It took a full 15 minutes of hard work, but Nico
Echeverry is back on track to contend for the Fury Fighting Championship belt he once
owned.
In the main event of Fury FC 47 on Sunday, former Fury lightweight
champ Echeverry took a clear unanimous decision over Kenn Glenn,
showcasing his superiority in all phases and gaining momentum as
the fight went on. For most of the first round, Echeverry elected
to keep the fight standing, flashing a crisp jab and keeping the
shorter Glenn at bay with well-timed kicks to the legs and body.
Round 2 saw the former champ turn to his ground game, taking Glenn
down repeatedly and advancing to dominant positions. In the final
round, perhaps sensing his opponent was tiring, Echeverry turned up
the aggression, grounding Glenn once again, taking his back and
working briefly for a choke. Glenn was game throughout, and never
in serious danger of being finished even in Round 3, but the
lopsided final frame put the stamp on an increasingly one-sided
fight. The judges saw it the same way, awarding the fight to
Echeverry by unanimous 30-27 scores.
The win potentially puts the 30-year-old Echeverry (10-4; 7-3 Fury)
in line for a rematch with Le’ville
Simpson, who defeated him by second-round knockout for the
then-vacant lightweight title at Fury FC 45 in April. Glenn falls
to 9-7 overall and has dropped two straight since shocking Will Morris
in his short-notice promotional debut, also at Fury FC 45.
Chavez Outlasts Macario
In the co-main event, Colorado’s Edwin
Chavez defeated Gabriel
Macario in a closely contested featherweight scrap. Macario
appeared to get the better of a razor-close first round with his
wrestling and superiority in the numerous ground scrambles. In the
final two rounds, Chavez asserted his greater reach and sharper
boxing, and as Macario slowed in the final round, Chavez proved
willing to bring the fight to the ground as well. All three rounds
were highly competitive, but the judges were unanimous in scoring
the fight 29-28 for Chavez, who moves to 5-1 (2-0 Fury) and puts
his first career defeat, against Cheyden
Leialoha at LFA 106 in April, behind him. Macario (6-5; 1-3
Fury) has now dropped two straight.
Esteves Strangles Hillail
Lorram
Esteves (3-1; 1-0 Fury) overcame a partisan crowd and a
near-knockout to choke out Omar
Hillail (3-2; 0-2 Fury) in the second round of their
featherweight attraction. Esteves, a 27-year-old Brazilian by way
of San Antonio, weathered a storm in the first round as Hillail was
the more aggressive man on the feet as well as on the ground. The
second round began even worse for Esteves, as “The Gaza Kid” rocked
him badly with a punch in the opening seconds, then followed with a
head kick and flurries of punches, looking for the finish. Esteves
recovered and jumped to guard with an arm-in guillotine, from which
Hillail escaped. Esteves tried again moments later, this time with
a no-arm, high-elbow guillotine. The position was not ideal, as
Hillail landed in side control, but such was the squeeze of the
Ohana Academy grappler that Hillail was forced to tap out anyway,
spurring referee Joe Soliz into action at 3:27.
Caballero Turns Aside Jones
Fighting for the first time since November 2019, Peter
Caballero (7-4; 3-0 Fury) was just a little bit too big, too
strong, too quick and too good everywhere for Casey Jones
(7-6; 7-5 Fury) in their featherweight contest. Jones, who
typically fights at bantamweight, was tough and extremely game, but
had difficulty navigating Caballero’s reach, and even greater
problems getting back up when taken down. The fight was highly
competitive until the final round, when Caballero once again
grounded Jones, then took his back and spent much of the round in
control. Caballero was working for a rear-naked choke as time
expired, and while he was never especially close to finishing, it
was more than enough to convince the judges, who turned in scores
of 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 in favor of the Corpus Christi
native.
Heffernan Makes Triumphant Return
Returning a 23-month layoff caused by — among other things — an
accidental gunshot wound to the arm, Jake
Heffernan (8-2; 6-0 Fury) made quite a statement, taking a
dominant unanimous decision over RFA and Bellator MMA veteran Justin Linn
(7-6) in their featherweight main card matchup. Heffernan’s
advantages in the striking and especially the grappling were in
evidence from the middle of Round 1, as he spent much of the fight
controlling Linn and advancing to dominant positions. By the third
round, an additional advantage — cardio — came into play, and an
already one-sided fight turned into a rout. Heffernan took back
control, then mount, and was working for a submission as time
expired. The aptly nicknamed “Grinder” was rewarded for his efforts
with 30-27, 30-27 and one 30-26 scorecard. The victory ends not
only Heffernan’s long absence but also the first losing streak of
his career, and vaults him immediately back into the Fury
featherweight title picture. Linn, on the other hand, is in
freefall, having lost five straight after opening his career 7-1,
though all five losses have been against top-level competition.
Guzman Throttles Garza
W4R Training Center lightweight prospect Santiago
Guzman (2-2; 1-1 Fury) needed less than half a round to
dispatch Paul Garza
(2-3; 1-2 Fury), showing off some down-and-dirty work in the clinch
— not in any rule-breaking sense — before finishing things with
clinical efficiency on the ground. Early on, Santiago grabbed a
collar tie, then mugged Garza with elbows and uppercuts before
dragging him to the canvas at the base of the fence. From there,
“The Scorpion King” quickly took Garza’s back and locked up a
rear-naked choke. After a few desperation punches over the
shoulder, Garza tapped out at 2:08 of Round 1, prompting the
intervention from referee Jeff Rexroad.
Moreno Blasts Everett
One of Texas’ brightest amateur prospects made a successful
transition to the ranks of the professionals, as 23-year-old
knockout artist Isaac
Moreno (1-0; 1-0 Fury) punched out Brexton
Everett (1-1; 0-1 Fury) in the second round of the welterweight
main card opener. That is not to say that “Prime Time” faced no
adversity along the way; Everett came forward willingly in the
first round, throwing with no apparent regard for the size, speed
and power of Moreno. Everett dropped Moreno with an overhand right,
then pounced, looking for a guillotine choke, but Moreno recovered
quickly and exploded back to his feet. Everett remained right in
Moreno’s face, but Moreno’s superior size and power began to tell.
Early in Round 2, Moreno caught a kick, shoved Everett to the
ground and pummeled him with punches. Everett survived long enough
to return to his feet, but the barrage of punches never stopped,
and referee Joe Soliz intervened to stop the mauling at 2:04 of the
round.
Prelims: Hickman Smashes Pantoja
On the preliminary card: Gracie Barra Woodlands lightweight
Taylor
Hickman (2-0) ground-and-pounded Johnny
Pantoja (1-4) for a TKO win at 2:25 of the first round; Factory
X prospect Marquel
Mederos (1-0) lanced Jonathon
Moskowitz (0-1) with a one-punch KO at 1:05 of Round 2 in a
battle of debuting lightweights; Washington-based light heavyweight
Matt
Walters (1-0) beat down Jimmy Lugo
(1-2) with ground strikes at 1:07 of the second round; and in the
only heavyweight bout of the afternoon, Richard
Luis (3-3) pummeled
Ricardo Ferreira Evangelista (1-1) into tapping to strikes in
the second round.