Asylum Fight League 54 Full Results
Asylum Fight League returned with a bang after a two-year hiatus last night at the Berlin Community Center in Berlin, New Jersey. After an unexpected family illness, Asylum owner and matchmaker, Carl Mascarenhas was forced to uproot his life and close down shop for some time on Asylum Fight League.
Finally, with everything working itself out, Mascaranhes provided, yet again, a quality, smooth running show that ran without a hitch.
A lot of fighters made their amateur debuts last night, but with the way the warriors entered the cage and left all their will and heart in there for the fans, Aslyum proved their worth, leaving the fans screaming for more.
In the main event of the evening, Tony Hayward (3-2) took on Michael Kim (2-3) in a bout that proved to be too much for the younger Kim. Hayward started quickly looking to end the night early for Kim with heavy, precise striking that made his opponent second guess each time they engaged in the pocket. Kim met Hayward in the center of the cage and tried to match fire with fire against the heavy handed Hayward, However, Hayward’s ferocity dictated the pace early and proved to be the deciding factor in the fight.
Hayward dropped Kim midway through the first round with a straight right and wasted no time pouncing on the downed Kim. Hayward followed Kim to the ground and followed with powerful and thudding hammerfists to the midsection of the dazed Kim that looked as if it could’ve broken ribs. After a few hard shots, Kim had enough and tapped to the punishment, declaring Tony Hayward the 140 lb. Asylum Fight League amateur champion.
In the co main event of the evening, the fans were provided an absolute slugfest with a controversial outcome. Joel Ellen out of Scorpion Tribe MMA took on Anthony D’Ottavio out of Renzo Gracie Philly/Team Webb MMA. With the pressure on the 0-2 Ellen whom was taking on the debut fighter, these fighters locked horns in enter cage and let the fists fly. Both fighters had their advantages in the opening stanza and it seemed to be a razor thin round until Ellen through a left hook that cracked and dropped D’Ottavio in his tracks. Ellen followed up with vicious ground and pound to the head…accidentally…
The issue with this stoppage was, if the bout was advanced amateur rules or pro rank rules, the follow up ground an pound would have been completely legal and would’ve put the stamp on the evening. The only problem is, ground and pound to the head isn’t legal in the New Jersey amateur rankings. Not just that, but Ellen followed with illegal shots AFTER the referee had waved the contest off. Sure, it was all within a split second, but immediately people were claiming foul play, demanding Ellen be disqualified. Corners were clearly upset, it became quite a stir of confusion as the crowed waited anxiously for the official results. After all was said and done, the referee stuck to his decision, claiming D’Ottavio was indeed out from the left hook, and he went to step in at that point to stop the bout, resulting in a 1st round TKO win for Ellen.
Ellen went on to apologize for his actions in his post fight interview, stating he was caught up in the moment, and explained he wasn’t proud of the win. And the fans let him know how unhappy they were with the end result as well.
FULL ASYLUM FIGHT LEAGUE 54 RESULTS
Bout 1 (147lbs): Joseph Coles def. Ivan Perez via Unanimous Decision
Bout 2 (125lbs): Jordan DeJesus def. Felix Torres via Unanimous Decision
Bout 3 (147lbs): Christian Bobe def. Rashad Gonzales via 3rd round Rear Naked Choke
Bout 4 (182lbs): Jose Soto def. Nicolas Cook via 1st round Head and Arm Choke
Bout 5 (161lbs): James McTear def. Sean Atkinson via 3rd round Rear Naked Choke
Bout 6 (147lbs): Nestan Kiiazova def. Gabriela Valdez via Unanimous Decision
Bout 7 (182lbs): Kenny Doughty def. Manny Morales via 1st round TKO
Bout 8 (125lbs): Joel Ellen def. Anthony D’Ottavio via 1st round TKO
Main Event (140lb Title fight): Tony Hayward def. Michael Kim via 1st round Submission due to strikes.
