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Chris Cariaso Continues on Winning
Streak in Pro Debut
Chris Cariaso, co-owner and trainer at
Fight and Fitness put on quite a show for his fans at the
HP Pavillion on Saturday night, June 4th. Stikeforce, promoted
by the famed Scott Coker, was, as always an exciting and smooth
event. Chris’s opponent, Mike Baldwin, is an IKF National
Champion and also recently represented the United States at
the IFMA World Championships in Thailand. Chris entered the
ring with a 16-3-4kos amateur record, while Baldwin entered
with a 12-2 amateur record. This was also Baldwin’s
pro debut. A very good match-up that Chris has wanted for
some time.
In the first round the two fighters sized
each other up, both delivering some one-two combinations followed
by body kicks. They spent a lot of time in the clinch where
each fighter struggled to get off more knees. Near the end
of the round, Baldwin caught Cariaso on one leg with a strong
left hand that stumbled him, causing the referee to call it
an 8 count. Clearly this punch didn’t affect Chris adversely
as he came off the count stronger and madder-striking Baldwin
hard with his right hand.
After receiving some advice from his corner-Chris
came out as a right handed fighter in the second round and
immediately landed some hard leg kicks to Baldwin’s
leading leg (he is southpaw.) Chris seemed to easily time
Baldwin’s left hand from this time forward and every
time Baldwin lunged in to throw it, Chris slipped back and
then returned with a hard right hand to Baldwin’s jaw,
which stumbled him many times. By the way, the instant replays
were awesome—slow motion action on the big screens between
rounds made the fights all the more exciting. Mike Baldwin
continued to come forward landing a few excellent body kicks
and delivering some powerful knees. He was also an extremely
tough competitor.
The third and fourth rounds clearly showed
Chris’ dominance of the ring and his fans were going
wild—chanting “Chris, Chris, Chris” throughout
the remainder of the bout. The fourth and final round was
probably Chris’ strongest round where he picked Baldwin
apart with his powerful punches, kicks, and knees. Chris threw
Baldwin to the mat twice from the clench and twice by kicking
out his front leg as he came in for the attack. Baldwin still
continued to come forward desperate to land his left hand
but unable to achieve his game plan. In the end, the decision
went to Chris-a well-deserved victory for his first pro fight.
* Fight and Fitness would like to formally
thank all of Chris’s corner men: Bunkerd Fahpimai, Paris
Alexander, James Cook, and Evan Esguerra. Also a special thanks
to Kelly Cariaso for hosting a great after party celebration!
Other result of the night:
Cung Le defeated Brian Ebersole via 5 x 2 min rounds Unanimous
Decision (185 lb. limit San Shou rules)
Brian Schwartz defeated Peter “F16” Kaljevic via
8 x 2 min rounds Unanimous Decision (172 lb. limit Full Contact
Kickboxing rules)
Gary Owens defeated Morong May via 3rd Round TKO (May could
not answer the bell (147 lb. limit Muay Thai rules)
Jandel David defeated Jose Palacios via 3 x 2 min rounds Unanimous
Decision (154 lb. limit International Kickboxing rules)
Lynda Loyce defeated Rebecca Donnelly via 5 x 2 min rounds Unanimous
Decision.(125 lb. limit Muay Thai rules
Josh “The Punk” Thomson defeated Toshiyuki Nakagawa
via 1st Round KO (54 seconds) (scheduled for 4 x 2 min rounds)
(154 lb. limit Muay Thai rules)
Jon Ellcessor defeated Ryan Roy via 5 x 3 min rounds Split Decision
(154 lb. limit Muay Thai rules)
Travis Johnson defeated Laurence Baker via 4 x 2 min rounds
Unanimous Decision (185 lb. limit International Kickboxing rules)
Rudi Ott defeated Carlo Predur via 4 x 2 min rounds Unanimous
Decision (166 lb. limit San Shou rules)
Ra’Karma Young defeated William Syrapai via 4 x 3 min
rounds Unanimous Decision (148 lb. limit Muay Thai rules)
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