After all the bad publicity that sprouted from Battlefield’s inaugural event, it was only fitting their second show was littered with controversy. The officials pulled out at the last minute, the replacement team made some controversial calls and the fighters didn’t get paid..
Before the gate was closed for the main event of Battlefield FC 2 in Macao on Saturday night, the original lightweight tilt between Will Brooks and Abel Trujillo was scrapped due to Trujillo landing in some legal hot water stateside.
As a result, former UFC lightweight contender Gleison Tibau stepped in on a few weeks notice and the fight was elevated to the welterweight division.
Many expected a close battle between these two American Top Team representatives but it was Tibau that was in full control and ended up getting a submission late in the first round.
Pounding strikes
The 36-year-old Brazilian was the first to land with a clean left hook that allowed him to force Brooks into the fence early on. They tussled in the clinch for a moment but the referee separated them since the action was going nowhere.
Both tried to engage on the feet with nothing landing significantly. Then, Tibau locked up the former Bellator lightweight champion and dragged him to the ground around the two minute mark. Positioned in side control off the bat, Tibau easily moved into mount and pounded some strikes.
While Brooks was trying to slide out, Tibau wrapped up the guillotine. After making a slight adjustment, the Brazilian cranked the neck and stood up, pushing his hips into his opponent who was trapped on the fence.
For a split second, Brooks looked to have gone limp but when the ref came in and put an end to the contest, ‘Ill’ popped up immediately with disbelief written all over his face. The American protested the stoppage but to no avail.
Tibau (34-14) earns his second straight win since leaving the UFC last year, meanwhile Brooks (20-5-1) loses for the first time since dropping a decision to Nik Lentz at UFC Fight Night 121 in 2017.
Late replacement
The co-main event was the perfect example of a ‘right place at the right time’ moment for Simon Carson (2-1). With Liu Wenbo being hospitalized due to his weight cut going terribly wrong, the Australian stepped in on less than 24 hours notice and smashed Shannon Ritch (57-88) in the first round.
The Absolute MMA staple came in with only two professional fights to his name but fended off a takedown attempt by Ritch and connected with a knee early on. He followed it up with devastating hooks that crumbled his adversary along the cage to end the fight in less than 90 seconds.
Earlier in the night, Bryan Caraway made his first appearance in competition after parting ways with the UFC. He dragged Raja Shippen to the floor every round and dominated him with top pressure and positional awareness which led to the American being awarded an unanimous decision.
Caraway gets back on track after losing his last two fight and moves his record to 22-9 overall. Shippen, on the flip side, returned after sitting out 28 months and snapped his 5-fight winning streak dating back to early 2016, dropping him to 18-12-1.
No payment
Days before the show the referee leading the team of international officials that was booked for this event announced he would not be coming due to issues with the promotion.
In the aftermath multiple sources have confirmed that the fighter were not paid. This also occurred after the inaugural Battlefield event in 2017.
Battlefield FC 2, Macao, July 27th
Gleison Tibau def. Will Brooks via Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 3:34 of Round 1
Simon Carson def. Shannon Ritch via TKO (Strikes) at 1:26 of Round 1
Bryan Caraway def. Raja Shippen via Decision (Unanimous) at 5:00 of Round 3
Bruno Miranda def. Ricardo Tirloni via TKO (Referee Stoppage) at 3:37 of Round 3
Muay Thai (MMA Gloves): Patrick Schmid def. DJ Linderman via Decision (Unanimous) at 3:00 of Round 3
Julio Cesar Neves Jr. def. Kevin Park via Decision (Unanimous) at 5:00 of Round 3
Vanessa Melo def. Jan Finney via Decision (Unanimous) at 5:00 of Round 3
Wagner Prado and Kim Doo-Hwan (Draw)
Ben Wall def. Mushin Corbbrey via Decision (Unanimous) at 5:00 of Round 3
Mateusz Rebecki def. Kaik Brito via TKO (Referee Stoppage) at 3:30 of Round 3
Alexandr Durymanov def. Jung Han-Guk via Decision (Split) at 5:00 of Round 3
Xiaoou Liu def. Alexandra Muir via TKO (Strikes) at 1:13 of Round 3
