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By O. Collins

“That’s a nice introduction to the sport,” said my colleague as Lion Fight 12 began with a knockout performance, literally. The opening bell rang, a few exchanges took place, then Ashley Epps fell like a tree to the canvas by the hands of Manny Sasiprapa. That match seemed to set the tone for the card that ended even better.

Malaipet Sasiprapa touted but could not trump Fabio Pinca in a main card I felt could’ve went either way. Apparently, the judges felt the same as the 57-56 decision went to Pinca for the Lion Fight welterweight title. Even though Pinca suffered several takedowns throughout the bout he managed to counter almost everything Sasipapa had. Add Pinca to the list of good fighters this year who lost from being too cocky.

And what else can we say about Tiffany Van Soest? Whenever she corners an opponent the fight is liable to be over, as was the case with Magali Foroni. After Forni’s team threw in the towel I heard someone say, “Jeez, she was gonna kill her.” He also said good stoppage. I agree.

Nick Chasteen won in his pro debut defeating another taunter Chris Culley. I have no problem with a little taunting, but only if you back it up. It was all business in the previous bout between Jason Andrada and Mohammed Lemjerdine. This was the FOTN in my opinion as both fighters fought a hard battle until Lemjerdine walked into an elbow at 1:55 in the 5th. Had Andrada not KO’d his opponent, he may have been heading for the first draw of his professional career.

Stephen Richards earned another victory against Glen Spencer Jr. gaining an slight edge with grappling. Other than Richards’ takedowns, the two were evenly matched. Anthony Castrejon didn’t allow much action knockng Miguel Rosales out on his feet. It was similar to the very first KO of the evening, just not so Tiiiimber like. And this is the card that followed the historic LFP 11 on Fremont St. For full results visit www.LionFight.com