Ring of Combat 89 recap: Worth wins title…Sipavicius, Arana shine
Ring of Combat 89 – W0rth vs Ducharme went down last night. I was cageside with Professor Jay Regalbuto at the commentary table as we had another action-packed card from Louis Neglia and his team.
The main event was the debut of ROC’s 175 lb weight class as Devan Worth welcomed Dom “Do Harm” Ducharme to the east coast as they went to battle for the vacant championship. Ducharme wasted little time after the opening bell and secured a double leg take-down. He had Werth fighting defensively for most of round-one as Werth had to escape several submissions including a tight armbar and multiple rear-naked choke attempts as Worth was stuck in a standing body lock and supporting every one of Dom’s 175 lbs for the majority of the first five minutes.
Rounds two and three were polar opposites as Werth bullied Ducharme and decisively won both rounds. It was a great show of adversity and heart from Werth to just to survive the forst round. He didn’t let his fans down as he had Dom completely gassed and battered on the ground as the final bell rang. A new champ has been crowned and now the 5-0 Worth climbs closer to even larger stages.
Ryan Sipavicius made his professional debut (155 lb) and it was a continuation of his dominance. This was the first time he’s been out of the 1st round, but it only took him 47 seconds into round two to get the rear-naked choke after a vicious combination and cat-like transition to the back and finish. This was very similar to his win two fights ago where he is just so quick after landing strikes to move in and act like his opponents’ neck belongs to him. Very impressive win vs a tough Georgian in Giorgi Lomtadze. Put a little check mark by his name. He’s been with UFC veteran and current PFL fighter Julio Arce since he was three years old and his future is BRIGHT!
I met Donald Arana for the first time as he was in the locker-room pre-fight in line waiting to see the doctor. I didn’t know much about Arana, but I knew he was taking his pro debut at 145 lbs vs an undefeated ammy and another stud from the loaded Tiger Schulmann team in DJ Tirelli. Arana told me he had a wrestling background but got in some trouble before finding God and Longo MMA. He was very confident. I told him that I thought his matchup could be fight of the night.
Arana told me…..”It’s not going the distance!” He backed up his strong words as his striking was varied and dangerous. He rocked DJ Tirelli multiple times. If Tirelli wasn’t such a savage himself, the fight would have been over much sooner. Tirelli had some good moments, too but the volume of strikes that Arana landed took its toll and the corner stopped the fight after R2. He is in excellent hands with the legendary Ray Longo.
Ring of Combat 89 full results below:
Luke Palmieri def Adam Mayo via RNC 2:13 R1…147 lbs (Amateur)
Dan Fiorentino def Hassan El Mallah via DQ…HWT (Amateur)
Matthew McAuley def Zion Perez via RNC 2:46 R1…140 lb amateur championship
Main Card (Pro)
Ryan Sipavicius def Giorgi Lomtadze via RNC :47 R1…155 lbs
Dell Ali-Matthews def Said Al-Hammami via UD…170 lbs
Donald Arana def DJ Tirelli via TKO (corner stoppage after R2)…145 lbs
Xavier Vasquez def Elijah Sampson via SD…185 lbs
Kevin Wilkins def Jacen Edwards via UD…HWT
Juan Vides def Marcus Reid via UD…135 lbs
Josh Mercado def Mike Basile via UD…185 lbs
Devan Worth def Dom Duharme via UD…175 lb ROC Championship
Ring of Combat will return to the Tropicana Casino and Hotel Resort on Friday June 12th for ROC 90.
