Leonardo Damiani (10-2-1) with the RNC to
win it. Really good fight for the main event of their first Fight
Pass show. Both guys showed up and fought an entertaining
competitive battle.#TGC3
pic.twitter.com/Etjzn34qLF— Dusty Andrews (@Fight_Expert)
February 6, 2021
After nearly a year of inactivity due to the COVID-19 pandemic,
Italian MMA returned with the action-packed third event of The
Golden Cage series on Saturday.
In
The Golden Cage 3 main event, Leonardo
Damiani (10-2-1) took on Marco
Saccaro (6-3) in a rematch of an October 2018 bout won by
Damiani. The promoter never communicated the weigh-in results, but
the 180-pound catchweight bout was nonetheless valid for the
welterweight belt. Both fighters lived up to their reputations as
heavy strikers and exchanged some hards shots early in the opening
stanza as Damiani scored with his kicks and Saccaro connected with
his punches. After a quick scramble phase against the fence,
Damiani attempted to move the action to the canvas, but Saccaro
used the cage to work his way back up. Damiani continued to insist
on his takedown attempt, but his opponent shrugged it off and came
back with an overhand.
In the second round, “Puppy” and Saccaro swung a few wide shots
before Damiani shot for a takedown. Saccaro looked for a kimura,
but his opponent defended it well and got up on his feet, where he
clipped Saccaro with some big elbows on the side of the head.
Saccaro retaliated by dropping Damiani with a low kick and followed
up with a series of punches as “Puppy” was getting back on his
feet. A few moments later, Damiani jumped for a guillotine choke,
taking his opponent down in the submission attempt. Even though
Saccaro’s defense worked against the guillotine, he had to concede
his back. Damiani put the hooks in with ease and sunk a vicious
rear-naked choke that forced Saccaro to tap after a few seconds.
“Puppy” reiterated his superiority over Saccaro in the second
round, claiming the 170-pound championship in the process.
The co-main event saw Wisem
Hammami (5-0) overcome Franc
Agalliu (3-1) thanks to a quick TKO victory that occurred in
the opening stanza. Hammami aggressively sought his opponent as
soon as the bell rang, clipping Agalliu with many punches before
slamming him on the canvas and jumping into the mount. Even though
Agalliu scrambled his way out of the sticky situation, his opponent
slammed him back down on the mat and landed a series of punches.
From there, Hammami easily regained the mount and unloaded a series
of heavy shots. Referee Daniele Proietti watched closely and
intervened when he felt that Agalliu wasn’t defending himself
intelligently anymore. In the post-fight interview, Hammami sent a
message to the UFC claiming that his arrival is imminent.
Elsewhere, Michele
Baiano (4-0) crushed Nizar
Ben Amara (4-1) after dropping his opponent on the canvas with
an ill-intentioned right punch and finishing him off with a
follow-up strike en route to capturing the featherweight
championship.
In some other action, Walter
Cogliandro (10-1-1) edged Gregor
Shestakov (6-2) via split decision in a hard-fought 155-pound
contest; in a bantamweight battle, Mohammed
Walid (3-0) submitted Fabio De
Luca (3-2) thanks to a furious guillotine choke in the first
round.
In the first battle on the main card, Ultimate Fighting
Championship and Bellator MMA alum Danilo
Belluardo (13-6) smashed Daniele
Miceli (9-4) with ground-and-pound punches in the third stanza
of their 176-pound catchweight rematch.