Score Fighting Series needs more sizzle with its steak

photo by Vernon Anthony Kee

Mike Reilly got the inaugural Score Fighting Series off to a flying start on Saturday by slamming fellow Ontario 130-pounder Tyler Hardcastle into unconsciousness in the second round. And Muay Thai specialist Alex Ricci survived an early flurry to knock out Mike Sledzion with a brutal overhand right and a couple of nasty follow-up hammerfists on the ground.

But it was all down hill from there as the remainder of the 10-bout card all went to the judges’ scorecards. It made for a long, often dull night at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga, which saw the lackluster crowd of 2,000 or so dwindle to less than half by the time Alberta’s Jordan Mein took a unanimous decision over DREAM 170-pound stand-out Marius Zaromskis. That’s the downside of frontloading a card with local fighters – the friends and family they brought with them are quick to exit once their boy has fought, leaving only diehard fans and those too drunk to stand up to witness the final fight.

And that’s too bad as it might be one of the last times Mein fights in a local promotion. The 21-year-old improved to 22-7 and has won five straight, including wins over UFC vets Josh Burkman and Joe Riggs. It won’t be long before the UFC comes calling, even if it’s to fill a preliminary card slot at a Canuck-heavy event like December’s Montreal UFC.

Still, I can’t blame folks for checking out early as it was a tough slog through some of those three-rounders and the atmosphere left something to be desired. The fights might look good on TV, but in person it looked and felt like any of the Indian Reserve events I’ve attended, and that’s surprising given The Score sports network was behind it. Again, when much of your audience consists of friends of family of fighters who don’t care about nine of the 10 bouts on the card, it’s hard to create – and sustain – an atmosphere of excitement. The large swaths of empty seats didn’t help the cause, either.

My pick for Fight of the Night saw Adrian Wooley earn respect – and a lot of new fans – in a split-decision loss to Bellator FC veteran Nick Mamalis. It was also the bloodiest bout on the card thanks to busted noses and a large gash on the top of Wooley’s head from a kick that stained his white trunks pink. The bantamweight bulldog was rocked early and often, and the more he was hit the more he resembled Matt Serra, but he refused to go down, and somehow managed to keep his composure and turn things around with a couple of mat-rattling slams that Matt Hughes would have appreciated. For the record, I saw Wooley taking the decision, and so did Wooley’s fellow Peel Regional Police officers, who were out in force in full SWAT regalia.

A couple of other highlights included Joe Doerksen slugging it out with fellow UFC middleweight vet Luigi Fiorvanti for the unanimous decision and Toronto featherweight Antonio Carvalho entering the cage to the score from Conan the Barbarian, which was far more rousing than his out-pointing of UFC vet Doug Evans.

I hesitate to mention the bout between UFC and PRIDE vet Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and Cesar Gracie prospect Roy Boughton simply because it was, well, boring. But Sokoudjou was a big fish in a small pond last night, so here’s goes: The Cameroonian judoka did pull off a couple of nice throws and the occasional spin kick, but he was gulping air like a beached fish by the second round and couldn’t even stand while his arm was raised at the end of the three rounds.

Again, I’m sure the card will look great on TV, which is The Score’s main concern. And I’m not saying the matchmaking was bad; sometimes you get great finishes, sometimes you get boring decisions; it happens. But they need to add some sizzle to their steak, at least for those watching live, and something more than just flamethrowers and smoke machines (although that certainly would’ve helped). Ten fights stretching over 5 1/2 hours is too long for any card that isn’t the UFC, period.