Adrenaline debut draws fans, top fighters alike to Chicago

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. -- Action hungry fans were satiated on Saturday night at the Adrenaline MMA show at the Sears Centre Arena. Amidst the fans that came out to attend the promotion's debut were some famous names including former UFC heavyweight champions Andrei Arlovski and Tim Sylvia, and former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver. The atmosphere was ripe for combat in the circle of steel.

The main event of the evening was supposed to have been between Jeff Monson and Mike Russow. Due to a hand injury, however, Monson was replaced by Jason Guida (the brother of UFC fan favorite Clay Guida). It was a heart wrenching main event between the Chicago police officer, Russow, and the MMA veteran. The fans were on their feet and it was impossible to tell who the favorite was with the crowd chanting both names with extreme prejudice. The match was primarily a grappling contest, but ended early on in the first round with Russow sinking in a guillotine choke with Guida up against the cage.

The co-main event of the evening was nearly as painful to watch, as it was for Terry Martin to compete, as he was on the receiving end of multiple shots to the groin from Daiju Takase. In fact, the fight ended due to referee stoppage (disqualification) from too many kicks to the groin; a victory for Martin, but perhaps at the cost of no future offspring.

It looked as if Bart Palaszewski was in trouble during the first round of his bout with Jeff Cox, who was displaying his dominant ground game. That all changed, however, when Palaszewski scored the knockout of the night with an incredible high kick to end it all in the second round.

International Fight League heavy hitter Rory Markham scored the quickest win of the night after evading a flying kick by Jay Ellis, and ending the bout at only 0:57 of round one with a triangle choke.

The main card showed an extraordinary amount of talent right out the door. Clay French impressed everyone in the house with his incredibly dominant wrestling abilities. To say that he dominated Jameel Massouh on the ground would be a gross understatement. The bout came to an end with the sound of Massouh tapping from French's rear naked choke.

It looked as though neither of the heavyweights on the undercard came to actually show a fight. Herc Hayes and Kerry Schall had the fans in an uproar of negativity as they both gassed early on, and went all three rounds throwing lackluster strikes. You could only look around and wonder if there was anyone left awake at the end for Hayes to be announced the winner.

One of the more notable preliminary bouts was between up and comers Mike Stumpf and Dom O'Grady. O'Grady came in with a flawless 5-0 record, but walked out with a scar to his name when Stumpf scored a vicious TKO late in the second round.

The event started out strong with Joe Pearson defeating John Hosman early into round one by a textbook triangle choke.

The night was full of excitement and skilled fighters, and Adrenaline MMA put on an incredible display of mixed martial arts action. It's safe to say with the skill of the fighters and support of the fans, Adrenaline MMA is here to stay.

-Mike Russow def. Jason Guida by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 2:13, R1-Terry Martin def. Daiju Takase by Disqualification (Groin Kicks) at 3:35, R2-Forrest Petz def. Brian Gassaway by Unanimous Decision, R3-Bart Palaszewski def. Jeff Cox by KO at 3:07, R2-Rory Markham def. Jay Ellis by Submission (Triangle Choke) at 0:57, R1-Clay French def. Jameel Massouh by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 3:18, R2-Herc Hayes def. Kerry Schall by Unanimous Decision-Aaron Rosa def. Ron Fields by TKO at 0:34, R2\-Hector Urbina def. Dave Keiczkowski by TKO at 1:19, R2-Tom Belt def. Marcus Levesseur by TKO at 4:10, R1-Mike Stumpf def. Dom O'Grady by TKO at 3:53, R2-Joe Jordan def. Ryan Williams by Unanimous Decision, R3-Louis Taylor def. Adam Maciejewski by Unanimous Decision, R3-Joe Pearson def. John Hosman by Triangle Choke at 1:42, R1