Last night Battlefield Fight League came back to Vancouver’s Vogue Theatre with their 22nd installment. This time the featherweight division was on showcase.
The main event of the evening had BFL amateur featherweight champion Andre Da Silva of Titan MMA put his title on the line against Hanz Pangilinan of FKP MMA.
The fight started off strong for Da Silva as he came out pressuring Pangilinan with his striking, including several head kick attempts. As the fight progressed, Pangilinan found his rhythm as he began to time Da Silva over committing on strikes to set up several double leg takedowns. Da Silva and Pangilinan showed that they both had formidable ground games as they exchanged sweeps and ground and pound, making the fight very close to call.
In the end, the judges scored the fight 48-47, 46-49, 48-47, a split decision in favor of Hanz Pangilinan, the new BFL amateur featherweight champion.
The co-main event was for the #1 contender spot in the featherweight division. Highly decorated and undefeated Carlson Gracie MMA fighter, Oliver Vajda, faced Oren Hanscomb of Pure Self Defense (a West Coast BJJ affiliate).
Hanscomb came into the fight with a great game plan as he bullied Vajda with his wrestling and ground positioning. Vajda had several submission attempts including a deep guillotine choke in round 2, but Hanscomb was able to defend and keep dominant positions. In the end, the judges found Hanscomb the winner by unanimous decision.
Oren Hanscomb has earned a featherweight title fight against Hans Pangilinan scheduled for May 25, 2013 at the Vancouver Convention Centre.
Also earning a title fight is Bryce Gougeon, as he defeated James Foster with a nasty head and arm choke in the first round of their bout. Gougeon will be fighting for the vacant BFL amateur welterweight title against the very tough Kyle Warman of Gracie Barra Kelowna. This fight will also be featured May 25, 2013 at the Vancouver Convention Centre.
Quick Hits:
FKP MMA went 3-1 this evening with Geoff Bodnarek, Bryan Gall, and new champ Pangilinan taking home wins.
Mike Dechavez of Universal MMA pulled off a quick arm bar over Colin Butts in 34 seconds into the fight, moving him up in the bantamweight ranks.
Revolution MMA fighter Brad Falk defeated Wan Allard (now 2-6) in Brad’s BFL MMA debut.
Tai Bray’s corner was forced to throw in the towel between rounds 2 and 3 in his fight against Rob Bishop. Bishop landed an illegal elbow with 12 seconds left in the second, and the fight was timed out by the referee. Bray decided to finish off the round although he was slow to get up.
In the bantamweight division, Tylor Nicholson took a unanimous decision in a hard fought battle against defeated Martie Wyse.
