Maverick 15 results – Gratalo vs. Semelsberger
Maverick MMA officials held Maverick 15 from Genetti Manor in Dickson City, Pennsylvania on Saturday, November 9. It was the promotion’s first trip to the Scranton area after holding the majority of Maverick MMA cards in lower lying region of Stroudsburg.
In the main event, a part of evenly match middleweights went toe-to-toe with the winner advancing their professional mixed martial arts record to 5-2. Matt Semelsberger and Kris Gratalo would each look to prevent the other from climbing the ladder towards a Maverick MMA title shot. Gratalo put on an extremely dominant first round performance, slamming Semelsberger four times to the canvas. Now extremely sweaty in the second frame, Gratalo could not hold on to any submission attempts and Semelsberger would hold onto a dominant top position for most of the round. As soon as the round concluded Gratalo immediately grabbed his hand. The cageside physician would take a look and call an end to the contest at the end of the round. Even though Gratalo pleaded for the fight to continue, the contest was awarded to Semelsberger. Following the contest it was identified that Gratalo sustained a slice down to the tendon and a chunk of his finger was missing. It is still uncertain how the injury occurred.
Chris Disonell returned to the Maverick heptagon, coming off a massive win over Mike Kimbel at Bellator 225. Disonell dropped a decision to Chaka Worthy under the Maverick MMA banner earlier this year. He will have his hands full when he takes on Cage Fury Fighting Championships and Ring of Combat veteran Giorgi Kudukhasvili. Absolutely fantastic fun paced fight between these two athletes. Disonell was dumped on his head from a big suplex, only to take the back of his opponent and work a choke. Both fighters had multiple submission attempts, but unfortunately a shot to the arm of Disonell would stop the fight. It appears as if his arm is broken. Very unfortunate injury and we wish him the best in a speedy recovery.
Undefeated Francis Marshall, a prospect out of Kurt Pellegrino Mixed Martial Arts, made his professional debut when he took on Keith Forant. At 20-years of age, Francis Marshall has already recorded five amateur mixed martial arts wins.
Welcome to the heptagon Francis Marshall. The young New Jersey based mixed martial artist submits Forant with just seconds left in the very round. Very impressive start to his pro career.
Dilshod Zaripov does his best Jorge Masvidal impression, opening up the fight with a flying knee that drops Danny Maldonado. “Flashanado” Maldonado is stunned and scrambling for a leg. He manages to hand on throughout the round but he is busted open. Maldonado is put on his back in the second frame but is able to pull together a dominant position to close the round. In the third round another big shot shifts Maldonado’s nose and he is leaking. Both fighters are extremely tired, and showed tremendous heart by Zaripov pulls out a decision to improve his record.
In the second fight of the night, Temo Kvirchishvili picked up his third consecutive win with a dominant performance over Batyr Garammamedov who was making his debut in the sport. Both fighters were evenly sized, but Temo appeared to the be the stronger of the two men. Batyr will go back to the drawing board and come out stronger in his next outing, but tonight was Temo’s night in Dickson City.
In the first fight of the night, Hassan Ghaith and Justin Gomez both entered the cage for the very first time. The story of this contest was the leg kicks. The entire fight, except for one brief encounter on the cage floor in the final round, was fought on the feet. Both competitors exchanging kicks to see who could inflict more damage. The contest goes the distance with Ghaith scoring unanimously on all cards.
Maverick 15 results:
Matt Semelsberger defeated Kris Gratalo via TKO (hand injury) – Round 2, 5:00
Giorgi Kudukhashvili defeated Chris Disonell via TKO (injury) – Round 1, 4:43
Francis Marshall defeated Keith Forant via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:57
Dilshod Zaripov defeated Danny Maldonado via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
Temo Kvirchishvili defeated Batry Garammamedov via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Hassan Ghaith defeated Justin Gomez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
