Canadian Bruce Miano defeated Trinidad and Tobago’s Marc Cumberbatch to win the Caribbean Ultimate Fist Fighting (CUFF) Sweet 16 mixed martial arts (MMA) main event at Cascadia Hotel, St Ann’s on Saturday.
Miano defeated Cumberbatch by an arm triangle submission after three minutes and 37 seconds into the second round. In the process, he won the CUFF amateur welterweight championship belt, the only title up for grabs on the night.
[caption id="attachment_970926" align="alignnone" width="794"] Suriname's Petrono Poeketie, right, defends a takedown attempt from TT's Jevon Jobe on Saturday. - Sureash Cholai[/caption]
Initially, Miano was scheduled to fight Guyana’s Corwin D’Anjou in the main event but the Guyanese contingent never showed. Cumberbatch was originally carded to meet Christopher James, another Guyanese, but he was later promoted to the feature fight.
Unlike Miano, Cumberbatch did not have a full eight-week preparation for the fight. However, he showed grit and good skill in moments, including at the end of the first round where he dominated his opponent.
[caption id="attachment_970925" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Canadian Nicholas Araujo, top, fights Alex Khan in a welterweight bout at CUFF MMA event on Saturday. - Sureash Cholai[/caption]
Miano acknowledged Cumberbatch’s bravery to step into the main event on such short notice – three days – and agreed to give him a rematch.
Guyana’s absence forced a reshuffle of fights and saw the originally nine-match card reduced to six.
The other welterweight bout saw Canadian Nicholas Araujo trump Alex Khan, 16, in 2:38 of round one by arm-bar submission.
[caption id="attachment_970924" align="alignnone" width="683"] TT's Aidan Williams unleashes punches on Marc Sargeant in theirCaribbean Ultimate Fist Fighting (CUFF) Sweet 16 mixed martial arts (MMA) flyweight event, at Cascadia Hotel, St Ann’s, Saturday night. - Sureash Cholai[/caption]
In the 150lbs catch weight event, Suriname’s Pietrono Poeketi bettered TT’s Jevon Jobe, 21, by rear-naked choke submission. Poketi executed his winning move 2:48 into round one.
TT continued to fall to foreign opposition as Canadian Abdul Hadi beat local fighter Ryan Thomas in 2:30 of round one by arm-bar submission. This was a featherweight contest.
In the flyweight opener, TT's Aidan Williams conquered countryman Marc Sargaent courtesy a ground and pound TKO in 4:38 of round one.
And in the bantamweight division, Ruel Henry easily compatriot Juval Fortune in 1:32 of round one by ground and pound TKO.
This was CUFF’s first event since the lifting of domestic sport restrictions by the government in February, after a two-year absence owing to the pandemic.
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