The Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa hosts XFC Young Guns 2 & XFC 44. Young Guns 2 is six-fight card is topped by Davi Young against Jake Kozorosky. XFC 44 is headlined by a bantamweight bout between UFC vets Andre Soukhamthath & Jose Albeto Quinoez.
Davi Young made his pro debut at Young Guns 1, picking up a first round submission win over Quran Walker. While Jake Kozorosky returns to MMA 20 months after a first round armbar of Josh Jackson. Soukhamthath comes in off a split decision win over Guilherme Faria in the main event of XFC 43. While Mexico’s Quinoez fight for the first time since parting way with the UFC, where he went 5-4.
The televised card started off with Egor Gorbachev knocking down Juan Roman with a right hook. Roman recovered put Gorbachev on the fence, before delivering him to the mat letting go of her elbows & punches for the first-round finish. Tyson Miller battle back from getting knocked down and a guillotine choke in the first. Battling back with his grappling Miller nearly found an armbar & a head an arm choke in the second round. Miller then spent the third round on Conde-Navarro’s back to taking two of three rounds on all three judges’ scorecards. Dennis Hughes Jr. fought short notice replacement Ali Omar. After getting hit with several big knees in the first round Hughes Jr. came back in the second round with his boxing and even did more damage late while stuck on bottom, to take the unanimous decision. 90 seconds into the co-main event Cody Line decide he was taking Orland Ortega to the mat. Once on the ground Line jumps out of the half guard a hoping on a fighting finishing armbar. The main event a back-and-forth war. Davi Young had his way early and looked to be on the path to another early finish. Jake Kozorosky battled back scoring a knockdown by flying knee and even advancing to mount in the third. At the end of 15 minutes it was Jake Kozorsky getting the win by split decision.
Quick Results
- Lightweight Bout: Jake Kozorosky (5-1) def. Davi Young (1-1) by (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) split decision
- Bantamweight Bout: Cody Line (2-0) def. Orlando Ortega (0-2) by submission (armbar) R1
- Lightweight Bout: Dennis Hughes Jr. (3-3) def. Ali Omar (4-2) by (29-28 x3) unanimous decision
- Welterweight Bout: Tyson Miller (2-0) def. Luis Conde-Navarro (1-1) by (29-28 x3) unanimous decision
- Lightweight Bout: Juan Roman (4-2) def. Egor Gorbachev (0-1) by TKO (ground & pound) 4:57 R1
- Flyweight Bout: Atty Belanger (1-0) def. Autumn Newcomb (0-1) by decision
XFC 44 Recap
Austin Baski continued his winning ways with his relentless chain wrestling putting Emanuel Pugh on his back in every round, even earning 10-8 rounds from two judges. The first of two welterweight semifinals saw LaRaue Burley against Bradley Desir. LaRaue Burley stammped his ticket to the welterweight finals, knocking down Bradley Dessir in the first and thrid rounds along with ground control in the second & third rounds. Winning the srtiking in the first and taking the back of Tom O’Connor’s back in the third gave Damonte Robinson his ticket to the Lightweight finals. A late change of opponent didn’t bother Brett Martin whose right hand was on point and control Marino Eatman in the clinch for a unanimous decision win. Meeting Damonte Robinson in the lightweight finals will be Kurt Holobaugh who nealry took out Jose Verdugo in one round, but ended up needing one more stright left to finish the job seconds into the second round. Damonte Robinson will face Kurt Holobaugh in the XFC tournament finals. The action was fast and furious in the co-mian event as Bobby Nash knocked down Ryan Dickson three times in the first round. Finishing the fight with a four punch combination of left hooks right crosses. The main event was one way traffic as Jose Quinoez racked up four takedowns and controlled the majority of the 15 mintue contest entoute to the unanimous decision victory. Post fight awards were handed out and Cody Line was give submission of the night, Kurt Holobaugh took knockout of the night, and a performence of the night went to Bobby Nash.
Quick Results
- Bantamweight Bout: Jose Albeto Quinoez (9-5) def. Andre Soukhamthath (14-9) by (30-27 x3) unanimous decision
- Welterweight Bout: Bobby Nash (11-4) def. Ryan Dickson (11-6) by KO (right coss/ left hook) R1
- Lightweight Bout: Kurt Holobaugh (19-7) def. Jose Verdugo (19-10) by (straight left) 0:11 R2
- Super Heavyweight Bout: Brett Martin (10-1) def. Marino Eatman (5-4-1) by (29-28, 30-27 x2) unanimous decision
- Lightweight Bout: Damonte Robinson (7-1-1) def. Tom O’Connor (9-2) by (29-28 x3) unanimous decision
- Welterweight Bout: LaRaue Burley (11-4) def. Bradley Desir (10-7) by TKO (punches) 3:14 R3
- Bantamweight Bout: Austin Bashi (3-0) def. Emanuel Pugh (0-1) by (30-25, 30-26, 29-28) unanimous decision
