Total Fighting Alliance expands to amateur ranks
With the floodgates of amateur MMA in California wide open and flowing freely, it’s ironic that one of California’s most senior officially-licensed promotions, Todd Meacham’s Total Fighting Alliance (TFA), didn’t hold their first amateur MMA event until this past weekend.
But TFA 17, which took place at the Hawthorne Athletic Exchange (HAX) at Hawthorne Airport, marked another milestone for the three-year old regional promotion, as it creates a breeding ground from which Meacham can nurture talent for his pro shows.
“This was the easiest show I’ve ever done, and I’m gonna do more of them because of that,” beamed TFA matchmaker Todd Meacham, adding “you might not see me pay $1,000 to hold my license for the pro level anymore. All’s I might do is CAMO shows, period. And watch what I do with it. I’ll blow the UFC out of the water.”
The nine-match amateur MMA show was highlighted by furious heavyweight action. The last match of the night, Danish strongman Jens Grau vs. Danny Radovic was a frantic battle of behemoths, but it was Jesse Escobedo and Kipeni Luto who claimed credit as showstealers of the night. Their wild back-and-forth clash, which went halfway into the third before Escobedo caught Luto by submission, was touted by fans as the match of the night.
“They were both trying to showcase their skills, but at the same time, they were both going back to what they knew, and that’s street fighting. . . I thought that roof was going to come down in that building, because of so much excitement,” Meacham lamented.
One pairing that Meacham will likely look to rematch is Rocky Bice vs. Michael Morrow, which ended rather abruptly. What was expected to be a knock-down-drag-out battle concluded 23 seconds into the first round, when Morrow slipped on the mat, giving Bice the window to pounce and earn a TKO victory.
In the days following the fight, an article on the TFA website suggested plans for a rematch, which Meacham, who strongly believes in Bice’s abilities and star power, confirmed as a possibility, saying “I feel that they need to fight again. I don’t think that Michael Morrow got to do what he’s capable of . . . I think that they can a have a back-and-forth fight.”
Match results from TFA 17 on 4/17/10 are as follows:
165 lbs. – Joey Guevara def. Justin Rodriguez via decision.
160 lbs. – Jason Gonzales def. Brian Jimenez via TKO, R1, 0:32.
145 lbs. – Craig Cook def. Juan Estrada via TKO, R1, 1:53.
158 lbs. (catch weight) – James Distler def. Edward Chavez via split decision.
170 lbs. – Bradley Crihfield def. Ryan Escobedo via submission, R1, 1:43.
240 lbs. (catch weight) – Jesse Escobedo def. Kipeni Lutu via submission, R3, 0:54.
160 lbs. – Brandon Anderson def. Shane Watts via submission, R3, 0:54.
195 lbs . (catch weight – Rocky Bice def. Michael Morrow via TKO, R1, 0:23.
235 lbs. (catch weight) – Jens Grau def. Danny Radovcic via TKO, R1, 1:09.
Although his website lists June 19th as the next TFA date, Meacham also suggested doing a co-promote show with his previous promotion, sometime in July. Regardless, Bice and Grau, dubbed ‘Todd’s Golden Boys of TFA,’ are confirmed to be featured attractions.
“They sell a lot of tickets, they put on a good show, people like to see them, they’re both successful businessmen, and those are the people I like to sell tickets to,” he explained.
For more info on upcoming amateur MMA action, visit http://www.camo-mma.org/events.
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