"SFL 43: Capital Collision" Review & Results

It was an evening of mixed emotions, upsets and incredibly entertaining bouts as the Super Fight League touched down in New Delhi on the 26th of October, 2015. Billed as a clash of two cities, namely Delhi and Mumbai, the event was supposed to feature a rematch between the capital city’s own son, Jason Solomon, and the consummate finisher Mukesh Gora from Lucknow, as well as the return of former SFL flyweight champ Anup Kumar. What took place, however, will forever go down in the record books of the organisation. Mukesh Gora pulled out of the fight with only a few days to go and the man he beat, Amitesh Chaubey (also from Lucknow), stepped up to take this once in a lifetime opportunity to challenge Jason for the vacated welterweight title. The hype was strong with this one, as social media was buzzing with back and forth banter between Jason and Mukesh and excellent countdown shows by Desi Beatdown got everyone talking. The event was held at the Hyatt, Gurgaon in a cozy and intimate hall with a small, dedicated crowd. As the fighters warmed up backstage, anxiousness was setting in. They were all ready to throw down and as the lights came on and the speakers boomed, the show was now ON! The first of 8 fights was off to a roaring start as Krishan Rawat used effective wrestling in controlling Vikas Singh and eventually forcing the tap with a slick rear-naked choke in just 20 seconds. This bout set the tone for the rest of the night. The ladies took to the O-zone next and both Daisy Singh and Lalvenhimi put on a hell of a brawl with shifts in momentum and excellent scrambles until Daisy was able to sink in a tight rear naked choke and ended the fight in a minute and twenty six seconds of the 1st Round. Delhi’s own Gaurav Gulliya was up next as he took on the dangerous brawler from Chandigarh, Nikhil Bhatt. Both these fighters were focused and ready for the short, albeit war that was about to take place. Forcing the fight to the floor after catching a leg kick, Nikhil opted to stand away from Gaurav’s much improved guard and bang it out on the feet. But, as fate would have it, after a short scramble that saw Gaurav take a few shots while turtling up, the Delhiite managed to reverse the position, take the back and land some powerful hammer fists to daze the Chandigarh native. Bhatt attempted to stand and defend but it was already too late and Gulliya sank in the standing rear naked choke to elicit the quick tap from Bhatt. Official time of the finish was 2:39 of the 1st Round. Mumbai star Mohammed Farhad Rafiq took on Delhi pugilist Pushpender Singh next. This was another high octane bout that saw Pushpender take the first round with effective top control and strikes after slamming Farhad to the canvas. The second round, though, was a little different. Both warriors threw caution to the wind, bit down on their mouthpieces and slung bombs at each other. Pushpender dropped Farhad for a split second but failed to capitalize and found himself on the wrong end of a right hand that had him rocked. Farhad punched and never let Singh off the hook, landing more right hands, forcing the TKO stoppage at 1:11 of the 1st Round. The fifth fight of the night saw the return of Mumbai’s favourite MMA star Irfan Khan. Set to take on Kapil Kumar of Delhi in what was seen as a tune up fight, Irfan found himself on the wrong end of a beating. The first round started off with a bang as Kapil forced the fight to the mat with a series of hip tosses that had Irfan scrambling off his back. The Mumbai native threatened with a triangle from guard but was not able to finish as the round came to a close. The second round saw much of the same, except this time after tossing Irfan to the mat, Kumar unleashed a barrage of elbows that had the Mumbaikar fighting to regain his wits. Kapil snatched up rear-naked choke to snatch the upset victory at 1:55 of the second round. Perhaps the biggest star of the night was Gurgaon native Seth Rosario who by all accounts, looked to be the sacrificial lamb to returning powerhouse, Shyam Prasad. A former welterweight champ, Prasad was a terrifying blend of potent striking and a punishing submission game. Seth Rosario was making his pro MMA debut. On paper this looked like a beating, but the fight was a totally different story. Seth came out like man possessed and took the fight to the former champ. After a failed takedown attempt, Shaym looked to lock in a D’arce choke from the front headlock position but Rosario defended it and in turn took Prasad down, from side control he rained down elbos to the head of the former champion and had him jockeying for a safer position. Momentum shifted in the form of some excellent scrambles that saw the round coming to an end with Rosario on his back defending a kimura from Shyam Prasad. The second round was where the sparks started to fly as Seth connected with a stinging right hand that wobbled Prasad and had him backing up. After a few seconds of scoping his opponent’s movements, Seth unleashed a powerful left hand that finished Prasad. A truly impressive and star-making performance by the debuting Rosario. The official time of the stoppage was 0:34 of the 2nd Round. The co-main event of the evening was up next as Anup Kumar took on the surging Govind Ale. This was another breakout performance as the Uttaranchal native was able to overcome some serious adversity in the first round. Ale spent the majority of the first defending punches and submission attempts by Kumar who had expertly taken Govind’s back and was not about to give it up without a fight. The second round was where things started turning around for Ale. He was catching Kumar with shots from the outside and Anup was forced to resort to shooting in from a distance, which put him bad positions. He ended up on his back for the remainder of the round with Ale raining down shots to seal the second round. The third round was much the same as Kumar was forced to eat shots as he tried to unsuccessfully take Ale down. Instead, he ended up on the bottom again and absorbed more damage. By the end of the third it was clear who the winner was as Govind Ale picked up the victory by unanimous decision. And then it was time. A solemn Amitesh Chaubey made his way to the cage to little or no fanfare. It was a quiet, meditative atmosphere around the venue as the Lucknow native entered the O-Zone. Looking down at the mat and processing it all, Chaubey looked like a man on a mission. Then the lights came on and Delhi’s own son took to the ramp, flanked by ring girls and other fighters. It was loud, it was flamboyant, it was Jason Ramesh Solomon. He strutted to the cage, confident in his skills. The crowd was there for him, and him only. This was HIS show! The audience erupted as he entered the cage and stared down Amitesh Chaubey. The cage door shut, reffree Ryan Thorpe’s voice boomed out in the uneasy silence and then, it was on. Jason rushed in with a one-two combo, Chaubey, sensing it, slipped to his left and uncorked a missile of a right hand that caught Solomon right in the jaw and sent him crashing to the canvas. Jason attempted to defend himself but Chaubey was having none of it and unloaded hammerfists that had the local favourite out cold. The entire hall was silent as Chaubey celebrated his record breaking win and championship victory. It was a scary knockout but the moment soon passed as Solomon got to his feet. It was a bad, bad night for Solomon as the hype he had built up before entering this fight was now shattered by a record breaking, 9 second KO. Amitesh Chaubey knocks out Jason Ramesh Solomon to claim the vacant SFL welterweight belt.