated and was active in his submission attempts from the ground, however Mitchell was able to defend well. Ropati came back strong in the last round connecting heavily with a flurry of strikes, forcing Mitchell down to the canvas. Ropati attacked with ground and pound and was in a dominant position for a large portion of the round, until Mitchell was able to slip out in the dying seconds and reciprocate with his own ground and pound.
Both combatants took a patient, calculated approach to the match and it was back and forth. Overall Mitchell connected with cleaner strikes and was able to control his opponent on the mat, while also being active in his ground and pound attack, these were Mitchell’s keys to earning the victory.
With the win, Mitchell now takes his professional record to 9-3 and continues to add to a three fight win streak. Ropati drops to 8-2 with the loss.
In the co-main event, Adelaide based middleweights Jasper Dunphy and Matt Dockrill put on great performances, but the bout was unfortunately put to an early halt due to an accidental up-kick by Dockrill on a grounded Dunphy in round three. As a result of the disqualification, the win was awarded to Dunphy.
Before the disqualification, the fight was primarily fought on the the ground with Dunphy clearly showing an advantage in his wrestling, size and strength. Dockrill was more active from his back and attacked aggressively with leg-lock attempts throughout the contest.
Results (Pro):
- Shane Mitchell def. Brandon Ropati via Decision (Unanimous)
- Jasper Dunphy def. Matt Dockrill via DQ (Illegal Up Kick)
- Sam Jo Toetu def. Jarod Barke via Decision (Unanimous)
- Alan Hartley def. Michael Mannu via TKO (Punches), Rd 2, 2:00
- Jeremy Joiner def. Marcin Chalupa via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke)
- Dan Currie def. Josh Frank via Submission (Guillotine Choke)
- Lachlan Dart def. Goran Olujic via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke)
Results (Amateur):
- Harry Gabrielson def. Kyle Bloksgaard via TKO (Punches), Rd 3, 1:53
- Alish Smith def. Alex Wellington via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 1, 1:49
- Sam Williams def. Dean Morris via TKO (Ground and Pound), Rd 2, 0:55
- Matty Kerr def. Brad Walley Via Submission (Arm-Bar), Rd 2, 2:02
- Jay Mavromihalis def. Tom Terry via TKO, Rd 2
https://www.fightnewsaustralia.com/diamondback-fighting-championships-2-live-stream/
