Morais vs. Grisham II lights up Mt. Clemens at Genesis FC: Art of War

Article by: Brandon New

Mixed Martial Arts has yet to become mainstream entertainment for most. For those of us with a passion for the sport, we search high and low to find quality, well matched fights. While the UFC is becoming a household name, several other regional promotions put forth great efforts to provide fans a chance to watch the future stars of MMA develop before our very eyes. Genesis Fighting Champions is one of those companies. They presented “Art of War” on Saturday May 21st at the Gibraltar Trade Center in Mt. Clemens, Michigan.

The large audience on hand and those watching on internet pay-per-view were treated to a night featuring vicious knockouts, slick submissions and a very close split decision. The undercard kicked off the night with four submissions all ending in the first round. The fifth fight saw Aaron Anglebrant make an early bid for Knockout of the Night with a 13 second dismantling of Cody Allen. Anglebrant landed one big shot that dropped Allen immediately. As Anglebrant pounced on his downed opponent, Allen tapped relentlessly for mercy.

Following such a brutal finish, Jason Favell added to his own highlight reel by taking only 41 seconds to force the referee to intervene against a rocked Don Brandell.

Deven “Bad News” Brown earned a title shot with his 23 second victory over Jacob Berghuis. Former UFC and Pride FC veteran James Lee, who was the referee for the bout, had to violently pull Brown off of Berghuis as “Bad News” was more than willing to continue pummeling his opponent after the stoppage.

In a matchup with a very evenly fought first round, James Holloway landed a brutal punch on fan-favorite Brandon Sturgis. As the referee called an end to the contest, an obvious look of frustration came over the face of the semi-conscious Sturgis.

The most frightening moment of the night was handed out by Rich Williams at the unfortunate expense of Tim Jenny. After Williams retained his Bantamweight Title by knockout, Jenny required several minutes to regain consciousness. Fortunately, Promoter Josh Lawrence of Genesis FC provided proper medical care and Jenny was able to walk out of the cage safely while exiting to a round of applause.

The Genesis FC Lightweight Title was unified when Interim-Champion Mark “Cash” Christiansen faced the defending Champion Theo Toney. Toney controlled most of the first round and appeared to have an athletic advantage. Christiansen, on a double-digit winning streak, was game for the challenge and found a way to get Toney’s back while standing in the second round. Christiansen sank in a rear naked choke and proceeded to wrap his legs around Toney’s midsection. In an attempt to break the hold, Toney fell backwards to slam his opponent. Christiansen held on and the impact of the slam only made the situation worse for Toney, forcing him to tapout at 2:45 of the second round. Christiansen extends his winning streak and is now the undisputed Genesis FC Lightweight Champion.

The Co-Main Event was the most even contest and Fight of the Night. Drew Morais and Thomas Grisham went back and forth for five hard-fought rounds. The first two rounds were won by Morais and the last two by Grisham. The fight was decided by the third round and resulted in a controversial split-decision. Early in the third round Morais landed a huge punch that left Grisham out on his feet momentarily until Morais swarmed. Grisham was able to survive the onslaught and eventually gain top control for the second half of the round.

As one of the three judges, I was directly in the middle of the controversy. I saw Grisham “out on his feet” and was impressed that he not only survived but controlled most of the second half of the round. That being said, I scored the round for Morais. The near finish and inflicting the most damage in the round led to this decision. Grisham, while in dominant position at the end of the round did not land any significant shots or produce any legitimate damage.

In the end, one of the other two judges agreed with me and Morais took home the split decision victory and retained his Welterweight Title. After the fight, several conversations about that round took place only to determine that it could have gone either way, depending on who was scoring. I feel my view allowed me to see what others may have missed. It was a great fight and tremendous battle by both fighters. These two might have to go again for rounds 9, 10 and 11 as this bout was a rematch for the pair from another local MMA event earlier this year held in Lincoln Park, Michigan.

The Main Event was a Heavyweight Title bout featuring Champion Leroy Johnson successfully defending his title over Anthony Coleman. Johnson showed why he is the champ by making quick work of his competitor, earning the victory by TKO due to strikes.

Overall the night gave the fans a quality show, helped create exposure for fighter's and showcased Mixed Martial Arts in a positive way. You can see all of the fights for free right now at http://www.cagefightinglive.com/ .

Genesis FC: Art of War Quick Results

Leroy Johnson def. Anthony Coleman via TKO

Drew Morais def. Thomas Grisham via split decision

Mark Christiansen def. Theo Toney via RNC

Rich Williams def. Tim Jenny via KO

James Holloway def. Brandon Sturgis via TKO

Ryan King def. John Slayton via unanimous decision

Andrew Crushshon def. Justin Jaynes via unanimous decision

Parris Boyd def. John Hahn via guillotine

Deven Brown def. Jacob Berghuis via TKO

DeAndre Mathis def. Konnor Kuppe via TKO

Jason Favell def. Don Brandell via TKO

Aaron Anglebrandt def. Cody Allen via submission (strikes)

Kaiss Faraj def. Mark Hassmiller via guillotine

Bruce Merrill def. Fidel Oliverez via RNC/body triangle

Trent McGuffin def. Jason Seely via submission (strikes)

Will Waton def. Matt Harris via guillotine


Fight Night Awards

Fight of the Night: Drew Morias vs. Thomas Grisham

Knockout of the Night: Rich Williams

Submission of the Night: Mark Christiansen