Hollister’s Jared Hess called it a rookie mistake. After he
finished the first two rounds against Ontario’s Sergio Machado in
similar fashion
— with Hess on top and in control, delivering blows to Machado’s
head and nearly earning a technical knockout on both occasions —
the Hollister fighter suddenly found himself in a debilitating
position during Saturday’s main event bout of Fightin’ on the
Faultline.
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HOLLISTER
Hollister’s Jared Hess called it a rookie mistake.
After he finished the first two rounds against Ontario’s Sergio Machado in similar fashion— with Hess on top and in control, delivering blows to Machado’s head and nearly earning a technical knockout on both occasions — the Hollister fighter suddenly found himself in a debilitating position during Saturday’s main event bout of Fightin’ on the Faultline.
Pinned up against the cage, Hess was in an arm bar, and Machado showed no signs of letting go.
“I know better,” Hess said afterward of the situation he found himself in. “But I think the holiday celebrations got to me.”
Admittedly “a little gassed,” Hess couldn’t capitalize on the momentum gained through the first two rounds, and eventually submitted 1:20 into the third and final round on Saturday night at the Veterans Memorial Building, the site of what was believed to be the first-ever mixed martial arts event in the city of Hollister.
A packed house witnessed nine bouts, five of which were awarded by unanimous decision, with the night culminating in a main event between Hess and Machado, who improves to 3-1 with the win.
Hess, of Hollister’s Main Street Kickboxing, falls to 5-2.
“I go in every round the same. I just do what I plan to do, and I’m not gonna let him not let me do it,” said Machado, 32, not allowing the previous rounds influence his third-round performance on Saturday night.
Noting his strength on the ground, Machado said he was trying to utilize his stand-up technique on Saturday night. But when he found himself on the mat and in a position of power early in the third round, forcing an arm bar on Hess, he wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity.
“I took his back and that’s my bread and butter,” Machado said. “I pretty much had it from there.”
It was Hess who controlled the early rounds, more or less. The 23-year-old fighter took Machado to the mat for a little “ground and pound” in the first round, including a string of punches at the tail end of the first that nearly awarded Hess the bout.
“I was really close to getting a TKO,” Hess said.
Machado was very much the aggressor in the second round, though. Early on, he took Hess to the ground and returned the favor from the first round. But Hess, who was pinned up against the cage in the second round, pushed off the wall with his legs and rolled over the top of Machado for a reversal.
“He was quick and shooting in. I wanted to keep it standing, but he wanted it to get to the ground,” Machado said. “I take my hat off. He was a very difficult and well rounded opponent.”
Machado later added, “He kept moving and didn’t give me much of an opening. But I was fortunate enough to get in when I did.”
The 170-pound main event was the finale to a night that saw Hollister’s Main Street Kickboxing compile a 3-2 record.
In the 170-pound co-main event, Hollister’s Cris Barber defeated San Mateo’s Chris Beeby (1-1) by decision to improve to 6-0 in his amateur career. Barber had a strong first round, finding himself on his back but still in control over Beeby, while later straddling his opponent and pummeling him from on top before the bell sounded.
Main Street’s Justin Bronson won his match as well, improving to 4-1 with his 225-pound bout win over Mike Morales of East Palo Alto. Adorning a Minnesota sweatshirt on his entrance — he was a wrestler for the Golden Gophers — Bronson sealed the unanimous-decision victory in the third round when he delivered consistent shots to Morales’ side, including several knees to the mid-section that resounded with a thud.
Meanwhile, Hollister’s Jake Lomanto made his MMA debut on Saturday night, but didn’t have as favorable of an outcome against Atascadero’s Trevor Porter, whose kickboxing background was evident in the first round.
Lomanto connected with a right at the end of the first round, though, a punch that sent Porter back into the cage. But Porter managed to get Lomanto to the ground in the second round en route to the unanimous decision victory.
Lomanto tried a guillotine and triangle choke hold, but was unable to capitalize in the waning seconds of the second round.
“I was a little too hesitant. I should have let my hands go a little more,” Lomanto said after his 170-pound bout. “Towards the end of the first, I felt confident with my hands and that’s when I kind of rocked them. But I felt like I just couldn’t find the range to let my hands go.”
“I didn’t do what I should have done.”
Lomanto was one of several fighters making their MMA debut on Saturday night. But only Main Street’s Santino “Sunny” Stagi provided the exclamation point that fighters dream of in their first bout — a knockout in the first round.
Stagi was battling Santa Clara’s Isaac Castaneda in the 215-pound bout — the very first match of the night. Pinned up against the cage in a grapple position for much of the first round, though, Stagi pushed Castaneda backed toward the center of the octagon midway through the first before the two fighters finally released from the grapple.
And Stagi wasted no time in landing a cross to the chin of Castaneda at the 1:05 mark, dropping the Santa Clara fighter to the mat.
“I caught him with a good punch and knocked him out,” said Stagi, who has had smoker fights before but made his debut within the California Amateur Mixed Martial Arts Organization on Saturday night.
“It feels good,” he added. “It feels real good to get a knockout for your first win, instead of a submission. That’s usually how my fights end, with a submission. So this is my first knockout, and it feels really good.”
Fightin’ on the Faultline
– Santino Stagi def. Isaac Castaneda by knockout (1:05 of Round 1).
– Jonathan Chaplin def. Thomas Ballard by unanimous dec.
– Trevor Porter def. Jake Lomanto by unanimous dec.
– John Donaldson def. Joe Heaton by unanimous dec.
– Ericka Newsome def. Natasha Sandoval by ref stoppage (1:19 of Round 1).
– Justin Bronson def. Mike Morales by unanimous dec.
– Richard Parra def. Benjamin Amezquita by unanimous dec.
– Cris Barber def. Chris Beeby by dec.
– Sergio Machado def. Jared Hess by submission (1:20 of Round 3).
