March Badness Results: Monson Tops Nelson, Lashley Defeats Guida
Jeff Monson
Veteran heavyweight Jeff Monson topped IFL and EliteXC veteran Roy Nelson via controversial unanimous decision in the MMA main event of Square Ring Promotion’s “March Badness” at the Pensacola Civic Arena in Pensacola, Florida.
Nelson controlled the pace of the fight and was dominant on the ground throughout, leading commentator Seth Petruzelli and most observers to score the fight in favor of “Big Country”. However, Monson’s more effective striking stole the second and third rounds on the judge’s scorecards, allowing him to walk away the winner with triple 29-28 scores. Monson is now 28-8 with four-straight victories while Nelson falls to 13-4.
“I wanted to go on the ground,” Monson commented. “I kept right with him. It was a big win. Roy’s a tough guy.”
“I got robbed,” said Nelson after the contest. “It was a boring fight on the ground, but I was controlling the fight and that usually determines the winner. Only in Florida does Roy get robbed (referring to his controversial loss to Andrei Arlovski last year in EliteXC).”
In the anticipated co-headliner, heavyweight Bobby Lashley looked like the inexperienced mixed martial artist that he is, using his unpolished, wrestling-influenced game to smother and pressure Jason Guida for three full rounds, doing just enough in each to pick up a unanimous decision with 30-27 scores across the board. Despite all the pre-fight hype and predictions of an easy victory, Lashley showed he still has a long way to go before potentially jumping up to the big leagues and joining fellow former professional wrestler Brock Lesnar in the UFC. Lashley’s inability to finish Guida despite landing several big punches and combinations almost cost him the fight, as he nearly fell victim to a deep guillotine choke in the final frame before escaping. Lashley improves his record to 2-0 with the victory while Guida falls to 17-20 with the short-notice loss.
“He had (the guillotine) on tight and deep,” Lashley remarked. “But I held on and got out. I didn’t use all of my wrestling skills. This is a sport where we’re gentleman and fighters. His talk got to me a little but my corner helped me keep my mind strong. I’m going right back to the training room.”
In other main card MMA action, Din Thomas defeated Gabe Lemley via first-round knockout with a string of punches and a knee to the face while Dennis Hallman picked up a win over Danny Ruiz with a submission midway through the opening round.
“I set him up with my punches. I had a lot of fun here; I love Pensacola,” said Thomas. “Boxing is a major part of MMA and was glad to be part of this. I took advantage of my experience. I can fight in a cage, ring or parking lot – I don’t care…About that whole Chris Brown-Rihanna situation, it’s not cool to put your hands on a lady. So Rihanna, if you need someone to help you, I’ll kick his ass!”
“I guess the layoff didn’t hurt,” Hallman said after the fight. “It took a few seconds for me to get going, but once he hit me I knew I was in a fight and got going.”
On the boxing portion of the hybrid card, Roy Jones Jr. battered Omar Sheika to earn a fifth-round TKO in the evening’s main event while BJ Flores topped Jose Luis Herrera via unanimous decision in the boxing co-headliner.
The event’s official results were:
MMA RESULTS
- Jeff Monson def. Roy Nelson via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Bobby Lashley def. Jason Guida via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Din Thomas def. Gabe Lemley via TKO (strikes) — Round 1, 4:13
- Dennis Hallman def. Danny Ruiz via submission (rear naked choke) — Round 1, 1:50
- James Freeman def. John Mowry via knockout (punch) — Round 1, 2:38
BOXING RESULTS
- Roy Jones Jr. def. Omar Sheika via TKO — Round 5, 1:45
- B.J. Flores def. Jose Luis Herrera via unanimous decision (98-92, 99-91, 99-91)
- Eric Clinton def. Richmond Dalphone via unanimous decision (38-37, 38-37, 38-37)
- Kieyon Bussey def. Robert DaLuz via majority decision (57-57, 58-56, 58-56)
- Kelvin Price def. Kevin Howard via majority decision (57-57, 58-56, 59-55)
Tags: Bobby Lashley, Danny Ruiz, Dennis Hallman, Din Thomas, gabe lemley, James Freeman, Jason Guida, Jeff Monson, John Mowry, Roy Nelson
Loading ...
GO BOBBY GO!!!!
Ok well, where to start? Lashley looks, um ok hell it was only his second fight and he is 2~0 (respectful,eager to train and learn, knows he needs to improve) and I’m pulling for the guy to make progress in MMA, he definatley needs to work on his striking….
Nelson v Monson, will someone please explain to me how Monson won that fight? Ya the judges scored it for him hahahaha but seriously if you saw the fight (the barnburner that wasn’t) how in the world did Monson walk away with the decision?
Din had a great knee
Boxing fans and MMA fans don’t mix well, and the fact that the MMA fights were held in a boxing ring with loose ropes and the matches were ref’d by a boxing ref? really, I mean really? lets have a hockey ref, judge a ice skating performance i dunno
Also how did Jones Jr “(t)ko” what his nuts? Whats his nuts wasn’t taking “too much” damage, and how did Jones Jr win a LHW title? how was whats his nuts a Champ to start with, the night was (for me) filled with pleanty of questions and honestly I was slightly confused by what I saw in both the boxing and MMA decisions and the fact that boxing and MMA go together like China and democracy….
O and almost forgot the quote of the night was by one of the commentators
Colonel Bob Sheridan ” That’s what professional boxing is all about, making money”
just thought I would throw that in there, It stuck out like SARS so I thought I would mention it….
not so good eh well when u got the failure to launch guida brother and a guy whos only had 2 pro fights as ur main event wat more do u expect. as for roy jones jr im no boxing expert or for that matter much of a fan but didnt jones jr lose his last fight against calzaghi or wateva his name is. so u lose and get a title shot in boxin this is the norm?
Big country just cant catch a break can he……..Some things i hated about last night
1.) hybrid cards arent good!-i totally agree with dana white, its two different crowds…yes i like both but not all the fans in attendance did
2.) boxing refs cant ref an mma fight-there where so many times in some of the fights that nothing was happening on the ground they just layed there and the ref should have stood them up-nelson/monson and lashley/guida had alot of laynpray and needed stood up
3.) the commentators suck!….boxing commentators really tried to take a shot at mma last night…am i the only one who heard stuff like-”boxing is just so much more technical” and “the mma fans in the crowd just doesnt like technical fights,there used to non stop action thats why there booing”
4.) I promise i will never watch a hybrid card ever..it sucked the high light of my night last night was din thomas’s ko with a as the boxing commentaters said “a moooe thai knee” and those vanilla wafers i ate during it.
5.) Now to lashley!….umm what can i say he looked horrible- his striking sucked he tried to throw power in every shot, he never threw a leg kick the whole fight….he had trouble using his wrestling, he looked like he didnt want to shoot for a leg on guida because he probably thought he would get caught…..I mean did almost get guillotined…but what can you expect in the guys second fight…well pretty much his first fight, his first fight lasted what 30 seconds and ended by cut, for me IMO lashley needs to leave ATT…Now dont roast me for this but, i really believe lashley needs a new team any of the following will work- Greg jacksons, xtreme couture, or MFS…..why these three well because these three camps know how to turn a wrestler into an mma fighter better than any other camps…..any of these three-XC,Gregs, or MFS could turn lashley into a star in under a year…..ATT is a great camp but they just dont know how to turn a wrestler into an mma superstar or if lashley feels better I really wouldnt think it would be bad to train in minnesota with lesnar for a bit, maybe gets some advice on how to turn from fake wrestler to real mma fighter from the master
I agree with the ATT asessment Gun. ATT is more for strikers and bjj guys. Now if he was at AKA or Jackson they would mold the pure wrestler into an MMA machine.
I agree with you too gun about Lashly.
He needs to go to XC, Or Greg Jacksons camp.
It was only his 2nd fight though and he does have a ton of potential..
Yeah the audience for boxing and mma wont mix, I love boxing and grew up boxing and I love and grew up in mma too. But the two are as different as soccer and football.
And for people who dont appreciate all aspects of mma they only get bored and start boo’ing and that is so fustrating when your sitting there enjoying the fight as a whole.
Ohh and the refer’ing I mean come on, the judges are already horrible now the refer’ing tooo.
sorry bout spelling trying to lift weight and type with workout gloves on and watch 4 yr old kid.!!
cheers
onlytrue1 i am so jealous of your awesome multi tasking lol
lashley looked bad, but it was his second fight, he just needs a better camp. Why the hell is Petruzelli a commentator? just because he beat kimbo, he now has experience? wtf is that crap. thats like putting a guy that has one of his 5 fights in the ufc as a commentator. makes no damn sense. either you were a good fighter, or you have some knowledge of the sport to be up there. destroying kimbo and proving he isnt a legit mixed martial artist does not give you the right to commentate. I have the same issue with tito doing his thing for affliction. might as well have some japenese pride referees up there. I might learn more from them.
good to point that quote out fr. I believe thats all boxing is about now. why does de la hoya make 20 mil a fight when he is a average boxer at best? he has been destroyed his last 4 fights. I used to like boxing but once the guys started making more than a mil they lost their pride. What I think should be done is this. do not pay the boxers until after their fight, and they should get paid based on their effort. if they were just hugging the other guy and not doing anything they get paid 1% of their total purse. maybe that will make the boxers try harder. just a thought.
Not to nit pick but Oscar has won 2 out of his last 4 fights and he makes about 35 mil for each fight. lol, But the reason being is because he OWNS his own promotion company which generates at least 80 mil for each of his fights. Thats why he makes so much. And im sure Tito has earned commentating rights in WHATEVER promotion he works for. His fight resume is pretty decorated. Just my fair opinion.
Terrible, terrible, terrible. I am so glad I got called into work last night and didn’t have to sit around and explain to all my friends why they should pitch in for this subpar ppv. Lashley plain out sucks. Yeah he’s huge and has phenomenal wrestling skills, but that’s it. You think for dude that big he could throw some big punches. And Guida? Well, good thing he’s got a little bro to help with the family name (and it’s only a little help, as Sanchez will prove). Big Country got ROBBED…..AGAIN. Anyone notice that when he fights the big names, he get screwed, ALWAYS. I wouldn’t mind seeing him get a crack in the UFC. Yeah, the only shape he’s in is ROUND, but this guy can fight. And the boxing…..Oh God. Just, wrong. Yeah, I streamed the fights late last night, but I just can’t get into boxing, live or not. (Although Pacquiao is a fun boxer to watch). Quite possibly the worst PPV ever.
Very Lackluster Card although I do see potential in Lashley, for him theres only one way he can go….and thats up.
*sidenote* I just wanted to say that I appreciate Justins opinions, they are always very well put together and always have a viable point.
Thanks for that. Even though I didn’t comment on this thread (I did write the editorial I assume you read.)
I think Lashley should take up the offer Dana gave Kimbo…put Lashley on the next TUF. Makes sense to me. He’d be fighting guys at the same level and it would be great for his career and the show.
Ya, until he loses in a qualifying match to enter the show. lol.
I wonder if weil see Thomas in the WEC if he plans on staying at 145?