Rematch on cards after nasty gash stops fight
PROMOTERS of Geelong’s MMA By The Bay are planning a rematch of the gruesome main event that left Sam Hayward with nasty gash and parts of his skull exposed.
Johnny Bourke, who organised the inaugural show alongside champion fighter Steve Moxon, revealed victorious Sydneysider David Francis had agreed to re-enter the cage with Hayward next year after causing a controversial stoppage in Round 2.
“(Hayward) got hit with a heavy knee at the end of Round 1 which opened him up,” Bourke said.
“It didn’t look too bad from where I was standing. I spoke to one of the boys who was doing the commentary and he said it was quite bad.
“In Round 2 he got hit by a couple of shots in the same spot and it opened up more. The round ended and the doctor stepped in and called it off.
“But I went backstage and had a look and it was definitely worthy of a stoppage. The fighter’s health is paramount and even Sam said after the fight that he was bearing no grudges and she was looking after his safety.
“It (cut) was probably 2½ inches and it looked like you could see his skull. But he was smiling and happy still.”
Francis won the opening round convincingly. Despite blood streaming down his face, Hayward claimed the second round before the stoppage.
“On my scorecards he was winning Round 2, so it was a shame that the fight was stopped but that’s what happens,” Bourke said.
“Both boys have agreed to do it again, so I dare say that will be one of our key match ups on the next show, which should be around March.”
Jesse Medina claimed his second win over Geelong’s Regan Neoh with a rear-naked choke 4.26 mins into the second round.
Ocean Grove’s Hayden Wright beat Justin Barbuto via unanimous decision in what Bourke described as fight of the night, and Geelong’s Troy Resic downed Saeed Karsaz by split decision.
Muhammed Abdou “got beaten up for the first two rounds” and in the last 10 seconds he delivered a rear-naked choke win over Chris BakerTroiano, while Andrew Smith landed a TKO win over Stuart Weekes with a spinning-back elbow.
“We were very lucky that the match making was very well done,” Bourke said.
“Our fights showcased all aspects of MMA. We had ground wars, the main event was a stand up war that unfortunately ended due to a cut, we had BJJ specialists and wrestling specialists.
“We hit the whole spectrum and the crowd loved it.”