By: Michael Sheffield @ Ringside
A sweltering June night in Memphis was made even hotter by the action in the cage on Saturday night during V3 Fight’s FedExForum debut that featured three championship bouts and an 11-fight card featuring the top local professional MMA fighters.
V3 would crown its first-ever champions in the light heavyweight, lightweight and bantamweight divisions, with two of the bouts not getting out of the 1st round.
Lightweight Tripp Carter would score the most devastating (and
scariest) knockout of the night with a one punch decimation of Steven
Cornelius.
The undefeated Carter would finish the fight in 8 seconds with a right hand that Cornelius and most of the crowd didn’t see coming. Cornelius would hit the ground face first and Carter would land a second right to his prone opponent before referee Dave Ferguson could stop the fight.
Cornelius would be out cold for at least 3 minutes before paramedics would remove him from the ring in a neck brace as a precaution.
Light heavyweight Carlton Little would produce the most action packed first round of the night, starting with his entrance, which featured Memphis rapper Playa Fly, who would then vocally support the fighter to a victory against the undefeated Jaden Booth in a 5-round light
heavyweight bout.
Little, who came into the fight with a record of 6-3, would go on the offensive immediately, power-slamming Booth and nearly locking in a rear naked choke. however, Booth would reverse it and nearly knock in one of his own. However, two takedowns and a powerful ground and pound later, Little would score a technical knockout over his dazed opponent at 2:38 of the first round.
After being crowned the first V3 light heavyweight champion, Little let the crowd know what type of champion he would be. “ I’ll fight whoever they put in front of me,” he said in the cage
after the fight.
The theme of a fighting champion would continue in the main event, a 5- round bantamweight title fight between Cody Lane and Brian Hall. Hall would dominate the fight early and often, scoring multiple takedowns over the course of 3 of the scheduled 5 rounds. Lane would
begin the 3rd round as the aggressor, attempting to lock in his own guillotine choke, but failing to lock his opponent up for good. The fighters would trade holds and grapple to a near stalemate throughout the round. However, at the end of the round, a visibly spent and
frustrated Lane would throw his mouthpiece into the crowd, either as a mistaken sign of elation for finishing the fight, or as a gesture of concession.
During the between round intermission, neither Lane’s corner nor the referee could convince him to continue, resulting in Hall being named the winner by TKO.
After the fight, the soft-spoken Hall was adamant who he wanted his next opponent to be, rising local MMA star Thomas Vasquez, who would make his way to the cage to accept the challenge.
The end of the main event wasn’t a shock, as two preliminary bouts had controversial endings of their own.
Lightweights Ronnie Sharp and Adam Denton would end an entertaining fight with a no-decision, after Round 1 when Sharp would absorb a series of kicks and knees to the midsection and face. It would be a knee to the nose that resulted in the initial stoppage. Despite Sharp
being unable to continue because of a legal blow, the fight would be called a no-decision, much to the chagrin of the sellout crowd. With both fighters entering the fight at 1-0, neither would lose their 0 on this night.
Phillip Price (2-1) and Jimmy White (2-0) would meet at a catchweight of 160, with White playing up the intimidation factor from the moment he stepped into the cage. White would counter everything Price would do for the first round and his aggression would result in another
strange stoppage, after Price complained of being poked in the eye. The fight would be stopped at 40 seconds of the second round, with White winning by TKO.
Muay Thai fighters Derek Jackson and. Marcus Jones would make their pro debuts at a catchweight 140. The fight would go the distance, and both fighters, after a first round filled with nervous energy, would settle in for a rousing start to the night. Jones would win by
unanimous decision.
Light heavyweight Jamie Houston (2-1) would TKO Matt Hill (0-2) in 1:32 of the first round.
Middleweight Patrick Burkett would make an impressive debut against Lenny Edgar at a catchweight of 145 pounds, winning by unanimous decision.
Welterweight Travis Robertson (6-3) would reverse a first round where he was dominated by Jess Brown and score a victory. Robertson, who was immediately taken down by Brown in the first round, would begin the second round with a right hand that would drop his opponent. Robertson would move in for the kill and TKO Brown 40 seconds into the second round.
Robertson gave credit to his opponent after the fight, calling him “a bad a– fighter.” However, he would also promise great things from here on out.
Bantamweights Jessie Parker and Miles Brown would put on an entertaining fight for the 2 minutes it would last, however, their display of sportsmanship and fun after Parker won by arm-bar tap-out would outlast and be more entertaining than the fight itself.
Brown would hoist Parker on his shoulders and parade him around the ring after the fight. Both fighters would leave the crowd excited for the next fight.
Crowd favorite Chantein Wasion (2-1) would bounce back from a loss in his previous fight by dominating Daniel Deossio (2-2) in a lightweight fight.
Wasion would look to end the fight with a rear naked choke early, almost lock in a guillotine choke and finally finish Deossio with a locked in rear naked choke.
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