Original Article

Craig Zimmerman’s MEZ Sports presented Smackdown at the Shrine in the venue’s Exhibition Hall on Thursday night featuring both boxing and MMA in coexistence. The main events were contested under MMA rules and featured bouts between Nick Reale (7-2) and Steve Magdaleno (6-1) while the final fight of the evening was contested by Aaron Miller (9-7) and Cory Grant (4-1). The boxing main event was held up by Damien Wills (19-2) and Billy Willis (12-17).

Aaron “The Bloodspiller” Miller came into his main event match with Cory Grant off of a fantastic performance in a victory over then-undefeated Vince Ortiz in which he exhibited great striking and an exciting style, paving the way for this opportunity. He would never get the chance to prove himself on the feet as Grant would answer his corner’s call to use his wrestling to outpoint a slippery opponent in Miller. He used some rarely seen grappling tactics to escape any danger that the takedowns posed, several times locking up submission attempts of his own including several rolling and heel hooks and armbars that were deftly evaded.

Grant, meanwhile, slammed miller to the mat several times and even tried some submissions of his own. It was his wrestling which won him the day despite landing little offense from the top except for a big flurry of ground and pound in the second and a heavy strike in the third. He scored a perfect 30-27 on all three of the judges’ scorecards and took out an extremely game opponent to rebound from his loss to Rumina Sato at Vale Tudo Japan in 2009.

Nick Reale exercised his wrestling en route to handing UFC light heavyweight Vladamir Matyushenko’s protégé his first loss. The affair was a wild exhibition of grappling prowess by both men but the takedowns and subsequent damage edge went to Reale. Magdaleno, however, locked in an armbar at the end of the third that was only survived as a result of the final bell. One judge saw the final round a 10-8 for Magdaleno, probably as a result of the near finish and adept grappling counters. However, the split was awarded to Reale who seems to be finding his stride and may creep into the larger shows later this year.

UFC superstar Quinton “Rampage” Jackson was sitting cageside for the first fight of the evening, witnessing Kenny McCorkell (7-2) continue dominating the low levels of the California fight scene, this time dispatching Ronald Lebreton Jr. (4-4) just before the end of the first 3 minute round, securing a triangle with relative ease at an official time of 2:59. “The Krusher” trains out of Empire Training Center and has finished his last 3 opponents, each in less than 3 minutes. Stay tuned for a special feature on this rising star in the coming weeks on MMARecap.

All of the evening’s bouts took place in a standard boxing ring with 3 minute rounds and “Big” John McCarthy served as the referee for the MMA contests. Tom Looney of “Best Damn Sports Show Period” fame held down the ring announcing duties in an event that was heavily sponsored by Toe2Toe Fightwear and Pitbull Energy Drinks. Riverside Submission had several fighters compete on the card and members from the gym handled many ringside duties. A few MMA stars including Rampage and Heath Herring were in attendance as well as some actors and boxing star Fernando Vargas.

Full results for the event are listed below:

MMA Results:

Kenny McCorkell def. Ronqald Lebreton Jr. via Submission (Triangle choke) @2:59 of Round 1

Armando Sanchez def. Brian Abram via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Andrew Flores def. Rafael Del Real via TKO (Punches) @1:55 of Round 1

Joe Lewis def. Cesar Urquilla via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

George Valdez def. Todd Willingham via Submission (Triangle Choke) @2:23 of Round 3

Nick Reale def. Steve Magdaleno via Split Decision (29-28, 27-29, 29-28)

Cory Grant def. Aaron Miller via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)


Boxing results:

Seth Keeling def. Mike Lee via Unanimous Decision (39-36, 37-38, 39-36)

Hector Rivas def. Nichoulas Briannes via TKO (Injury) @3:00 of Round 1

Ricky Duenas def. Johnny Suarez via Unanimous Decision (60-54, 60-54, 60-54)

Ernesto Zavala def. Jason Davis via TKO (Referee Stoppage) @3:00 of Round 3

Damien Wills def. Billy Willis via TKO (Referee Stoppage) @ 3:00 of Round 4