Events

By Mike Menninger, FightTicker.com blogger

Check back here for a live blog from MMA Big Show: Heavy Hitters. The action starts tonight at 7:00PM.

Click F5 or hit the "Refresh" button on your browser for constant updates.

6:20 - Just getting set up here with Jon Niehaus, a senior at Xavier University, who's helping me out tonight. Jason Appleton, the president of MMA BigShow just tipped me off to an upcoming fight. I wish I could say who now, but you'll just have to wait a couple weeks. It's big though, trust me. Getting ready to check in with Phil Baroni who will be announcing tonight.

6:28 - Caught up with Phil Baroni. He likes Shamrock tonight, though that shouldn't come as any surprise. Also, he looks to be in pretty great shape for his upcoming June fight with Strikeforce against Joe "Diesel" Riggs. He's already been training for about 4 weeks.

6:36 - First ring girl sighting. I approve.

6:41 - Ring girl photo shoot in the cage, literally in my face. I think I might be in some of the pictures. I still approve.

6:46 - Ring girls just sat down next to me. "Thanks, FightTicker.com!" [Giving thumbs up.]

6:49 - Lights just came down.

6:51 - We're now being serenaded by the sweet sounds of Lorenzo. Concert before the show is a nice touch. And they're pretty good, actually.

6:53 - The announcer's wife just sat down next to me. Jon and I are having a ball.

6:55 - Center Stage (the venue here) is filling up. This place makes a great atmosphere for fights.

6:55 - Just a reminder. Tonight's main event is between Josh Hendricks and Brian Heden. It's for the HW belt. There are 2 other pro fights on the card, and one amateur title fight. 11 fights in all.

6:57 - Damn these lights are hot.

6:58 - One more song til show time! The ring girls are dancing. I didn't bring any singles. Next time...

7:02 - Announcer's wife's husband gets the party started, welcoming us to "the Big Show." The crowd is apparently ready, after being asked. The fights are brought to you by Pure Romance, who puts the "O" in romance. Nice to know.

7:03 - First fight... amateur welterweight (170) bout between Brian Crawford (BC) and Jimmy Keefer (JK).

ROUND 1 - Ring girl lets everyone know it's Round 1 to a large applause. Purple gloves on the ref. Touch em up. JK starts with overhand right followed by left. They clinch. JK throws down BC. JK leans on BC's shoulders and pounds him until the ref jumps in. Jimmy Keefer wins by TKO (strikes) at 0:24 of, as Bruce Buffer would say, "the very first round!"

7:07 - We'll be outta here before closing time.

7:09 - Second fight... amateur lightweight (155) bout between Chris Anness (CA) and Michael Ormes (MO).

ROUND 1 - New ring girl. Same round. Same round of applause. Touch em up. Good short left from MO. MO slips throwing a knee, both fighters go down. CA lands on back, has a loose guillotine - looks to cinch it up. MO moves past mount to side, tries to stand up. Ends up on his back. CA on top. GREAT SWEEP by MO. Fighters stand. Back down, CA in MO's full guard. MO looks for triangle and throws solid punches from the bottom. CA runs over top of him, falls, and ends up underneath. MO holds triangle and pounds until ref stops it. Michael Ormes wins by TKO (strikes) at 2:12 of Round 1.

7:17 - Wife of announcer says her husband is better than Bruce Buffer. No snap and point like Double-B, but pretty good.

7:18 - Third fight... amateur middleweight (185) bout between Matthew Schanz (MS) and Jason Evick (JE).

ROUND 1 - Another new ring girl. This is fun. Touch em up. Leg kick by MS. Kick by MS blocked by JE. Overhand right by JE just misses. Circling. MS grabs leg kick by JE, takes the fight to the ground and ends up in JE's half guard. Sweep by JE, and he ends up in MS's full guard. Good head/body control by MS to minimize damage. JE busy working for side control and moves to half guard. Big left by JE from the top. More shots from top. JE pushes fight against cage and takes the mount. MS turns and uses both feet to push off the cage, flips and takes top position, in JE's half guard. Not a lot of punches thrown here. MS looking to slide and take JE's back. JE moves with him and rolls back to half guard. JE controlling posture, sweeps again. MS looks for triangle, then gogoplata. CRAZY ACTION! JE takes side control as the round ends. FT 10-9 for MS.

ROUND 2 - JE breathing heavy. Touch gloves again. Huge right by JE. MS shakes it off and takes down JE easily and ends up in side control. MS pushes the fight to his corner and is getting solid tips from his team. More punches thrown from top. Warning from ref on strikes to back of head. Back to side control. MS loses mouth piece, and the ref briefly stops the fight to replace it. MS mounts and starts pounding on JE. JE still avoiding damage pretty well. MS looks to be tiring from constant punching. Good body control by JE. MS still throwing from the top. Fans amping up. Punches to side of head. Elbow to side of head from MS and the ref jumps in to stop the fight. Matthew Schanz wins by TKO (punches) at 2:04 of Round 2.

7:31 - Fourth fight... amateur welterweight bout between Jason Moore (JM) and T.J. Stone (TJ).

ROUND 1 - Touch em up. Leg kick from JM to start things off. They throw short leather and end up in the clinch. The fight hits the mat with JM holding TJ in a guillotine. JM can't get his right arm underneath, but keeps holding TJ down with his left. TJ pops up, but JM transitions to a triangle and sinks it in. JT pulls, but JM's triangle is going nowhere. JM postures from bottom and works for the armbar in the triangle. TJ has to tap. Jason Moore wins by submission (triangle/armbar) at 0:51

7:39 - Fifth fight... amateur welterweight bout between Tim Kelley (TK) and Coty Barron (CB).

ROUND 1 - Hottest ring girl doing her thing, keeping us informed as to what round we're in. Wife of announcer thinks fighters should cut their toenails before fighting. I agree. Touch em up. Solid right leg kick by TK. Follow-up body kick by TK just misses. Both fighters very cautious so far. Another missed leg kick. Good right and uppercut by CB. Wild punches by both miss. More misses. Lot of dancing, not a lot of fighting for 25 seconds or so. TK taunts, drops his hands, wags tongue. CB jumps in, grabs kick offered by TK and slams him down hard. Takes side control. TK holds partial guillotine and uses it to try to stand. Back down, CB in TK's full guard. Good punches by CB from top. Some short, hard elbows from CB. Big punches by CB to TK's side. TK slides up, pulls arm triangle out of nowhere and sweeps. CB immediately taps. Tim Kelley wins by submission (arm triangle) at 2:18 of Round 1.

7:47 - Sixth fight... amateur lightweight bout between Daryl Ray (DR) and D.J. Smith (DJ).

ROUND 1 - Ring girl has Gray Maynard tramp stamp. Bulls-eye indeed. Husband of wife of announcer informs the crowd that this bout is a first for MMA Big Show: both fighters are from the same school and are here to "settle their differences." Presumably the color of their shorts isn't the only thing setting these two apart. Touch em up. Sloppy flying kick by DR misses. Think Sean Salmon v. Rashad Evans. On second thought, don't. Fight moves to the clinch. DJ works for a takedown, gets it, and they roll, ending up with DJ on top in side control. DR quickly pulls DJ back to full guard. DR is controlling DJ's body well. Some punches from the top. DR sneaks his leg out and sweeps. DR moves to the full mount, then slides to side control. No punches being thrown. Hard punch by DR straight to DJ's gut. Back to full mount. Member of the crowd calls for DR to teabag him. Call me a party pooper, but I'm not rooting for that. DR moves over the top and grabs an arm. DR throws legs over DJ's chest. As Joe Rogan would say, "It's in deep!" The armbar is tight, and DJ struggles to hold his arm in. DR sneaks DJ's arm loose and cranks. DJ taps. Daryl Ray wins by submission (armbar) at 1:52 of Round 1.

7:58 - Husband of wife of announcer takes us to Intermission. Only 1 fight has made it past the first round. This show is hauling ass.

7:59 - Phil Baroni gets his photo taken with the ring girls. Apparently he approves. Which one will he bang tonight? Stay tuned...

8:02 - Lorenzo is back on stage. They still don't suck.

8:14 - Wife of announcer tells me that Rich Franklin punched her in the stomach when she was pregnant. He didn't really do it though. He was just joking around. Apparently husband of wife of announcer trains with Ace sometimes. Thank god.

8:15 - Lead singer of Lorenzo jumps off speaker and falls. Nice that the carnage isn't just inside the cage tonight.

8:19 - Tim Kelley just handed me a flyer to train in Muay Thai for MMA. This is how you network, bitches!

8:25 - Jason Appleton steps in and gives a genuine thank you to the crowd. He's plugging the June 20th fight between Roger Bowling and War Machine. Fuck a two-month gap between shows. Am I right?

8:26 - My MMA evening is complete, now that I've heard Drowning Pool. Those bastards must love them some MMA royalties.

8:28 - Tony Parker is fighting next. No Eva Longoria just yet.

8:30 - Seventh fight... amateur welterweight bout between Tony Parker (TP) and Chase Messina (CM).

ROUND 1 - Touch em up. Solid left hook from TP. Front kick from TP. Single leg takedown by TP, and he lands in side control. CM controls his head. TP is able to throw his leg over and moves to full mount. TP starts throwing. The crowd is loving it. CM tries to roll, but TP slides with him and moves to his back. He quickly gets the hooks in and sinks in the rear naked choke. CM taps. Tony Parker wins by submission (RNC) at 0:56 of Round 1.

8:34 - Still no Eva Longoria. Dammit.

8:36 - Eighth fight... amateur lightweight title fight between Dan Mundy (DM) and the champ, Chris Bennett (CB).

ROUND 1 - Good sportsmanship, as the 2 fighters touch gloves even before official intro. Touch em up. Right leg kick from CB. SOLID body kick from CB. CB is really pushing pace. CB pushes DM against the cage. CB offers some inside knees. CB looks for a trip, but DM defends well. CB then pulls guard, and looks for an armbar on the way down. DM pulls CB to full guard, but CB throws his legs up again and is able to grab DM's arm and lock in the armbar. DM quickly taps. Very impressive from CB. Chris Bennett wins by submission (armbar) at 0:56 of Round 1.

8:43 - Chris Bennett gets interviewed by a super-hot chick. Easily a 9. What a sport.

8:45 - Ninth fight... professional welterweight bout between Jared Combs (JC) and Elonzo Harvey (EH).

ROUND 1 - Touch em up. Circling. Short left from EH. Missed combo by JC. Left head kick from JC blocked by EH. Good leg kick* from JC. Body kick from JC blocked by EH. Body kick from JC lands solidly. EH lunges in to punch and gets tagged with a solid left from JC. EH hits the mat, and JC jumps on him, landing about 10 big punches as EH defends. The ref jumps in and stops the fight when it appears that EH has had enough. Jared Combs wins by TKO (strikes) at 1:06 of Round 1.

*Courtesy of Joe Rogan

8:50 - Hot chick interviewer is back. Jon has been commissioned to get a good shot of her.

8:52 - Tenth fight... professional heavyweight (265) bout between Dave Hess (DH) and Bo Huitt (BH).

ROUND 1 - Touch em up. DH looks for the double-leg takedown. He misses, but has underhooks. The fighters separate and DH throws a big left. The 2 exchange a flurry of punches, and DH shoots in for double-leg again. This time he gets it and lands in side control. DH quickly moves to the mount. BH is holding DH's head, but DH is still throwing. DH stands up, holding BH's left arm. DH steps over and rolls into an armbar. BH apparently taps, and the ref jumps in. BH gets up pissed about the stoppage. Dave Hess wins via submission (armbar) at 0:39 of Round 1.

8:58 - A member of the crowd pleads for the hot chick interviewer to show us her tits. Either she didn't hear or wasn't thrilled with the idea. I think the real loser here is everyone.

9:00 - A Pure Romance door prize is given away. "Batteries not included," we're told. Wonder if they sell them in the casino gift shop? I hope so, for her sake.

9:02 - Eleventh fight... professional heavyweight title bout between Josh Hendricks (JH) and the champ, Brian Heden (BH).t to BH

ROUND 1 - Touch em up. JH looks for double leg. He keeps pushing and gets a single leg. JH on top, against the cage in his own corner. BH looks to sweep. BH controls and JH postures up. Short elbows from JH. Solid shots from the top from JH. Big left hook from JH. More left hooks from JH. JH keeps throwing the left and it keeps landing. BH turns and JH looks to take his back. JH gets his hooks in. JH is landing some big shots. JH lands 4 good shots to the chin under the arm of BH. BH pushes back and stands. The fighters are in the clinch against the cage. JH looks for the trip, and BH grabs cage. JH's corner yells about it, and the ref issues a warning. The fight is still in the clinch, with JH pushing BH against the cage. The clinch separates. A body shot and an upper cut from JH. Clinch again against the cage. JH has BH in a muay thai clinch, and he lands a right hook and 2 upper cuts. Again clinch against the cage. BH pummeling for underhooks. Good right from BH. BH pushes JH against cage. Solid right from JH. BH returns the favor. Clinch aginst cage again. The fighters separate, and both throw big rights that miss. Clinch again. BH turns JH into cage. Inside knee from BH. Great pace, lots of action. Right from BH. Upper cut from BH just misses. Clinch again against the cage, JH leaning on BH. Square right elbow from BH lands. BH has underhooks, looks for a judo throw that misses. Body shot from JH. Big right-left combo from BH, followed up by a big knee. BH lands another left-right combo. JH falls against him and the horn sounds. FT has it 10-9 for BH.

ROUND 2 - Big right from BH to start. Clinch with BH against cage. Both fighters are swinging big, but both miss. JH has BH against the cage. BH with underhooks. Right from BH. Uppercut from JH. Another right from BH. As they turn, big right from JH. Leg kick from JH blocked. JH pushes BH against the cage, looking for a double-leg. In the clinch again. Right from BH. Uppercut from JH. Both trade body shots. Still in the clinch. Uppercut from BH. Uppercut from JH. Short elbow from BH that lands solidly. BH pushes out and moves away. JH looks for single leg and BH slips. JH trying to take BH's back. JH gets his hooks in. JH looking to secure a rear naked choke. BH defends well, but JH starts throwing big punches from the top. BH keeps posturing up, and JH keeps flattening him out, punching the whole time. JH looks to ref to stop fight. BH turtles up, and the ref jumps in. Josh Hendricks wins by TKO (strikes) at 2:52 of Round 2, earning him the HW belt.